Qindom Empire,
Inside the massive and elegant office, two men in suits were seen sitting on the couch with an exasperated look on their faces. Ashton and Ethan were not happy with the result of their investigation. A week had passed, but they still didn't manage to get the answer they were looking for, the real mastermind behind the scheme to harm Mia.
They long know about the people who were involved and paid to get involved in the scheme.
The two men from the elevator, Mia's two friends who invited her to the party and drugged her, a group of gigolo who were waiting for Mia in the hotel room and paparazzi who would come to the hotel to make a scandal out of Mia's situation, by saying that Mia was involved in improper activities with male prostitutes. They have discovered all of them.
The only problem now was, they hadn't found the main perpetrator who planned all this, and that did not sit well with them.
All these people were contacted by the same person, but they couldn't find that said person!
Ethan, with the help of the police, have questioned the two men who were beaten up in the elevator, but they were only the delivery men who were tasked to bring Mia into the hotel room, and both of the men do not know anything more than that.
"How are you handling Mia's so-called friends?" Ashton asked Ethan.
"Well, since they're the one who drugged Mia, so we gave them drugs too," Ethan replied with a smirk.
Was it cruel? No. Ethan didn't do anything more than that. They just simply gave back what the girls gave to Mia, but ten times more. Since they drugged Mia with an aphrodisiac, Ethan just paid back with the same thing. That's all.
The people that he tasked to do it didn't do anything else. They only follow Ethan's orders to lure the girls, gave them drugs, and release them. What happened next was not up to them.
Ethan and Ashton were furious with what they had done to Mia, but they weren't heartless. They both still know how to respect women's honor. They only make the girls tasted their own medicine.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Enough said.
Ashton was thinking long and hard about Mia's incident.
The target was Mia, and they used Mia's friends to lure Mia into the trap. Their plan is to destroy Mia's reputation and spread a scandal. The question was, who and why?
Mia was a sweet and cheerful girl. Ashton doubted she made any enemy out of anybody. She did make friends with some fake people, but they didn't have the money and power to make people do their bidding.
Therefore, he came to the conclusion that someone powerful with money wanted to harm his family and their company reputation through Mia, and that made his heart boiled with anger.
"Do you have any idea who it might be?" Ethan asked.
"At this point, no. There's too many people who want the Qins' and Qindom Empire to crumble. They can't harm me, so they make Mia the target."
"We need to tighten the security around Mia and your other family members until we get the mastermind," Ethan said.
"What do you think about Phoenix Li? Mia seems fond of her." After thinking for a while, Ethan asked Ashton his opinion about Mia's newest friend.
Ashton pondered for a while towards the girl that she observed the other night, "It's hard to say. She doesn't seem like she had an ill intention towards Mia. But her personality is a little…. weird," said Ashton.
That was what Phoenix seemed like in Ashton's eyes. She was aloof and rigid and seemed like she was detached from the outside world. Her eyes were emotionless, but there was something mysterious behind it that sparked Ashton's curiosity.
"Tch, so what if she seems weird? Mia's friends before look normal, but they have a rotten heart," Ethan said with a scowled on his face, remembering those wretched girls who almost ruined Mia.
"Look can be deceiving," Ethan added.
Ashton looked at Ethan and considered what he said, 'It's true. Phoenix Li looks reserved and aloof all the time, doesn't really mean she had a sinister personality,' Ashton silently agreed.
Before they could continue their conversation further, someone knocked on the door and barged into Ashton's office.
*knock
*knock
"Brother! Eh? Brother Ethan, you're here too?" Mia skipped towards the couch and sat next to Ethan.
Ethan gave Mia a pleasant smile, "I have some things to discuss with Ashton. Why did you come here, Mia?"
"She obviously came to see me and not you," Ashton said with a scorn thrown towards Ethan.
Ethan rolled his eyes, hearing what Ashton said.
Mia giggles at seeing her two brothers. What a blessing to have two brothers who fight over her.
"I was missing both of my brothers. I did come to see Brother Ashton, but I plan to go to your office later Brother Ethan, but the universe seems to take pity on me and grace me with your presence here, too." Mia exaggerated.
Both of the men look at her and snigger.
"What? You don't believe your cute little sister?" Mia pouted, feigning innocence.
"Yeah. Yeah. We believe you," Ethan said. They both couldn't help themselves but to give in to her antics.
Mia gave them a bright smile, but fixed a gaze on Ashton with her sparkling eyes.
"Brother, have you assigned someone to help Phoenix with her house situation?"
"No. I haven't. Why?" Asked Ashton, furrowing his eyebrows, while looked at Mia sceptically.
"Can you let me handle it?" Mia looked at Ashton with hopeful eyes. This was what she had been planning to ask from her brother since the dinner.
"You are not a real estate agent, Mia." Ashton creased his forehead with Mia's request.
"I know I'm not a real estate agent." Mia rolled her eyes, "But I have a super duper awesome and handsome brother who can help me with that, right? You can give me the list of available houses and I'll take Phoenix to view them all." Mia sucked up to Ashton, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Why do you want to do this?" Ashton asked.
"I want to get close and be friends with Phoenix," Mia said with a beaming smile.
"Why are you so eager to be friends with Ms Li?" asked Ethan.
"Why not? She is my saviour. It's unfortunate that she is a woman. If it was a man, I'd fall for him. You know, like a princess who falls for her knight and shining armour." Mia squealed and giggled at her imagination.
Ashton and Ethan were not amused by her answer. They had the same thought in their minds, 'Luckily, Phoenix is a girl.'
"So, can you let me handle it, brother?" Mia asked, holding her brother's hand and wriggling it side to side like a kid asking for candies.
"Fine. I will arrange everything, you only need to take Ms Li to view the houses for her to choose."
"Thank you, brother." Mia jumped and hugged Ashton.
Happiness was contagious. Ethan and Ashton could not help but smile at seeing the happiness on Mia's face. It's not hard to fulfill her request. It wasn't like she was asking for impossible things, even if she were, both brothers would do their best to achieve it.
This was especially true for Ethan, remembering the calamity that befall on their family that still haunted them till this day. But that was a story for another time.