"At least, this is better than the rags you wore earlier," Zayn spoke as they stepped out of a secondhand clothes store. They were both wearing rumpled but decent, old clothes. No accessories and Zayn's sedan was nowhere in sight. Rashid sneered and hailed a taxi. "El-Akbar please." As soon as the taxi driver heard the location, he shook his head and declined. He pressed a button to wind up the glass but Rashid put his fingers mid-way. "Sir, it's already so late. I can't go there tonight. It's not guaranteed that I'll get out of there in one piece," The taxi driver hurriedly pressed the button to stop the glass from winding up and injuring Rashid. "Please... We have something urgent to do." When Rashid noticed he wanted to object again, he hurriedly added,"We'll pay you triple." The taxi driver paused. He looked at their appearances and was convinced they wanted to dupe him. But Zayn brought out a wad of cash. The taxi driver salivated at the sight of AED notes he has
"Have we met before?" Alina's eyes squinted in confusion. Even Rashid and Iris looked at Zayn. Zayn finally remembered that they had indeed met before but that was him as Lord Z. So she only knows Lord Z not Zayn Sultan. "Sorry... I just thought you look like my sister. Her name is Alina," He spouted out the fastest lie he could muster. Rashid's mouth fell open in surprise. Alina looked away as she mouthed,"What a weird coincidence." Rashid elbowed Zayn secretly and asked,"How come I never knew you had a sister named Alina? Have I met her? Is she beautiful?" Zayn was speechless. Can this scoundrel be serious for once in his life?! His response was to glare at Rashid who immediately closed his mouth. "Why did you ask me to save them?" Zayn walked faster when he heard Iris' question. He also wanted to know she saved them but it seems the order was from Alina. Why? "Didn't you say the old bedlam would ask for something obscene as payment once he sees how beautiful
"Why are you following us? Your work is over. You should leave," Iris was not pleased to see that Zayn and Rashid were tailing them. "But—" "Let them be. Whatever they face inside, they will endure it," Alina gave her a knowing look. "Come. Let me take you to father. He has been anticipating your arrival," Iris informed her and led her through an entrance of what appeared to be a club. However, Zayn soon discovered that it was a fighting arena. There was so much noise as the crowd cheered to the ring fight ongoing. Alina and Iris disappeared into the VIP section of the arena. As the doors closed, Zayn noticed the side profile of director Hassan who was also inside with some other unknown men. He was about to charge into the room when Rashid held him back. "Look at those bouncers. Do you think they would let us in?" Zayn looked at the bouncers Rashid was pointing at. He gritted his teeth in anger, regretting again that he lost his wallet. He stopped a man who wa
"Uh!" The crowd cried in disappointment. Blaze missed his attempt because Zayn had been quick enough to swerve his bike to avoid the hit. But the back tire clashed with Blaze's causing a screeching sound. Zayn secretly heaved a sigh of relief and sped off to put as much distance as he could between him and Blaze. But the latter was particularly persistent and followed closely behind. Zayn focused on the bikes ahead of him when he realized that the first round was coming to an end. There was still no loser yet though other racers were already trying to hit one another. But he was far behind. So keeping in mind that Blaze was still behind him, he headed straight forward for the bike ahead of him. "Let's do this," He accelerated his bike at a fast speed and directly hit the bike in front of him. The racer lost his stance because he hadn't been expecting a hit from behind and he was also preparing to attack someone else at the time of the attack. The audience watc
"You worry too much Hassan," The unknown man patted director Hassan on the back. "Even if they suspect you have something to do with the fraud, they would never find any clue because they do not know just what the money has been transformed into." Director Hassan's knitted browsing relaxed in relief. He picked up a glass from the table and drained it. "Oooh! Yee-haw!" The cheers from the large screen in the room didn't allow Rashid to hear what director Hassan said next. But he swiftly turned away when the director stood. "I have to leave. It's getting late and I shouldn't spend more time outside now that we are being trailed. Who knows... The enemy might be lurking nearby," Director Hassan bade his companion farewell. The response he got was a guffaw from his companion. "Such a coward. Good night. It was nice doing business with you." Director Hassan nodded and walked away. As soon as Rashid heard nothing else, he looked up and heaved a sigh of relief. He then s
"Congratulations Mr Zen," the judge handing over the prize said to Zayn. Despite the pain the latter was feeling, he smiled. "Thank you." "We now announce our new champion, the one brave enough to beat a seven-year record holder and win a whopping sum of 5,000,000AED," The judge's voice rang out in the place. The crowd clapped and cheered. People from the fighting arena and other sports trooped in to see what was going on. "Do you have anything to say, Zen?" The judge turned to Zayn who nodded. He collected the mic and looked at the crowd. He then smiled again causing ladies' hearts to palpitate. "I have nothing else to say aside, if you believe in it, go for it. It doesn't matter if you are an amateur. There is enough love to go around." Pak! Pak! The crowd clapped again. Those that understood his last statement knew it was directed to the other racers that played dirty. You don't have to play tricks to win. One can't always be a winner. Learn to accept and
"Thank you and good night." The chauffeur gave Rashid and Zayn a quizzical look as he drove away. He looked in the rear view mirror again. Wasn't that Hussein's estate? That place is a private residence owned by one of the wealthiest families in the UAE. Even though Zayn won the grand prize back there at El-Akbar, his appearance was quite simple and poor so how is it possible that he and Rashid are related to the Hussein's family? When Zayn saw the chauffeur's questioning gaze just before he drove away, he knew he had made the right decision. No one in El-Akbar can be trusted. He only asked for them to be dropped off at Hussein's estate and the chauffeur was already acting so strange. What if he had mentioned the Sultan's residence? Then everyone in El-Akbar would know that he and Rashid were just under a guise and were actually from wealthy families. "Hello," Salim's voice was hoarse as the call finally went through. "Were you asleep?" Zayn asked as he followed Rashi
Shaquille was having brunch at the dining room when he heard this. The tea cup in his hand fell and shattered into pieces. "What?" His body trembled with anger. He didn't go to the empire today because there was barely little work for him and with the ruckus the directors and Zayn caused, he'd sincerely lost his interest. He knew when Layla was leaving because she seemed happy and was gushing all about how Ramadan was up and coming. "Yes master. She and her maid were abducted," The bodyguards admitted. "What are you still doing? Dispatch people to search for my wife immediately! If she and that girl don't come back here in one piece, forget about losing your jobs, your lives would be gone too!" He ended the call and almost threw the phone away. "I should inform Zayn," He spoke on the spur of the moment and was beginning to dial his son's number when he suddenly remembered the problem at the company. This was already the second day of the three days ultimatum Z