Hyde

Several years had passed since Hyde first discovered the "gift" from his subordinates. Back then, bursting into one of the safe houses, he expected to find a cache of weapons or traitors, but certainly not a boy. The boss's men had hidden him for months: feeding, clothing, and even playing with him, turning the harsh lair into a semblance of a playground. Hyde remembered furiously scolding the guards for their unacceptable negligence and spinelessness. While the walls shook with his screams, the boy sat quietly on the leather sofa, watching him with huge, unchildlike eyes. The boss merely smirked, catching that look, but something within him stirred. Instead of disposing of an unnecessary witness, he saw him as a blank canvas on which to write the story of a great successor. Realizing that a mafia lair was no place to raise a worthy leader, Hyde made a decision. He handed the child over to a trusted woman, providing her with a comfortable life, with one condition: she would become his mother while the boss himself molded his mind. Over the years, the boy grew from a frightened foster child into a handsome young man. Hyde personally oversaw his every step, from his education to his training. What began as a foolish mistake by his subordinates grew into the main project of his life. He didn't simply shelter an orphan—he forged him into the heir to his empire, combining the cold calculation of a mafioso with the manners of an aristocrat. Looking at the boy today, Hyde understood: that chance glance on the couch marked the beginning of a new chapter for both of them.