In the afternoon.Victoria dropped Narika at Ducksbelly, a small but famous restaurant where not just anybody could reserve a table, especially during lunch hours.Most people sitting at the tables were either entrepreneurs or rich businessmen.Narika went and sat at the table where the tall and handsome Jim Blake was sitting. He had already ordered the food and prepared everything for her. Except for the wine, all the items were her favorites, so she was definitely surprised.“I heard about your preferences from your mom, so…” Jim looked a little excited because he had been waiting for something like this for months.Every item was costly from crab’s legs to gold steak and the 10,000 dollar wine.“Do you like it?” Jim asked, eager for her response and, even more so, her attention. “If you don’t, we can order something else.”“No, I’m fine with this. Thanks for your effort,” Narika sucked in a breath and smiled at him. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this.”“The food?”“No. The date
After having an up-and-down lunch at Ducksbelly, Jim and Narika left in the same car: Jim’s Ferrari F40.Victoria followed them in her car. She really hoped that Narika would marry Jim as she said she would.Eventually, the ferrari stopped outside the ant villa’s gate. However, to Jim’s shock, there was no villa in sight.There was only a broken building, with most of the villa having collapsed.“What happened here?” he wondered as he quickly entered through the gate, and then he noticed the small tent next to the broken building.Charles was cooking something using firewood.“What the heck are you doing?” Jim hurried over. “Are you making food?”“Yeah, the kitchen was destroyed, so…” Charles poured some of the hot red soup in a bowl. “Here. Have some.”“Ew,” Jim stepped back. “What’s that?”“Finger millet soup,” Charles said. “It will heal your heart and liver.” He had read in one of the vampire books that when vampires couldn’t find blood, they lowered their blood pressure by drink
Narika’s words were like thunder that tore through Jim’s heart, but without making any sound whatsoever. He wanted to hear such words directed toward him, but why did Narika, his sweetheart, have to say those words to the one guy Jim thought didn’t deserve whatsoever?A gambler.A liar.A possible thief.A womanizer.A troublemaker.A bad guy.And more.Why do women fall for this type of trash so easily? Just what was wrong with Jim that he failed to pull Narika toward her even though there was so much more that Jim could offer compared to the lone wolf Charles whose back could be broken any day in this cruel world?“N-Narika…” Jim uttered her name, but that was all he could do.“I’m sorry, Jim,” Narika pursed her lips. “You’re a good guy, and I like you, but my heart wants him more.”“Narika, he’s dating your sister,” Jim reminded her in a loud voice. “He’s also dating Laurel and who knows how many more women he’s dating behind their backs? How can you say you love this guy? What did
Carlos POV:I have been chilling next to my broken villa, cooking and raising a tent, but then my peace was robbed by the few words that Narika had said to me.I couldn’t sleep after that, even though I was no longer hindered by the presence of Fang.I woke up to cook myself a tomato soup in the middle of the night, but then Narika’s words came to my mind.Would she have made this ready-made soup better, too, if she were the one who made this?That thought brought a chuckle to my face.Only business used to cross my mind 24/7 in the past, but now, I spend my time for a completely different purpose, one that I’m not proud of, but it’s still something I have to achieve no matter what.To do that, I needed the help of Narika as well as the Bisconsley family.However, I received a call from Lucas Blake the very next morning. He told me that his son, Jim Blake, had drunk so much last night he was taken to the hospital, and if anything happened to him, Lucas would find Charles and kill him.
In a flower shop.Narika had bought this store recently and was working here ever since. She had also changed her hairstyle and makeup a bit so that people wouldn’t easily recognize her.A young and striking handsome man walked into the store. His shoulders were quite wide, and his hairstyle was so attractive to look at. Narika didn’t like men with hair longer than a couple of inches, but the long hair on this guy looked good, probably because his head was big and his shoulders were freaking wide. His frame itself was tall and solidly built. Charles would have been just like this guy if he was just a bit more bulkier, she thought.“What do you want, sir?” she asked, putting all her thoughts aside, and smiling politely.The man looked at her and said, “You.”“Pardon?”“Just kidding,” he inhaled audibly as he looked around, with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a black suit that looked a little on the cheaper side. “I’m going to propose to my girlfriend today. I want you to choo
“If we don’t pay the bills, we’ll end up losing our home!” Sofia’s voice tightened in her throat. “Our mansion that has been passed down for generations will go into a stranger’s hands!”“So what?” Narika indifferently snorted. “Why should I care, huh? You’ve also spent a lot of money in Carlos’ name even after he ran out of the mansion, didn’t you? You tried to push him into the debts. Now, you’re just reaping what you’ve sown, Sis. Carlos didn’t do it till now because he must have been waiting for this day to properly make you pay, and what better way than to make the banks kick you out of the mansion where all his bad memories lie? I can’t help but praise him this time. He’s finally doing something that he should have done long ago.”“Narika!” Sofia went for a slap, but Narika caught her wrist like it was nothing. “A-Are you out of your mind? Why are you talking like this?”“I know why you four are here,” Narika looked into her sister’s eyes. “I sold my shares for a good price a we
“Attack him!” Thomas howled. All the vampires swarmed onto Carlos with supreme confidence.Carlos played a video clip on his mobile.“Grandpa!” A college girl and a boy were crying in the video. It was Thomas’ grandchildren.“Stop!” Thomas howled even more loudly than the last time. “Stop! Get back!”All the vampires had to move back and make room.“They’re innocent,” Thomas' face showed worry. “They’re not even vampires. I adopted them because I needed an heir. Don’t bring them into this.”“I have no intention of harming them, Thomas,” Carlos put the mobile back in his pocket. “As long as you cooperate, your grandchildren will be sent right back to your house, without even a hair harmed.”“Cooperate? With that?”“What else? Fighting the Slaughter Squad,” Carlos was pretty frank about it.Thomas forced out a laugh. “Are you fucking crazy? We can’t beat them. My creed members aren’t weak, but the Slaughter Squad are trained killers. We won’t stand a chance against them, especially when
Gregory met Charles in his villa’s grounds. Gregory expressed his condolences for his destroyed building, especially because Charles didn’t even have residential insurance for it.Gregory asked Charles to help him play some poker games and win him some prestige and money. Charles agreed to help. They went to the Origins casino together and played for an entire day. Charles didn’t directly play, but he just supported Gregory instead.And Charles made sure to confuse Gregory so that he would lose his money while making it look like all this happened because Gregory couldn’t follow Charles’ advice properly.In the end, Gregory lost 9 million dollars in a day, and his hands began to shake as he walked out of the casino with Charles.“If I tell Victoria that I lost almost ten million dollars in a day, she’s going to kill me,” Gregory’s heart was not in his control. He turned to Charles and requested, “Please give me twenty million. I’ll make sure to pay you with interest in a month or two.