2 2. His real Identity.

"They are taking Ida to foster care," Kelen said quietly, almost hesitantly, who was standing behind Alden and he nodded his head, looking at Ida who was crying her heart out sitting on her knees near her parents' cemetery.

Kelen was the only one that Alden could trust. He was more like a brotherly figure for Alden than his right-hand man.

"The plan we had executed was successful. I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay here for long." Kelen warned and Alden nodded his head again without saying anything back.

"Alden," Kelen called with a frown.

"Leave. I will be there in 2 minutes." Alden said and Kelen took a deep breath but nodded as he walked away from there leaving Alden alone.

For the past 12 hours, he had kept watching her from a distance, keeping his baseball cap as a barrier to avoid people recognising him. While she stood in front of her parents' cemetery as if her soul had long left her body.

He had left her all alone in this world to suffer without her loving parents. His heart ached whenever she cried her heart out.

He was angry that her family members gave up on her. Except for one of the trusted men, who had come front and held her parents' funeral ceremony. But just thinking about how she was gonna survive from now on made him concerned.

There was no one left who could look after her anymore. Sure, she could take care of herself, she was strong that way. But so suddenly? He is afraid... Thinking how she will be able to survive from now on because he had taken everything from her! Her parents as well as every penny she had. How will she be able to handle this pain alone?

He had made her heartbroken. He had broken her so badly that he doesn't think that she would ever trust someone in her life again as she did trust him.

He saw her there sitting sadly, eyes aimed at her parents' cemetery and only 3 people had stood behind her while everyone had already left without caring to even say goodbye. Her body was shrunken in, the satchel over her shoulder arching on her slouching shoulders. She looked small and tiny, like a child.

He doesn't know how she will survive in the Foster care but he really hopes that she survives.

"I'm sorry, Ida. I killed your parents mercilessly. I left you in this world to survive alone. I am sorry. But, please, live. Live for me. Survive for me." Alden whispered to himself, wishing she could hear him.

"I had to let go of you now, Ida. I am leaving you forever… I really hope to see you soon again but I don't think I can ever." Alden said as he took a deep breath.

"Alden," Kelen called suddenly and Alden took a deep breath and turned around hoping that Kelen didn't hear anything that he just said.

"We need to leave from here. Now." Kelen said as he nodded at him walking towards their car.

Kelen plunged the key into the ignition and drove off but not before Alden got a glimpse of her talking to someone.

Alden then pulled out a photograph from his suit.

It was a photograph of him and Ida smiling together in their favourite place, a garden, sitting on the bench.

He brushed a thumb on her bright, smiling face as he took a deep breath. He was not sure if he would ever be able to see a smile like this on her face again but neither did he want to!

"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to protect them." Mr Bernard, the 55-year-old friend of her father, said as he looked at Ida.

"Thank you for holding their funeral. I have nothing to repay you for your kindness." Ida replied and Mr Bernard shook his head.

"It's okay. You don't have to, dear." Mr Bernard said and looked at her father's cemetery.

"Your father has helped me a lot. I am just repaying my gratitude to him. Here I bought you a mobile phone and a laptop. I have already saved my number on the phone. Call me if you need anything. I will come to check up on you whenever I am free. For now, My men will take you to foster care temporarily. Later on... It's you, who should try to live on your own." Mr Bernard said as he gave the gadgets to her.

"No, thank you. I don't need them." Ida replied as she tried to give them back but Mr Bernard shook his head once again.

"No, I insist. This will help you and I heard from your parents that you love hacking. So, these will help you. I understand what you are going through. Losing your parents is losing your world and you are young. It's hard to manage all this but at least try. They'd want you to be strong. You need to stand up for yourself now." Mr Bernard said and Ida chuckled sadly.

"Do you really think I can?" Ida asked with tears and Mr Bernard sighed.

"Ohh, dear." Mr Bernard said softly, wrapping her in a hug but just then... Ida suddenly remembered something from his words.

"Hacking?" Ida asked as she looked up at Mr Bernard and he frowned at her.

Then... She looked down at the chain in her hand which she still held for the past 12 hours in her hand.

How badly she wanted to throw it away but she just couldn't.

Looking at it, her anger-fueled, and her blood boiled. She blinked when the memories flooded back like a tsunami, she blinked and she was suddenly transferred 6 months ago.

"We came for a picnic but is that what I think it is? Are you coding again?" Alden complained as he closed her laptop over her fingers. Gently, so as not to hurt her.

"What are you doing-" Ida cut off in mid-sentence when Alden raised his eyebrows at her.

"Sorry... But, you know that I started to love coding breaches. Since the day you introduced it to me. I can't stop myself from getting to know more and more about it. It's so freaking interesting." Ida replied with a pout.

"Then, am I not interesting to you right now?" Alden asked.

"You are but-" Ida said but sighed. He fluttered his lashes at her, sitting himself down girlishly.

"Fine..." Ida said as she laid down on the quilt making Alden chuckle.

He laid back beside her touching her head and saw her pouting disappointingly.

"Ida," Alden called.

"What?" Ida asked.

"I love you." Alden said, making her blush.

"I love you too." Ida replied, making him smile brightly and then he kissed her forehead.

"I want to get married to you one day, Ida. You make my heart smile and shine. I wish we could spend the rest of our lives together." Alden said looking deeply into her eyes which made her fall more for him at that moment.

"Ida." Mr Bernard called, making her look up at him.

"Mr Bernard... Can you lend me your laptop for a few minutes?" Ida asked and Mr Bernard nodded his head with a frown but he nodded his head at his men who quickly ran to bring his laptop.

In a few minutes, his men came back and handed the laptop to her. She took it hurriedly and opened the laptop.

"What are you doing?" Mr Bernard asked but Ida didn't answer anything him and grabbed her bag that Mr Bernard had lent to her.

She took out his letter from the bag and opened it. She read it again and again as if she was trying to find something that she had probably been missing.

'My love Ida? I acted as if I love you… And… my Empire.' The words rolled out from Ida's mouth in a silent voice as she stared at the letter that Alden wrote for her.

'He doesn't love me and just acted… Then, why did he start the letter with My love, Ida? And… My Empire? What does he mean?' Ida murmured and closed her eyes thinking about the empire as if she heard the word a few times from Alden.

She stared at the laptop screen for a moment, lost in her thoughts and then began to type again.

A frown didn't leave her face as her fingers traced over the keyboard, starting and stopping several times.

She opens the college website and logs in through the Dean's email. She then accessed the student database finding his name in the database. He tried to be as professional as he could but in the end, he left a clue here. She took a quick look at his hashed encrypted IP and passed it through a decrypter.

Finding his IP she tried to remotely access and fortunately it was online.

She sent a freenitroe.exe file to the host, which upon being received would automatically open a backdoor on the system and it worked. She then took over and tried to browse through the various files and folders and all of them were encrypted on SHA3 the unbreakable encryption.

All except one, "This is for you". The folder had only one file and she quickly opened the file but it was secured with a password. She took a deep breath before she looked down at the letter and then up at the screen.

"Password... My empire." Ida said as she typed the password and it was a success.

"Yes," Ida said, making everyone frown at her but then, what she saw in the file made her shocked when her eyes scanned the whole file.

A convenient little thing about Alden Orion.

Alden was not just anyone. He worked for the Black Tiger Mafia Empire. He killed her parents because of his orders. Just to save his illegal businesses. He had killed her parents and made her an orphan!

What made her more shocked is that her parents… even her information claimed its spot on the file.

Her expression changed when she read that her parents were also related to the Mafia.

She thought of her father, the kind soul who paid her every second of his attention when he could. Of her mother, so gentle she would never even hurt a fly.

She rocked herself on her bed, arms tightly wound around her legs. She hardly noticed the blood draining from her knees as she hugged them tightly.

"Mafia?" Ida asked herself in disbelief while others' eyes widened hearing Ida.

Who was Alden Orion then? What did he do in the Mafia? No… her parents were innocent. He was lying. My parents could never harm anyone. No.

"My parents work for the Mafia?" Ida asked as she looked at Mr Bernard and he immediately took the laptop from her and the information on the file.

"God." Mr Bernard said as he took a deep breath looking at Ida.

"Tell me... It's not true. They are innocent. They aren't from the Mafia. Right?" Ida asked with tears.

"I'm sorry to say this but... They are. Your parents used to work for the Mafia." Mr Bernard answered, looking down at his feet.

"No," Ida yelled out loud at him in anger.

"My parents are innocent. I will prove to every single person that my parents are innocent. I will not let anyone go so easily now. Not after all he had given me the taste of betrayal. He killed my family and made me an orphan. How do you think I will let him go and let him be happy while I suffer?" Ida yelled with anger, making Mr. Bernard frown.

"Be ready and hold onto yourself, Alden. I am coming…coming to snatch away everything from you just like how you have snatched everything away from me. I will show you who the real Ida Celeste is. Very soon!" Ida said with anger boiling inside her.

Her eyes, dry now and bloodshot with lack of sleep, harnessed a certain fierceness she'd never had before.