Chapter Six
Nicholas Marino—Director of Operations at Kock Merchant Bank—was a man of layers. To the world, he was brilliant, composed, and elite. But very few knew the truth: Nicholas changed his identity whenever necessary for survival. He wasn't just an operations director. He was also a ghost, a chameleon. And once, he had been something far more dangerous—a hitman.
In high school and university, Nicholas was the student everyone envied—top of his class, charming, well-spoken, with a face that drew admiration and envy in equal measure. But beneath that polished surface was a volatile temper and a hunger for something the ordinary world couldn't satisfy.
That was when he met Sandra.
She was radiant, mysterious, and deeply drawn to Nicholas. What he didn't know was that Sandra was the only daughter of Pastor Maxwell King, a revered—and feared—spiritual leader. His church was a fortress of influence, attracting politicians, celebrities, and elite power players from across the country. People whispered that the pastor could make things happen "in the spirit." Whether that was superstition or truth was up for debate, but what couldn't be denied was that no one with the right senses dared to cross him.
Why Sandra kept her father's identity hidden from Nicholas remained her secret.
Everything changed the night of the Casino Theater Fire.
It was one of the city's favorite spots, always packed with young couples and thrill-seekers. That night, a much-hyped romantic epic was showing. The theater was full. Just twenty minutes into the movie, flames burst from the ceiling. Chaos erupted. Screams echoed through the halls as people scrambled for exits.
Sandra and Nicholas barely made it out with minor injuries. Others weren't so lucky. Lives were lost. The tragedy dominated the news cycle for days.
When Pastor Maxwell learned his daughter had been at the theater—with a young man he'd never met—his rage was cold and calculating. Sandra promised her father she would cut off all ties with Nicholas. And like many spiritual leaders, Pastor Maxwell claimed divine credit for his daughter's survival.
"I saw it in a dream," he said, looking her in the eyes. "I prayed. My god heard me. That's why you're alive today."
Two months after the fire, Sandra made a confession that shifted the entire narrative.
"The scars on my face," she told her father, "they're from Nicholas."
But she didn't tell him the full truth—that those scratches came after she confronted Nicholas over a kiss she witnessed between him and another girl. A fight had broken out between her and the other woman. Nicholas got caught in the middle.
Pastor Maxwell didn't need more details. He made a few phone calls. And Nicholas's life began to unravel.
First came the ambush. A group of boys attacked him on campus. The official story? Nicholas had started the fight. The school moved quickly. He was rusticated.
His world spiraled.
Isolated and confused, Nicholas turned to the only friend he trusted—Antonio.
To his surprise, Antonio wasn't fazed. After hearing Nicholas's story, he simply said, "Don't stress about it. I'll talk to my dad."
Nicholas was stunned. Who was this guy? Antonio had always been easy-going, seemingly ordinary. But something didn't add up. And two days later, the mystery deepened.
Two of the boys who had attacked him showed up, apologized, and returned his missing wristwatch.
The next day, the school informed Nicholas that a committee had been set up to review his case. Within hours, they called again: he had been exonerated and was free to resume his studies.
Nicholas stood still for a long time after that call. "What the hell is going on?" he muttered to no one.
He found his answer when he visited Antonio's father to thank him.
That day changed everything.
Nicholas was admitted into the circle of the establishment's nonconformists—a covert brotherhood operating beneath society's surface, pulling strings where the law dared not reach. The unseen powers who made their own rules, solving problems not through justice, but through control.
From that moment, Nicholas was untouchable—not because he stopped getting into trouble, but because he had solutions at his fingertips.
He became an asset to the brotherhood.
Let's call it what it truly was: a criminal elite syndicate.
Nicholas, the last son of Sir Anthony Marino, a decorated World War II veteran, had once been groomed to follow in his father's footsteps—to join the army. He had learned to handle weapons from a young age, trained under the sharp eye of a soldier who believed in honor and discipline.
But life had a different plan.
Nicholas didn't become a soldier. He became an assassin.
A ghost in the system, tied to one of the most dreaded families in the United States.
After his last operation—one that nearly killed him—Nicholas found himself questioning everything. Sitting alone in a hotel room, blood drying on his sleeves, he stared at the floor and asked the question echoing inside his soul:
"How did a first-class graduate in Economics end up becoming a hangman?"
Only he could answer.
In his search for clarity, he replayed the details of the last mission.
He had received coded instructions from his handler. The target: Rocket, a drug kingpin, and his six-man gang. The operation was clean on paper: drug the victims with a lethal white powder, then electrocute them to make the deaths look like an overdose gone wrong.
Everything went according to plan—until it didn't.
As they wired the camp with electric current, something triggered an unexpected countdown.
A time bomb.
Unknown to the team, Rocket's camp had been booby-trapped. The electric surge activated the timer.
One of Nicholas's assistants tried to defuse the bomb. Nicholas didn't wait. He ran. Fast.
The explosion blasted him a few yards away. He blacked out.
When he regained consciousness, dirt in his mouth, blood on his shirt, he lay silent under the fading smoke. Alive. Barely.
And for the first time in years, Nicholas Marino felt fear.
Not fear of death. But fear that he had lost himself entirely.
He didn't belong in this world anymore. Not with a Bachelor's in Economics. Not with a Master's in Business Management. Not with the soul of a man who once believed in a future with integrity.
He had gone too far. But could he ever return?
That was the question.
And somewhere deep inside, Nicholas knew the answer would change everything.