Uncomfortable to continue to bring up the issue, Boris diverts the conversation to other matters that are no less important. “Anyway, about giving this man the money, is it really necessary?” Sofia scrunches her face with a bit of confusion. “If you have another view, feel free to share it with me.” “Considering Georgina has already caused a spectacle in front of the other parents at the kindergarten, spending such a significant sum to suppress it seems futile. Numerous people are already aware of your situation. There’s no meaning to cover it up, I believe.” “I know! Evelyn has mentioned it earlier,” Sofia states. “I could dismiss it as long as there's no concrete proof about what Georgina had said. Rumors tend to fade. However, it will be different if those dirty pictures become public. Digital traces are hard to erase. What if they circulate on social media, and Elly has to grow up with all of that hanging over her?” “But giving that man the money isn’t enough as a guarantee th
Alex takes a glance at them for a moment coldly, before he tries to ignore their insult. “I came here to kill some time. Not killing some cockroaches like you!” And suddenly… Prang!!! A dude slams a liquor bottle on the table, expressing his displeasure with Alex’s rebuke. His pride is hurt, to find someone he sees as a weak man dares to taunt him like that. It’s the same with the rest. They are the kind of thugs who like to insult others, but can’t stand to be insulted. The bartender, who has just come bringing the lemon juice for Alex, is now looking so terrified. So far, he has been acting like a real dude in belittling Alex. But now, noticing there will be a fight, he begins to be chickened out. Alex nonchalantly drinks the lemon juice a bit. He then takes a deep breath while tasting how sour that lemon juice is. He actually intends to ignore his annoyance with that strong sour taste. But the thugs behind keep agitating him. “Look at him! Can’t even stand the taste of lemon
As Alex is silent in pondering, a man with a slick back hairstyle in a neat tuxedo comes approaching. The man hands over a note, listing all the damage that Alex has done, including the price of the lemon juice, which is deliberately made worth a glass of whiskey.Not to mention the compensation money of casting the customers away, which only makes Alex’s face scrunched.“You really take a count for everything, huh?”“Of course! And I’ve been taking notes for every word you said,” replies the man. “And you still have to pay the hush money on the people you just injured. We don't want this matter to reach the ears of the police.”“Are you trying to squeeze me?”Boris snatches the notes, and notices the figure is over $25k. He tells that man to just ignore that compensation money, but Alex insists on paying them all.“No, it’s okay! I did say I’ll pay for everything.”“Man! I know you used to be my boss. But…”“You think I’m broke just because Sofia kicked me from her house? After all,
Bella tries to ease the tension. But the more she shows her trust and concern to Alex, the more that young rookie is irritated. Even his own partner has started to show his confusion a bit. Feeling as someone with power and authority, Melvin forces himself to try entering Alex's house. It’s all just for the sake of personal interest and his blind jealousy, and no longer has anything to do with complaints from neighbors. But Alex blocks his way, standing right in front of him with a cold face, which only makes the rookie even more agitated. “Did you bring any search warrant?” Alex inquires. Melvin is twitching his eyebrows. He begins to think about something, and looks around for a moment. And indeed, there are still a few neighbors watching from their houses. “Come on, Man! Why don't you just let me in, so that I can say something to them.” “I have no obligation to do so,” denies Alex. “There’s no plain crime in sight, you are not here to arrest me to give you a reason to search
The next day, he prepares himself with the same tactical vest. But now, he takes all the 14 small daggers along with the twin karambits with him, in case he may need them later.And then, his attention is averted to the long blazer hanging on the wall. He takes a look in a mirror for a moment, thinking that the man he is going to look for, might have already been familiar with his face.In the end, he opts to wear an old scrappy jacket he hasn’t worn for years, and then covers his head with a beanie hat. With the beard which is already thick and unkempt, and sunglasses covering his eyes, he hopes they are enough to make him not too easy to recognize.There’s no trace of Alexander Davis the businessman. He looks more like a street thug, or maybe a homeless vagabond.Before leaving the house, a notification of an incoming message catches his attention. It’s a message from Boris, telling him about the location he needs to survey.[The man has mentioned the meeting place. There’s a buildi
The doubt starts floating above his head. Fears that his presence there might already be known begin creeping inside his heart. If it’s true that the man has noticed and recognized him, this will only make his attempt to look for the man to be even harder. He even starts feeling that he may be currently watched. He looks around, and also above the rooftop. But the dawn is so quiet. There’s almost no one there. He decides to move to another place, to an alley on the next building. He tries to get away from the open space to avoid being noticed, while he keeps observing that trash can from there. He waits a little longer until that place starts becoming a bit crowder. And then, a garbage truck arrives, and Alex is worried that they will throw all the contents of that trash can into their truck. “Hey, hold on!” he calls as he rushes toward the trash man. “What?” “There’s something in that trash can that belongs to me.” “And you want to take it back?” “Yeah!” The man frowns, thin
He takes a look at his wristwatch, and realizes it is almost time for him to get to the office. He knows Sofia will soon call for him to get ready. But all he cares about is the rest of the money he didn’t get from her. “Should I just ask for more?” he mumbles in pondering, thinking about squeezing Sofia’s money once again. And then, he hears the cousin is asking about him to someone outside. “Has Dylan come out of his room yet?” “Um, I haven’t seen him yet,” replies the maid. Knowing that Sofia is going to check on him, he rushes to collect the money. “Dylan! Are you ready yet? We are going to be late!” “Aren’t you the Boss! Nobody would mind if you are late,” replies Dylan as he begins to frantically collect all the money. “What was that? If you keep that kind of mindset, I’m going to look for someone else to replace you! You hear me!” Dylan just ignores her. He is still so hectic, looking for a place where he should hide the money. As Sofia bangs the door impatiently, he re
On the way, Boris doesn’t tell Sofia about the plastic bag which only contained a pile of papers. This is all at Alex's own request.It was also because of Boris himself, who was so sure that Sofia really put money in that plastic bag. If he tells her now that they took the bag and found no money, Sofia might accuse them of deceiving her and taking the money for themselves.After all, he hasn’t told Sofia at all that Alex himself was involved. If he tells her, most likely she won’t trust him even more due to her hatred toward Alex. The least he can do is to give Sofia a sketch of a face of the man with the unaligned front teeth.“Is this the man who blackmailed me?” asks Sofia.“Most likely,” replies Boris.“How are you so sure? If your friend really met the man, couldn’t he just get him?”“It’s not that simple! He had waited for the man to pick the money until morning, but no one picked it until a garbage collector threw the contents of the trash can into their truck,” explains Boris
Giana is back with warm tea, and then offers it to Sofia. But she doesn’t stay there for too long. She immediately leaves that office again. And of course, Alex notices that the girl deliberately lets him be alone with Sofia. He also notices that Boris is no longer there either. He simply shakes his head, and intends to make his business with Sofia as short as possible. “Sorry! I come here only to borrow your money! I have to travel to Jakarta tomorrow. Maybe I can get a clue about Elly's whereabouts there. If not, I will continue my search to Singapore, and maybe Thailand too,” explains Alex. Sofia is silent for a moment. She gets an impression that Alex is only looking for their daughter without any clues, and simply going to places in desperation. “Do you really believe she might be in these countries?” she asks unsurely. “Is she really still alive?” Alex takes a deep breath. “Do you think I do this out of my ignorance? The person who kidnapped Elly had sold her to a child tra
Alex straightens his shirt and leaves while enduring the pain in his right ribs. Among the people present at that time, there is also Miles Benet, who comes over to Alex with a happy face.“Hey, is that true? You became one of the Overseers replacing Morgan Davis?”But Alex just puts on a flat face. He continues to walk away while looking at Benet coldly without saying anything.“Hey, Alex!” Benet calls him.“Shut up! Never put on that naïve face in front of me,” says Alex as he keeps walking away by only showing his back. “I already know your true color.”Boris arrives and intends to support Alex who looks in pain. However, Alex refuses the help, because he doesn’t want to appear weak in that place.While heading to the car, Alex sees Morgan's car coming towards him. It seems that the old man left the hotel via a different route that Alex didn't know. The car stops near Alex, and Morgan rolls down the window, seeming to have something to talk about.And so Alex approaches him. “So, w
Alex can’t find any reason to decline their offer now. He even thinks that it may be helpful for him to find his daughter out there. “What do you say, Alex?” asks Reece Thompson. Alex glances at them for a moment, and then gives a solemn nod lightly. “That’s settled then,” Freedie Berker affirms immediately. “We will announce about this news later, and maybe hold an official meeting with the Administrators to introduce you as the new leader of The Catacomb.” “No, wait!” Alex interferes with him immediately. “If possible, let it stay like how it used to be. I don’t mind with me being the only true leader, but let the others know that I’m just one of the Overseers.” “So, you want to keep this secrecy just like what Morgan did this whole time?” Alex nods lightly. “Everyone?” Freedie Berker asks the other Overseers. None of the other Overseers shows their objection. “Okay, then! We will do just as you want,” says Freedie Berker to Alex. “But we have to postpone the official inaug
Rusli hurries to catch up with Saniyah. “Hey, wait!”Saniyah still gets into her car. However, she lowers the car window while giving a sign to the driver not to leave yet.“You should know, just being vice president won't allow me to do much,” Rusli explains his situation.“That's why, don't be satisfied with just aiming to become vice president. You have a brother in parliament, a nephew at the police headquarters, and your electability is quite high. Aim for the number one,” Saniyah provokes him.“It's useless to have high electability if there is no support from the coalition for me as a presidential candidate,” argues Rusli.“Then, just ignore that coalition. Hasn’t your party passed the presidential threshold for this?” Saniyah replies rhetorically.“Don't be naive. That will only make me lose support,” Rusli retorts.Saniyah slowly turns her face to Rusli by raising one of her eyebrows. “I know, in this country there is a secret organization that operates behind the scenes, who
Back to the house of Rosdiana, Rusli’s ex-wife. In the meantime, Lisa is being questioned by her mother. Rosdiana drags Lisa to her bedroom by leaving Elly alone in the kitchen.“What is this now? Whose child you brought to this house?” asks* the mother by restraining her voice.“You don’t need to speak this way, mom! She won’t be able to follow our conversation,” explains* Lisa.That mother, Rosdiana, gets to the door and then takes a peek at Elly for a glance.“One look and you can tell that she is a foreigner. She doesn’t understand Minang language at all,” Lisa continues*, getting out of her mother’s room, and then takes Elly to the living room.As if understanding the situation, Rosdiana follows her daughter in a hurry, and immediately asks openly in front of Elly without hiding anything.“Did your father take her home?” she asks*.Lisa doesn’t say anything. She only shows her gloomy face.“Don’t tell me…”As if knowing what’s inside her mother’s mind, Lisa just nods lifelessly.
That one bodyguard is yawning, rubbing his hands due to the cold. He does notice something, and intends to check on the situation. But then, he finds a stray cat from outside. “Shit! He will be mad if I let a stray cat get into this house,” grumbles* the man with a tired sigh. Lisa looks so awry, afraid to be found out. But then, she hears her father calling from inside the house. And that calling attracts the guard’s attention. “What’s now?” The man whines*, leaving the cat and rushes inside the house. Lisa knows her father must be looking for her and Elly at the moment. She immediately runs away while holding Elly's hand, heading toward the side door of the yard fence. Meanwhile, Rusli is looking so mad, pacing around inside the house looking for his daughter. He has entered the room where he kept Elly, but not finding the kid there. “Lisa!!!!” He opens the door to Lisa’s room, and he doesn’t find anyone there either. He even notices the wardrobe which is still open, and in a
As that girl heads to the kitchen, she finds her dad has just come home from work. For some reason, she rushes to the kitchen, seeming to avoid meeting her own father. Not because the father is a thug. To be exact, he is actually one of the most known people in this country, Rusli Gunawan, who is currently running a political campaign as one of Indonesia's vice presidential candidates. As much as she wants to avoid him, the father still finds her in the kitchen. And oddly, her face suddenly turns so pale. “How is she doing?” asks the man, talking in his native language, Bahasa Minang. “She’s already asleep in her room,” replies* the girl, holding the cup of the drink with shaking hands. The father takes a glance at the cup she is holding. And so, that girl just reaches out to him. “Um… I prepared this for you!” The father smiles, and then strokes the girl’s hair gently. “Lisa! You are a good girl. But sadly, you turned adult too soon.” He then leaves by taking the cup of drink
In the middle of the night, they visit a nursing home in the Narraweena area. They can still pay a visit, simply because this nursing home is still under The Catacomb’s influence.Some of the old members of The Catacomb spend the rest of their lives here, including the 67 years-old man they are going to see, Luca Campbell. Morgan has investigated four senior members of The Catacombs who were involved in the massacre of Alex's family.This Luca is the oldest among them, while the others have been killed by Morgan Davis. When this man learns that Morgan pays him a visit, he knows that he is coming to take his life.“So, it’s my turn now, huh?” utters the old man as a greeting.The old man just sits on a wheelchair. It seems like he is not in a condition where he can run away. A small part of his left earlobe has been cut off, a legacy from the past.“It seems like you’ve been expecting my coming,” says Morgan Davis, pulling a chair and then takes a seat in front of Luca.“I’ve heard wha
Alex did say that he is going to kill this old man. But now, after seeing Morgan Davis right in front of him, he’s just standing there not knowing what to do.It doesn’t mean he no longer hates him. But he finds it hard to vent his anger toward him, despite how mad his face currently is.“She is my disciple, but she has nothing to do with your grudge. If you hate me that much, feel free to leash that demon and kill me,” utters Morgan, calmly provoking Alex to attack him.“Thank you for making it easier to kill you.”Alex makes up his mind to kill that old man. The two of Morgan’s bodyguards look so ready to fight Alex, but Morgan immediately spreads his arms to halt them. The same with Boris, immediately holds both of Alex’s arms from behind.“Fuck! Let go of me. Are you on his side now?” Alex retaliates.“That’s enough!” Boris tries to calm Alex’s retaliation. “How much have you made things worse by losing control like this? Why don’t you listen from his side first? We will judge lat