Beyond the truth | A mafia romance

••(Chapter one)••

"Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings."

In a place where guns became more attractive than roses, a place where criminals were looked up to, lived Marissa. A physician who wished nothing more than an ordinary life. A life with no criminal record, a life where she wouldn't have to wake up to the sounds of guns. Unfortunately, she lived in the heart of it, where the crime rate was growing day by day.

Her neighbourhood became the highlight after every media outlet started reporting mysterious murders that began to take place where the sole clue left behind was a skull which had "King" written on it.

Marissa couldn't move to another city, even if she wanted to. Her contract had her bounded for 2 more years, even if she resigned finding another one wouldn't be that easy due to her lack of experience.

To her great surprise, she never encountered any crime happening in her neighbourhood and wasn't planning seeing one happen anytime soon. Seeing one more murder in her life would take her back to the days she daily struggled to forget. Rubbing her palms she let out a breath, things were now different just how she wanted them. But the uncertainty held her back to enjoy the moment. Sometimes when she looked back on her old life she could hardly believe how easy it could be to lose everything in a blink of an eye, but that's what life is all about. Life teaches you to be tough and that's exactly what Marissa learned to be.

In a small one-bedroom apartment Marissa lived with her sister. Laying on the bed Ashley glanced at the time, it was way past her bedtime but what could she do? This mafia story she started in the morning had her bounded.

"One more hour, I'll stop after that. Pinky promise." she said patting Marissa's back who was clearly annoyed at her for not turning off the lights. 

"Stop reading these kind of books, where gangsters are portrayed as the good guys. Trust me this is not something you would want to get involved in." Marissa said grabbing the iPad from her.

"Dreams do come true Marissa." Ashley said, snatching the iPad back and rushed to the restroom. Ashley continued reading her book, overlooking what her sister just told. 

Marissa played a powerful role in Ashley's life, not only was she the one who worked her ass off, but she also played a mother figure for Ashley. Marissa never knew her mother, or how she died. It was something Ashley never wanted to talk about. She knew the best thing to do was not to pressure her into telling her what happened. There would eventually come a day Marissa would tell her what happened when the time is right. But for now, it was time for her to find out who killed her favourite character in the book.