Empire of Vendetta

Beginning of a New Life

Alia stressed that Lilith needed to keep her true identity hidden from the rest of the team. She said that the team was well aware that Lilith was from the wrong side of the law but they were not aware of the fact that she was an assassin and she wanted to keep it that way. 

"Here you go," Summer, the cute IT genius said as she handed Lilith a new driver's licence and passport.  "You look too young so it wouldn't be believable to make you older than 22. And since your age is too young, we also could not give you too many experiences so we went with new uni graduate."

Lilith took the papers from Summer and went through them. According to her new specs, her name was Lilith Winters, a twenty one year old law graduate who was applying for the internship program.

"I thought Valerio needed a senior assistant though? I doubt a new graduate is what he's looking for," Lilith noted.

"You're right, but he won't reject someone who was recommended by his dear teacher, Hamish Macintosh." 

"His teacher? And how exactly are you planning to get someone he knows and trusts to go against him?" 

"Judge Hamish Macintosh is a good acquaintance of mine," Alia spoke from her seat at the end of the table. "He won't reject my request, especially if he knows it's for justice." 

Lilith had doubts, especially since she never made such rash decisions and since she was so used to working alone. She was raised to trust no one yet the people before her were choosing to trust someone simply because they were acquaintances. However, she decided to keep her doubts to herself. She was after all, planning to jump ship the moment she got close enough to Carlos Otero. And in order to do that, she needed to spend a few months with his son. 

"And if it doesn't work?" Lilith questioned, curious if they had another plan. 

Alia gave her a look that told her she was confident, "It will work." 

Lilith pressed her lips together but did not say anything further. 

"You have your interview tomorrow," Summer began as she handed Lilith another piece of paper. "Here are the interview questions along with the most desirable answers. Study them." 

Lilith wanted to ask how she had access to those questions but she then remembered that the girl before her was the most skilled hacked in the country and her question was answered. 

"Don't worry too much though," Alia began, as she skimmed through the questions herself. "The management team will be interviewing you and they're not very intimidating humans. There's no way you will fail as long as you learn these answers." 

Lilith nodded in response before she went over the questions. There was a total of twenty questions but apparently only five of them were going to be asked in the interview. They were pretty basic questions but the answers were very exaggerated. For example, a question as simple as "Why did you pick our firm?" had an answer as long as a paragraph in an essay. A simple, "It's the best firm in the country," didn't suffice apparently. 

Aside from going through the questions though, Lilith also made it her mission to learn her new life story. She did not want to leave any room for mistakes so she read through her new life story and then turned it into her new life. 

As an assassin, she was familiar with taking on new roles. Although she had not killed anyone while she was Fen Luo's disciple, she was still used as his accessory in his own missions. As a result, she had mastered the role of identity fraud and could switch between multiple identities in seconds. Learning a new role, especially one as basic as Lilith Winters, was not a difficult task for her. 

And luckily for her, she had an excellent memory so it did not take too long for her to memorise all the answers. She managed to get a good night's sleep before her big day. 

"How did you go with the questions?" Summer asked the next morning as she picked Lilith up from her new apartment, provided by the agency. 

"Fine." 

"Any trouble?" the panic filled IT genius asked. She had severe anxiety and knew that if she were ever in such a position, she would faint from the panic. "Do you want to have a test run with me?" 

"No, I'm fine." 

Summer looked like she had more to say but Lilith's lack of enthusiasm made her shrink back in her seat. The rest of the ride went by quietly. 

"You are not going to your interview dressed like that," was the first thing Alia said the moment she saw her newest agent. 

Lilith was dressed in a comfortable pair of mom jeans, a white shirt and boots. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun, making her look more like she was going on a first date to the park than to a job interview. But while wearing her outfit on, she had not expected to wear them to the job interview anyway. She had dressed in her most normal - that is, non leather - outfit with the intention of changing into whatever Alia had provided her. She didn't have a single piece of clothing that looked interview suitable, or work suitable for that matter. 

"Follow me," Alia said before she headlined towards her office. As Lilith had expected, Alia already had a few outfits prepared for her in her office. 

"Pick one," she said as she pointed to three different outfit combinations. "I personally think this one is most suitable but I'm not sure how you'll feel wearing a skirt."

Alia pulled out a while silk blouse and navy blue skirt combo and handed it to Lilith. Lilith looked it over once and shrugged her shoulders, letting Alia know she was fine with it. It was true that she wasn't entirely used to wearing skirts, in fact, she had know recollection of ever wearing one in her life, however, she was very comfortable in her own skin and had no issue with wearing one. 

She wore the outfit and much to her surprised, she actually looked like a proper lady. Her personal outfits consisted entirely of leather jackets, black and white shirts, jeans and boots and she had never actually tried on dresses or skirts of even remotely more feminine clothes. Not to mention, she had grown up surrounded by only men so her personality was also more tomboyish. She felt strange seeing herself look so feminine but at the same time, she was impressed by her own appearance. She was quite attractive and her body line was very pretty. 

"You look great!" Alia complimented before she handed her a pair of navy heels. Lilith took it from her and Alia's eyes widened as if just realising something very important.  "You have walked in heels before, right?" 

She sounded like she already knew the answer but there was still a tinge of hope in her voice.

"No," Lilith responded, confirming what Alia already knew. Alia sighed and told Lilith to wear it on and walk around the room until she got the hang of it. 

It was uncomfortable but Lilith was not a fan of letting the world see her weaknesses so she held her head up high and did as she was told until she was able to walk as if she was walking barefoot. Luckily for Alia, Lilith was a fast learner and she had practiced walking stealthily so it did not take long for her to figure out how to walk in them at all. 

"Great," Alia grinned before a look of seriousness filled her face. "We will give you a mini mic and listening device in case of any emergency. If you forget any of the answers, don't panic, we will help you out. Also, the management committee that will interview you consist of Mark Andrews, Alexandra Michelson and Gabriela Gomez. They are not lawyers themselves but they are a fundamental part of the firm. Aside from looking at how you answer the questions, they'll also look at behaviour. So you need to be friendly and nice." 

"She means you should smile in the interview," Summer piped in, once the boss had finished talking. 

Lilith's eyes trailed away from the two woman, doubt seeping through her mind once again. Lilith could not remember the last time she had laughed or even smiled. Even when she had graduated from being Master Fen Luo's disciple, she had felt happiness but she still did not let out a smile. She was sure her cheeks were stiff from the lack of muscle action. So how would she smile now? Did it not require practice? How did people just smile at each other and was it possible to master the art of smiling? 

"What's wrong?" Alia asked, seeing the inner turmoil in Lilith's eyes. 

Lilith's eyes trailed back from the floor to meet her boss and with a look of embarrassment she asked, "How do I smile?" 

Summer's mouth dropped and Alia uttered an exotic sounding "f**k" before she began teaching the young girl before her something she did not think she would ever need to teach anyone in her life: how to smile. 

An hour had gone by with smiling lessons and soon enough, Lilith had got it. 

"The eyes look dead but it's better than nothing," Alia stated as Lilith mimicked what she had been shown. 

"Maybe we should get her a cat," Summer suddenly said, making Lilith's smile drop. Her stiff cheeks were beginning to feel soft.

"A cat?" 

"Yeh, maybe if you get a pet that you love, you'll learn to smile genuinely." 

The logic sort of made sense but also didn't. However, Lilith didn't bother questioning it. 

"It's time to go," Alia said. "Your interview is soon." 

Lilith nodded before the three piled into the car. 

"Also, I'm not sure if I told you this yet," Alia began once they started driving, "but you only have thirty eight days to complete the mission." 

"What?" Lilith's mouth dropped. Alia had most definitely not told her something like that before. 

"Carlos Otero was involved in a r**e and murder case," she began, "but the statute of limitations for that crime will end in thirty eight days." 

That was news to Lilith. Of course she knew about the r**e case since her father was involved and it was the reason why she was on this mission in the first place, however, she was not aware that there was a statute of limitation on the case. 

"Of course, you can continue with your mission once the thirty eight days are up, but we would only be able to charge him for the civil crimes after that point." 

Alia gave Lilith a pointed look and it was at that moment that Lilith realised that Alia actually knew about her true identity and past. It was also why she was specifically chosen for the mission. She wanted to confront her about it, but she did not want Summer to be involved in her affairs as well. One person knowing that much information about her already made her uncomfortable enough. 

"And we're here," Alia said as she handed Lilith two tiny devices, a mic which she dropped into her front pocket and a small earring device which Lilith placed gently into her ear and let her hair cover it up. "From now on, you and I will not have any direct contact with one another unless it is absolutely essential. We will keep in contact through Summer who will be acting as your neighbour and close friend. It is important that you keep us updated on everything that has happened, no matter how small or big." 

Alia stopped speaking for a second as Lilith prepared to exit the car. 

"Good luck, Lilith," she said once Lilith had jumped out of the car. "This is the beginning of your new life."