"This way sir." One of this father's men told Al as he descended to the basement.

This floor was normally used to hold prisoners who were too important to be kept at the headquarters of the king of the underworld.

Usually these people were the most dangerous ones, and the ones Ray wanted to keep within arm's length for information.

Al had been quite suspicious when his father said he wanted to show Al a side of the underworld that needed to be witnessed before it was too late.

"You seem happy." Ian commented as he walked up to Al. "I'm guessing that the matter your father mentioned went well?"

"Half of it, the more difficult half will come tomorrow." Al said with a nod as Ian dismissed the man who had accompanied Al.

"Good, good." Ian said as he led Al to a room.

He opened the door and gestured for Al to enter.

"Dad." Al greeted Ray. "Mr. Jao." He said as he acknowledged Cara's father.

"Did Eric agree?" Ray asked as he waved for his son to stand next to him in front of what Al assumed to be a one way mirror.

"Yes, he said he'll accompany me when we speak with Cara before school." Al stood next to his dad and was shocked to find a familiar face before him.

"He's the man that gave Andres' and your mother's location to the attackers." Ray calmly told his son.

Al nodded, unsure of what he should say in response.

"I visited Cara." Peter Jao informed Al. "I told her that you were currently arguing with your father to let her go. She looked hopeful for a moment then she changed to shout curses at you."

Al chuckled and shook his head.

"So there is some improvement." Al grinned, to which Peter Jao nodded in response.

"I think it meant a lot to her that I said you wanted her freed." Peter Jao informed Al. "She'll be expecting a visit from you tomorrow, I'm sure."

Al nodded but didn't respond. He didn't want to be too hopeful that the bridge between him and Cara would be mended anytime soon.

"Now that that matter is settled, there is something I need to tell you and show you." Ray drew Al's attention to the man in the other room. "Do you know who he is?"

Al nodded.

"He's one of the new guards at the gate." Al told his father.

He recognized the man as the one that called out for Hendrick's car to be allowed on the first day Hendrick drove them home.

"Good memory." Ray praised as he patted his son on the back. "He was hired a few weeks prior to the attack on your brother and mother. From what we've gathered he isn't the brains behind all this."

"Has he spoken?" Al asked as he observed the man.

He already looked quite defeated, as if at any moment he would crack.

"All we have done is lock him up in a cell." Ian chuckled. "We haven't even started to extract information from him."

"Oh." Al was surprised that the man looked so bad despite no one having tortured him yet.

"Sorry about this Ray." Ian told the king of the underworld. "I know you were hoping for something more exciting during Al's first session, but this one is half broken already."

Ray sighed and nodded in response.

"It's fine. We'll find another chance." Ray said as he handed Al a file.

"This is everything we have on him?" Al asked his father as he opened it and read through the information.

"That is what we managed to gather. There is no telling how much of it is factual and how much is lies. We need to get that information out of him as effectively as possible." Ray told his son in an emotionless tone. historical

Al read through it, discovering that the guard before him had no family, had a comfortable life, and it seemed like he had nothing to want.

"It's suspicious." Al commented as he read through the file.

"He got it right away!" Ian praised as he patted Al on the back with a proud smile.

"He;s my son, of course he'll figure it out right away." Ray winked at his son as he took the document back.

"What do you have planned for him?" Al knew that his father wasn't going to take whatever information was on the document. He would want the truth and possibly more.

"Not me, you." Ray said with a shrug. "Someday you will have to torture someone and possibly kill them, now your mom would disagee but I think there is no sense in delaying it."

Ian shook his head, clearly disagreeing with Ray.

"I was younger than him when my father first asked me to torture someone. I had much less preparation for it too." Ray explained to Al.

"It's fine, dad." Al said as he smiled at his father. "I'm ready and I expected this."

Ray smiled back at his son and nodded.

"I'll be with you the entire time, telling you what to do." Ray told his son. "What's important is you don't show them that it bothers you."

Al nodded at his father's words.

He had seen some bloody events in the past and he hoped that all the preparation he had done was enough for this.

"In there I'm not your father, I'm the king of the underworld, you will see a side of me that you never have. Be prepared." Ray warned Al.

"Yes dad." Al responded.

"Let's go then." Ray ushered his son out of the room to the next one, as they passed the door it was as if Ray became a different person and Al tried to mimic it.

He knew this wouldn't be easy, but he had to do it, it was part of the job.

—---

Hello my awesome readers! Thank you so much for sticking with me this far.

I want you all to know how much I appreciate you guys.

First of all, I want to know where you guys are from, what country? Leave it in the paragraph comments (don't embarrass me and ignore) I'm from the PHILIPPINES by the way for those that didn't know.

Secondly, I'm considering giving a hard copy of the free chapters to readers that gift me a castle during the first 3 months of 2023. Tell me in the comments if you're interested!

Happy New Year to everyone!

(This was published on Jan 02, 2023)

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