"You shouldn't have called me, Malcolm? I shouldn't be seen with you." The disappointment on his face was visible, and Malcolm felt insulted that the damn lawyer was looking down on him. However, he could only swallow his displeasure and bite the humble pie. He was the one in need after all.
"I need your help to get out of this place. They have nothing on me, anyway." Malcolm declared confidently, taking the trip to the police cell as a walk in the park. He knew he'd get over it and deal with the culprit soon enough, or so he thought.
"You know I shouldn't be doing this with you. Iris wouldn't be pleased." The lawyer added in frustration.
"Since when did you start thinking about what Iris feels? Get me the fuck out of here, man." Malcolm was losing his mind at the lawyer's antics.
"Everything is so messed up, Malcolm. You say they have nothing on you?" The lawyer asked to be sure that Malcolm didn't mess up somehow. He wouldn't even be here if not for fear of what Malcolm might do if he ignored him.
"Okay. Let me see what I can do." The lawyer took a few minutes to understand why they were holding Malcolm. However, he felt like the whole world was against him after learning of Malcolm's charges. He couldn't understand how he got so entangled with someone as clueless as Malcolm Miller.
"Malcolm Miller!" He barked in a suppressed growl. "How the fuck did you allow them to draw your blood?" Lawyer Mendez was speechless at the young man's foolishness.
"What… what do you mean?" Malcolm stuttered, unsure of when he allowed anyone to draw his blood. He searched his memory for a while, only to widen his eyes like they would fall out of their sockets.
"Spit it out." Lawyer Mendez thought the officers forcefully took his samples when he was arrested. 'That should be enough to have the case dropped altogether.' He sighed wearily.
"I… I woke up in the hospital this morning." Malcolm spoke in a low voice, making both him and the doctor curse their luck.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Lawyer Mendez was speechless. He felt like punching Malcolm in the face. Maybe the rest of his teeth would fall off then.
When Malcolm fell face-down during his arrest, his upper front teeth broke a little, but he didn't notice.
"I passed out after the video yesterday. I mean... Didn't really pass out. I fell asleep, but they took me to the hospital. They thought I passed out." Malcolm reasoned incoherently, wondering why he shot himself in the foot instead of implicating Iris.
"Malcolm Miller, you are so impossible. You were even high when you made that video? How stupid can you be?" The lawyer's words silenced Malcolm, and he had a dreadful feeling crawling up his whole body.
"Mendez…" Malcolm trailed off when the lawyer asked him to hold on, while he checked a notification on his work phone.
"Oh, the bitch didn't!" Lawyer Mendez slumped onto his chair, eyes glued to his phone screen.
"What happened? Is iris dead?" Malcolm spewed carelessly, and Lawyer Mendez stared at him with a murderous gaze.
Noticing his slip-up, Malcolm clammed up immediately.
"You want to know what happened? The bitch just fired my ass. That's what happened." As Attorney Mendez said this, he reached for his bag, but Malcolm didn't notice because he saw red.
"What! Iris… she's not dead?"
Caught in his world of denial, lawyer Mendezz rushed out of the cell without any further words.
==============
Sitting in the backseat of a Rolls Royce, Iris found her vehicle sandwiched between two other cars filled with bodyguards.
Unconsciously, her mind went to Tyler's pampering over the past days, and the naughty things they did since morning. She couldn't believe she was bold enough to do all that and still had the courage to look at his face.
Iris' face was as red as a tomato, as she blushed at the thought of the many surprises Tyler Harper gave her in just a few hours of knowing him.
Her eyes then went down to her finger, and she trailed her right index finger to the ring resting on the left.
"I guess you're my consolation in this lifetime, Tyler Harper." Her heart was filled with joy, but the apprehension couldn't be hidden either.
Iris blinked herself out of her thoughts, as she observed the road after the driver took a turn onto a more lonely road.
The outskirts of Corprean Hills were a stark contrast to the magnificent city life filled with towering skyscrapers and beautiful streets littered with nothing but luxury.
This place looked uninhabited, with numerous abandoned and dilapidated buildings that looked like they could crumble at any moment.
The guards were wondering what the boss' woman was doing at a place like this. They felt that if she wanted something done here, she could easily order them without necessarily joining them in such a place.
If a single scratch formed on Iris' body, they could easily lose their heads.
"Take a right turn here." Iris directed. Soon, they reached a point where the cars couldn't continue any further. The road ahead was too bad to maneuver. To top it all off, it was also narrow.
"Madam, please tell us what you want. We'll get it for you. The car can't go any further." The driver spoke in a solemn tone as he watched Iris unbuckle her seat belt, ready to get down from the vehicle.
"No worries. I'm looking for someone. Tell the others to wait here. Would let you know when I need you." She responded while rushing out of the car scared out of her wits about being a tad too late. She could feel that there was trouble.
The driver had his heart in his mouth as he fixed his gaze on the dilapidated building, which looked like a single push from someone could cause it to collapse.
They could even hear screams and silent whimpers of people in there. The driver couldn't stop her, so he could only text the boss.
As soon as Iris stepped down, her bodyguard, who was in the shotgun seat, followed her, with the other ten awaiting his orders.
"Told you I'll find you, Cyrina. I must confess, I like your mom. She'll serve my men well, don't you think?" A scrawny guy with a ghastly scar on his cheeks spoke eerily.
Standing dazed at the side, unable to comprehend how her family was discovered in a place like this, was Cyrina. She thought they hid well enough. Alas, she was wrong.
"Get your fucking hands off my mother." She rushed toward her mother, who was pinned down by three hoodlums, groping and teasing her.
As she ran forward, her world spun when a hard kick landed on her stomach, and she vomited the sandwich she had just eaten.
"I'll take care of you later. For now, you can only watch as your mother serves my men. They've done a good job finding this place. All of them must have a taste of the woman who made the boss go crazy."
Cyrina was hysterical, but try as she may, she couldn't get up. Breathing was even a chore at the moment. "Please, spare my mom. Do whatever you want with me." She pleaded in a trembling voice.
Meanwhile, her mother kept trying to get out of their hold, as she was gagged and pinned to the ground. She couldn't watch her daughter get ruined by these savages, yet she was powerless against them.
"Please…" Cyrina begged further.
"Don't worry, my darling. You would be the icing on the cake. I promise." The scrawny guy added, but she didn't care.
However, he bent down to her level and whispered eerily, "There's a good price on your head in the market, you know."
At those words, Cyrina's body went stiff, and she ceased all forms of struggle.
'Maybe it's my punishment for being such a useless child.' Cyrina mused in dejection. She already knew God had abandoned her family long ago. If not, problem after problem wouldn't have befallen them.
"I wouldn't touch her if I were you."