The night grew more profound as the light from cars in the street faded to black. Standing in front of a glass wall with a glass of wine, a man watched the night activity unfold before his eyes as though he was a judge. He swirled the wine glass and savored the delicious scent. He did it several times before taking a small sip, holding it in his mouth for a moment then the liquid went down to his throat. His forehead frowned, not liking the taste of the supposed expensive wine.
"Hah, cheap stuff." He gave a dry chuckle. He shifted his brown eyes to the bottle of wine on the table near him. He eyed the bottle, silently cursing the one who sent it to him; his eyes lacked warmth. "That useless prick wanted my help yet couldn't even give a proper gift."
The man moved closer to the round table in his living room. He pulled out his phone and instantly dialed his secretary's number. Before the second ring, he heard his secretary's voice.
"Yes, Mr. Ford?"
She must have been sleeping before I called, he mused. "Reject Oliver's offer, release his file to the media. We don't need him anymore." Then, after Arthur Ford had finished his sentence, he abruptly hung up the phone without giving his secretary the opportunity to respond.
He clicked his tongue in displeasure. "How dare he, a mere dog, threaten me…." Arthur then pours the rest of the wine into the sink. He watched as the liquid vanished in no time, and that was what would happen to Oliver. Arthur would eradicate Oliver's career path, so instead of being a good politician, he would end up rotten in prison.
Arthur marched to his bedroom on the left side of the living room. He went to his large bed, lifted the cover, and slipped in. His eyelash withered, ready to lose himself to sleep. Nothing could make him sleep in peace other than knowing his enemies would meet their demise soon, and he would be the one who brought doom to the sweet castle they fought so hard to protect.
***
While carrying a cup of coffee, Arthur made his way over to the parking lot. Occasionally he checked the iron watch on his wrist. He still had time before the annoying woman named Marcella Williams came again to his office with another unreasonable demand. Thinking about that only made him dizzy.
A gust of soft wind passed him as the view of a woman's back entered his vision. He halted his step, recognizing the woman from the day before. He noticed she was a beautiful woman; she had pair of brown eyes like him, full pink lips, and uneven short hair, which he thought was the product of an attempt to cut it on her own. In addition, he observed that she had a mole on her nose, which he thought was rather endearing. A small smile escaped from his lips as he realized how in a short time, he managed to catch most of her features. He shook his head, then continued to walk towards his car.
Arthur opened his car in slow motion while still watching the brown-eyed woman. He sensed her discomfort from his current position, which was only two cars away. He caught her taking a plastic bag from her car, and then not long after, she vomited. He saw her face lose color; she looked like she would faint in a second. Arthur's legs worked faster than his brain, and suddenly he was only three steps away from her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, can you move, please?"
The woman replied come faster and harsher. His brows elevated at her question. "Are you sure? It seems like you need a hand."
"No, just go, please. I'm okay. Just go, and I'll be okay."
A deep frown was visible on Arthur's face. He looked at the woman again to ensure he didn't hear her wrong.
"Okay." He uttered, then took a step back to his car. He looked over his shoulder for the last time and left the woman alone.
***
"Good morning, Mr. Ford."
Arthur nodded, acknowledging all his employees who greeted him. Then, he strode to his private elevator with confident steps. Behind him was his secretary, Belle Hills. She followed his big steps without having difficulty.
"So, what happened to Oliver? Did he lose his career yet?" he asked casually as if he wasn't just talking about someone else's misfortune.
"Reporters have started to camp in front of his house, and in thirty minutes, CAC will hold a press conference to inform the public that they have started investigating Oliver's involvement in the embezzlement of public funds. Viktor Reed's side made their press release early this morning that they had no relation to the case and are willing to work with CAC throughout the investigation." Belle briefed Arthur without taking a break in between. She knew that her boss liked everything to be done faster and more efficiently. "With the evidence you provide them, Oliver won't have a chance to dream about coming back to the scene. You cut his career path when he was about to get reelection. Now he is going to rot in prison."
Arthur's mouth twisted into a cruel grin at that thought. He loved it when he began his work with a piece of news that stated his enemy was falling from grace. Although Oliver was only a small fish who happened to get caught in a messy scheme, he still felt thrilled over it. "Oliver should have leashed his greed with a gold chain. He wanted too much but gave too little. After all, we are businessmen. No one wants to be on losing ends."
"Don't you feel afraid they will come after you, Sir?" Belle asked with concern. She had known Arthur for more than ten years, yet this man had never shown his fears. Instead, he played with high-ranking officials like he was playing with kids.
"They can try," he talked back like it was nothing.
Arthur and Belle entered the CEO room together. While Belle was still standing, Arthur had positioned himself on his chair. "Forget about them. What about Marcella Williams? What did she want this time?" He asked, at the same time gesturing for Belle to sit.
"Nothing new, Sir. She still wanted us to increase the security in her apartment and demanded that we give her another bodyguard."
"For what? Based on the threat check we did last week, it's clear as water that she didn't need any of those." He appeared disinterested and leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Miss Williams claimed her stalker had gone overboard. She said that someone broke into her apartment two days ago and left her a bucket of roses."
"CCTV? Alarm?"
"We found nothing, Sir. There was no sign of forced entry when our team checked it."
"It's either she is making it all, or the one who broke into her apartment has access to it." Silence fell into the room for a whole two minutes as Arthur seemed to be thinking hard. "Explain to Miss Williams our protocol and what kind of service we can provide her based on her situation. Then, have someone trail her whenever she goes and report to me if anything is amiss. For now, that shall do."
"Yes, Sir."
"You can go, and please let Dion know I want his report before nine in the evening."
After hearing the low thud sound from the door, Arthur stood and stepped onto the left side of the table. He scanned his fingerprints and the secret door opened in an instant. He took in the scenery, which included a number of pictures he had hung. The majority of them were marked with an X, and only two had clear images with big smiles. "Soon." He uttered under his breath. He could imagine how beautiful it would be to step on the two people. He would destroy them into nothingness, watch them suffer, and he would enjoy every second of it. "Revenge is really sweet."
***
A loud laughter from a woman echoed through the room, and Arthur's expression instantly turned sour. He glared at the source of an annoying noise on his laptop, but instead of stopping, the woman only laughed even louder.
"You need sex, brother. Look at you, always grumpy over nothing." The woman on the other side spoke full of amusement.
"You don't have to mind about my sex life, Ariel. You need to do a better job of tending to Mother." He fires back at his sister. His eyes landed on the older woman besides his sister. Vivian Ford, his mother, smiled softly while looking at his face. Arthur's gaze softened, and he gave his mother the best smile he could muster. "I'll see both of you in two weeks. Until then, please take care of your health, Mom."
"You should tell that to yourself, son. You look like you've lost weight since the last time we saw each other."
"And you also looked older, brother." His sister added.
Vivian's tender voice had a calming effect on him. Like always, his mother could calm the raging fire in his heart. On the other hand, Ariel's voice mostly gave him a headache. His sister enjoyed jabbing at him at every chance she got. However, he did not have a choice but to love her. His mother and his younger sister were all he got. They were the reason for every success he had. They were his anchor; he would never feel lost as long as they existed in this rotten world.
A bib sound broke Arthur's moment with his family. He saw Dion standing in front of his door from the computer on his right. He noticed the clockwork pointing at eight. Arthur was surprised because Dion made it in time. He released his breath. "I'm sorry, but I have to talk with Dion. I'll see you both soon. I love you." And like that, they ended their communication.
Arthur walked to his front door, opened it for Dion, and let the man to his apartment. "I thought you'd be late."
"You asked me before nine, Ford."
Arthur did not respond, he led the way to his study, and Dion trailed behind him.
"You can start." He demanded as soon he sat on his chair.
"You won't even give me a glass of water?" Dion remarked. He eyed the man with a mischievous grin. Yet Arthur didn't grant him the response he wanted. "You are no fun." He scoffed.
"You know I could fire you, right?"
"I have enough money to last till I die, Ford." Dion shoots back carelessly.
"Just give me the damn report!"
"Easy there, big man." Dion laughed for a second. Then his face changed to serious. "No one had called nor visited Oliver. Everyone had given up on him, so it's safe to conclude that he is dead meat."
"Even Victor?"
"Especially him. Oliver's demise won't have much impact on him. After all, the only one with the biggest probability of becoming the governor is Evan Clark. And that man is still his people."
"That sly man jumped ship as fast as the wind blows. Pay attention to Evan. Make sure he won't make any mistakes; we need him on this chessboard."
"Okay, so now, can you give me a glass of water? Or Ariel's phone number would do."
"Shut up." He barked and threw any book he could get to Dion.
Arthur despised Dion's behavior so much. Except during important talks, he always wanted to strangle Dion's neck, and he would laugh as Dion fought against him. One day he believed he would act on it.
"Go home, Dion."
"Aye, big man." He saluted with a mocking smile, "Please tell Ariel that I miss her." What he said made him receive a dagger from Arthur's eyes.
After Dion left him alone, Arthur leaned back while closing his eyes. He could see that his future would change greatly in no time. Arthur kneaded his sore neck. Today was hard like usual, and here he was, in a big apartment alone. Loneliness started to invade him like a storm. He missed the rush of adrenaline when he was in the loving arms of a woman. It had been too long since then. If his memory didn't fail him, then it was twelve years ago when he had his last girlfriend, and the last time he had sex was around five years ago with Belle.
Arthur realized that he was too focused on his family and his revenge plan to the point that forming a normal relationship slipped out of his mind.
"Ah, maybe Ariel was right. I need sex."