Maya looked at the man who had just walked in with slight apprehension. He clearly looked like a thug of some sort. He had the appearance of someone who was into shady business. Being the detective that she was, Maya was able to tell. But, he was asking about Ethan?"Did you not hear me?" The man asked. "Why are you asking about Ethan?" Maya replied with a question of her own. "Did Philip send you to kidnap me? Does he want to find out information about Ethan?" Maya asked curiously while she also seethed inwardly with fury. The man turned to look at the other guy who had been there since Maya woke up."Ghoul, why is she asking me such questions?" He asked. Ghoul, the first guy, looked at the other man. "Yeah, Bolt, she's a detective. She'll ask questions that'll bore you out." Ghoul replied. "Okay... Ghoul? Bolt?" Maya spoke up with a frown. "What kind of lame-ass names are those?" She asked in utter astonishment. Both Ghoul and Bolt's faces turned grim and furious immediately

Bounty or ransom... Philip couldn't wrap his head around it. All he knew was that he was very angry. He had given Brick a simple job to abduct and extract information. The bastard was just too greedy. "What are we going to do about this sir?" Philip's butler asked in a tone of worry. Philip looked at him with an expression that portrayed the face of one who had swallowed a fly. "I don't even know what to do at this moment. We just have to keep trying to reach the bastard and get him to stop what he's planning to do." Philip replied. "But he doesn't need to fear you for any reason because you don't know him and you've also paid him for the services ahead of the job." The butler replied. Philip's expression contorted even more as he heard how he had inadvertently caused this sort of situation to happen. "I swear to god, I'll catch that bastard one day even if it's the last thing I do." Philip swore and stomped away from the table he was seated. He headed straight to his room wher

Maya sat in the small room with a small frown over her face. The dull ache in her stomach had gradually transformed into an intense burning feeling. Her insides felt twisted and cramped, and she had become very hungry. It was at the point when she was being kidnapped that Bolt and Ghoul had injected her with that strange injection. Whatever it was, the effects were beginning to show now. Maya's hunger was crazily painful, dominating her thoughts and sapping away her strength little by little. She paced around the small, windowless room, trying to distract herself. But it was useless. No matter how much she tried to think of other things, her mind always drifted back to think of what she so desperately needed - food. Maya glanced hopefully at the door each time she heard footsteps approaching. Maybe her captors had come to their senses and would offer her a scrap of bread or a sip of water. Anything to make the pain she was feeling to subside even by a little bit. But each time, t

Philip fidgeted in his seat, tugging at his collar. Across the table, Ethan sat with perfect composure, regarding Philip with those intense blue eyes. He looked so calm, so confident. It made Philip want to leap over the table and wrap his hands around Ethan's smug throat. But of course, he maintained his decorum. This was a court of law, after all.Still, Philip couldn't stop his leg from bouncing with pent-up nerves. He loosened his tie, feeling like it was strangling him. Where was that information from Brick? Surely Maya would have cracked by now. Philip just needed something, anything, to implicate Ethan and turn this whole case upside down. But his phone remained silent, his pocket empty of the evidence he desperately needed."If both parties are ready, we will begin," the judge said in his monotonous voice. He glanced at Ethan's lawyer, an imposing bald man with a trim salt-and-pepper beard. "The prosecution may begin.""Thank you, Your Honor." Ethan's lawyer, Mr. Everett, r

Philip opened and closed his mouth mutely. His whole case - his life - was collapsing around him like a house of cards. All because of that goddamn Ethan Hunt!In desperation, he whirled on Ethan, pointing a shaking, accusatory finger. "You! This is all your doing, I just know it! Setting me up, making a fool of me!" Even as the words left his mouth, he knew he sounded like a raving lunatic. But he was helpless to stop the tirade pouring from him. Months of rage and resentment boiled over.Ethan said nothing, merely watching Philip's breakdown with an infuriating air of calm. And perhaps, unless Philip was imagining it, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. The bailiff stepped forward, muscling Philip away from Ethan's table. Philip thrashed in the man's iron grip."Get your hands off me! I'll see you rot for this, Hunt! Do you hear me? Rot!"His screams echoed off the walls as Philip was dragged forcibly from the courtroom, still shouting threats and obscenities at Ethan. The heavy