Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Chapter 374 - Death Sentence

"We have got a mole and let me get rid of it right away." Jared held his hand out and his secretary handed him a gun. The man checked the bullets and removed the safety, while he started to walk towards his men, with slow and lazy steps. It was as though he was the predator who had successfully caught his prey in his trap. 

"How dare you even think of betraying me and escape unscathed?" The man's voice was deadly calm now and this was not a good indication for the men around him. Even Maggie was filled with trepidation and her hands were shaking slightly. However, she tried to put up a brave front in front of him.

'I should not give away to him myself. What if I am not the one he is talking about?' Maggie pondered and stuck to her usual self, cold and indifferent. Even though there was no expression on her face, only she knew how she was feeling right now. However, that was not the case with some men in the group. They were visibly nervous and many had even broken out into a cold sweat. 

Jared observed everybody's face and an evil smirk made its way on his face. "Let's play a game, shall we?" He blinked at them innocently and smiled at everyone as though he was asking them to play poker. Everybody knew that whatever the man had in mind was not good for them. However, they had no option other than to remain silent. Objection was not a choice for them and acceptance only meant inviting their impending doom fast.

"Why isn't anybody thrilled? I am in the mood to play a game with you guys." Jared uttered, his eyes gazing at his gun. "What do you people say? Shall we start?" Jared rose his face and stared at the men, his expression turning serious all of a sudden.

Maggie took a glance at the man who was sitting on the chair and immediately after, her eyes narrowed. Even though she could not see his face clearly, she found him to be familiar. 'Why do I find him familiar? Where have I seen him? Lift up your head. Lift up your head, old man.' She thought and the next second, as if feeling someone's strong gaze on him, the man lifted his head and turned in her direction.

Startled at being caught, Maggie averted her eyes instantly, even before the man could catch her in the act. Her breath quickened and her heart started to pound loudly in fear. Now, she did not have to courage to take a peek at him lest he should be looking at her. "I hope he did not notice me staring at him. Please. Please. Please." She muttered under her breath and the man standing beside her turned to her, hearing her mumble. 

However, Maggie had other issues to take care of instead of worrying about the man's questioning gaze. There was the crazy man who wanted a play a game out of nowhere and there was this Godfather who she found to be unbelievably familiar. But she could not put a name to him or even recognize him clearly.

"Let me explain the rules to you." Jared's voice brought her out of the stupor and Maggie shivered in her place. "I will point to a random person and that person has a choice of taking up the challenge or not. He can refuse, I don't mind." His words shocked everyone and Jared chuckled lightly, seeing their stunned expressions. "I am not as bad as I look or you deem me to be. I am a kind-hearted soul. I will not feel bad if you are not ready to accept the challenge."

'Kind-hearted soul, my ass.' Maggie pushed her spectacles up and rolled her eyes at the man's choice of words. 'If he is kind-hearted, then I am the President of America.'

"The game is simple." Jared continued. "Do you see the gun in my hand?" The man held his weapon out, swung it across his fingers, and emptied it, leaving only one bullet inside. "As you all can see, there is only one bullet here. The person I point out to must shoot himself, here." He pointed the gun at the right side of his forehead. "And, if you are successful at escaping the bullet in the first try, you are free to go. I'll not kill you, not today at least. I promise."

Jared smiled all of a sudden and chills ran down everybody's spine. "How does the game sound? Interesting, right? Now," He clapped his hands loudly and shouted, "Shall we start the game? Who shall I call first?" Jared ran his eyes across the room trying to find his prey.

'There is something here. I am sure the man has a plan. He cannot be this cool. He must have something in mind. But what?' Maggie wondered and folded her hands, trying to comprehend what the man was planning. 'It is not his character to allow someone to leave just like that.'

Unexpectedly, her eyes fell on the gun in Jared's hand and she saw him fill the cartridge sneakily. 'Oh my Lord.' Her jaw dropped. 'He is not giving an option at all. He is giving the death sentence. He is only playing with us.' Anger surged through her body and she had the intense urge to kill the man right away, but she knew she could do nothing. She was helpless. The man held the power here and she had to abide by his rules if she had to stay alive.

"Any volunteers?" The man threw a question at them and the men started to look at each other. "No one? Let me choose then. You," Jared pointed at the man who was standing at the back, and he called him by his finger. "You will be first."

Maggie turned to see who it was and she was not surprised on seeing him. She knew who the man was. He worked for a rival gang and he was here to send information to his people. Maggie had known about him long ago. But had hidden it from Jared as it was not something that concerned her. Also, she had wished the rival gang to take action so that at least some of the members of the Vipers would be killed if a fight between the two gangs broke out. 'Who knew he would get caught this soon?' She sighed, pitying the man in her heart.

The man whom Jared had pointed at dropped to his knees immediately. "Master, I am sorry. I am sorry. Please forgive me, Master. I will not betray you once again. Please forgive me this one time, Master." He begged, tears running down his cheeks. He looked as pitiful as ever and Jared clicked his tongue, while everybody in the room was dumbstruck by his sudden confession. They stared back and forth between Jared and the man.

"Tch, tch, tch. Who asked you if you have betrayed me or not?" Jared shook his head as though he was reprimanding a child for his mistake. "We are just going to play a game. As I said, you may walk away if the bullet does not hit your forehead at the first shot." A small smile made its way on his face. "But if you are that scared, you can decline taking up the challenge. I won't mind."

Maggie's eyes narrowed subtly and she titled her head in confusion. 'What am I missing here? Jared sure is not a person to allow the man to walk away freely. What will he do?'

"Then," The man stood up making Jared raise his eyebrows in amusement. "I will not take up the challenge. I do not want to play the game."

"Uh oh. Too bad. I wanted to play this game with you. It would have been fun. But, that's okay. Now, you are free." Jared spoke and out of nowhere, a gunshot resonated in the room, terrifying everyone. With widened eyes, they looked around to see what had happened only to see the man, who had rejected to play with Jared, now lying dead, with a bullet in his head. Everything happened in a split second, that even Maggie could not cope up with it.

"Oops, my bad. Didn't I tell you? You can decide to not accept the challenge. But it is up to me to accept your decision." Jared stated and blew at the muzzle.

Everybody now understood what the man was doing. He was not giving them any choice at all. It was either they kill themselves or die in the hands of Jared. There was no other option other than to play the game. Everybody could now only hope for them to be lucky and not be chosen. And even if chosen, they wanted to evade the bullet. Only, Maggie knew that there was no chance of escape. Jared had already decided everybody's fates even before the game had started.

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