A father’s story

My name is Adam, and I still remember with heartbreaking clarity what happened on that fateful day when I lost absolutely everything.

(Gulp... gulp... gulp...)

In the blink of an eye, I lost my beloved wife, my son, and even my own reputation.

"Ahhh!"

Everything I had built with years of effort vanished into thin air without me being able to understand the cause.

"Hic..."

Devastated, broken inside, and left without a single answer, I sought refuge at the bottom of alcohol glasses to try to escape my own misery.

"I think you've had enough, pal..."

I think it was precisely at the moment I made that cowardly decision when everything began to spiral downhill at a terrifying speed.

"I'm... ju-just fine... Let me... drink..."

From then on, consumed by a destructive and sullen attitude, I ruined every single one of my personal relationships, was fired from my job, and ended up investing the very last cent I had left into cheap bottles.

"...Whatever you say."

I had hit absolute rock bottom.

"...Hic... I don't need your pitying eyes. Go... go look somewhere else. Screw all of you..."

But as I held a dirty glass between my trembling hands and wondered if it wouldn't be better to end my agony once and for all right there, drowned at the bar of that dive...

"Excuse me, are you Adam?"

That was when that voice echoed, with a tone entirely too clean, almost surgical for the filth of the place.

"A... Y... So... Is that me?"

Raising my gaze with my vision blurred by ethanol, I found the silhouette of a mysterious man impeccably dressed in a black suit standing before me.

"..."

The man's neutral expression didn't shift as he adjusted his tie with a contemptuous calm.

"We would like to hire you for an important opportunity."

At that moment, I still remember how his words echoed in my drunken head like a sick joke.

"How stupid. Hand... hand that over here. There's still... still one drink left..."

I immediately assumed it was one of those cheap scams designed to strip the desperate of their last belongings.

(Bang!!)

And in my horrible state, reeking of sweat and stale liquor, I lashed out directly against him.

"Do you think I'm stupid?! Get the hell out of my face, you bastard!"

I just wanted him to leave me alone so I could continue my meticulous process of self-destruction.

"Well, why don't you listen to what I have to say for a moment?"

Despite that, the man didn't back down a single millimeter.

"Didn't you hear me?! Get lost!"

Instead, he leaned forward slightly, lowering his tone of voice until it became a sharp whisper, driving me out of my mind.

"Even if what I have to say involves your wife?"

But it was only when I heard those words...

(BAAMM!!)

...That I exploded against him.

"What the hell do you know?!"

Upon hearing that forbidden word, the accumulated rage exploded inside my chest. I sent the empty bottles rolling across the table and lunged at him, slamming the wood before grabbing him tightly by the lapel of his suit to demand an explanation.

"Mr. Adam..."

The man didn't even blink.

"I know many things that you do not know, and for your own good, it would be extremely wise if you let go of my clothes."

Instead, his gaze remained as cold and devoid of life as a corpse's.

"Who the hell do you think...?!?"

And it was only at that exact moment when I felt a cold, metallic pressure pushing directly against my stomach.

"?!?"

Only looking down did I realize he was holding a high-caliber handgun pressed against my body...

"Do you wish to continue...?"

A surge of icy panic shot up my spine, and I immediately let go of him, stepping back clumsily.

"Much better."

Only then did the fog of alcohol begin to clear enough for me to notice how unsettling and bizarre the situation around us actually was.

"Now, I think you should listen carefully to what I have to say, but I want you to know one thing first..."

Although the bar was usually packed with noisy drinkers at this hour, it was now mysteriously almost empty, and the few patrons remaining in the corners looked like statues made of flesh, motionless and plunged into a deathly silence.

"Once you know the truth, there will be no turning back."

I knew perfectly well that this was dangerous, that stepping into his words meant crossing a line from which I could never return, but the desperation inside me was infinitely greater than fear.

"Tell me your story..."

If listening to this man would allow me to find out what on earth changed in my wife, or why life turned against me in this manner, then I was more than willing to sign a pact with the devil himself... After all, I had absolutely nothing left to lose.