"Bro, it's been two weeks since anyone saw Stella." Cerim stood in front of Mou's desk with a dark face.
Mou tapped the desk with thought, after learning that Stella was actually a woman he kept media leaks to a minimum, making sure that any guests couldn't expose the information to the public.
Why? He assumed that the Bei family must have been looking for her. It just didn't make sense to him for Stella to be disguising herself, unless she didn't want to be found. Since the Bei family was interested in the male Stella... He thought it must have been connected.
His eyes darkened, what he didn't expect was Stella to fall off the face of the earth. After Tracy contacted Cerim asking where she was, it started to ring some alarm bells for him.
Stella was like a ghost, only appearing when she felt like it. If she wanted to be seen, then she would. But if she wanted to hide... Then you wouldn't find her.
But it didn't add up to what she just did to the Fude family. Mou was certain that she wasn't done just yet, after all. He noticed that Stella exposed herself before revealing her gender to her family by taking some commercials. It just didn't make sense to him.
"Mmm, there has been no activity in her apartment right?" Mou wanted to find out some clues, anything to help him find Stella.
Cerim shook his head. "Nothing, we can't access the CCTV for the area and since we had no one following her... *Sigh* The only suggestion Eun has recommended is to break down the door. But that doesn't make sense all of itself." Cerim mumbled to himself, he was racking his brains about Stella's disappearance.
"Have you used our underground forces?" Mou asked, although he already knew the answer.
"Yes, all that came up was that Stella's assistant was eating with another woman the same night of the wedding, after a short time they both left. They seemed to be in a rush." Cerim reported the little information they had.
Mou moved his hand over his mouth. Was the assistant the key? But if Stella took the effort to hire her then she mustn't have been a threat to her...
'Unless the assistant was from the Bei family?' That was the only conclusion Mou could come to. He rubbed his forehead with his palm as he looked up to Cerim.
"Investigate the two women, they are our only lead for now. Make sure to not take an aggressive stance, we don't know their allegiance yet. Also... How is that other matter going?" Mou moved on to the next topic...
*Sigh* "Both grandmother and grandfather are putting up the pressure, the rumor around the socialites is that they are getting impatient and what at least some news about you being with a woman..." Cerim replied while scratching the back of his head.
Mou nodded, it was no surprise that his grandparents are trying to matchmake for him. After all, since he controls such a large business empire he would need an heir. Also when rumors started circulating about the possibilities of him being gay or being unable to have children... Those can affect the business worse than it should.
"Stay quiet for now, I don't think it is hard to guess who I care about most right now." Mou responded, knowing that Cerim would struggle about lying to their grandparents...
Cerim gulped, the questioning methods their grandmother could devise... Were truly frightening. "All right." He meekly replied, he might need to go on holiday for a few months.
...............
***THIS NEXT PART MIGHT BE TOO EXTREME FOR SOME READERS. BEWARE OF SOME HEARTBREAKING AND CRUEL SCENES AHEAD.***
***WHILE THIS WON'T BE ANYTHING CURRENT, THIS EXPLAINS STELLA'S PAST READERS ARE ADVISED.***
"Of course I will mummy!" A large grin appeared on a cute looking child.
"Thank you, darling this will help both me and your daddy... Don't worry, it will be done quickly." A woman appeared, her smile warm... But not reaching her cold and calculative eyes.
It's done Campbell, whatever you want to do is up to you." Her voice turned frighteningly cold, as her smile turned malicious.
"I understand, you also want the results am I correct?" An emotionless male voice came into the picture, the man seemed to be wearing a lab coat...
"Daddy?" The little girl was now scared, she didn't know her daddy could be so scary...
"Hit her with the anesthetics, I want everything, Campbell. Including brain activity." The woman's sinister smile came into the young girl's view.
"Oh, so that is your plan Winoa. Controlling our child to take over your family... I always knew this marriage was a good idea." Campbell looked at his daughter, his eyes missing all emotions.
The scene went dark, as the little girl opened her eyes again, all she saw was a bright white room...
"What is your name?" The little girl heard a woman's voice.
"... Stella." The little girl responded, her reaction time extremely slow.
"Mmm, The test was a failure, crank up the electric current running through her cerebellum." The male voice from before...
"Ahhhhhh!" It was horrifying, the screams of a young girl filled the white room, but no one reacted. Not even blinking...
The scene went dark again. As the white room came into light again. The little girl was left sitting in the corner.
"Have you finished the questions?" That cold woman's voice appeared again.
"Yes mother." The little girl replied, as her eyes looked down to the completed sheet.
The woman picked up the piece of paper, she looked down at the little girl... "Well done. Campbell, put in Stella's dinner for the day." Her voice seemed to be pleased...
As the woman was walking out she put another piece of paper on the table beside the door, "Finish these and you will be rewarded." She walked out, as a small pocket in the white wall opened, and a small plate of fruits and nuts fell on the floor.
The little girls' eyes were completely lifeless. As she used her boney arms to push herself up, she mechanically walked towards the piece of paper, she then picked up the plate of fruits and nuts.
Only to crack the nuts, she used the shells to answer the questions. While peeling away the skin of the apple to help her answer the questions.
"How was it this time?" The man's emotionless voice asked from outside the room.
"The subject answered every question perfectly, taking 3 minutes and 27 seconds." The man's assistant reported.
"Hmm, aim to get that time down to under 3 minutes, strengthen the drugs in her drink." The man sat down and started to type on his computer.
"But sir... Wouldn't that give the subject too much freedom of thought? Improving its intellect might give it a chance to rebel." The assistant worried out loud.
The man stopped for a second. "Mmm, your right, place double the dosage in the drink, start teaching the subject languages, and give out more rewards." The man started to type on the computer again...