05: THREATS

[PREVIEW OF PRESENT PART 4 (VOL4)]

[ELRIC EXELON POV]

"A booty call would have been better than a threat last night?" He started up, walking straight inside the CEO's office without knocking. It's already lunchtime and Wang Xiu hasn't responded to his call or text.

"Are you telling me you are not the one behind the robbery here that almost killed me?" Wang Xiu replied without giving a glimpse of him. The CEO's face was buried with reports on the new construction of a hotel and did not bother to lift her head to see him smiling deviously with a square box in his hand.

After the intrusion at the woman's office was reported to the police, he expected Wang Xiu would come and confront him. But the CEO managed to get back to work like nothing happened.

"Why would I kill my girlfriend? If there was someone who wants you dead, it's Olivia Hart." He answered with furrowed brows, pursing his lips to scoff.

He knew Mischa would never hurt Wang Xiu after he ordered the woman to kill the CEO if she gets caught stealing the files that would incriminate him if it gets into the hands of the authorities. He found out why Wang Xiu was confident to decline his intimate advances and he needed to take a step to get rid of the woman.

"Girlfriend? I thought dating each other was purely business." Wang Xiu lifted her chin and raises her eyebrow.

"Isn't love an investment? And haven't we spent enough time together that we should make everything official?" He smiled, stepping closer to Wang Xiu. He stood beside the woman with one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the table.

"That's sweet Elric, I never really thought you're the romantic type of man." Wang Xiu sneered, putting her priority back on the papers at the table.

"Maybe it's time you get your focus on me so you'll see how a great husband I could be." He said, plopping his hand in front of the paper that the woman was examining.

"Husband?" Wang Xiu repeated his words from disbelief.

He set a small square box in front of the woman and slowly opened it, showing a large clear white stone glittering under the light of the room attached to a white gold band.

The woman gazed at the diamond ring on the table with no words coming out of her mouth. He turned the swivel chair in his direction that the Wang Xiu settled on and lowered his head to be closer. Laying one of his hands on the woman's face and gently lifting her chin with his fingers.

"Marrying me will be the best decision you will have," Elric whispered, setting his face closer to the woman. 

He kissed Wang Xiu on the lips to seal his proposal that the woman didn't decline.

π - π - π

[PREVIEW OF THE PRESENT PART 5 (VOL4)]

[MISCHA POV]

Mischa slept throughout her ten-hour long bullet train journey to Macau and it helped a lot to regain her strength. She checks her phone every hour to see the news about the robbery at LCDC company but it appears that Wang Xiu doesn't want bad publicity to affect her business. 

If the media learn that the high-security Youshi Building in Soho had been effortlessly breached, an investigation will occur inside the company. Gossip will create confusion and every employee will point a finger and generate friction. This friction will bring distrust and break the leg a company stands on. The workforce. And if there are no limbs, the company will tumble down.

Elric Exelon is a genius. Fail or not, the robbery will hurt the Long Company and Zhang Wang Xiu will not be able to do anything.

The bullet train arrived at Zhuhai Station and from there, Mischa chose to get a taxi instead of riding a bus because it is faster and convenient. She hates drivers noisily asking where she came from, but she can always fake not be fluent in Cantonese because she's a foreigner.

A small hotel at Rua das lorchas is where Mischa chose to stay for the night. It is behind the river near the ferry station and a bus station she can ride to any time. The location of the hotel is perfect for an easy escape from Exelon men's if they try to capture her, she can choose to jump at the river and swim away if the situation gets awful.

Inside the hotel, Mischa begins to scan the room that the receptionist gives. She immediately checks for hidden cameras by turning off the lights and carefully looks at blinking glints. When she's done, Mischa turns on the lights and tries to call a food delivery service. She goes to the bathroom to check for any static activity that her phone can get but find nothing suspicious. The hotel room is clear of hidden cameras but there is no time to stay and rest. Mischa needs to get going while she has time left.

Mischa counts the money in the bag and takes the nylon holster out. She wraps it around her small waist and fills it with money leaving only a handful of bills inside the bag. Then she prepares to go where the men of the biggest loan shark gang hang out.

Macau is a city famous for gambling and other heritage sites. It even toppled Las Vegas for being a center for casinos. As the beautiful city flourished above with luxury hotels, betting games clubs, bars, and other tourist attractions came the underground world it developed. Money matters and the greedy one comes here often. The triad gang takes care of all the business here and new entrepreneurs need to go under them.

The woman remembers clearly the first time Elric Exelon had a taste of the triad's power. He came here announcing his plan to venture into a business but all he got is a gun on his head. The high-grade security is no match to the manpower that the gang has and they were easily taken and asked to pay a lump sum for their lives. The triad doesn't care about his reputation in the industry or the media. As long as you play by their rules they will let your business flourish here without question.

But Elric Exelon is not the kind of person to play by the rules. He has the concept to build a tower with his name in this city. A symbol of power for everyone to see and the first step is to get the Long company who had surprisingly made business here.

Mischa goes out of her hotel with the money taped on her body and calls a cab to take her into a club named "Tamad" or lazy. The place is owned by the biggest loan sharks in Macau and if Elric Exelon is afraid of someone, it's them.

With her black hair, Mischa was not recognized by the bouncer at the entrance. The man let her in because she's beautiful and with a charming smile, she's in without a problem. The place is loud and dark as before. A live DJ plays all kinds of music for people to dance into. There are seats around where people can sit and drink and VIPs are upstairs with their karaoke. However, the main money of the club doesn't come from the patrons but from the illegal transactions that the men of the triad get in this place. This is where any lazy person with money can get anything.

Anything with the right price to pay.

Mischa remembers the blue shark on the wall is the hidden door, she recalls this place so well because this is where she asked for information about the Long Company and all they give is the name of the executive, Zhang Wang Xiu.

"Where is Juan?" Mischa asks the large man guarding the door. He is wearing all black from the shirt, coat, and pants with big deep brown eyes and a dark complexion. A shaved head makes him look hostile to anyone, with big arms and chest to kill you with one punch.

"Who are you?" The guard says, standing between Mischa and the door with a blue shark logo.

"Tell Juan Tamad the Russian is here," Mischa says staring straight into the guard's eye. 

The guard shouted at the door in Tagalog to inform them of the visitor and Mischa can hear a man yell back to let her pass. The guard turns and opens the door disguised as part of the wall. Inside is a long hallway with different rooms for different transactions. The place is like a dirty office with papers scattered all over the floor. At the end of the hall is the room of one of the heads of the triad's faction.

"Babe, I miss you! I like the new look, very much "Angelina Jolie" in the movie Salt." The man exclaims pointing at Mischa with his index finger while making a circle gesture to illustrate the woman's face. His clean-cut hair, trimmed beard, and mustache on his square face make him less intimidating than the other men around. His big brown eyes are sparkling as he sees Mischa walk inside his dirty office. 

"So? What have you been up to babe?" He added. The man is flamboyantly feminine with the way he moves yet perversely looking at her.

"I need to go to Manila," Mischa says directly without hesitation. Her stern voice means business and not to play around.

"That's easy with your international passport, Ms. Olivia Hart." The man shrugs his shoulders and scoffs at the easy inquiry. He calls her with the name she uses when doing official businesses.

"I don't want to use my passport," Mischa says, setting her hands on the pocket of her black jacket.

"Not using a passport will cost a lot, baby, but I can do it for you for free." The man winks his eye and keeps the wide smile on his face.

"I have money," Mischa replies with a blank face. She wants the man to know that what she needs is urgent.

"That's good. I love money. Everybody here...loves...money." Juan says, setting both his hands on his chest and pointing at every person in the room while laughing. 

The man claps his hand twice and one by one the other men from the nearby rooms went outside of their area to block the hallway from where Mischa came from. Then, turn to step into the room where she and Juan are.

"Did Exelon pay you to get me?" Mischa asks, seeing all the men gather in the small room with Juan facing her.

"That Joker got no power here, baby. No, no, no, no, no!" The man smirks, raising his index finger and moving it side to side to dispute the woman's assumption.

"Then who is it?" Mischa yells, looking around at the men that begin to surround her.

"My loyalty has no price and my boss says I have to keep you here for the meantime." Juan retorts and with a flick of his finger, one of the men hit Mischa in the back of her head and she instantly falls on the floor unconscious.

One of the men carries Mischa out of the room and up the stairs leading to the back alley of the club. She was put in the trunk of the car that hurriedly drives off to the main street. 

Downstairs, Juan takes out his phone from his pocket and calls someone in his contacts.

"Boss, we got her. She's on her way to the house. So what do we do now?"

"Make her comfortable but don't let her out. No one should know where she is even my granddaughter."

"Okay boss!"