Awakening The Hidden Dragon

CH 0009 THE DEVIL'S LETTER

"Yes, Mother. It was one of the representatives of Gates Corporation."

At the mention of Gates Corporation, the entire room gasped heavily.

Byron's younger brother Nicholas, who'd been sitting quietly in the corner hoping to inherit everything, shot to his feet. "What do you mean? You're now lying to our faces?!"

"I am telling the truth." Byron pulled the folder from his briefcase. "I have been offered a partnership deal from Gates Corporation worth eighty million dollars!"

The whole room went into shock, many with their mouths wide open. Lady Morgan included. It took a moment before she became self-conscious and composed herself. The amount had shocked her so much that she became frozen for several long seconds.

When she recovered, her face twisted with disbelief and rage. "Have you lost your mind?!" she barked at Byron. "What gave you the audacity to cook up lies just to avoid marrying Emilia Martin! When you know the situation we are currently in!”

Byron sighed in disbelief. He was holding the paperwork in his hand, the Gates Corporation seal clearly visible, but his family thinks he's a joke.

"I'm not lying, Mum. I have the contract here with me. The paperwork. Everything."

"Spare us the bullshit!" Nicholas sneered from across the room. "We all know how desperate you are to avoid marrying into the Martin family! For all we know, you could have forged those documents and come up with such elaborate lies! You've always been the reckless one!"

"Then read it first, uncle - mum. At least before concluding," Byron insisted, bringing the paperwork forward and placing it on the table in front of her.

Nicholas and the others weren't buying it. They had so much doubt, considering how much the Voss family had tried in the past to get a contract or partnership deal with Gates Corporation and failed miserably. A year ago, Nicholas himself was given the task of securing a business deal with them and couldn't even get past the receptionist. To him, it would be the ultimate insult if Byron could easily strike a deal with them now when he'd failed so spectacularly.

"Don't believe him, Mother!" Nicholas said desperately. "Why would it be Byron that Gates Corporation offers the deal to, huh? When you've been running this company for decades?"

"Just open it, Mother," Byron said quietly.

Lady Morgan's hands trembled slightly as she opened the document. Her eyes scanned the first page, then widened. The Gates Corporation letterhead. The official seal. The signatures.

Her throat went dry.

This was real.

And just right then, Byron's phone rang, breaking the tense silence. He quickly pulled it out and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Voss. This is Ivan Watson. I am calling to ask about your decision regarding the partnership deal."

Hearing this, Lady Morgan's head snapped up. Her eyes locked on Byron with an intensity she couldn't explain. She was now fully convinced that Byron wasn't bluffing.

Quickly, she reached across the table and snatched the phone from her son's hand.

"Hello! Yes, we accept the deal with Gates Corporation! This is Lady Morgan Voss, head of the Voss family." She responded with barely contained excitement in her voice, all her previous anger evaporating.

"Oh, that's wonderful news, Lady Morgan," Watson's professional voice came through clearly. "I'm glad the family has come to a decision. Of course, this acceptance includes agreement to the condition we discussed with Mr. Byron Voss."

"Condition? What condition?" Lady Morgan asked, confusion creeping into her voice.

Meanwhile, rain hammered softly against the tall windows of the Rivera estate and Fred sat alone in the dining hall when he heard a knock on the door.

He frowned immediately. It was nearly midnight and he wasn't expecting anyone.

A servant hurried inside almost immediately, visibly uneasy. In his hands rested a black envelope.

“Someone left this at the gate, sir.”

Still frowning, Fred reached for it absentmindedly then he slowly looked down at it.

The envelope was black—not the standard white or manila of business correspondence. The paper felt expensive, heavy, like something designed to convey weight and importance.

His expression changed instantly.

The servant noticed it too.

“Sir…?”

Fred slowly took the envelope again, seemingly now invested, “Who delivered this?”

The servant swallowed nervously. “Nobody saw them.”

A chill crawled through Fred’s body. That made no sense.

The Rivera estate was surrounded by armed security day and night. Cameras covered every blind spot. Nobody should’ve been able to approach unnoticed, so how did an unknown person drop this?

Fred shifted his gaze back to the crest, his fingers tightened slightly.

“No…” he muttered under his breath as he opened the envelope carefully and pulled out a neatly printed paper.

Fred shut his eyes with a deep sigh because he already knew who sent this.

The moment he read the first line, his face lost all color.

> [“To the counterfeit heir of the Rivera Empire. How disappointing. Chen, my brother, spent decades building an empire through blood and sacrifice. Yet upon his death, the throne passed not to a Chen…

But to an outsider pretending to wear his skin,”]

Fred’s jaw tightened. [Rivera is not Chen blood. Which means he possesses no rightful claim to the empire beneath him,]

Fred stopped reading and lowered his head for a second with different thoughts running through his mind.

The shark must have sent this to him specifically because he knew how strong his loyalty was to Master Chen and he must know that Fred was working for the heir nobody has seen.

He read the next line. [A dog wearing a crown remains a dog,]

The room suddenly felt colder. Rain continued tapping against the window steadily..

Fred’s grip nearly crumpled the paper, but he kept reading anyway. [However, I am willing to offer the boy a chance. Let him present himself before me within the specific time, then I might decide whether South River deserves to keep breathing..]

Fred stopped breathing for a second.

His eyes slowly moved lower.

[Should the boy fail to appear…

I will begin removing the Rivera bloodlines across the country; branch by branch. Body after body. One family per day. House by house. One street at a time. One scream after another. Starting with the most vulnerable Rivera in South River,]

The final line sat alone beneath the others.

[Tell the fake heir that Vincenzo isn't one to toy with. You're the best person to explain what the shark controls. He'd be doing himself a favour by going by my rules. This is a WARNING]

Fred lowered the letter after seeing the address on where he is set to meet the heir.

His heartbeat had become uneven..

Just the name alone was enough to make any powerful person disappear overnight.

Vincenzo was not a man people challenged twice. In the underground world, his name carried the kind of fear that made grown men lower their voices instinctively. Entire families had disappeared after crossing him.

The horrifying part was that Vincenzo never acted out of rage. He was calm when he destroyed people. Patient when he hunted them. There were whispers that he once spent three entire years tracking down a man over a single rivalry, only to wipe out everyone connected to him in one night.

To the outside world, he was a ghost hidden behind wealth and influence. But to the people who truly knew him, especially Fred, Vincenzo was something far worse — a relentless predator who never stopped once he chose a target.

Fred had seen what he was capable of years ago. He is part of the reason Chen himself was in jail. It is almost impossible to withstand sharks of his kind.

The terrifying part was not just his brutality, but his persistence. Vincenzo never forgot. Never forgets. And worst of all… he enjoyed the hunt.

People didn’t challenge Vincenzo.

They prayed he never noticed them.

Fred suddenly stood up from his chair.

“Fuck…” His voice came out quieter this time. He was almost too stunned to utter a word.

Honestly, he couldn't say he didn't expect Vincenzo to object to the asset transfer, what he didn't expect was for him to put a bait as inhumane as involving other Riveras. Wait.. did he forget who Vincenzo is? He didn't care who died, as long as it led him to his fish.

Knox is strategic for not revealing himself yet but this threat might just push him closer to every shark that will come running. The Chen empire was far too powerful for any of them to let their guards down. It's like being the most superior being or president of the whole world combined. One wrong move now could destroy everything before Knox even settled into power.

And Vincenzo…

Vincenzo was not the kind of enemy you survived unprepared.

Fred looked down at the letter again.

His hands were trembling painfully now.

The boss needs...

Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the staircase upstairs.

Fred’s eyes widened slightly.

Knox appeared immediately, descending the stairs calmly in a black shirt and dark sweatpants. His damp hair suggested he had just showered.

Even relaxed, he carried pressure with him.

The kind that changed a room the moment he entered it. Knox immediately noticed Fred’s expression and asked, “Is there a problem?”

Fred folded the paper instinctively.

“Nothing.”

Knox frowned faintly. “You look tense.”

“I’m fine.”

Knox’s eyes shifted from Fred's face downward. Toward the letter.

Fred felt his chest tighten immediately.

“What’s that?” Knox asked.

For a second, Fred didn't know how to convey his words.

The silence between them lingered a little too long. “Why are you sweating?” Knox extended his hand slightly. “Let me see it.”

Fred hesitated. There was a reason the underground world called Vincenzo “The Shark.” Once he fixed his eyes on a target, escape became almost impossible. To him, everyone else were merely fish struggling helplessly in bloodied waters. He did not rush. He circled patiently, silently wearing his prey down before devouring them whole.

He shook his head and forced a smile, “Just business nonsense.”

Knox could sense his uneasiness and couldn't tell if it was all in his head, so he continued to study Fred's body language.

Then Fred looked away fast and without another word, he walked toward the fireplace beside the dining hall.

And tossed the letter directly into the flames and the fire swallowed it instantly.

Knox’s brows narrowed slightly like he was trying to understand why he was acting strange. Then he turned to look at the fire.

At the burning paper curling into black ash.

“Its just a piece of paper.” Fred smiled awkwardly.

Suddenly, a phone buzzed on top of the table, startling Fred half to death.

“Shit.” His body jolted, then he took a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

He turned away quickly and answered the call.

“Hello?” He spoke, slowly walking out of the house and leaving Knox to the coffee a maid provided.

The moment Marlon, Knox's logistics manager spoke, Fred’s expression darkened.

“No! We can’t tell the boss anything.”

“Fred, have you lost your mind?”

Fred lowered his voice immediately. “Keep your voice down.”

“People are going to be dead as of tonight!”

“Why should I care?” Fred frowned. “More people will die if the boss rushes into Vincenzo unprepared!” Fred snapped back. “Use your brain for once.”

Marlon sounded genuinely stunned by that response. “Are you seriously hiding this from him?”

“He just got out of prison,” Fred whispered harshly. “We need to give him time. The moment he faces Vincenzo.. I don't even want to think about it.. that shark is unpredictable. He did that with master Chen.”

“And?”

“And?!” Fred almost scoffed. “He will do it to the heir! The boss would be dead within seconds!”

Marlon inhaled sharply. “So your solution is to hide a threat that places different Rivera's life at stake?”

“We need time,” Fred insisted stubbornly. “If a few branch families die while we prepare properly, then so be it.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the silence on the other end became heavy.

Fred clenched the phone tighter.

“You’re trying to protect him by keeping him blind,” Marlon continued. “That’s the stupidest thing you could possibly do.”

Marlon sighed, “You hide this from him… then that shark gets to choose when to bite.”

“He doesn't need to know for now.”

While Marlon was trying to understand Fred's protective instinct in trying to keep the boss from the sharks, he shouldn't forget that some sharks are meant to be faced head on.

“Then we should kill Vincenzo.”

“No! We can't touch him. I made a promise to Master Chen.” Fred snapped.

“And?”

“If we kill Vincenzo…” Fred said slowly, “that promise gets broken.”

Marlon almost laughed in disbelief.

“Who cares? That’s exactly why we should kill him.”

“How can you say that?” Fred snapped.

“How can you not?” Marlon fired back. “That shark is literally hunting the boss!”

Fred rubbed his forehead tiredly.

“But even if he is…” he muttered stubbornly, “that doesn’t automatically mean we should kill him.”

This time, Marlon sounded genuinely speechless. “You’re saying just because he wants the boss dead… doesn’t mean we should kill him first?”

Fred goes silent, “I made a promise.”

“A promise? Just because he saved your father?”

“No.. Master Chen trusted me. Vincenzo trusts that I can't lay a finger on him..”

“He trusts you?” Marlon asked in utter disbelief.

“Yes. A promise is a debt and I owe that to the late Master. Vincenzo must not die. No matter what, we can’t kill him.”