1 The Deathly Gamble

A cacophony of bone-chilling police sirens sounded wildly in the city of Paris.

Red and blue lights were reflected in every building, the streets which were usually full of lively crowds of people of all kinds were nowhere to be seen at this time, only the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in this breathtaking megalopolis.

Seth pressed the gas pedal so hard he could feel it digging into the metal.

"Not enough," He said solemnly.

The engine roared the loudest it has ever done, he bought this sports car solely for situations like this, yet the police were still glued to his behind as nothing happened.

Feeling an increasing amount of despair, Seth couldn't help but recall all the moments that lead to his predicament while smiling bitterly.

......

Seth is the most successful human trafficker in the world, those who only dabble in the business for a short while hear his name mentioned every time, he managed to revive an almost dead practice by taking the riskiest gambles throughout his life, he founded an underground megacorporation that dealt with human trafficking on a global scale which somehow went under the radar of legal enforcers for 20 years, this kind of luck is simply unheard of, some veteran underground businessmen attribute this huge success to Seth's unscrupulous and calm demeanor, while others conjured conspiracies of him being in cahoots with public figures in charge of law enforcement.

The truth of the matter is, Seth was in cahoots with all the rulers of the current leading superpowers!

It would be foolish to think that this impossible achievement would be done with excellent interpersonal skills or a hefty sum of money, Seth relied on an innate skill he acquired strangely since his birth, Eye contact hypnosis!

Yes, it was obvious from the name what this skill's function was, it could subconsciously influence the thought process of a person to the hypnotizer's whims. But it could not fully control their actions, its extent was to only guide the victim towards certain ideas.

Since discovering this innate talent during a strange incident, Seth has progressed from influencing the grocery store shopkeeper to sell him buckets of candies for free to managing a multi-billion dollar human trafficking business with absolutely no setbacks.

But one day, fate decided to play a cruel joke on him.

During a normal afternoon after returning from a grueling morning of management, Seth was in his luxurious Paris located apartment in the kitchen preparing his favorite alcohol cocktail to relieve some of his work stress, his 75-inch television was broadcasting the latest news and stock market fluctuations.

"And now for the breaking news of today: President Rogan Deli was found dead in his mansion, the 53-year-old United States president was reported to have been murdered brutally from a single knife wound to his neck.." The news reporter said with his robotic, professional tone.

Seth's hands which were in the process of cutting the rind of a lemon suddenly stopped all action, he looked towards his television with his usual soft smile gone.

"We have with us President Rogan Deli's wife, Maria Hawthorn's testimony on the matter." The screen transitioned to a middle-aged woman's face, her face seemed paler than a fresh lychee at this time, eyes red with dried-up tears, she shakily held the microphone near her mouth to talk:

"M-My husband didn't deserve this horrible f-fate, h-he was a kind man who doted on his family and only want-ted the best for America..." Her light southern accent and stutters were heard clearly at this moment. She began the process of honoring her husband and telling a sugar-coated story of his life before he was elected.

"Stop beating around the bush, woman!" Seth said with a heavy frown, he was displeased with her inane ramblings and wanted to hear the valuable information.

"...After I entered the mansion, I called out for Rogan like I usually do to let him know I'm home, but he didn't respond. He was always at his bed at this time so I assumed he just went to sleep earlier than usual, but when I entered his room I-I saw his c-corpse.." Maria's tears suddenly burst intensely like a river breaking through a dam. The person filming her tried to calm her down which took effect after a while.

"H-He was lying on the carpet, h-his bloody hand on the floor was pointing towards the drawer which was very close to him, when I-I looked over I-I noticed a word that spelt: Seth Prada," Maria said with a confused and slightly frustrated tone.

"What...!!" Seth's pupils shrunk to pin needles size, he couldn't believe what he had just heard, why was his name in the drawer? He only interacted with this president a few times to hypnotize him.

"Damn it! It seems I was framed by some bastards who are out for me! Who could it be? Is it those damn geezers in the underground that hold a grudge against me? How the hell did they manage to do something as bold as killing the president?" Seth pinched the bridge of his nose tightly, his pale eyes becoming increasingly cold with murderous intent.

"Hahaha, Good! Good! I let my guard down for so long that some lowly dogs decided to target me this time. I don't know how you did this clown trick but I swear when I escape this predicament to wipe your existence from the face of this earth!" Seth regained his smile, but this time it wasn't the trained smile that facilitated interaction with others, but a vicious smile full of malicious intent.

You can't be the head of a megacorporation involving human trafficking and have a soft-hearted personality at the same time. Seth's ruthless behavior and cold mindset also allowed him to reach his position comfortably, from scheming the downfall of other competitor businesses to cutting the tongue and hands of every employee that decides to quit his organization, Seth has done it all.

This incident just now represents a deadly danger to him. By being the prime suspect of the murder of a president, he will be prone to extremely in-depth investigation soon which will inevitably reveal his human trafficking background, and at the same time by avoiding the investigation requests of law enforcers, he will give the impression of being the perpetrator of this crime, it's a lose-lose situation no matter what, so he decided to escape first, prioritizing his life is the most important at the moment.

....

Seth noticed the gas in his car close to being empty.

"This is getting worse and worse by the second" His heart sank, at this rate, he will get caught within minutes by the police cars chasing him, his face is getting uglier with each passing time.

He looked over to see ahead a river bridge a hundred meters above water, it spanned the length of five hundred meters. Seth realized at this time the ultimatum presented in front of him.

Jump or get caught.

"This might be the last gamble I ever take." He said while smiling bitterly, his eyes were already showing determination, he would rather choose death than be locked behind bars for life, that was the kind of person Seth was.

He held the steering wheel tightly then went straight into the guardrail!

It broke like nothing, at extreme speeds exceeding 250 km/h, a flimsy guard rail wouldn't even hope to stop a bicycle.

Seth hurriedly jumped out of the car, he immediately assumed a free fall position as he was trained to do in skydiving classes.

The strong airwaves blew his jet black hair away, he could only stare solemnly at the increasingly big blue scenery as he approached it head-on.

His heart was beating wildly, his palms were sweating bullets, his mind was blank as the idea of possible death was agonizing.

Suddenly, Seth's eyes showed complicated feelings, then he slowly closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

The river was more shallow than he expected.