He recognizes the faces of the two men who just expressed their disappointment. He doesn’t know them too well, but he believes they had some business with his dad before.An awkward smile is the only thing he can give while receiving a long sermon from his father on the phone. He then takes a distance and continues the talk with his father away from those people.“What should I do now? Should I also buy this house for Joaquin Underwood for six million dollars?”[Son! Do you realize what stupid thing you have done? This is not only about your engagement with Sylvia, nor about the house or those six million dollars! You're going to put me in a difficult position with Adam Saunders. You’ve turned this into a bad business because of your ignorance. Go back to her and accept all the conditions. Pay it all with your own money!]“With my money?”[Or I’ll kick you out of the family! That’s the only thing I can do to avoid conflict with Gregory and Saunders, you understand me?]The father ends
The girl can’t hide her guilty looks, realizing that she has accidentally unveiled what’s inside her dirty mind.“Uh, I, I, I mean your body!” Naomi refutes in stutter. “I didn’t touch your body! Look! You passed out with wet clothes. I couldn’t just leave you like that. You could get a cold.”“So you took off my clothes?” Thomas asks slowly.Naomi nods a few times, so fast, with rigid movements.“And you saw everything?”Now the girl looks so guilty, crossing her fingers in her chest. Still with blushing cheeks, she glances to the left to avoid Thomas’s intimidating gaze.Thomas turns around, rubbing his head with a frustrated expression, and then limps away from her.“No, please!” Naomi rushes to him. “Don’t be mad at me! I had no other choice!”Laura notices Thomas getting out of the house with Naomi. Some greedy hope slowly creeps into her heart. She then gets out of the car, thinking that Oliver must have bought the house for her.She even shows so much confidence to confront Thom
Thomas grimaces, looking so stupid with their antics. He looks so uninterested in interfering with them, and walks away by dragging his weak legs.Meanwhile, Naomi is still finding the fun in making Sylvia annoyed. “Look at that! Your fiancé apparently loves me much more. He doesn’t want me to be hurt. It’s a testament of how much he cares about my pretty face.”“You shut up, ass hole!” Sylvia shouts by pointing a finger at Naomi. “Stop teasing my fiancé, you damned girl!”Not wanting to create another conflict with the Saunders Family, Oliver pulls Sylvia away from Naomi. But Sylvia isn’t stopping in arguing with her.“You’re a hoe! Dirty hoe!”“I said enough!” Oliver takes Sylvia inside the house and then closes the door. “You are going to put me and my dad in a difficult situation, you know that?!”“Why are you siding with her?” Sylvia pulls her hand. She looks so pissed off. “I’m your fiancée! You should be on my side, not her!”It makes Oliver frustrated. “I’m not siding with her!
“How would I know that he would be able to walk again? Even the doctors have given up on him,” answers Laura defensively.“Haven’t you realized it yet? Donovan matched Sylvia with him for a reason. He couldn't be just an ordinary man. Now he even has a connection with the Saunders.”“Well! You have to hire those people again to kill him. He must die!”Joaquin starts to look restless. His slick hair has become messy for being rubbed so many times.A moment later, he realizes that the situation has become so quiet. Oliver and Sylvia's argument can no longer be heard anymore.He turns around, and finds Oliver walking towards him, with Sylvia still standing in the meals room with a suspicious gaze.Joaquin becomes uneasy, afraid that Oliver and Sylvia might have heard his conversation with his wife just now. But…“Uncle Joaquin! Please excuse me! I still have work to do!”Oliver hands over the house keys to Joaquin, and then walks towards the front door.“Hey, Oliver!” Laura rushes to that
Just before arriving at Sommerchill, Alfred tells Thomas that he will drop him off on the road, because he doesn’t want to enter that district area.However, Naomi insists that Alfred take Thomas to his apartment. They even start an argument, with Thomas just silently watching them fight.“Are you scared? It seems like my father was wrong to hire you!””“Look! If something happens to you, the job is not the only thing I’d lose. Your father would kill me!”But then, Alfred turns silent. Confusion is clearly seen in his face as he observes his surroundings.“What’s wrong?” asks Naomi.Alfred doesn’t immediately give her an answer. They are now almost entering the Sommechill district, but the place is not like how Alfred used to know.There are many small street vendors, with people walking leisurely on the pedestrian. There are even teenagers walking along in peace without so much alertness. It is far from the scary impression as Alfred described.Indeed, he has not visited this place fo
Thomas gets inside the apartment building, and climbs the stairs with his weak legs. Once he gets to the door to his apartment, he issues a specific command.“Inventory! Box. No. 39! Take out key number 1!”But nothing happens. There’s no blue light appearing, no item dropping, nothing.“What’s going on here?” he mumbles as he rubs his neck. “My necklace? Ah, shit! I must have left it in that room! Daaamn!”He rubs his forehead with an awry face. Moments later, he bangs on the door, calling out several names in a hectic way.“Diego! Luca! Mateo! It’s me, Thomas! Hey, you guys! Are you in there?”No one answers. But he keeps banging on the door, until a slightly fat old man appears to greet him.“Mister Hendrix, Sir! You are back!”“Oh, Mr. Finley! Yeah, it’s just me! Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me mister or sir? I’m much younger than you!”“Why?” The old shrugs. “You are the boss, and there’s no one else here. Is there anything I can help you with?”“I lost my key. The other one
After finishing his conversation with Naomi, Thomas opens a small safe deposit box that is planted in a wall.There isn’t much in the safe, only six necklaces with unique amulets. For Thomas, these amulets are far more important and valuable than the $100 million in the coffin.He unsheathes the katana slightly, and lightly scratches the tip of his thumb with the blade. He holds one of the amulets, placing his bloody thumb on one side of it that has a pattern which looks like an electronic chip.Suddenly, a notification in the form of a blue hologram appears before him.[!][An S-rank hunter has been identified][Name : Thomas Hendrix][Age : 23][Condition : 87 % fit][Balance : 0 Gold Coins][The exchange rate today is $964 for one Gold Coin][To gain Gold Coins, please go back to Icalaterra and complete some quests]Thomas waves his hand on that hologram, and it immediately disappears. He issues a command to open his inventory, and then, another interface occures showing 40 small bo
It’s already past 10 p.m. Meanwhile, Laura Underwood is still busy helping her daughter packs her things.Laura and her husband have already moved most of their belongings into their new house in Strugist Hill.The only thing holding them back now is Veronica, their only daughter, a teenage girl who is currently a senior in high school. It’s not easy for them to persuade the daughter to leave Donovan’s residence.“Then what about school?” the girl whines. “Strugist Hill is too far. It will take an hour and a half from there to my school.”“Your father can drop you off before he goes to work,” Laura replies, forcing to carry her daughter’s suitcases out of the house.“That’s not the problem, mom! If I have to live there, it means I have to wake up much early. Besides, I’ll be too far from my friends.”Laura doesn’t budge, and puts the two suitcases in the trunk of the car. “You can invite your friends to stay at our house in the weekend. Haven’t you always asked my permission to bring f
As if no longer having the strength to stand on two feet, Naomi lifelessly kneels down with a pitiful pale face. Her eyes are watery, and her two hands with trembling fingers covering her mouth.As an educated person, she knows so well that it’s already too late to save her father’s life. Not even the best doctor in the world can save Adam Saunders’ life.On the other hand, Mr. Chicote can no longer argue the two doctors anymore. He looks so stupid, gulping with a pale face, realizing how fuck up he is at the moment.“Now you realize how stupid you have been in my eyes?” Alfred, who has just come out of the isolation room, states coldly to Mr. Chicote’s face. “I don't care whether ghosts exist or not. But I can say for sure that you are just a swindler, taking advantage of other people's suffering to extort their money.”“Nonsense!” Mr. Chicote refutes. “She was the one who asked for my help, and I do what I can do based on my knowledge.”“Based on your knowledge? So what about the gho
Alfred looks so mad, but his eyes are red and sparkling with tears due to anguish and despair. And Mr. Chicote, like he doesn’t give a damn what causes Alfred’s sorrow, suddenly slaps him in the face and yells back.“Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist! It’s like your brain, no matter how stupid you are, you still have a brain even though you can’t see it. It’s either you are ignorant, or you know it but deliberately let the devil use you to lead people astray!”Alfred is stunned, his face looks baffled. Not because the word has succeeded in providing enlightenment, but because of the old man’s audacity in slapping him in front of other people.He grabs the man’s black robe with just his left hand and then pushes him hard against the wall, making the glass wall shake with it.The nurse tries to stop the fight, but Alfred ignores her and brings his face closer to Mr. Chicote.“How dare you slap my face? Even my boss never did that to me!” He croaks, his voice
Carefully, she starts tidying the bedroom without disrupting the arrangement of those strange objects. Until a few moments later, she feels a strange breezy softly blowing her beautiful hair.It could just be the wind coming out from the bathroom with an unclosed window. But she thinks it is some kind of bad premonition.Feeling eerie, she immediately gets out of the room while taking her phone out to make a call.[Immanuel Chicote here!]“Mr. Chicote! It’s me, Naomi Saunders!”[My child! How is your father’s situation?”“Um, could you come here, please? I don’t feel quite right about the situation in this house.”[Sure! I’ll be right there!]Not daring to be alone on that second floor, she hurries down to the kitchen to see the maids.“Matilda! Could you make lemonade tea for me?” She politely asks before taking a seat.“We've used all the lemons yesterday?” Matilda deplores. “It's something that Anastasia Nixon didn't like, and that Mr. Chicote used as a talisman to keep her away fro
After listening to Matilda's explanation, Naomi slowly turns her face to the direction where her father went. She no longer sees the car, but her face is now painted with worry.In the past few days, her father has often behaved strangely, always filled with excessive fear, worried about people who might be after his life.Adam even said that he was visited by Anastasia Nixon and her Chihuahua, both in his dreams and when he was conscious.And Naomi, who does believe in superstition, has also called a psychic to cleanse her house of all forms of negative energy. But it seems that wasn't enough.“Alfred! We need to call Mr. Immanuel Chicote back to cleanse my house.”Alfred is grimacing as soon as he hears what Naomi has just said. And of course, Naomi understands very well what his reaction means.“I know this sounds stupid to you,” Naomi continues impatiently. “But we have no other choice. I know for sure that my father is not crazy. Of all the hallucinations he has, he sees the ghost
The situation at the Saunders Properties Trust office is being made busy by Alfred. It’s about Naomi, who left the office without anyone knowing where she went. It’s been more than three hours, and she hasn’t come back.“How come no one knows? What are you guys doing here anyway?” He grunts.“Welcoming guests with greetings and a smile,” replies the receptionist.“Monitoring the people in this lobby,” says one of the security officers.Alfred squints at that man. “And you didn’t see her leaving?”“I did! But it’s not my place to question her, or even prevent her from leaving the office. She is the boss,” the security officer argues.“Oh, God! Don’t you even realize her situation?” Alfred deplores.All those employees can only show their oblivions. Alfred rubs his head in frustration, before coming back to the receptionist.“Have you tried to call her?” he asks.“I have! But it’s out of reach,” replies the female receptionist.“Call it again!” Alfred exclaims as he walks away. “Keep try
Feeling insulted, Alfred vents his anger by throwing a punch. Thomas evades it simply by taking his head away, and again, he responds to it with another slap.This situation continues to repeat, with Alfred continually trying to hit Thomas but never succeeding and always getting slapped in return.“Come on! Is this all you got?” Thomas taunts.Five minutes have past, and that tough looking face is now swollen on the left side. With both knees and hands on the ground, Alfred looks down with a frustrated face.“Is it the gun that you really want, or humiliation?” Thomas provokes coldly.But Alfred doesn't even dare to look back at Thomas anymore. It is a fair fight, one on one, with Thomas not letting anyone interfere with their affair. Yet, he really can’t do anything.Even with the anger filling his heart, he is now realizing how far the gap between him and Thomas is. This is the first time someone has made him so helpless. His self-esteem has been crushed so badly after receiving so m
- Two Hours Earlier, When Alfred Was Taking Erica to Visit Thomas -As before, Alfred's arrival at this dilapidated block is again greeted by several street thugs with unfriendly looks. At least, his car is no longer stopped by these thugs.It seems like they are already familiar with the car Alfred is driving, and they are just following with their BMXs and off road bikes.More than two dozen of them, and all of whom are holding weapons. Metal baseball clubs, big wrenches with some metal chains, wired wooden clubs, you name it. Some of them even have guns tucked into their waists.“Alfred! What are we doing in this place?” asks Erica, looking around with an awry face.“Didn’t you ask me to take you here?” Alfred replies rhetorically, still looking composed driving the car slowly.“What do you mean?” Erica shows her confusion.Alfred doesn’t say anymore. He simply stops the car on the side of the road, right in front of an old and humble apartment building.“This is where he lives,” ut
Some people might think that a woman’s mood can easily improve after a good night’s sleep. However, Naomi’s situation is different. Since ending her relationship with Thomas, she hasn’t been able to regain her usual self.Recently, she has been spending all her working hours inside her office. As she is engrossed with the amulet left by her late mother, a knock on the door suddenly interrupts her reverie.“Come in!”It turns out to be Erica, greeting spiritedly like always. “Yo, Naomi! Aren't you going out again today?”Naomi acts as if there’s nothing wrong. “Why? Is there something that I need to do outside?”Erica gives her a smile by shrugging a little, and approaches her. “Girl! You don't need to hide it from me. Everyone has noticed your changes.”“What changes?” Naomi looks baffled.“Come on! I admit he's a good guy. But you're Naomi Saunders. There are so many better men out there. You shouldn't be so fixated on him.”“Sigh! There’s nothing between us,” Naomi denies. “You shoul
Without saying much, Thomas decides to walk away. Naomi makes a pouting face, looking so dissatisfied.She is indeed upset. But deep down in her heart, she expects Thomas to defend himself, and tries to convince her. Carrying a feeling of disappointment, she gets into the car and starts it.Soon after that beetle car moves past the gate, Adam tilts his head a little like giving an order to Alfred. Knowing exactly what order Adam has given, Alfred hurries after Thomas.“Hey! You forgot something!”Thomas turns around, and instantly, a hard punch hits him in the face that causes him to staggering. As if that isn’t enough, Alfred punches him once more, sending him crashing on the ground.Adam approaches him composedly, and rummages all over Thomas’ body. He finds a roll of cash from Thomas’ pocket, and then gives it to Alfred.He doesn’t stop there! He keeps rummaging, to make sure whether Thomas brings any weapons with him or not.However, there’s no weapon to be found but only Thomas’ w