Reality

Jade knew that she would not like the answer she would get and now she wasn't even sure whether she wanted to hear the answer.

"Three of them died protecting you and the other one is fine." After hearing this, she couldn't help but mourn their death. There were her besties growing up when she had no one. She wanted to curl up and cry her heart out.

But a sudden realization hit her. He said that three of them were dead and one was fine but she perfectly remembered that there were only three, Alaska, Asia and Alex. So, how... Four??

She voiced out her thoughts, "Uncle, I perfectly remember that there were only three, then why did you say four? I even remember Cassandra saying four top-notch assassins would die because of me. I thought it was a misunderstanding but now after hearing it from you, I am damn sure that it isn't. "

"I knew that you would ask this question. How about you ask it from the fourth one only? "says her uncle.

With that being said, he left and a woman with sharp grey eyes and beautiful jet-black hair, tied in a ponytail, entered. She gave a cold vibe but as soon as her eyes landed on Jade, concern flickered in her eyes but it soon changed to anger.

The anger was directed not at Jade but at Cassandra.

"Who are you? " Jade asked, without beating about the bush.

The woman replied, "They call me fierce, ruthless and deadly. A force to be reckoned with. The invincible lady whom even death can't lay its icy hands on. They call me... "

"The Phantom Empress... It's you. " stammered Jade.

The woman just smirked and said, "You remember me. Just like my father protected your father, I was given the job of protecting you with everything in me but I am a shadow guard of yours. I don't protect you openly but am always working in the shadows. "

Jade remembered her six-year-old self being introduced to a nine-year-old girl. Her father told her that she would protect her just like her father had always protected him. At that time she didn't understand all of this but now she did. The reason she grew up under protection from the outside world was not because she was the daughter of a business typhoon rather it was because she was the heiress of the powerful Collins empire.

She finally started to realise how complicated her life was. Her world had turned upside down. Everything she had ever known about her family was a beautiful lie intricately woven to make it look real but now the web they had woven was finally tearing apart.

"Leave... " ordered Jade.

"You can call me Storm. Take care. "With that being said, she left.

Jade was again left all alone in the hospital room to wallow in self-pity. So much had happened in her life in such a short period - her waking up in the hostel room with blood on her hands, her father's death, finding out that she was now the mafia boss, her abduction, the death of her besties and meeting Storm.

She hoped that all this would just be a nightmare; she would wake up and everything would be fine but she knew it wasn't, this was her reality and there was no escape.

Her father would never return, and neither her besties would. As if this wasn't enough, she didn't know whose blood stained her hands when she woke up in her hostel room, she felt another headache coming.

She had questions and she needed answers but there was no one to answer her. After all, which sane person would believe that she had blood staining her hands after she woke up and she doesn't know whose it is?

"I need answers. Please, God! " cried Jade and with that, she succumbed to the desire to sleep.