'Forgive Mr. Roger?' Alex couldn't help but laugh in his mind at manager Glenn's statement.In response, Alex said. "Manager Glenn, the decision is already mad-""That's where you are wrong, junior Alex!" Managed Glenn confidently said while cutting Alex's words in half. "As you can see, the other department manager has given their vote for Mr. Roger to remain as the sales manager!"Alex wasn't that naive. The sudden appearance of manager Glenn and the other department managers and their voting for Mr. Roger to remain as the sales manager goes without saying that it wasn't a mere coincidence! It's clear as day that they want to save Mr. Roger's position.At this time, department manager Glenn let out a hearty laugh. "Junior Alex, it looks like manager Roger won't be giving you the position anytime soon!"Instantly, a flash of coldness appeared deep within Alex's dark eyes. So they want to bully him with their position and numbers? If it was before, he would have compromised. Alex snor
Meanwhile.... "He is not a man of his word. What a bull!" "So our former manager only amounted to this much? He doesn't have a backbone. This is disappointing!" Alex's coworkers didn't hold back on their comments and were getting more and more vicious than their previous remarks. It had to be mentioned, that ex-manager Roger's relationship with the other managers was starting to collapse while they were withdrawing themselves, as they didn't want to be associated with him any longer than necessary as there was a high possibility that they would be affected; it was too risky. Also, they didn't want to make an enemy out of the company employee and become a target for criticism! "Alright, alright, I'll do it." The ex-manager Roger felt like pulling every strand of hair out of his body. He glared at Alex, who merely smiled nonchalantly, as though his misery had nothing to do with him. Ah! That guy pissed him off to the bone. 'Isn't it simply undressing for a duration of time? I
Alex drove his Mercedes-Benz toward the location that Ms. Athena had given him. He glanced at his wristwatch; it was 4:00 p.m. or noon, so there was quite a bit of traffic in the city center.He let out a sigh; luckily, he arrived in time at the meeting place. Looking ahead, Alex could see an elegant-looking restaurant as the diners with elegant and expensive suits and dresses entered with their partners. "So this is the place..." Alex took a deep breath and hoped that nothing would go wrong. Soon, Alex entered the prominent-looking restaurant, but the first thing he noticed was that there wasn't any presence of bodyguards, which is odd considering this is a high-end restaurant. What's even more unusual is that there weren't any diners present inside, apart from the occasionally appearing servers. It was very quiet inside.'Weird....' Alex murmured to himself.Anyway, Alex took his seat at the farthest table. 'Miss Athena said I should wait here; I hope it won't be long...."Just th
And just like what Ms. Athena told Alex, though limited, this person in front of him had a pale complexion, a tall figure, and an aura that commanded respect, but at the same time, he was the lustful type. He was expecting it to be merely a rumor, but it would appear it was true.He was no ordinary man; on both sides, two ladies wearing similar masks were serving him liquor, while the other one was very touchy with him."Hmm? Who are you?" The young man finally took notice of Alex's arrival, but then he recalled something as he spread his arm wide open in comfort while inviting Alex to take a seat on the expensive couch.In response, Alex said."I am, Ale-...." In the middle of his sentence, Alex halted his words."What's the matter?" The young man smiled kindly at Alex.Alex shook his head. It was better for him to hide his real name in this kind of environment, not to mention the curious and judging eyes of the guests that were observing him. With that being said, Alex proceeds to
At this juncture, the whole building floor light turned dim, then Alex, Nathan, and the other guests' attention were suddenly pulled when the male host of the event on stage was introducing the line-up of young ladies that were wearing revealing dresses. It was a provocative sight for the male guests in the crowd."Ladies, any gentleman!" The announcer was purposely building up the tension in the atmosphere to set the mood. "Ahem, these pretty ladies are of the highest quality and will be performing for tonight's event! I wish everyone enjoyed it... Well, start with the first contestant!"With that, there were thunderous claps and cheers from the hundreds of guests echoing in the room.These young ladies in their late teens were then forced to dance and perform on stage for the guests' entertainment, despite wearing revealing clothes and a little more, they would be bare naked! At the event, everyone had to wear a mask, so no one really knows who was showing a lewd face while watching
"No, I change my mind.." Alex shook his head. There was no point in playing with a clown. He proceeded to walk toward the exit.On the other hand, Nathan Lester was gritting his teeth as he saw Mr. Crown giving him the cold shoulder. But then he thought of something as he smirked while glaring in Alex's direction.At this juncture, the two grizzly guards were blocking the exit."Halt!"Alex had to stop his pace. He locked eyes with the two burly guards that looked like a bunch of grizzly bears with their large frames, even though Alex didn't show a sliver of fear while facing them.There was a tense atmosphere in the air as the youngest of the two guards spoke with a deep tone to Alex. "Brother, the young master Nathan is asking you to come to upstage; why don't I escort us two brothers there?" He even winked in young master Nathan's direction. It was as though he was saying that he would handle this trouble for him, and he could more or less guess that the boss wanted Alex to get pu
The next day, Alex arrived at the company. His shoulder was dropping, with a tired expression on his face. It couldn't be helped that last night he had to calm Rihanna down and do some explaining to her panicking mother, who happened to call the cops at the time Rihanna was taken.Needless to say, Alex didn't get a proper night's sleep last night with all the chaos and trouble. "There shouldn't be any more trouble with the police getting involved." Alex mumbled to himself while massaging his shoulder, which had gone sour after his fight with the younger grizzly guard; those guys were too tough to crack.At the back of his head, Alex thought. 'It would have been a different story if they had cooperated in taking me down.'Anyways, Alex had to finish some things in the office and explain to Ms. Athena about the failure of the negotiation. He wondered how she would react to this new....At this moment, Alex finds his co-workers going back and forth carrying documents in panic and answer
It was Emily who appeared to be waiting anxiously for someone Alex couldn't help but secretly gulp at, seeing how pretty she was with her white dress showing off her flawless skin."If my memory serves me right, she wasn't this pretty at the reunion!" Alex said those words as he headed toward her. But then he saw a group of wealthy-looking young men come up to her to have a conversation.At the same time, Alex was approaching Emily, and likewise, she had noticed Alex pacing toward him as she let out a sigh of relief."Sorry about getting late, something came up." Alex said while scratching the back of his head. On his way here, there was traffic in the city center, so it couldn't be helped that he was late."It's alright, Alex. I'm really grateful that you came; otherwise, I wouldn't know how to handle...." Emily abruptly stopped talking as if she were hiding something. "What's wrong?" Alex said."Never mind that let's go; grandfathers' celebration should start anytime soon." Emily s
The guests in the Golden Paradise were stunned, and then they started to hang their heads down, terrified at this group of mafia-like men. They didn't want to get into trouble themselves, so they walked a bit further from the entrance.On the other hand, the employees were intimidated, not to mention that they had just seen the guards of the Golden Paradise outside groaning in pain. Clearly, they were beaten up.The senior manager gathered his courage. "Sir, please leave you're scaring the guests; if you don't, I'm afraid I would have to call the polic-"Before the senior manager could finish speaking, Alex cut him off. "It's alright, manager Kevin; from here, I'll handle this." Listening attentively to Alex's words, senior manager Kevin immediately bowed in Alex's direction and spoke politely. "Yes sir. Please excuse my rudeness." Alex turned his attention to this fellow, who was a member of the Crown family and must likely be his cousin...Alex never imagined meeting his cousin a
Teacher Vivian recovered from her shock and glared at her husband. "What are you waiting for? Shouldn't you carry your own luggage?""Um..." Richard's face was turning a shade of red as he hurriedly grabbed the bags Alex was carrying."Y-You must be tired, junior brother?" Richard wanted to keep his dignity, so he was making excuses not to be obvious. Furthermore, he had no idea about Alex's identity; he was horrified inside thinking about offending someone he shouldn't have. However, would Alex not notice what Richard was thinking? So he feigned ignorance and stated it in a calm voice. "Tired? Not at all. I can carry it for you all the way."Richard was stunned then, his back broke a cold sweat as he felt like crying with no tears. Not to mention, his wife was glaring at him."I-I'll carry it from here, please." Richard uttered, and at the end of his sentence, his voice was the sound of a mosquito; it was barely audible. On the other hand, Teacher Vivian came forward and faced Alex
"What do you mean my credit card didn't go through?" Richard was frowning heavily. How come his credit card wasn't accepted? He was pretty sure it had some savings in it.The server rolled his eyes, although he was annoyed. Nevertheless, he still had to maintain professionalism. With it in mind, he politely explained. "With all due respect, we only accept credit cards from reputable banks, mostly VIP card holders, but we do have a beer minimum; it would be the C.F.R. City Bank."The moment Richard heard those words, he was dumbfounded. What the... VIP card holders? What's even more incredulous is that the C.F.R. City Bank was considered a beer minimum.'Wasn't the C.F.R. City Bank the biggest bank in the City?' Richard mumbled in disbelief. On the side, teacher Vivian was similarly stunned, but soon she recovered, and she was starting to worry as she uttered. "Does it mean we will have to leave?""Let me think..." Richard gritted his teeth; he shouldn't have lost his cool, yet he had
Around ten in the morning, Alex finally arrived at his destination.He got out of the car while taking off his eyewear, which caused his brows to involuntarily twitch as he felt the heat rays from the glaring sun. Then he turned his attention toward the famous property of Antonio Florence.Undoubtedly, the plantsIt was a mixture of greenery and modernity, as the villas and the mansion were surrounded by gorgeous, rare plants. Alex wondered how they managed to grow those plants that could only be seen in different countries!Indeed, the place deserves its name, the Golden Paradise.Just then, someone came toward Alex."Sir, this way, please." A young man in his late teens who looks like an employee with his white and black uniform came to Alex and led him toward where a group of visitors was.'Kate and the others are not present. They've already gone ahead; I should look for them later.' Alex mumbled while scanning the crowd, looking for his co-workers, only to fail.At this point, as
Weeks passed, and everything was back on track. Alex could be seen jogging around the plaza, as the children were playing while noticing the young man, Alex pass them by while gasping for air.Gradually, Alex slowed down. He was thirsty and dead tired from working out. He took a seat on a vacant bench, gulping down the water bottle and putting some on top of his head to refresh himself. "That felt good," Alex uttered while feeling his muscles start to relax.Just then, Alex heard his name being called from a distance. He shifted his gaze toward the direction of the voice and saw a young lady wearing a yoga outfit.Rihanna? Alex thought in surprise at her appearance."Alex..." Rihanna was catching her breath as she spoke. "I noticed you from the apartment's balcony earlier; I wanted to tag along, but you were jogging too fast... Oh, I almost forgot this is for you."Rihanna took out a small pink towel and handed it to Alex in a shy manner."Wow, thank you, Rihanna." Alex grinned as
At this juncture, the veterans were starting to incircle around Alex; one of the veterans even moved a step closer toward Shenna.Just as the perverted veteran was about to grab her, Alex suddenly blocked his outstretched hands with his body."Tell your men to stop." Alex's words were directed toward the veteran leader, who was simply standing at the back of the group of veterans.Hearing Alex's sentence, the veteran leader signaled to his group of veterans to stop."You want me dead, right?" Alex said while pushing the terrified Shenna behind him to cover him from the veterans."Indeed, we want you dead; your head will be valuable." The veteran leader's statement was very alarming."At least give me a reason why you are after me... Is it because of the Crown family?" There was no need for Alex to hide his identity at this point; most likely, they already knew him beforehand. What's more puzzling is: what was their intention?"You sure have guts." "Alright, I'll explain it to you....
Bruce was taken aback as he looked at the furious Alex and Shenna, whose eyes were burning with defiance as she glared daggers at him."Pft." Bruce couldn't hold it in as he burst out laughing, and he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes."You two are really similar! Showing such a face, how scary."Bruce stopped laughing as he continued to mock Alex. "Remember this place? Isn't it ironic? It's where your 'little girlfriend' decided to betray you because she wanted to use me to get promoted? If I were in your position, there's no way I would date such a woman, not to mention putting myself in danger!"Bruce wasn't done mocking Alex, as he proceeded to speak while leaning at the table with a grim face. "If you aren't blind, then you're certainly a fool!"In Bruce's opinion, Alex was an idiot.Alex understood that Bruce was using this tactic to play with his head. He was cleverly sowing discord between him and Shenna. But would he allow himself to fall for it easily? No!However,
The sudden interruption made Bruce's countenance stiffen; it took him a few seconds to recover as he mumbled. "Speaking of the devil!"There wasn't a doubt in Bruce's mind who the caller was! Without hesitation, Bruce picked up the call."My, my, I didn't think you'd be this fast for a fool!"Alex didn't immediately answer, making Bruce irritated. Just as he was about to yell at Alex on the phone, Alex's voice could be heard."... I'm outside, the money is already here, and I want to see her." Bruce signaled his men to go downstairs. He chuckled coldly while replying. "Showing concern, aren't we? Why don't I invite you in?""Alright." Alex replied on the phone.Bruce thought for a moment before responding in a mocking manner. "Do you want me to put your little girlfriend on the phone?" "There's no need for that; just make sure not a strand of hair is missing; otherwise, you'll regret it." Alex's tone of voice was deep.Without giving Bruce a chance to reply, the call was suddenly cu
Shenna was thinking hard about what purpose her abductors were after...Was it money? No, that shouldn't be the case, as who didn't know she didn't have anything on her name...Shenna couldn't help but think of her family, but then she smiled bitterly; knowing her family, she could easily imagine their indifferent reaction; they wouldn't lift a single finger to help her. If they knew he was abducted, they would even blame her for being careless...Unconsciously, Shenna bit her cheery, ripe lips until they bled; however, she didn't care as she ignored the pain.Although she could feel her anxiety rising, she had no idea where she was or what she should do; she was all alone in this lonely room, waiting for her abductors to do their worst...'No, I hate this feeling. I need to do something; that jerk Alex would mock me if I didn't do something. Shenna did so angrily in her heart; she didn't want Alex to look down on her. She inhaled deeply. She needed to figure out how to escape here be