9: MAGDALENE VAN DER YOON

The door opens, unveiling a similar room in brown with a sofa close to the walls. In the middle of the room was a beautiful bicycle and toy train that moved from one direction to another on a train track. Its track is connected to the different simulations of the American train system in Harry Potter movie adaptations. "Wow! A bicycle!" Alex joyfully jumps on his feet, feeling overly excited. He picks different colours for all art supplies.

He ran to test the bicycle, but it was a bit bigger.

"I hope you like your gift," Magdalene said while watching Alex play. She stroked the rebellious strain of hair off his head to the side while she watched him play with the train. Suddenly, a knock on the front door leads to the office room.

"Alex stays here and plays while Grandma attends to certain matters. I don't want you playing hide and seek, so stay here and don't come out. Do you understand, OK?" Alex looks at his grandma, smiling, and nods his head.

"Promise you won't come out unless I tell you to." Magdalene points her finger at him. Alex nodded his head and replied,

"I promise, Grandma," Magdalene rose to her feet and walked out to the next room, leaving the door slightly open.

"Come in," she commanded, and five people walked into the room.

"Madam Magdalene, we have something to discuss with you."

"I had a feeling it was you guys. How many times have we had this conversation?" questioned Magdalene

"Your father gave you your inheritance, but the condition is that K-Taste companies are united under one corps umbrella, and that is prime marketing. The chief directors of K-Taste brand companies each must donate 40% of their profits to prime marketing, so what more do you want? Why do you want to break off so badly and become independent? so you can keep the money to yourself and change the brand to something else. Don't you know your decisions will affect the entire Corps? I won't allow that, and there is nothing you can do."

"That's not true," interrupted Kingston

"When my father died, we allowed your free reign because I had no influence or power with the board of directors; however, it's different now. We can drag this out. I want my sons and grandson in the future to have a company dependent on my name, and you are in my way. As the firstborn, I have an absolute right to drag this out with you." Kingston slams his walking stick to the ground, feeling annoyed.

"Agreed!" The others nod their heads in agreement.

"And why are you here, Raymond?" Magdalene questions

"Madam Magdalene, these are the marketing documents for K-taste food transfer. I just need you to sign here." Ray fits in his glasses properly and slides in a bunch of paper to Magdalene.

She begins to read, and the four glare into each other's eyes. Kingston looked into Paul's eyes and nodded.

Kingston slams the table, and Magdalene, distracted, lifts her eyes from viewing the papers.

"We need to talk about this, Magdalene! My political office, to run for mayor, is at stake here. I want my firstborn, who to handle the affairs of my company. Give the order to break away from Prime Corp. now. It's the perfect time to announce it to prominent tycoons from various business industries."

The slam on the table by Kingston startled Magdalene and, at the same time, Alex in the other room. Alex turns his head away from his train toy and towards the door.

He sees the door slightly open. He stood on his feet and slowly approached the door, where the argument became heated.

"Yes! I can't have you and Marylyn run the Conglomerate companies as if we are insignificant. Marylyn should handle the art foundation and give me the fashion company to handle." Ha Yeon argued

"So this is what this is about? You are envious of my daughter, Magdalene, frowns.

"Cut the crap! We all know what you did. You have my father's shares and your shares, and adding the fashion and art gives you over 78% of the shares of the company, and the fashion is quite profitable. This way, we will never be able to challenge the chairmanship. " Hayeon shouted

"Excuse me, chairwoman. I think I should not be here while the family argues. Could you just please sign the papers and let me leave?" The lawyer Raymond cuts in while adjusting his glasses.

"Do you think it's fair? You manipulated my father's will to suit yourself and your daughter and grandson. What about us and our children and children children to come?" Simeon cuts in. Magdalene ignored and began to glance through the papers she would sign.

"Raymond, you are the family lawyer! Can you tell these junkies here that Robert gave me the shares, honestly? They feel I stole their right. " Magdalene scans through the papers. The five of them looked at each other while Magdalene looked at the paper. Kingston, looking at Magdalene glancing through the papers, said to himself.

If only I could take back father's share given to her. The battlefield will be levelled to 50/51 per cent of the company, and taking out the fashion company will turn your world upside down. All you need to do is sign the damn papers. It's my birthright, and I am supposed to be in that seat as chairman, but you took everything away from me. Now, I am running for political office to gain power. My brothers influence the police force.

Medince, media, and political offices are needed ingredients to pull anyone down. It took me sixteen years to stage one plan to take you out for good. Gold Digger, I wondered what my father saw in you to marry a maid who used to serve us. She stole my father's heart and wealth; anyway, I ensured my foolish father paid the full price of death for his stupidity. I will tear your world down.

Suddenly, there is a knock at the front door, Magdalene lifts her head as the office door opens.

"Madam, what you asked for?" a maid cuts in

"Leave it at the table," Magdalene replied

Alex walked to the door, slightly opened the door, and looked at the scene with his grandma. He sees the maid walking with a silver cup and a bottle of wine inside a silver bow filled with ice cubes on a silver tray. The maid drops the tray on the table and then opens the bottle of wine and pours out a drink into a glass cup. She then leaves in a hurry.

"Why are you in such a hurry? You feel restless; are you okay, Stella?" Magdalene questioned

The words startled Stella.

"Yes." Yes, Madam Magdalene. I'm alright," she said as she walked out the door. Magdalene took a sip of the drink and

She continues to scan through the paper when the five look at each other. Magdalene eyes became blurry and a bit dizzy as she could not focus clearly on the writing.

"Please agree to our plea," they argued, only to distract her. Magdalene signs the paper after brushing through it, and she gives Raymond the paper.

"You may leave." She lifts the glass and gulps the remaining wine in one go. She rests her back on the chair, but Raymond remains standing.. Magdalene raises her eyebrows.

"Why are you still here? You may leave; do you have any other matters to discuss with me?"

"No, madam." The secretary smiles and passes the signed paper to Kingston. Suddenly, the five of them started to laugh.

"What is the meaning of this?" Magdalene questions the suspicious look on their faces.

Kingston, holding the papers, tears off the surface of the paper neatly arranged and places them underneath another paper in disguise.

"All I needed was your signature! A signature of a written statement of you handing over to me, father's fifty per cent shares, "

Magdalene's eyes widened.

"Raymond, what papers did I sign? ....." Magdalene tried to speak but cut off by king,

"We needed to distract you. We know if you were not distracted. You will read the papers and find out our plan, but with such an argument. We forced you to be stressed out, and you drank the wine without any clue of what was going on." Kingston touches Raymond by the shoulder.

Magdalene looked shocked at the wine and the silver cup, and her mind thought about poison.

"Yes, exactly what your mind is telling you," simeon cuts in

"What have I been poisoned?"

"Exactly as your thoughts played out, you have been partly poisoned." Simeon brings out a syringe and shows Magdalene. He forcefully injects another doze into Magdalene's veins. Magdalene felt paralyzed.

"Last year, I went to Africa to get two types of medical herbs. The first will slow your heart rate, making you feel dizzy, and you will collapse as if you have a heart attack. And anything we say, you will do. It is a hallucinating drug that confuses you. You will drop on the floor half dead."

Simeon shows Magdalene more drugs. She tried to stand on her feet, but her eyes became dizzy as the room began to spin around her. Her body feels weak. She struggled to stand from her seat, and Simeon continued

"Yes, how did I? We just let the maid rub the glass cup with it. You can never know, and here is what is going to happen. You will fall into a comatose state as your heart rate slows tremendously. The guest and the doctors would claim you have a heart attack. To ensure I am not the number one suspect, I will allow other doctors to examine you before I inject the real drug into your body."

Simeon revealed another syringe with a mixture of purple called metaphormin.

"This will finally lay your body to rest in the other world.".

"I will take everything you took from us from your daughter and send her next to you." Kingston smirks.

Alex covers his mouth with a tear rolling down his cheek. He made a noise with his mouth, and the group turned their faces to the door in shock.

"Who is there?" Paul looks at the door. Curious, he slowly walked to the door while unveiling a gun from his gun pocket. Everyone was curious to know what was in the next room as Paul slowly walked to the door,

"Oh no! Shit, my grandson. These bastards will kill my grandson, Alex, avenge me." Magdalene summons all her strength using the weight of her body. She knocks Ha Yeon away from her standing position and runs out the door to the hallway.

"She is getting away. Grab her quickly," Kingston orders. They rush after her quickly. Paul opens the door and sees no one inside the room except toys and a bicycle. He walked towards the bicycle, looking around, but Alex hid himself in a hidden compartment. Paul aimed the gun at the compartment and slowly reached his hand to the compartment handle when a voice thundered from the hallway.

" paul! Hurry, we can't let her get to the hall," Ha Yeon shouted from the front door.

"Ok, I am on my way," paul quickly leaves, chasing after Magdalene. Magdalene looked back and could see the five of them after her.

"Good! My grandson is safe!" She ran staggering like a drunkard and then finally into the open hall where the party took place.

"Wait! Guys, I think this is for the best. Let her go and collapse. From the number of minutes gone already, the drug is working effectively. She won't be able to do anything," assured Simeon.

"Are you sure about that? What if people find out my career as a police inspector general is done for?"

"Yes, she will be too paralyzed to talk or even move," Simeon reassured

Magdalene staggered to the stairs. She lifts her foot, trying to walk down the stairs before the eyes of everyone; however, the world comes spinning around her eyes. She lost strength, and at the same time, she lost her footing and collapsed, rolling down the long sloppy red staircase to the bare floor. At first, the guest didn't realize what had just happened, as it happened so fast to catch what was going on. They were in shock until they heard a scream.

" Moooother!" The voice of Marylyn-Seoyeon thundered into the room as she rushed towards her mother. Magdalene's head was drenched in her pool of blood.

"Madam Magdalene! "The voice of many guests echoed in Magdalene's ears as she felt her mind sink deeper and deeper into slumber.

...….............

....................

Magdalene opened her eyes. What lay before her eyes was a white hospital ceiling, which she recognized as the same room, bed, and exact scenario. Robert's husband stayed at the Prime Medical Centre before he died. She tries to move, but she can't, and her eyes dart to her left toward a figure standing next to her.

A doctor she would not want to see. Simeon stared at her with his old-fashioned glasses.

"You are awake! That's good because that won't be for long," Magdalene tries to speak, but...

"Shussssssh! You don't need to speak. Save your strength for your husband, whom you are going to meet. Since you came into our lives, you have taken everything from us. My father's love, his wealth, and even his will. My mother had a divorce when my father began dating you.

You broke my parents' marriage, and I hated you for it. Anyway, this made my brother's bond stronger. Now, just as you took everything from us. I am going to strip you of everything. Everything—your daughter, wealth—will return broke for the rest of her life. I just want you to have that information before you pass it on." Magdalene struggles on the bed, but her body is paralyzed.

Simeon lifts a syringe with purple colours.

"I had to travel to Africa to buy this in millions. It was made for you. Don't feel so bad; I am only cleaning trash." He slams the needle and then looks for a vein in her. Suddenly, a noise from the door cuts in... Alex's eyes were watching, as if he had heard everything.