CHAPTER 81: LESSON 2.

Silence... and once again the absurdity of what he said... like Rio couldn’t even react to it, and not just him, even Amine and Hana were frozen, confused by the sheer absurdity of it... that he just said he was going to stab him... as a lesson.

It was the first time for them, for Amine and for Hana, to truly understand why Pablo said what he said. Why he told stories about Joseph, why he described him as an unstable but genius man... someone who isn’t just unstable, but something far more dangerous.

Yeah, Pablo’s words now made a lot of sense, as Joseph didn’t even face them, they only saw his back, but could feel something coming from him... his voice was low, not threatening, there was no hesitation in it, no anger... no, there was not even a hint of that in his voice... and that was just terrifying.

It was the kind of voice you couldn’t argue with, not because it commanded respect, but because it erased the very thought of saying anything, the very idea of resisting against it.

And that was the part none of them could process. Not Amine, not Hana. They were used to threats, to anger, to fury... but this wasn’t fury. This was colder, emptier, and far more terrifying.

Or maybe it was just their minds making all of this, built on one thing... morality.

Morality, the thin line between one kind of darkness you can still walk away from and another kind that swallows you whole, with no end and no limit. And for Amine and Hana, this was the moment they realized that Joseph was truly something dark. But not just that... he genuinely did not give a single fuck... and that, perhaps, was both the most useful and the most terrifying trait a person could possess.

It’s not just a simple thing, not like when people say, you don’t give a fuck about things. No... it’s so much different from the civilian world. This kind of not caring comes with pain, with the greatest suffering, with the breaking and remaking of who you are.

It comes with losing everything you once loved or cared for. It comes with the moment when everybody turns their back on you, those you trusted, those you loved. It comes with the cold truth that you are alone.

It comes with losing everything.

Joseph is the perfect example of this. He isn’t just someone who stopped caring. He’s someone, who already lost it all, and what came out of it wasn’t a man you could reason with, it was something else. Something that no longer needed reason.

A lifestyle that is basically the fucking key to being a criminal, you just simply do not give a single fuck about anything. Let it be countless deaths, let it even be death itself creeping up on you... no, you just don’t give a fuck, because you already know nothing can be worse than what life already put you through. You already tasted pain so deep that normal people can’t even imagine it, can’t even get close to understanding how bad it is.

Of course, there is no morality. He never lived by what was moral, not even when he left his family. Yeah, back then he was still some kind of good guy, trying to fit in, trying to figure life out. But even then, he looked at things differently, and of course he did, because he grew up among people who had long ago forgotten what morality even meant.

And that’s the terrifying part. To think that the little drop of morality inside him, that little sympathy he can give or feel for people... is not really morality at all. No, for him it’s just a fucking excitement, a strange thrill... but it never stops him from doing what he wants.

People were right, Cassian was born the moment he entered that jail. A Cassian was born who would be sharper, more dangerous, and even greater than his whole bloodline were.He would be the one to reach new heights... or maybe he would be the one to fall the fastest, making enemies at every step, every single moment.

Rio wanted to say something, anything, but the words stuck. Joseph didn’t look at him with hate, didn’t even glare, his eyes were calm, like he was already past the point of choice.

"Are you ready?" Joseph asked, quiet, steady, as if he were talking about the weather... no, more like he was starting to get bored... though he still looked menacing in his own way.

And for Rio, it isn’t just fear of pain. It’s the fear of a lesson he can’t run from... though he wants to. Like, how the fuck can he not run? How can anyone stay in a situation like this?

He’s young and could outrun the fuck out of Joseph, though there’s the problem.

The gun planted a shard of terror in Rio’s mind, and he knew or at least thought that the moment he tried to run... he was going to be shot dead... and not just him, but his friend too.

And there was something else... Rio thought it was a trick from Joseph. This motherfucker shows up, says he’s going to stab him... there’s no way he’s actually going to do it, right? Why would he? What lesson is he even talking about?

He told himself it was just a game. They had messed up, or maybe they just had bad luck and accidentally crossed paths with a real gangster... but nothing was going to happen to them. Nothing was going to happen to him. Nobody would do anything like this in downtown.

"The lesson itself is easy, Rio." Joseph suddenly spoke as he put his left hand on Rio’s shoulder.. "One, do not sell shit in my city. Second, do not fuck up your life with street shit. And third, which is not really a lesson is..." He stared into his eyes. "You are the first that Joseph Cassian intentionally spared. Okay?"

"O-O-kay..."

"It’s going to hurt a bit." He fucking did it.

It was quick and precise, and the blade went fully into Rio’s lower abdomen. It would have been enough, but Joseph began to twist the knife... then he realized it was just a lesson.

Yeah, it was a lesson, and he intentionally struck the lower abdomen to try not to hit anything vital in his body. But for a second, he thought about it... just stabbing the shit out of Rio. But it would be too boring, to kill a kid who couldn’t even fight back... so he just pushed him, and Rio just immediately fall back like a fucking doll.

Well he was in shock and the adrenaline was hitting him so hard that he just stared at the knife in him, while his friends froze completely... just like Amine and Hana... he really did it.

He just stabbed him.

"Now call an ambulance, and don’t even try to pull it out, because you’re just going to bleed to death." Joseph looked at Rio, then turned at his friends. "Hey, fuckers, call the ambulance." They were just completely lost... like they were in hallucinations... though they eventually pulled out their phones.

"Good. Now the lesson’s been learned." He said, just keeping his stare on Rio. "Oh, and leave this street shit, you little bitches. Be happy I was kind-hearted today." He finished and then turned back to leave, but he noticed them.

Amine and Hana just froze, as much as the boy did, just looking at Rio as he struggled to breathe, shaking, staring at the knife as blood slowly flowed out his body.

"Is there a problem?" He asked as eyed them.

"No." Hana said, but her eyes told the truth. Yeah, she looked disappointed in Joseph, while Amine looked like she was relieved... that he stopped and didn’t kill him.

Yeah, they were both still disappointed, because they were thinking some bullshit—that Rio was just a teenager. And Joseph knew it. How could he not? He could guess what their problem was... and he just got frustrated about it.

A teenager can do many things. A teenager can kill, can torture... and the only reason they were looking at Rio and the others with morality in their eyes was because they were nobodies, little bitches pretending to be gangsters. But if Rio and those others were cartel boys, nobody would even think about morality, not even for a second.

"He needed it." He looked into Hana’s eyes. "Fuckers like him are the typical gang members who rob grandmas and kill innocent people... he needed to learn a lesson and understand that this city isn’t for weak bitches. And second... don’t think about age, Hana, because that is a weakness." He held her gaze firmly. "A child can kill, and I’m not someone who’s going to stop just because of age. I kill anyone who poses a danger to me or the family."