"Derek, what're you doing here?" Amelia asked with a frown."I sure didn't expect to see you here, how come-?" her eyes flashed when she saw the Rolex watch on his hand."Can you even afford a check-up in this hospital?" Amelia eyed him in disgust. He was looking more handsome, far from how she'd imagined he would look after their divorce. Derek merely sighed. His ex-wife was still as rude as ever. "I'm here on behalf of a relative. What about you? Don't tell me someone got sick in the family, is it your mother?""How did you-?" Amelia was stunned, but she quickly caught herself. "My mother is perfectly fine, Derek! Your bad wishes can never affect her health.""If you say so." Derek chuckled and turned to leave. He didn't have time to waste speaking to this woman. But Amelia's voice stopped him. "I can see you're doing better, Derek.""Of course. My life has been sailing smoothly ever since we got divorced. That's one thing I'm grateful for."Her face turned pale. "No matter how m
The abrupt ringing of his phone jolted Derek from his thoughts. It was his secretary. "Sir, something terrible has happened!" the panicked voice came forth.Derek got to his feet immediately. "Calm down and tell me everything that happened.""After the board meeting today, we suddenly received a call from the Jacksons that they no longer wanted to do business with us, I was still trying to understand the reason when-" her voice shook. Derek clenched his fists. Morris had enough connections with the Jacksons to convince them to cancel their contract with him.And with a big company withdrawing, every other company called to cancel as well. "Sir." the secretary continued. "6 other top-tier companies have called to cancel business with us, even our shareholders are withdrawing their shares in a panic.""What?" Derek's teeth gritted. "What has that got to do with the shareholders?""It seemed someone published something malicious about our company that got our stock price plunging ev
The next morning, Derek got up with a slight hangover. He had quite a number of bottles of alcohol last night and now his head was hurting. He quickly took some painkillers and hurried to the bathroom to get ready. Last night, he had prepared a recovery plan for his company. He had also prepared a warning letter to be delivered to Morris' housekeeper. If Morris didn't heed to his warning, he already had a retaliation plan in place. He quickly placed a call to inquire on his sister's condition, but it was the same. No improvement. Derek sighed and quickly got into the bathroom. While he was getting dressed, he received a call from Benson. "Hello, Boss." "Speak." "We just received a request from the mafia lords under us. They want to meet with you." "At the same time?" "Yeah." Derek frowned. Something must be wrong for them to request a meeting so suddenly. "Do you have an idea why?" "No, I don't." Benson replied. "Alright. I'll be heading to Aircastle with Thomas
As the nurse unwrapped the bandage on his shoulder, Thomas' mind returned back to the incident back at Morris' mansion. Derek had risked a lot just to rescue his sister back then, and now she was unconscious. Right now, there would be a lot of things to take care of at the company. Why was he here, lazing around like this? "When can I get discharged?" Thomas sat up suddenly, asking the nurse. His bruises had healed, the only thing left was his left shoulder pain had reduced. "You should be able to leave by tomorrow morning." she replied. "What?" Thomas stared at her like she'd gone mad. "Why do I need to stay another day here? I'm fine already.""You ought to be discharged today. But your shoulder injury has barely healed, you still need to complete your treatment medications." She smiled, fixing the drip into his forearm. "Now that I've assessed your condition, why don't you relax and let me bring breakfast for you?""Hmm." Thomas nodded. Immediately the nurse stepped out, he
Thomas paced the hospital hall, his teeth gritted.He'd been trying Derek's line, but no one was responding. Benson was also unreachable, Sophia's secretary also confirmed that she was currently having a board meeting. What was going on? He could have headed to the company right away, but he couldn't leave Annabelle unguarded. "Doctor!" He rushed to meet them when they stepped out. "Annabelle's condition is already fairly stable, in fact she has started responding to treatment." the doctor assured him. "Oh, thank Goodness." Thomas was relieved that none of the chaos affected her. "You should also have some rest, Mr Thomas. You lost quite some amount of blood and you were just discharged today.""I can't rest if Annabelle possibly remains in danger.""No worries, sir." The doctor waved at someone behind. Two muscular men in police uniform ran up to face them. "We've acquired some police escort to guard the patient's ward during the course of the investigation.""Good." Thomas s
"Daniel!" Jude knocked on the table to get his attention. "I was speaking to you, pal. What were you thinking about?""Nothing much." Daniel swung down another glass, his throat constricted. "What were you saying?""Who is the President of Aircastle? Did you see his face?" Jude asked again. "No, I didn't." Daniel stuttered. "I didn't dare raise my eyes to look at him."There was no way he would let Jude know that Derek was the President. "That's too bad." Jude slammed his glass on the table. "I've always wondered how the President looked like. He must be some high-ranking figure, and come from a wealthy influential family."No. He's not.It's Derek. The guy we always scorned back in College. Daniel thought to himself. "How's been work at your place, Jude?" He asked, in an attempt to shift the conversation away from himself."It's been fairly stable. By the end of this year, I have a promotion to look out for." Jude chuckled. All of a sudden, he jumped up and waved. "Guys. Over he
Derek arrived at the Winters Restaurant 20 minutes earlier. He and Benson settled in the private room booked for the meeting. "We'll have a bottle of wine, till our companions arrive." He waved the waiters away. Benson was seated beside him, both of them facing the door, with grim faces. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Derek asked him. "That the men called this meeting because of what happened with Morris?"Derek nodded, with a tight smile. It wouldn't be easy trying to defend himself in front of these men. A while after the waiters left, a knock sounded at the door and three men walked in. "Glad to see you're here on time," Albert spoke, his tall frame towering over them with angry eyes. Herbert took his seat opposite Derek, displeasure written all over his face. The last to be seated was Stephen, a small smile playing on his lips. All three of them were Elders of 3 Mafia societies under Derek. Albert jumped into the conversation immediately. "You should know why we c
"Derek, I was asking you a question. Is there any other thing you would like us to do for you?" Stephen asked again, sipping his wine. Derek's gaze flickered. "I need some men, that's all. But remember, you must keep your guard up all the time. Never relax your security, to prevent being caught unawares!"The men exchanged glances and nodded. "Who else would understand how terrifying Morris is if not us?" Herbert sighed. "We promise to be careful, Boss. In fact, I'm stationing men on the highway leading to my mansion in order to quickly detect any intrusion." Stephen nodded. "Same here, I'll inform my men to be extra-vigilant." Herbert seconded. "I'm curious about one thing, though?" Albert, who had been quiet for a while spoke. "What is the probability that your plan to defeat Morris would be successful, and we won't end up with too many casualties?"Derek and Benson exchanged looks. "Why?""We have to know what we're getting ourselves into!" He snapped. "Even if the chances of w