Chapter 20

Yh

ll*l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l*ll

Capital City,

In California.

Nestled within the capital city's corporate district sat the imposing buildings of Apex Pharmaceuticals casting a shadow that seemed to make the neighbouring buildings pale in comparison to it.

The sleek exterior, beautiful environment and clean orderliness created an ambience that seemed to ward off every spec of dishonesty and pull people to it.

Although shady rumours would swirl occasionally, they disappear almost as fast as they come.

When it doesn't? They have the people on their side!! The majority of the locals would stake almost anything to vouch for them.

After all, it's not only a prestigious corporation but also one that partakes in monthly charity. Considering the number of successful communal projects they’ve sponsored, it's no surprise.

ll*l*l*l*l*l

A man could be seen walking into this building with his entourage.

“Good morning, sir. How may I assist you today?" A receptionist greeted him with a warm smile as the man entered the lobby.

"I have an appointment with Mr. Anderson at 10:00 am." the man replied.

“Of course, may I have your name please?” She asked.

“Thompson Hogan.”

“A moment please. Ah, yes, I see you're scheduled for a meeting at 10:00 am. Please have a seat, and I will inform his office of your arrival.” The receptionist said with a polite smile.

l*l*l*Moments later*l*l*l

l* Anderson Hogan’s office *l

***********

“The mission failed as you predicted. It was said to have stemmed from an unexpected leak regarding the recruitment process.

Makes me wonder if all these were in brother’s calculation as well. After all, he didn't exactly keep the recruitment a secret.

He achieved his mission of recruiting minions from the targeted group he had in mind but overlooked the fact that some of the recruits could have been spies too.

According to Intel, the operation was meticulously planned and would have been a success. However, as the operation started, it became evident that the enemy had foreknowledge of their movements.

That was all our intel could give but I’m assuming the breach was as a result of the decision they made during the recruitment process. That alone was enough to cause an ultimate failure.

The report sent to the headquarters failed to include that, the blame was shifted on the assigned team leader and he is being punished alongside his subordinate as we speak.” Mr Thompson reported meticulously.

“Just how many maggots did those old fools rank high in my absence? Making one of our people take the blame uh?” Mr Anderson scoffed.

“What do we do now?” Mr Thompson sighed.

“Tch, there's a fat chance Father knows about this but he seems to be placing his bet on that stupid brother of ours again. I only made one mistake and I'm still getting punished for it, Father is so biased.

Do you know how many mistakes that fool has made over the years? We’ve always been the ones to clean up his mess just to make sure our plans are executed. Purposely letting outsiders infiltrate? I don't see what's so good about his plan.” Anderson complained as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“I think it's all for the best, Father will certainly doubt him after the flop in this mission. He's trying to cover it up but the amount of lives lost in the mission is staggering.” Mr Thompson replied.

Father doubting him won't be enough to set our plans in motion, we need a solid card to get him on our game.

“How do we go about it then?” Mr Thompson asked.

“You don't have to worry about that, what's more important right now is getting on the stage. My punishment will be over soon and you've been doing a good job from your side, we're so close to succeeding this time. You just need to be ready for the spotlight when we start making waves.” He said with a cheeky grin.

“Oh, it seems you've got everything planned out already. I’ll trust you then.” Mr Thompson replied with a slight smirk.

“Ha right, you said something about Christopher gifting our branch some recruits.” Mr Anderson said with amusement laced in his voice.

“Yes, our dear brother gifted us a mix of rookie spies and recruits, I reassigned the spies I could find to other branches and brought the rest for inspection.” He said with an amused smile as he swirled the wine in his glass

“The disrespectful audacity to send rookie spies to us.” Mr Anderson scoffed as he connected to his secretary.

“Send in the men that came in with Mr. Thompson."