Three years ago

Cantabria, Spain

Richard

I pour myself a glass of wine and walk towards the full-length window of my suite room. I can see the wide stretch of Cantabrian mountains expanding graciously across the land from here. It looks magnificent.

It's an important day for us. Because we are going to close a deal with the Spanish gun supplying club today. It's one of the most crucial deals that we have this year and we are looking forward to getting through it successfully. We had two meetings before this with the supplier Fernando and today is the last day of finalizing the agreement. Christopher is the one who is going to represent our gang and get the contract done. He has never once failed in any of his deals, and I have full faith that he is going to make it through this too.

It feels like yesterday when I saw him as a little kid for the first time. I still remember the day when my men found him and his brother near a trash barrel. He was two and Oliver was four when they were brought to me. Sophia was of the same age at that time. Her mother had died soon after her birth, and that's when I got to know how difficult it was for a kid to grow up with a single parent. I couldn't even imagine the pain of a child not having either of the parents to look after him.

I had a heart of a father, so I couldn't think of leaving them to suffer there alone. I took Christopher and Oliver with me to my house. It thrilled Sophia extremely to know that she got new friends when I told her about their arrival. Soon they started feeling comfortable around us, living in our house. And as time passed, I got all three of them admitted to the same school. It was clearly evident from the smile that appeared on Sophia's face whenever she saw Christopher that she was very fond of him. They got along with each other very well in a short time and I knew that they were going to be a great duo one day.

As they grew up, I began to notice Christopher's unique behavior. He was indeed special. There was for sure something unusual in his eyes which caught my attention. They held the kind of ferocity that I have never seen in anyone before. The kind which screamed sheer power. The kind which was meant to conquer the world. And it just intensified with time.

His curiosity and hunger to strive for success were something to be appreciated. I still remember the way seven-year-old Christopher would sneak into my car quietly and get to my workplace just to get a glimpse of what I do. I knew at that moment that he would be different. Different from all of us.

It was known to all of us that Oliver was the elder one, however, Christopher showed to be the smarter one. And when he started working with us, he just proved it. Within a few years, he took over everything. Before his arrival Cobra was just another mafia in the states. But Christopher took our business to a different level. He was ruthless and powerful. His brutality made everyone shudder and fall onto his feet. He was soon labeled with the tag of the devil. And he became the face of our gang. The devil of Cobra. The ruler of our kingdom. No one had ever dared to go against us or even cross paths with us after the expanse of his name across the world. People would fear even having the thought of messing with us or more like messing with him cross their minds.

I was always proud of his work and the man he has become. I was happy to see how our business has prospered with his leadership. That's the reason why I wanted him to have my position and become the ultimate boss of our gang.

And I was determined to make it happen. Everything was going fine and according to my will until one day when Christopher brought his friend Leo to work with us. I don't know why, but I just couldn't bring myself to like that guy since he stepped foot into my office. Something didn't feel right about him. Christopher told that he was his close friend. They went to the same business school, and he knew him well and now he wanted to work with us. Christopher told that he was very hardworking and it would surely bring great value to our business if we let him work with us.

I knew I couldn't argue with Christopher so I had to agree with him eventually and hire his friend, but there was something always suspicious about this guy, Leo. It felt like he is hiding something from us. He looked like a man with a hidden agenda, surely not in favor of our business. I would have run a background check for him if Christopher wouldn't have been so persistent about not doubting his dear friend. Christopher had never let himself be close to anyone except for me. But now his new bloomed friendship with Leo is eating me up. It just feels strange to see how much Christopher believes his words blindly. Christopher trusts him way too much, and that scares me.

But I haven't given up. I still have my men behind Leo, and I am sure I'll soon get some substantial evidence against him so I can enlighten Christopher with his real intentions.

I pull back from my thoughts when I hear the front door open.

Christopher walks towards me, and I see the typical look of confidence on his face. I notice he is wearing the dark brown jacket that Sophia gifted him a few days ago.

"Is that for me?" He asks when his eyes fall on the wineglass that I am holding.

I hand the glass to him with a smile and say. "Everything that belongs to me is yours."

"You sound abnormally kind, Richard." He raises his eyebrow playfully at me and questions. "Should I be worried?"

I shake my head and look at him in fake disappointment. "Ahh...I thought I was going to give my daughter into the hands of a brave man. Seems like I had a wrong judgment." I mock him.

Christopher frowns and studies my face. "So it's about tricking me into marrying Sophia." He takes a sip from the glass and says, looking out of the window. "I guess I should be really worried now."

I laugh at his reaction. He then turns towards me and jokes. "You do realize it? You are going to make my life miserable, old man."

"Remind me not to let Sophia know this.." I tell him in a serious tone after a minute.

"Trust me...You wouldn't want to risk doing that." He mocks and I shake my head, knowing that I don't stand a chance to win here.

He then turns again and stares at the mountain range in front of us as he says. "It looks so beautiful."

"You wouldn't say that once you see the blind turns here." I try to reason with humor as I enjoy the view with him.

"Nothing that I can't handle." He scoffs, and I chuckle.

After a minute, I look at him. I clear my throat and ask him with concern. "Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?"

"Richard, I've told you Leo is going to be with me..."

"Why do you trust him so much?" I snap at him instantly in irritation when he takes Leo's name.

"Come on Richard. We had this argument so many times." He sighs in frustration and furrows his eyebrows. "He is my friend. He has been working for us for the last two years. He has done everything to prove his loyalty...."

"But, Christopher..." I protest. But before I can say anything, I am interrupted by a knock on the door. We both turn to look at the door as we know who it could be.

"Come in," Christopher calls and Leo walks in.

"Here comes my buddy." Christopher hugs him as he enters and a big frown appears on my face. Leo smiles and hugs him back. His eyes then turn towards me. The moment he looks at me, his smile fades away. I could see that strange fear in his eyes. He tears his gaze away from me as soon as I give him a dirty glare.

"Richard, I think we need to go. Fernando is calling.." Christopher announces as he takes his phone out of his pocket when it starts ringing.

"Good luck and be careful," I nod and say when he begins to make his way towards the door.

"You know I don't need luck, Richard..." Christopher laughs before going out of the suite. "And the word careful doesn't exist in my dictionary." He turns to say that, and I smile. That's what I like about Christopher. He is always fearless and determined.

I give a last glance to Leo as he leaves behind Christopher. I realize now that there was something weird about his behavior. I know our interactions have always been awkward because of my disliking towards him, but something was definitely off today. He was being extremely quiet, which is unusual. I hope he doesn't mess things up for Christopher.

It would have been just 15 minutes since they went when I get a call from my informer Jimmy.

"Boss, you were right about Leo." I hear him say when I pick up his call. I clench my jaws, already assuming the words that are going to follow next.

"He is a secret agent. He works for a US intelligence agency. I found out that his adopted father was once an undercover, too. When he died, Leo decided to get into his father's shoes. He was aiming to bring down our business for a long time. That's why he befriended Christopher. He knew that Christopher was the heart of our gang, so he planned to infiltrate through our gang by getting close to him." He pauses for a moment to catch his breath. "And he is planning to snitch on us with this deal. He is going to expose us, boss."

I run my hand through my hair in frustration. "Fuck! Send me his history immediately." I say before dropping the call. I stare at the phone screen, thinking about the fucking destruction that Leo could lead us. I knew that something was wrong with him from the start. I should have been more cautious about him.

The moment I receive all the information from Jimmy, I stand still in a state of shock. I can't believe this. I immediately dial Christopher's number. His life is at risk. We need to call off the deal right now.

I pace around the room with anxiety taking over me as Christopher doesn't respond to my call. I know he would be driving to Fernando's place, that's why he isn't picking up. On the third final ring, he picks up my phone, and I let out a sigh of relief when I hear his voice.

"Richard?"

"Christopher, listen to me. Leo.."

"Richard, this is not the time.." He tries to cut me off like every time but I don't let him.

"Just fucking listen to me, Christopher. Leo is an undercover agent." I scream, losing my patience.

"What? Are you out of your mind?"

"You have to fucking believe this. I am sending you the details. Just fucking do as I say, okay?" I order and then forward him the information that Jimmy sent me. When I am halfway through sending him the details, I hear Christopher angrily cursing.

"What the fuck? You fucking bastard!" He yells furiously and I know who he is directing it towards. Fuck! How can I forget that Leo is with him? I need to stop him before he does something stupid.

"Christopher, listen to me..." I call him but he doesn't reply. I hear a loud screech of the car with the noise of Christopher getting in a fight with Leo in the background, and then the call goes blank. What the fuck? I was dreading that something like this would happen. What should I do now? Without wasting a second, I call Christopher again, but he doesn't pick it up. What the hell is going on? I need to get to them before everything gets fucking ruined.

I then get to Paul's name in the contacts and hit the call icon. This was meant to be a private deal, so it was just me, Paul, Christopher, and Leo who traveled here to Cantabria. I pace around the room as I wait for him. He is the only one who could help me at this moment. Paul's suite is just a floor below mine, so it didn't take him long to get to my room.

"We need to head out." I declare as soon as he gets to my room.

"What is it, Richard?" He asks in confusion when he sees my perplexed expression.

"Just fucking follow me. I'll tell you everything." I tell him as I walk out.

I tell Paul everything as I speed through the hills. Paul is tracking Christopher's location. And I feel the knot of apprehension grow bigger and bigger with every second as we head closer to the location.

I frown when Paul says that we reached the destination, while I could just see the dead-end cliff in front of me. I look around in confusion, and then my eyes grow wide when the realization hits me like a truck. I hurry out of the car and get to the dead-end. When I look down the cliff, I couldn't believe my eyes. I swallow harshly and stumble back a step when I see Christopher's car crashed down the side of the hill.

We hurry immediately and manage to get down the mountain using another route. The place where Christopher's car fell is pretty deserted, as I see no signs of existence anywhere near it. There is a deafening kind of silence around us as we walk down the path between the trees. My heart is thumping wildly when we reach near the car. It looks worse than I imagined. From the shape of the car, I could let my mind imagine the disaster that I am going to witness. Despite the fact present in front of me, I silently hope for my thoughts to be proved wrong.

Paul silently asks me the permission and I signal him to proceed. I watch him as he opens the door and gets Leo out of the car. He then reaches to the driver's seat and carries Christopher out of it. Both of them are badly hurt. I close my eyes and hold my breath when Paul advances to check their breathings.

"Richard, he is dead," Paul says in a dejected tone, and I snap my eyes open to see who he is talking about. I pray it to be Leo, but when I see Paul bend down next to Christopher, my heart almost stops beating.

"Christopher is dead. What are we supposed to now?" He repeats, and I stare at him in horror.

"No...this can't be possible. Christopher can't die. He fucking can't die." I take a step back and whisper to myself. I could still picture his smiling face as he left my suite room. It was just moments ago when he assured me that everything was going to be fine. No. This is not true. I know this is just a fucking bad dream. Christopher can't die. He can't fucking leave us in the middle. All my hard work and suffering can't go in vain like this. He was meant to be the mafia boss. He was meant to take our business to the new heights of success. He was the face of Cobra. It was Christopher who led us to stand out from the crowd in the business. How would Cobra survive without him? He was our fucking reputation. He fucking can't do this to us.

What about Sophia? What would I tell her now? She would surely lose her sanity if she gets to know that Christopher is dead. What about our members? What would I tell his men when they'll me ask about him? No. Without him, our gang would shatter down to pieces. Without him, our kingdom would burn down to ashes. I can't afford to let that damage happen. I can't let them all suffer. I need to do something.

"Richard?" I hear Paul take my name, but I am too disturbed to answer him.

"Richard?"

"Richard...he is alive." I turn this time and look at him. "Leo is alive. What do we do now?"

Leo is alive. His words ring in my head like an alarm. I look down at Leo and then look at Christopher's body.

"We need to get him to the hospital," I tell him. "Wait, first switch their clothes."

"What? Why?" he asks in confusion.

"Fucking shut up and do as I say," I command him angrily.

He does as I say and then I tell him to put Christopher's body back in the car. He then looks at me with a frown on his face and questions.

"What are you thinking of doing?"

I take out my lighter and then look at Leo, who is lying there in Christopher's clothes now. I then turn to look at Christopher's car and strike it. "Paul, listen to me. I have a plan."

Present

Christopher

I stumble back, feeling the ground slipping from my feet as I look at the picture that Richard is showing me. It's a picture of Leo and Christopher together. Both of them are around the same height and build. Anyone could easily confuse them for being brothers. I could now recognize that the guy that I had been seeing in my visuals since the night of the accident was none other than Leo. Richard then pulls back his phone and does something on it before throwing it out of the window. I am too stunned to react or process his actions as I try to wrap my head around the information that I have discovered just now. Suddenly I feel like all the air has been sucked out of my lungs. I gasp and try to get the support of the wall beside me.

I want to speak, but nothing comes out of my mouth. It feels like I am unable to find my voice. My head feels too heavy after listening to his narration. Richard was right. This truth is more than what I expected. It's too much to handle.

After a moment, when I finally manage to get my voice out of my throat, I ask Richard. "If Christopher died in that accident...then...then who am I?"

He doesn't answer, but the sick smile on his face clears my doubt and conveys everything to me.

"No...No..." I repeat in disbelief. I feel doomed. It seems like the worst catastrophe has hit me.

"Yes, what you are thinking is exactly what it is. You are Leo. The undercover agent that I was talking about." Richard takes out another cigarette and places it in between his lips. "I don't even know if it's your real name." He shrugs and looks at me.

I stare at him in shock when he continues to speak. "It was actually difficult to get the face transplant. But look at you. The doctor really did a good job." He laughs, saying so as if what he just said isn't any big thing. "The surgery and voice lift went pretty expensive, but I knew if we succeeded then it would be worth it. We almost got close to what I desired and the things that we couldn't achieve with the surgery were blamed on the outcome of the accident." Richard focuses his vision on me this time and speaks. "The moment I learned about your amnesia, I knew no one could ever stop me from succeeding in my plan. And you getting into a coma soon after it proved to be a cherry on the top. It bought me plenty of time to plan my next action and destroy all shreds of evidence."

"Soon the news that Leo died in that accident was spread across. And people thought Christopher just escaped from the spot. Everyone believed it because Christopher's body which was recovered from the car was pretty ruined." I gaze at him, looking devastated as he finishes. He lets out an evil chuckle and then proceeds. "You never had a family, so no one really cared to investigate. Your team carried out your funeral and went behind some other high-profile case." He takes a drag and then looks at me. "And just like that, you were forgotten.

"You are fucking sick?" I bark angrily when he finishes. I shake my head in complete bewilderment and look back at him. "How could you do this to me? How could you do this to Christopher?"

"Fucking answer me, Richard?" I demand as my vision blurs with pure rage.

He looks at me and smiles. But in the blink of a second, it turns into an ugly scowl. "You were right. My daughter was always my priority." I frown when I don't understand where he is going with this. He shakes his head and then shoots me a dirty glare. It feels like the Richard standing before me is completely different from the one I've seen always. I could clearly see hatred in his eyes. "After all that I did for her, you treated her like some fucking rag? That's the reason why I did that. What I did on Tuesday was to show you your place."

"But you see, my business is more important to me. It comes even before my daughter. If I would have wanted to kill you, I could have done it long before. But I wanted you alive. I wanted you to run this empire. I wanted you to retain our status in the business. To continue Christopher's legacy. To carry on what Christopher has built." He looks at me and says. "I knew you could do it. That's why when you woke up, I made you believe me. Just like my plan was. And when you killed Oliver, I thought you could be like Christopher, but I don't know what happened later." He looks out of the window, thinking about something, and then turns to me again. "You were just lost. I didn't see that fire in you again."

"I can't believe it. You fucking did this all?" I ask him in disbelief before he can start speaking again. I then curl my fists and spit on his face. "You know what? I am going to fucking expose you. You are going to pay for what you did."

"What do you think? Who is gonna believe you? You don't have any evidence against me." He shakes his head with an evil smirk and says. "You don't even remember anything. No one would believe you. You have nowhere to run. You are stuck here with us for the rest of your life."

I try to process his words, and it hits me hard that he is right. I don't even fucking remember anything. How would I prove it? What am I supposed to tell anyone to make them believe me? I immediately close my eyes and try to recollect my memories. But I could see nothing except for the ugly darkness that's enveloping my life at this moment. I clench my jaws and snap my eyes open when I hear the sound of Richard's disgusting laughter.

"Tsk...tsk...haven't you figured it out yet? Why is it taking so long for you to regain your memories?" He says, taking up a fake pity tone and then laughs. "It was all a part of my plan."

I move a step back in a jolt, with a feeling of getting struck by lightning. "Fuck...you...you.. mean all those medical checkups and appointments were a lie?" I stutter, feeling terrified.

He nods at me, and that's when I lose my fucking patience and march onto him. I grab his collar angrily. "You selfish bastard! You fucking used me? You fucking manipulated me for your own purpose?"

"Didn't you do the same thing with Christopher? Didn't you use his friendship? He thought you were his friend. He trusted you. And what you did to him? You fucking betrayed him. You are the reason for his death. You killed him." He looks into my eyes and says coldly. "In a way, you had to compensate for our loss."

I waver my eyes over his face and leave his collar when I realize what he said. No...that's not possible. Christopher died because of me and now I am carrying his face. I take a step back and touch my face with my shivering fingers.

"I told you that you were better off without knowing the truth. Now whenever you'll see your face, it will remind you of your deeds." Richard denotes straightening up, and I look back at him. And what he says next literally wrenches my heart to bleed. "Now you have to live with this guilt for the rest of your life. The guilt of having the face of a friend that you betrayed."