A PAINFUL PAST.

             Richard Tiger strode into the large hall looking handsome as ever. "Good day to all my Green Corp. employees, I want to inform all of you that the Christmas treasure hunt is going to take place tomorrow!" the entire crowd began to murmur. "It is too early." "We are not even ready." 

           "I know what you're all complaining about, but it is happening sooner because I will be in the country of Zech next week to visit my grandfather, I also want you all to be able to celebrate Christmas with your families." His voice resounded in the hall. 

  "Our boss is so nice." "He cares about all of us." The others continue to chat among themselves.

"Ella, what do you think of our boss?" Nicky asked as her eyes glittered with respect for Richard. "Mr. Tiger is truly an angel in human skin." Said, Ella. Nicky agreed with her.

"Last two years because of the tragedy that befell us, I was accused of being a rogue by Samuel Patterson." Ella felt a jolt in her heart. 

        "Yeah, that scumbag dared to accuse our boss!" "I am glad he died" Ella's throat constricted when she heard them, she immediately turned pale. Nicky noticed and became worried.  "Ella, are you okay, you look pale?" She placed the back of her right hand on Ella's forehead.  "I am fine."

           "Shut up!" Richard shouted shocking the entire crowd. "I do not appreciate it if people mock the dead, his innocent family was also murdered. And it was the fault of my employees, who entered a restricted area, you should all be ashamed of yourself!"  the entire hall became silent nobody spoke. Ella was utterly shocked. 'is Richard Tiger a bad guy or a good guy?' Ella thought to herself. well, there was only one way to find out.

       Richard searched for Ella among the crowd and saw he saw her talking to another beautiful lady with glasses but all his mind was on Ella.  When he returned to his office he informed the head of the sales department to bring in their daily report.

          Ella was thinking of ways to enter his office when the head of their department gave her the report to go and submit. Ella was jubilating in her heart that luck was finally on her side.  

        Richard heard a soft knock on the door and he smiled. "come in." Ella slowly opened the door and stepped in. "Good day Boss, I am from the sales department." "I know you were here yesterday, Samantha Calloway right." He interrupted. 

"Yes, I am." Ella looked surprised. "Surprised that I know your name."  He asked and Ella found herself nodding. "How can I forget the name of a very beautiful woman like yourself." Blood rushed to her cheeks this made Richard more confident. 

         Ella placed the report on his table, she had already activated one of the chameleons on the report. She was thinking about where to place the next one when they both heard a knock on the door.

     "Come in," Richard said and a man walked in with an expensive royal blue suede suit with an embroidery of a dragon on the left side of the suit jacket. 

"Where do I place it Mr. Richard?" the man asked. "You see the door over there, you can place it inside,"  Richard informed the man, seeing that Richard's attention wasn't on her again, she removed one of the chameleons from the pocket of her boyfriend's jacket.  the man was fat and looked tired, Ella quickly went over and collected the suit. "Let me help, he looks exhausted." She placed the chameleon on the suit and activated it. "You shouldn't worry about me, I can do it." The man was breathing heavily as he opened the smaller door in the office.

                "Miss Calloway, I am also in need of assistance." Richard smiled seductively at her.  Ella got goosebumps. "What can I help you with?" she innocently asked him. "Join me for lunch." "But I already had lunch." "Can you at least keep me company, I hate eating alone and my friend is too busy?" He made a sad face.  Ella was cracking her brain to find a perfect excuse to leave. When the door flung open and Garrison stood by the threshold with a huge smile on his face.  "I am here to have lunch with you," Garrison announced. Richard felt like strangling him. "Looks like you have found a company," Ella said and quickly fled the office. 

          Garrison saw Richard glaring at him. "What?" he asked but was ignored. Ella texted Brian before going back to his office.

        Trent, Chen and some random agents were all searching for Lady Amorah's secret lair. "Found anything?" Trent asked Chen through his walkie-talkie. "I found something, come to the south side of the forest." Trent was not happy, from the way Chen spoke it was bad.

          All the agents went to the south side, when Trent arrive he saw how stiff and tense the agents around the area were. He felt a heaviness in his chest. When the agent saw him, they moved out of the way for him. When Trent saw it, his pupil constricted and his body became numb, the rotten smell wafted in the air. The abandoned lair was filled with the body of male children, their stomachs were wide open and all their organs were missing.

 Trent stepped back, he mindlessly continued to step back until he was outside the lair.

              Trent couldn't breathe the memories of the past began to haunt him. "Stop it, please stop it." Young Trent was tied on a white table, the bulb was blocked by his mother's head, and she was holding a scarry-looking green worm with jagged teeth.

  "It has a blood of a powerful demon, with this blood in your system, you will be one step closer to becoming the most powerful being in the world. She caressed his head. "I don't want it, Mum please don't!"  Amorah dropped the worm from his stomach. The worm borrowed into his stomach, Trent kept screaming the pain was unbearable. 

                "Trent! Trent!!" Chen shook him, he was scared for Trent, he looked pale and lifeless. Chen hugged him. "It is okay, Trent," Chen said in a calm soothing voice. "I will kill her, I am so going to kill her." His voice was hoarse. Chen felt a wet sensation on his shoulder. And his eyes widened, Trent was crying.

Ella got home, and just as she opened the front door, she was greeted by Rose and Ellis. Ella frowned as she looked at the two. "What are you two doing?" she asked. "Come with us." Ellis dragged her to the living room, where she found Mila sitting and their couch, he was sipping a glass of chilled orange juice. 

           "Mila, what are you doing here!" Ella was so surprised by his sudden appearance. He dropped the orange juice on the center table. He stood up and walked over to her. "You're finally back." He smiled at her, his dipped dimples added to his beauty. "Whose child is he, he is so cute!" Rose's voice became octave. "I am not a child, I have grown up." The boy pouted. "Awww! You're so cute!" Rose pinched his cheeks. "You haven't answered my question, Mila."  She raised an eyebrow at him.

                        "You disappeared after the attack without saying goodbye, I told my father to look for you and when he found your address, I decided to come to visit you." Mila's face remained expressionless. "Follow me." Ella climbed the stairs and Mila followed. Rose and Ellis were in a stupor. 

                  "Mila, I am glad you came but I am kind of busy." "so, you cannot take me to the movies or picnics." Ella felt bad as she nodded his head. "But I promise you this, once I am done with this case, I will personally come to pick you up from the palace, ok." She coaxed the little boy. "Fine, I will wait for you." Mila disappeared from her sight as soon as they were done talking. Ella heaved a sigh of relief.

                 Trent and Chen were seating on a log while the others were clearing out the bodies the forensic team was all over the place, observing and making analyses.  "How are you feeling?" Chen asked. "Better than earlier." The atmosphere became awkward again. 

         "Why did you stop me from calling Ella?" "I don't want her to be worried, besides she has her problem?"  silence reigned between them again. "Do you want me to get information from the forensic teams about the bodies?" "Yeah, you should do that."  Chen quickly stood up and left.

             In the middle of the night, the temperature dropped down to seven degrees, and Ella covered herself with a thick blanket whilst sleeping. Trent snuck into her room, entered the covers, and pulled her closer to him. "How was your day?" Ella's sounded sleepy. Trent did not reply but hugged her tightly, he placed his head on the crook of her neck.