“Are you guys dating now?” Maxine Blackwood posed a question that made Haze choked on air. “The hell you say?” “Language,” Elaine warned him with a glare before directing her attention to her master’s daughter. “What can I help you with tonight, Max?” “Shouldn’t you call me Miss Blackwood, like the good girl that you are?” When the brunette didn’t correct herself, Maxine huffed and continued, “Father wants us to accompany him to a dinner. Get dressed.” Haze frowned at the sudden invitation, “Do I really have to go?” After the long day of looking around Banoufield for a certain mafia’s son and being held captive by another mafia lord, Haze wasn’t sure he could role-play as Cassius. Forget about performing in his shoes perfectly, he was dead tired after the wild time today. However, Maxine crossed her arms and sternly stated, “It’s up to you. But, I suggest you do as told or father will come to get you himself.” Gru
She was a woman who looked a little older and way shorter than Elaine, wearing a brown sweater vest and dark red long skirt. The eyeglasses and birthmark on her right cheek didn’t lessen her beauty, he had to admit it. Just not in front of his brunette assistant. She might be Nathan’s girlfriend, but the worn satchel and nerdy vibe she gave off made Haze doubt it. Noticing his prolonged look, Nathan stepped up to shield the newcomer from Haze’s eyes. “Do you have a problem with my girlfriend?” Haze blinked in puzzlement at the confession. “I just didn’t expect that a mafia lord like you would date someone… uhm… how do I say it?” Suddenly, Nathan was shoved to the side by the nerdy girl. “Even I still marvel how a boring librarian like me can date someone so ridiculously contradicting like Nate, but here we are.” “Oh, uhm, right.” Haze awkwardly cleared his throat. “Did you say something about a detective? Is her name Chloe Dancer by
Haze couldn’t hold his stomach any longer, emptying his breakfast and pizza lunches on the dingy room’s dirty floor. “Ew!” Nathan Wolfe backed away from him, driving himself to a corner and squinted his eyes at the gross puke in front of him. Elaine was also disgusted, but she merely looked away and tried to ignore him. However, when a minute passed and Haze didn’t show any sign of stopping heaving and puking, she sighed. Approaching him, she placed a hand against his back, trying to ease the uncomfortableness. Once Haze was done and heaved for a fresh breath, the brunette offered a handkerchief. He grunted with gratitude, having no energy to speak properly. “I would have stuffed your mouth with my holey sock if I knew you’re going to puke,” Nathan’s words were laced with disappointment. Haze glared, trying to say that it was his fault for making hi, puke. But, his captor wouldn’t sympathize with him. In fact, he remains unbothered e
“If you can’t tell my anger for you, then I doubt you can do this with your own hands.” Haze put every detail he had noticed into perceptiveness. “Maybe you’re a puppet being steered just like me.” “Me? Ridiculous! That is the dumbest thing someone ever said to me!” “Frankly, you don’t strike me as someone who could put Carter in that state.” “Huh!” Nathan seemed bothered, as if there was nothing more annoying than hearing what Haze just said. “Just admit it, Wolfe. You are only bluffing.” “Are you serious for now?” “Yes, why not?” Haze smiled, very much unlike how Cassius smiled coldly in the videos and photos taken before his mysterious death. “Despite what you said, I will never tell you anything about Leonard Blackwood. You can’t do anything to my assistant because you don’t have it in you. I doubt she is anywhere near here.” Nathan was silent for a moment, as if contemplating things. But then, he sighed and r
In the Fades family, there was no such thing as cooperativeness or working together to reach success. No. It was always a competition between his five children. An eternal sibling rivalry to achieve the world. For that very reason, he gave a different last name to each of his children. Greyhouse, Greenhive, Blackwood, Whitelock, and Scarlettson. Not one of his children had the same last name, not even to himself. Since their early days, he had always told them to be better than their siblings, making them see each other as rivals and enemies that could leave them in the dust. In doing so, he achieved great results. Each of his children were successful. They had their own business they built by themselves where they thrive like no one else. They could live by themselves without any help from the other,making them independent individuals. However, he also instilled a craving sense into their very core since they were children. There was no point in making them the better version of
“Do you like it?” Jonathan appeared out of nowhere, looking at him with an unreadable expression. “I’ll ask again. Do you like it, boy?” Haze gulped, but steeled himself for what to come. He didn’t have other choice but to place the sword down before something he didn’t want could happen. “Me liking it or not has nothing to do with everything.” Steel grey eyes bored into his own, scrutinising. “Indeed.” Standing there in tense silence had never been in Haze’s mind. He only wanted to clear his head from the cold debate inside the meeting room. Accidentally being caught red-handed by Jonathan was a big mistake. He’d be lucky if nothing happened after this. Haze turned on his heel, “Now, excuse–“ “Stay.” He stopped on his track. An eyebrow raised. “Follow me.” Internally debating himself, Haze hesitantly followed the old man in the end. Despite his old age and the terminal cancer that would soon overtake hi
“I’m dying from terminal cancer. That’s why I gather all of you here tonight.” Benjamin Greyhouse, the eldest child, felt a heavy weight settle in the pit of his stomach as the reality of his father’s prognosis sank in. He was a natural leader and protector, he immediately assumed the role of caretaker. “Don’t worry about anything, father. I will do my best to assure you have all the medical assistance you may ever need. My company will come up with better medical technologies in no time, so please, don’t lose hope just yet.” Behind his stoic façade, however, Benjamin struggled to keep his face from grinning. He couldn’t wait for that day to come. As the first son, he was meant to have all of his father’s inheritances. This meeting was unneeded, aside for the purpose of announcing his succession. The future was looking bright. His sole company, Digital Grey, would truly rule the world these days forward. He would merge Fades Industries and his
Haze didn’t really want to discuss this. Not when Leonard’s ruthless way was fresh in his mind. Perhaps he sympathized too much with the doctor, but his rational mind thought that it was the least he could do. Even if the doctor now hated him with rage. He lost a wife for a completely unreasonable thing after all. The last few days, he spent the time learning everything Cassius knew. Elaine was a big help, and also a bigger jerk when it came to teaching him how to act like Cassius. It was as if she didn’t want him to imitate Cassius’s behavior, while at the same time didn’t want to fail her task from Leonard. He was in the middle of writing a speech, when the teen menace came. “Can we lay it off for now?” “Lay it off?” Maxine repeated. Her sharp eyes narrowed into a slit, glaring like daggers. “Did you hear what you just said? You want me to forget about it and let Cassius’s death be nothing but a normal occurrence?” Sighin
Haze wanted to laugh at the dramatic approach, but he would prefer that over coming early and conversing with his supposed relatives. From the data Eliane gave him, they were not the best relatives someone could imagine. In fact, he’d rather not know them at all, if Cassius’s assassination was anything to go by. Walking alongside him, Elaine looked at her watch. “The meeting will start in a minute.” “Are all of them present there already?” “Yes. Only Mr. Fades and you who are not there yet.” Haze took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. With a nod, they climbed the stairs and went to the aforementioned room Elaine showed him. From the hall, he could hear the buzz of all sorts of conversations they have inside. Some talked about politics, some about business, and others were just gossipping over who married who. The door to the meeting room was opened, and there were two butlers in crisp black and white suits, standing