Equal Exchange With A Superior Person.

"Knock Knock."

"The door is open."

Aglaya slowly pushed the door and entered the room. Alex was meditating, so his eyes were closed.

"What do you want?"

She approached him. His senses were up, and he could feel that she was slowly getting too close.

"You can't give me what I want."

She raised her finger. Sensing that it was meant with no harm, he simply grabbed her hand before it could poke him on the cheek and said,

"Like I said. Don't act too friendly with me."

He pressed her wrist with some power to relay his hostility. She would feel a sting for a second, but the pain would subside in a flash.

He opened his eyes and looked at her face.

"A bold move, Mr. 'Touch Me Not'."

She was smiling. Apparently, his move had no effect.

He let go of her right hand. She was a nuisance, but she was also a Smirnov.

"Let me ask you a different question. Why are you here?"

She made herself comfortable and sat down on a nearby chair.

"We didn't get to talk much yesterday."

He sighed.

"I was tired."

She took a piece of folded paper out of her pocket.

"No worries."

After slowly unfolding the paper, she looked at him and asked,

"What do you think the Collective knows about you?"

He maintained his stoic expression and said,

"Couldn't care less."

She smiled.

"Exactly what I thought you would say. Let me ask you this question again, this time in a different manner. Are you aware that the collective has been keeping its eyes on you?"

"Yes. After what mother did, it was inevitable."

Still didn't phase him.

Her eyes sparkled.

"Wow. My next question. Out of all the families, which family do you think wants to recruit you?"

He took a few seconds to process that question. Before he could speak, she said,

"Should I answer that question?"

He was trying to figure her out. What was her game?

"Go ahead."

She tore the paper in her hand. Her eyes were completely focused on Alex.

"One."

He froze. Her smile was as wide as it could be, giving her a twisted look.

After making sure that the paper was in pieces, she placed it on the table nearby.

"Which one?"

Hooked.

"The Curran Family."

He was perplexed. He wanted to believe that this was pure nonsense, but her could tell. She wasn't lying.

"If none of them want me, then why do you think they agreed to my mother's proposal? And why are they helping me train in their respective families?"

"Beats me."

A nonchalant answer.

His mouth was wide open.

"Then what are you basing this on? Where is the evidence?"

"On the table."

The pieces of paper.

She was really getting on his nerves.

"Why did you do that?"

She raised her right hand, and twisted it twice. Alex understood the signal.

"That is what being bold gets you. Now, do you want to have a proper discussion, or will you continue to act like a Diva?"

A tight reminder. She had something that he wanted. He had to comply.

"I apologize."

He softly whispered.

"No need to apologize. You did something, I did something. We are even now. With this out of the way, we can finally progress things forwards."

She took out another page from her pocket.

Evidence Copy, part two.

"Here. Take this."

He looked at her for a few seconds, dumbfounded.

"Am I that beautiful?"

She commented. His face flushed with embarrassment. After he regained his composure, he took the paper from her hand and read it.

"Proposal number 19278. Host, Sylvia Curran.

Proposal to admit Alex Curran to the Zhao family, Rejected.

Proposal to admit Alex Curran to the Grey family, Rejected.

Proposal to admit Alex Curran to the Smirnov family, Rejected.

Proposal to admit Alex Curran to the Curran family, approval pending."

6 signatures. This was probably legitimate.

"This..."

One signature from each of the families heads, and 3 signatures from Sylvia Curran, signifying that the host had accepted their decision.

"What is she thinking?"

This didn't make sense. What was happening?

"Your mother wanted you to train under them. I don't know why they accepted, nor do I know why this document exists. But it does tell you one thing."

He knew what she was going to say.

"At this point, there are a lot of secrets that you know nothing about, even though they are related you."

Zhao Qiao had asked him to care about himself, and no one else. However, there was always the issue of being blindsided. An oversight, that could lead to something amazing, or something terrible.

"Why are you showing me this?"

This was a collective document. There was sure to be a lot of risk involved.

"To make an equal exchange."

Her theme of the day. A give and take relationship.

"What do you want?"

She stood up from the chair, and got closer to him.

Her face got closer to his ear.

"I want you to work with me, as my equal."

She whispered.

"Equal?"

He wasn't convinced. Other than the paper in his hands, there was nothing that she had that could get her the position.

"Don't doubt my credentials, Master Curran. You are a mere assassin talent to the collective."

She gave him a slight peck on his cheek. He didn't resist.

"I am the primary information handler in the collective."

Chills.

"When I say equal exchange, I am gambling with a margin of loss here. If you don't turn out to be what I expect you to become, I will be the one regretting this decision, not you."

She was a monster. As she looked straight into his eyes, a familiar feeling enveloped him.

"The moment you lose that confidence by committing a mistake is the moment I get rid of you."

A sentence from the past. They were quite similar.

"So, what do you think?"

Her smile was terrifying now.

'Give me a break...'