The next day, it was barely noon and Bryan had already gone to the police stations to file for a missing person. He didn't know when to stop. The first station that he went to was out of the city and the other two he did out of panic. None of them had anything valuable to say to him. One of the officers had even asked if they had a fight or if he had cheated on her. "That's one of the common reasons wives run from their husbands," he shrugged. Bryan was pissed but the man was just doing his job and frankly, he'd seen a lot of bad things in his years of working. Dropping her photograph and the last location she was in, he quietly left the place, still boiling with rage. After being on a brief call with Benjamin who assured him that everyone was working on it as they spoke. He had sent out his best men to look over the entire place and make sure there was nothing left unnoticed. Bryan sat in a large chair in the suite that she had been staying in. He was still at the safe house that
It wasn't long before his coffee arrived and he took the mug from the platter before the lady even put it down. He thanked her as she dropped the pancake on the table but he had no intention of tasting it. Benjamin had just told him something that he didn't want to hear. His wife was doing something behind his back and it was most unpleasant. Who could she possibly be making the transactions with? And what on earth was it for? These were some of the questions that passed through Bryan's mind as he continued to pace. A few minutes later, his phone rang again and this time, he wasn't so eager to look at the caller ID. Something inside him told him already that he wouldn't be so lucky. Right on the screen was his mother-in-law's name. He hadn't seen a call from her in such a long time and the only time that they had to throw words and be rude and mean to each other was when circumstances like what happened the previous day somehow put them in the same room. He had no business calling
The Oscar family gathering was as tense as it had always been. Bryan walked into a room full of men and women who wore pretense like a second skin. No one wanted to be lesser than the other and although the family took pride in hierarchy and orderliness, there was much more competition than Bryan had ever seen anywhere - even in the military. As he walked into the room, he heard one of Claire's aunts whisper to someone beside her. Even Freda was on the table and she had her eyes fixated on him. "You've finally decided to grace us with your presence, Bryan," Maxwell said. Bryan hadn't really heard Grandfather address him personally unless he was trying to speak for Claire so he found it kind of odd that he was being summoned there by Grandfather Maxwell himself. It was a little odd. "I had a lot of things to attend to," Bryan replied offhandedly. One of the uncles scoffed and asked him to address the grandfather properly. "Don't you know he's still the leader of the family? Don't
The whole table went silent as Grandfather Maxwell spoke. He wasn't just bluffing and those who looked him in the eyes could see that. "Yes, you heard me Bryan, I am going to let the cops do their job, we already have a suspect for her kidnap," he replied boldly. Freda smiled in her seat. She finally had something to hold Bryan. She couldn't wait to get her daughter back and get rid of Bryan at the same time. There was nothing that Claire would say to change her mind. CEO or not, she had her wrapped around her pinky and she would do exactly what she wanted - anything. Right then, Tom began to whisper but all that Bryan did to stop him was to cost him an ugly scowl. "You're still serving me, remember?" He threw it at the older man. Tom looked at Maxwell, hoping that he could say anything to tell Bryan that he no longer would have a servant from the Oscar family if he was being arrested by the cops. Maxwell looked at Tom casually, "That's your master, I'm not going to revoke what I
Freda sprang up from her seat and stretched to Bryan, snatching the phone from him before he could even process it. "Give that to me!" She snapped. Bryan looked at her and couldn't struggle with the cell phone with her. "Is she speaking? Someone used her line to call me the other time and it wasn't her, it was.." he began to explain so he wouldn't raise their hopes when it was just another stranger speaking. After the first time, he was getting more and more sure that she had to be in danger. How else could he explain the fact that someone was speaking on her phone? "It's her!" Freda shrieked, "Why did you keep us all waiting? Do you know how pissed off grandfather is? How could you be so selfish, Claire?" Freda snapped at her. Bryan was very shocked to hear her say something like that to her own daughter who had been missing for hours. She would think that she would be more considerate and try to find out where she was but clearly, she was still being venomous. "Get back here rig
It was a few days after Claire had been found. His security men were being tripled as grandfather Maxwell had ordered to make sure that it never happened again. Bryan Shill didn't know what had happened to her in those hours but he decided to let it slide. It was just one of the many layers that his wife had and he swore to uncover. Claire had also been a lot more quiet and she didn't want to see her mother for some reason. Bryan could not help but think it was a good improvement - although experience taught him that it would only last for a few days. "Are you ready to go, sir?" Bryan's new driver, Robson, who was newly hired by the family, called out to Bryan. He nodded and walked into the vehicle. It was a cold and dewy morning and he would rather think of a warm breakfast with his wife or perhaps some cup of coffee with Benjamin, but no, he was out to look for Peterson. Every attempt at finding Ramirez, Jacob, and Nate didn't look fruitful at all. All week had been an intense
Bryan was already at the door before the man could stand up to hurry after him. The last thing he wanted was to let loose his anger, who knew what he would do then? "Supreme master, you are angry over a lie!" Peterson said as he rushed to him by the door. "A lie?" Bryan asked and turned to face him, "A lie? Are you saying that my wife is lying?" He asked again. Peterson realized the gravity of what he'd just said and he blinked, shaking his head, "That's not what I said at all. Look, I never even knew you had a wife until a few weeks ago when we met in front of the hotel, I didn't know what to do with you then," he replied. "You met me and you met Claire, at no point did you think it would be ideal to tell me about what happened?" He asked. Peterson sighed, he sat back down on the couch that was very close to the door. It was a single-seater and he fit right into it without struggle, his legs stuck at the bottom while his whole body was snug in-between. He looked like someone who
Bryan didn’t find Freda at home. He was almost accosted by the new guard but the older man arrived and warned him about who Bryan was and why he shouldn’t dare treat him like that. “He is the husband of the director, how dare you speak to him like that?” Ghw older guard said. But this only pissed him off the most. He cocked a brow at him and asked him if that’s all he knew about him. The guard shrugged and nodded. Bryan tried to hide his displeasure as he walked back to his car. Right inside was his driver, Robson and he had a frown on his face. “Boss, did they give you any trouble?” He asked as he saw Bryan’s face. Bryan shook his head, he was not going to be a crybaby and lamented to his driver that some guard had just made a careless statement in an attempt to dissuade his mate. “And if they did, what would you do about it?” Bryan asked sarcastically, raising his brows. The driver turned sharply to look at him. “I could make them apologize, teach them a lesson,” he replied wi
When he arrived at Freda's house, he could hear raised voices from inside. He stormed in to find Claire and Freda in a heated argument."Get out of here, Bryan," Freda snapped. "This is between me and my daughter."Bryan stood his ground. "I know everything, Freda. There's no need to hide it anymore."Claire turned to him, eyes wide with shock and fear. "Bryan, please don't bring it up. If Grandfather Maxwell finds out what I've done..."Bryan took a deep breath, his resolve strengthening. "I'll confront the situation, Claire."Freda laughed derisively, her voice dripping with contempt. "You think you can convince Maxwell to forgive her? She’ll always be under my control."Bryan's eyes blazed with determination. "We'll see about that at the family gathering this weekend."Freda's expression turned from contempt to anger. "You have no idea what you're dealing with, Bryan. Claire made her choices, and now she has to live with them."Bryan stepped closer, his voice low and fierce. "She m
That night, Bryan woke up with a jerk. The cold sweat on his forehead same as the ice creeping down his spine. He had just had the weirdest dream. Or was it a dream? He couldn't tell. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, feeling the cool wooden floor beneath his feet. He needed water, something to qunwch his dry throat that felt like parchment paper. Yawning, he padded softly with bare feet to the kitchen, he moved through the darkened hallway, the silence of the night making his soft footfalls resound. The house was as dark as his thoughts. Speaking of thoughts, Bryan hadn't been able to keep his mind blank since the incident with Jenkins. Neither had he been able to wrap his head around all that the old man had told him. But somehow it made perfect sense. The odd stares, the way his aunt hated him but somehow loved his brother, it all made sense somehow. As he reached the kitchen, he flipped on the light and blinked against the sudden brightness. He headed for the cabinet
Bryan drove like the devil was on his tail, arriving at the classic bar Jenkins had picked out for their meeting. It was a beautiful garden bar just outside of town. As Bryan killed the engine, he pulled on his coat and baseball cap, trying his best at disguise before stepping into the place.**The garden bar was indeed a fitting spot for Jenkins, considering his love for flowers. Just as Bryan looked to the left, he saw the old man's hand guiding him to a corner table. Bryan walked over and shook his head in disbelief."I was hoping you only sounded different, but you look different too," Bryan said.Jenkins was dressed in a thick fur coat and a hat. He nursed a cup of coffee with his gloved hands."Sit down, boy. I have to be quick," Jenkins said.Bryan noticed that gone was Jenkins' stammering and broken words. He spoke fluently now, almost as if nothing had ever been wrong with him. Bryan sat down, looking at him curiously."You're running out of time. Your brother and uncle have
Bryan staggered back a little, struggling to process the jarring change in Jenkins’ voice. The old man he had known was frail, his voice barely rising above a whisper. Yet, the voice on the phone now was strong and assertive, unrecognizable as Jenkins'. He glanced around, half-expecting to see the old man materialize in front of him, but there was nothing—just the lingering sound of his own breathing and the hum of the city around him."Jenkins?" Bryan asked again, his voice edged with uncertainty. He wanted to be sure he wasn’t speaking to someone else, someone who had somehow gotten hold of Jenkins’ phone. His skepticism was palpable, though he hoped it wasn’t the case.“It’s me, Bryan. You said I should call you right? You did give me your card,” the voice on the line said. Bryan could almost hear the confidence emanating from the speaker. It was a tone of authority that starkly contrasted with the frailty he had grown accustomed to.“You sound different,” Bryan said, his laugh com
After a few minutes of driving through the busy streets of the city, he went easy on the brakes as he turned to the quiet suburban area. Peterson was always one for his space and privacy and perhaps one could say that he was the most secretive member of the team. When he arrived at Peterson's place, he met with his son, Chad just as he rang the doorbell and the maid allowed him in. “Hey, boy." Bryan said as he stepped into the house. Chad looked at him oddly and then for a second, recognition flashed in his eyes and he stepped aside. “Mr Bryan," he said with a thin voice. Bryan gave him a slight nod and moved into the living room, taking the plush seat that he was offered. “We weren't expecting such an important guest," Chad said with a smile that was obviously as fake as the Picasso painting on the wall. “I never planned to pay the visit either,” Bryan replied. Chad was eager to show him around and also asked to serve him breakfast and a cup of coffee. But Bryan was already gett
Bryan quickly tried to regain composure from the information that had just shaken him. If someone else was the supreme warlord, then it meant that the council had convened to terminate his own title and somehow found someone else worthy of such ordination. "Last time I checked, there was no one who could even compete with me. No one was worth being the supreme master, talk more of the supreme warlord. Had they suddenly dropped their standard?" He asked out loud but to no one in particular.He couldn't believe it. He was the best, the greatest, the supreme. No one could match his skills, his strategy, his leadership. He was the one who had been chosen, who had been destined for greatness.Who could even replace him? Who was worthy of such a title, the supreme warlord? Bryan snickered, wondering who could even stand behind him, he was second to none. There was no one he could think of that was even half the man he was. All his generals needed a lesson on night and courage. They couldn't
Bryan was already seething with hot wrath. How could his general even think that he'd want to hear about any territory and political bullshit when all he was trying to do was aimed at giving his life meaning? For a second, he felt stupid for even picking the call in the first place. It didn't make any sense to talk about the territory when his mind kept playing back to Uncle William's words and that of Josiah. “Hello, are you there?" Ben's voice came through the speaker, dragging him from his intense thoughts. “Stop!" He snapped suddenly, without any warning. “I've had enough of this bullshit!" He said with a fierce look. "Come up, what are you talking about!” Ben asked as his voice rose. Bryan told him that he had no interest in talking politics. He was sick and tired or running in circles. “What I need right now is a fucking compass! I need someone, something, anything, to take me to where my past is. I want to know what I am, who I am, what went wrong,” he bit out, "Not some pol
The next day, Benjamin called Bryan as early as daybreak. Bryan was still sleepy when he heard his phone ring and he rolled out of bed to grab it. "Hey, Ben, you're waking me up rather early, what's up?" He asked, his voice groggy with sleep.Benjamin first apologized for calling him up so early and asked how his previous day had gone. Bryan sighed, wondering how he could possibly recount his day to his friend. It was one hell of a year and it left him sour. "That's a long story, Ben. I don't think I want to talk about it," he replied, rubbing his eyes.Ben laughed and told him that he knew he'd gone home and he could guess that it wasn't such an easy day since his brother wasn't the most friendly person. Bryan scoffed, calling his brother unfriendly and was just trying to coat it up. Josiah was outrightly harsh, he was everything that someone would never want his own brother to do. "That's falling far from the mark," Bryan said, his voice laced with sarcasm.Ben sighed, telling him he
Jenkins laughed again, the sound a little too shrill and mechanical. "You can't choose your family, Bryan. They're stuck with you, no matter what."Bryan's eyes narrowed, his patience wearing thin. "I don't want to talk about my family, Jenkins. Can you let it go?!” He asked with a harsh tone. But for a second, he couldn't help feeling pity for him. Once again, he was clearly not mentally well and it showed. "Have you been taking your medications?" He asked with a low tone, his worry evident.Jenkins scratched his head, his eyes clouding over. "Yeah, they said life can't be the same again. I guess this is what they mean. Everyone thinks I'm insane," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.Bryan's eyes bulged, he couldn't believe that he'd just made the man feel bad. "I didn't mean that at all, I was just trying to make sure that you're fine," he said, his voice softening.The old man smiled and waved him off. "Yeah, you don't have to say it, I can see it in your eyes," he replied,