At this moment, there were indeed two thugs chasing him from behind, and also a black BMW car that joined the chase from the right side of the road. He had been running for over a hundred meters, and Kenan still couldn't stop even though he wanted to. His clothes that fluttered in the night breeze had been ruined, and his bangs fell over his forehead. Nonetheless, his running did not falter, as he was still escaping the pursuit of the two big men. Kenan pulled out the cell phone in his pocket.
A call from someone on the other side, and Kenan was just about to speak when he stopped. In front of him stood two men in plainclothes like the two earlier, their eyes looking straight at him. The person receiving Kenan's call repeated the word 'hello?' several times before Kenan dropped the call and put his cell phone back in his pants pocket.
There were now four large, fierce-looking men standing in front and behind her. They looked to be trained in martial arts. One of them spoke. "Kenny, come with us now!"
Kenan was silent, but that didn't mean he was afraid. Now, he knew who the person ordering them was. Soon a voice came from behind him. "Move!"
Without any rebellion, Kenan finally followed them and got into the car, he knew who was behind these people. In connection with that, one thing he didn't know; why that person wanted to meet in a way that was more appropriate to be called a kidnapping like this.
Kenan was restrained by two large men while being dragged into a room. His attention was caught by someone waiting for him inside with his back to them. His tall body stood in front of a glass window staring out. The man was wearing a black suit, about thirty-five years old. The black mane that covered his forehead did not detract from the maturity in every line of his handsome face.
Kenan squinted his eyes silently at the man's figure when he felt a dark aura burning from his hair to his toes.
"Have you arrived?"
Contrary to the dark aura emanating from within him, the voice he issued could be said to be very calm. The man turned away as he stared at Kenan like a predator, his eyeballs not even moving an inch as he walked closer to the man.
"What do you mean by all this, Markus?" Kenan hissed not liking the way the man he called Markus was treating him. If Markus wanted to see him, then Kenan would have gone to him without using this kind of method.
Markus smiled faintly. A smile that held a thousand dangers behind it. When he saw Kenan rebel again between the grips of two big men, he said casually. "I'll let you go, as long as you become a tame cat." Markus extended his right hand to lift Kenan's chin to look up at him, but the man stubbornly turned his face to the side. Markus sighed softly before finally saying, "Let him go!"
In unison, the two guards released Kenan. The strength from the hands of the two thugs gripping Kenan's arm was immediately gone. He sneered angrily at the two men-who were now gone from his side, apart from the man in front of him who was still staring intensely. In this quiet situation, Kenan let his mind wander deeper into what made Markus want to meet him in this rude manner.
"Sit down!" Markus spoke again, his voice more somber.
At the same time, Kenan immediately sat down on the only desk chair other than an executive chair that was located in front of him and blocked by a wooden table.
"So, are you done having fun?" asked Markus emphatically, sitting down in the chair.
Kenan furrowed his brow at being asked a question he didn't understand at all. "What do you mean?" He asked back with his tone raised an octave.
Markus smiled scornfully. "Are you acting stupid or pretending not to know?"
Kenan was surprised because he didn't understand more. Markus got up from his chair, he took some papers and bank accounts from the drawer. Markus then circled the table, placing the sheets of paper roughly on the table in front of Kenan as an answer to his question. Markus couldn't resist throwing a sly smile full of scorn at the silent room that only the two of them were in.
"You embezzled my money!" he accused.
Those three words were like a bucket of ice water poured on him in the middle of a barren desert to the point that his brain, which was boiling with heat, froze in a few seconds until he could not digest the few words Markus had said.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"You've embezzled about IDR 7.5 billion of my money with that bitch Freya."
"That's not true!" denied Kenan vehemently.
"Is that so?" challenged Markus. "I was once told a story about your father. A thief who embezzled millions of dollars with a woman and left his children and wife in the crosshairs of society. It's not surprising that you would do the same."
"Not me!" Kenan shot back, his molars chattering with anger. "That bitch embezzled it, she did it on purpose to get me to go back to her."
"But I don't care. The proof is there, and it's in your name." Markus looked at Kenan sharply with both eyes. And Kenan replied equally sharply.
Markus stood up, walked around Kenan and stopped right behind him. Putting both hands on Kenan's shoulders, Markus said, "You should be grateful, because I have made concessions for you.
If someone else does it, I'll have my men remove the heart to give to the dog. So, now there are only two choices." Markus walked back and stopped in front of Kenan, and lowered his head to line up his face.
Kenan immediately looked away because he was sick of being stared at by the man.
"If I don't replace all that money, are you going to throw me in jail?" He raised one eyebrow with a defiant expression.
Markus chuckled. "Jail will be useless, instead, you will be my slave until I get tired of your body."
The emotion in Kenan's eyes flickered at that. It's better to die than to be the plaything of this bastard in front of him, he thought. In fact, there was still a purpose in his life that Kenan had yet to fulfill.
"So what do you choose?" Markus asked firmly.
Without looking at Markus' face, Kenan replied, "I'll give it back, all your money." A flash of doubt crossed Kenan's eyes. even so, a big grin spread on both sides of Markus' handsome face. he knew Kenan, this man would really return the money.
Still staring at Kenan, Markus said, "Return it within two months!"
Return the 7.5 billion within two months? Did Markus consider it an ATM machine? Imagine, that much money could buy one unit of GolfHill Terraces apartment in Metro Pondok Indah, Kebayoran Lama.
Kenan looked at Markus with an unaccepting expression and anger that was about to explode. "Two months? You're crazy. I can't get that much money in two months."
Nothing was funny, but his laughter broke out the next second. Markus smiled wryly and said, "You forget who you are?"
Kenan immediately knew where this was going, the man in front of him was deliberately blackmailing him in this situation and also using the excuse of his past to want all the money back faster.
"I'm sure Monsieur Serge will be happy to have you home." Markus smiled wryly.
"How did you know ..." Kenan was unable to finish the last few words of his question.
Markus interrupted, "Why are you so surprised that I know about your relationship with some people in your past? You forget, I have subordinates who can get information on people easily. Even where a stray dog comes from, I can get the information. It's a little difficult, but it's quite satisfying."
"Don't worry about your criminal record for embezzling my money, it's not because I don't report to the police that means I'm going to cover up the facts. That I hate them." His hands clenched into fists until the veins on the backs of his hands were visible.
"Forget it, I'm not going home," Kenan refused.
But Markus insisted. "Oh, you have to," he said with emphasis.
Kenan looked like he was about to refuse again. And at that moment, Markus interrupted first, "Don't you want to repay him? Pay back what he did to you?"
The word 'he' that Markus mentioned seemed to reawaken the long-dormant spirit of revenge from within Kenan, he remembered very well about 'he' who had destroyed his life, forcibly taking away his pride in the past. A fierce smile widened as he saw Kenan's face change, feeling a sudden chill.
Markus deliberately reignited the fire by saying, "I thought, after being an asshole, you would come back to his life. But instead, you're hiding like a cowardly rabbit." There seemed to be a touch of mockery in his voice. "Isn't there a desire in the bottom of your heart to destroy his life?"
"That ..." Kenan felt a throb of pain at the bottom of his heart when the shadows of the past came back from nowhere he gritted his teeth, pushing away the unbearable hatred that rose from the bottom of his heart.
Markus was still fixed on him with a dagger-sharp gaze. "Remember what he always did to you. The debt he owes you, he will never pay if you never collect it."
A heavy exhale could be heard. "I'll return the money, all of it." Kenan's voice trembled with anger.
"Good, be a good boy," he said, then grabbed Kenan's lips and bit them. Kenan let out a stifled squeal as Markus violently released his hold on his lips.
Kenan was left in the room with a lingering feeling of disgust and revulsion at Markus' treatment earlier, this was not the first time he had been treated like this. However, this time it was borderline.
First it was Freya, Kenan didn't know what he would do to that bitch if he met her again. And Markus was his biggest threat now, but even so, the words spoken by Markus had a point too.
If Kenan returned, he would have a chance to take everything that Austin had taken from him. On his return this time, everything must be taken back from Austin's hands, maybe Kenan will also take the interest on the man's debt. Just watch, Kenan will guide Austin ruthlessly under the palm of his hand. What he was about to do would probably bring down his pride once again, Kenan knew that, but he didn't care.
***
Kenan Pradipta only returned to the boarding house at ten in the morning, on the refrigerator door he found a small piece of note paper that read, 'Mas¹ Kenan, don't forget to eat!'
Both corners of his lips pulled up slightly. It was a message from Ersya, his younger brother who always worried about him if he didn't come home or when he came home in the morning. After grabbing a can of beer, Kenan sat on the sofa while the sun lit up the entire living room. It was quiet upstairs and downstairs. The neighbors were away at work or school, and even his three younger siblings weren't in the apartment. It wasn't the first time he was alone. However, somehow it felt as if the whole world had become quiet in the sunlight.
Taking a sip of his beer, Kenan was reminded of something he had to do, something that was hard for him. Returning to a family like the old one again felt like a dream, such hope had been lost to Kenan before he knew, Serge Keano, did not take the initiative to look for Kenan, but he was waiting for Kenan to return.
The world was vast, even though the middle-aged man searched all over the world by sending to any part of the world, he knew that as long as Kenan didn't want to return to him as a home he would never find Kenan.
Just as Kenan was about to take another sip of his beer, he noticed that the alcoholic liquid in the aluminum can had run out. There was nothing he wanted to do but lean against the back of the sofa and close his eyes in search of peace.
***
The press meet was being held tonight, and Monsieur Serge had just sat down in his office to check some documents. After the meeting, the middle-aged man furrowed his brow as he kept his consciousness from falling asleep. If he could complain, he would complain about his old limbs. And he wanted to rest quickly, rest for a long time in the sense of retirement. Letting Austin take care of the business, leaving all the responsibilities he had shouldered to his son.
"Monsieur!" A subordinate knocked on the door, breaking his reverie.
"Come in!" he called from inside.
The subordinate bowed slightly and said, "There is someone who wants to see you in the guest lobby."
Monsieur Serge thought that the person who wanted to see him this time was not on important business, so he refused without thinking. "Meeting me? Has he already made an appointment? Didn't I tell you that I'm busy today? Tell him to see me another time."
But the subordinate instead of nodding and leaving, stared back. "But he insisted."
"Who is the guest who is so impolite as to force me to see him when I'm busy." His tone of voice rose several octaves.
The underling replied in an even smaller voice. "He said his name was Kenan Pradipta."
Monsieur Serge's face immediately looked up along with his sleepiness that had disappeared somewhere, staring at the subordinate who looked down to hide his frightened expression. Hurrying to hide his surprise, he asked again, "Who?"
"Kenan Pradipta."
In the next second, Monsieur Serge hurriedly stood up, he walked past his subordinate with quick steps. Just after crossing the threshold he said, "Follow me!"
Once Monsieur Serge reached the guest lobby, he saw a mature man standing tall. In front of him were several of his bodyguards talking to the man. Sensing the arrival of someone, Kenan turned away, looking at Monsieur Serge Keano. A smile soon followed. "Bonjour!"
"Kenan? Kenan Pradipta Keano ...."
"... Long time no see, Father."
[]
¹Calling for older men