Love at First Night: The Billionaire's First Love-Chapter 76: Milton Miller - The shadow

> Milton Miller

There were only two names in the underground that could freeze a room just by being spoken.

Segreev Archeval, the Mad Demon.

And Venzrich Archeval, the Bane.

They came from the same bloodline. A family raised on violence, whispered about like a curse in the cartel. If you worked long enough in the underground, you were bound to hear those names even once. And if you were unlucky enough, you would meet them.

I was unlucky.

Or maybe lucky, depending on how you looked at it. After all, It was a great pleasure for someone like me to even be breathing the same air and same space at them.

I served one of them. Venzrich Archeval. Not just as a subordinate, but as his right hand man. His shadow.

There was only one reason someone like me was needed at his side.

Venzrich Archeval had a flaw.

A single weakness that kept him from surpassing even his grandfather.

He refused to kill women.

"Living life as a woman is already torture cruel enough," he would say, every time it came up.

I had seen him after a fight, standing still while wiping the blood off his hands with careful movements, like he was cleaning dirt instead of human life. His eyes were always empty. Not angry. Not excited. Just plain tired.

I had seen many killers in the underground.

Men who smiled while killing. Those person who cried after.

Men who lost their minds completely and those who take pleasure after them.

Venzrich was none of them.

He didn’t kill because he liked it.

He didn’t kill because he hated it either.

He killed because it’s something needed to be done.

And he never missed.

Not once.

My job was simple.

I followed behind him and finished the women he refused to kill.

_______

"Let’s see," I said, flipping through the information Kaizer gave us. "Based on this, the gang inside this building tried to take over part of our business. They’re connected to—"

I didn’t get to finish.

The Young Boss, newly seated at the top back then, walked past me and headed straight for the building.

"It doesn’t matter," Venzrich said, his voice flat. "Loose ends grow fangs when you let them."

He didn’t wait for my response.

The building looked ordinary. Old brick walls. Flickering lights. The kind of place criminals liked to hide in because no one cared enough to check.

The door creaked open.

A man inside turned around, his eyes widening. Pulling a gun from his side in instinct.

"Who are y—"

His sentence ended with a loud crack.

Venzrich grabbed the man’s head and slammed it into the wall with one clean motion. The impact echoed through the hallway. The body dropped to the floor like a broken doll. Blood spattered across the floor.

Venzrich looked down at his blood-stained hand, then at me. His eyes held the same tired look as always.

"Let’s make this quick."

And quick it was.

The building turned into chaos.

Shouts echoed through the halls. Footsteps rushed toward us. Weapons were drawn, but it didn’t matter.

Venzrich moved like a storm.

He dodged blades, caught fists, twisted arms. Bones cracked. Bodies flew into walls, tables, and doors. Every movement was sharp and precise. He was like a storm that descended upon that place.

He worked in pure efficiency.

I followed behind him, gun ready, finishing off those he left alive. The floor became slick. The air felt heavy.

Less than an hour later, silence filled the building.

Bodies covered the floor.

If someone told me he had done it all barehanded, I would doubt it.But I witnessed everything with my own eyes.

_______

"Just what did the world do to you," a woman’s voice asked, shaking, "to turn you into something like this?"

I froze.

I turned toward the sound.

A woman lying with him on the floor, her hand trembling but gripping her weapon. The knife pressed against the young boss’s throat.

She had black hair that fell past her shoulders. Sharp green eyes filled with tears and anger. Even in that place, surrounded by death, she was striking.

"If my baby were alive," she continued, her voice breaking, "she would be your age. Do you think she would grow up to see a world this cruel?"

Venzrich didn’t move. He just looked at her.

"Hey!" I shouted, raising my gun. "Let him go."

I pressed the cold metal of the gun against the back of her head. My finger tightened on the trigger.

She didn’t flinch.

"Why not?" he replied coldly. "There’s already enough violence in this world for her to witness."

"You’re right." she sighed, instantly stopping her tears.

"What a pain," the woman muttered.

Then, without warning, she dropped the knife. It hit the floor with a sharp clang. She raised both hands.

"Take me with you," she said casually. "You’ll get more use out of me alive."

I blinked.

"Why didn’t you kill me?" Venzrich asked.

She snorted. "Do I look stupid? I knew you could snap my neck in a second if you wanted to."

I frowned. "Boss, I’ll finish her."

I raised my gun again preparing to pull the trigger but Venzrich lifted his hand.

"No," he said. "We can use her."

The woman smiled and winked at me. "See? I can be a great double agent."

She walked past me, following Venzrich as if nothing had happened.

"Come on, child," she said cheerfully. "Loosen up!"

Their voices faded down the hallway.

I stood there, stunned.

I never thought I’d see something like that. Why he tolerated her that day? I’m not sure.

What I’m sure is that it never crossed my mind that one year later, I would be standing in front of her corpse.

_____

She lay motionless.

In front of her clasping her body was Venzrich Archeval, in front of him was a gun.

She was the first woman he ever killed.

The woman who in just a single year, he treated like a mother.

"Why must you make me do this?" he cried but no tears was coming out of his eyes. He was only staring at the void.

________

"This has nothing to do with her," he said later, his back turned to me. "I can’t even remember what she looked like anymore."

He walked away.

The rooftop door closed behind him.

What an obvious lie.

If it was true, why hadn’t he returned to that place in ten years?

I sighed.

"That’s fine," I muttered. "I’m sure that man already has a plan."

Right, just like he did that day.