Chapter 13

Alden basically a landlord of many buildings in the city and amongst all those buildings, he owns a few clubs which contributed to his daily income. The thing was, it was not just any normal clubs were people go and have fun while getting drunk. Not even a casino. The clubs that he owns are mostly comes with a special prostitution services. Like a comfort room back in the old days of ancient kingdoms. 

Seora heard it from Nicholas.

Alden was the last member to be added. They were allies before that. Nathan used to be his clients and with some deal made between the two, Alden's clubs were their most strategic and profitable place to test out their drugs. The relationship grew more stronger when one of his girls was paid to kill Nathan and Alden managed to prevent them. When they had been allies for too long, and Alden becomes frequent to their penthouse, at one point everyone just considered him as apart of the gang. 

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"Damn it!" Luca punched the sandbag hard.

His knuckles are screaming in pain but he ignores them. The cloth wrapped around his phalanges doesn't do justice in minimizing the pain his nerves are projecting. His brain keeps on sending the signals, but his body was suddenly immune to it.

With every punches, the punchbag was thrown into another centimetre higher than the previous score. He keeps repeating, hitting the same position before he added some kicking. 

Luca doubles up the speed. His body moves by itself followed his muscles memory of his boxing routine. He can't think of anything else. There were too many thoughts processing at the same time. Especially after he had read the letters Pamela gave him.

He was right all along.

The letters are the core to what Seora Song was trying so hard to hide. He understands the choices she made, he knows how much she was hurting and still am. He didn't know he could feel this way for her, where he felt empathy on someone other than his family. He was overwhelmed.

He wished he didn't read them.

But, he was right from the very start.

Seora Song is a victim. 

One more punch before he loose the strength in his legs and collapsed flat on the floor. He doesn't know how long he had been staying in the gym. He was sure he walked in when the sun was all up and now everything was dark. The only light was the moon's coming from the open window.

"The pain inflicted upon me was too much for a broken soul like mine to bear."

As if he could hear Seora's voice, whispering into his ears.

"He used me."

"He wasn't just a devil who lurks in my mind promising nothing but lies, he was the very devil who had me turn my backs on the people I cared about."

"He changed me."

Luca's jaw starting to become tensed.

"I tried the usual way, to remove that feeling. I can still feel the ecstasy of that metal on my arm. It doesn't feel good though."

No.

"How could he do this to me, after everything."

"Pamela, I can't hold it anymore. I just can't."

"I miss you. I love you. Thank you."

No.

"Goodbye." 

Suddenly the gym lights up and Luca's eyes immediately squinted to it. He hides them behind his hands. Tracing the culprits' shadow, he saw Kaysen was sitting by the stool nearby the entrance door.

"I'm okay." Luca quickly said before he gets up and continue to punch the sandbag again. The sound of the punches begin to puncture the silence. Kaysen remained motionless as he watches the kid worked out.

Luca on the other hand feels different.

"I'm great, you can go now. Really." He said again in exasperation. He took another deep breath and wanted to resume but he couldn't. The pain that he had been ignoring before came rushing in like piranhas waiting to take their first bite. Now, he feels drained.

The younger finally gives up and take a seat on a stool just beside the elder. Kaysen didn't say a word but Luca already knew what and why he was here with him. Unlike Nathan and the others, Kaysen has a unique way to calm his nerves down. Surprisingly, it always works.

"Kaysen..." The guy perked an eyebrow. "I hate myself." 

There was a minute of stillness in the air before the fugitive yawned shamelessly. Luca pulled a flat smile, knowing the elder wouldn't care nonetheless. 

"Let's go." Kaysen jabbed him with his elbow.

"Where?" Luca looked confused. 

"Have fun."

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The younger should have known how having fun was defined by that precious friend of his. The fun that he thought would be a night race with their superbikes or hitting a really good karaoke spot. After the gym session, never once would he had thought to do another useless thing towards his body like eating instant noodles at the park.

"Ahh what ever." Luca wailed like a little boy before grabbing a mouthful of noodles and indulged them. He's too stressed out to do some overthinking. Kaysen by his side had finished his meal and enjoying his beer mixing with the dense air from the cancer stick. He pushed a can beer towards the younger before taking a sip from his can.

Despite the late hour, the park was filled with people. The Remedia Park is one of three biggest park in Caralina City. Unlike the other two parks, Remedia Park is filled with useful and medicinal trees which not just remediates the air but elevating your mood along the way. With a bustling city like Caralina, Remedia Park was preserved to give a sort of comfort for those who seeks remedy. Hence, the name.

"Thanks Kaysen." Luca spoke out of the blue. It seems that he had empty out his serving. The guy pulled another can of beer before popping it off. He gulped down almost half of the liquid. 

"Feeling any better?" 

"Not much." He knew that's not entirely a lie but Kaysen still nodded. It would be useless to force something on someone who has dead sets on something.

"I wish I could die right now." Luca let out a big sigh before laying flat on the grass. The sky was dark and clouds were too bulky that he barely could find a glittering star. 

"Need a help with that?" 

Luca and Kaysen exchanged looks with each other before both begin to crack into an awkward laughter. Kaysen cleared his throat right after but he let his cheeks puling a smile on his face. Its been awhile since he smiled naturally. Luca on the other hand lightly kicking the shin of the elder.

"I want to grow old with a brain still intact to my body, not to die with a bullet inside one." Kaysen mentally rolled his eyes. 

"That would make you special. I can put your skull as an artifact." Luca kick a little harder on Kaysen's shin but the elder was faster to snapped his foot away.

"I can't believe you made me move this much." Luca giggled at the comment. He knows Kaysen hates being outside. His ass would always find excuse to stay indoor or work in full hybrid mode. He hates people, but Luca was thankful that he would spend some time for him.

"I heard Nathan asked you to become a surveillance camera." 

"Stop talking about work, will you?" Kaysen scoffed. "Then, should I asked the reason you're hiding something from us?"

Luca refused to look at him in the eye. He still trying his best to find more stars on the clouded sky. It frustrated him that how similar the sky and his mind are currently. Both are oversaturated. Both are muddled with uninvited thoughts, which causes his mind to be unclear.

"You still not going to talk about it?" Kaysen poked more. 

"I ...just can't" 

Kaysen watched the younger from the side glance. He respects his privacy as much as he wanted others to do the same to him. 

"Luca." He called him in a monotone voice.

"Luca." He said it again, but there was a tinge of softness towards it.

"I believe you." He mumbled it in his own gentle way and it was very clear that the younger immediately sit up straight from the grassed ground. He was startled as he blinks a few times. Kaysen finally turned towards him.

"You don't even know the context." An eyebrow raised as he speculates Kaysen behaviour. The elder twitched a small line of smile on his face.

"That's why I said, I believe in you."

Somehow, Luca feels a lot better after that day. He thought maybe it was the instant food and the beer combination that made him feel a little bit full. He was wrong. What he truly wanted was at least someone he could lean on when something he ought to believe was not inclined with the group's motto. 

Luca looked up to sky that morning after a few days, and he saw how clear it was. He smile at the thought.

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Hugh took his time extracting the files from the pendrive. The main objective was to find traces that The Lee's were involved heavily in cementing Simon Douglas all these years for his political career and if they were lucky, Schubert's name could also be apart of it.

If this discovery is fruitful, LIEN now has many cards could be used to play against those whose a threat to them.

The file he was searching in particular was dated back on July 15th. The minute during that meeting holds a crucial clue to what they should be expecting soon. It was speculated amongst the underground society about foreign groups lurking around their turfs, especially in the south city, Rudgeria.

The power balance in the underground world was divided into two. The one whose on LIEN side, and the one who supported The Lee's. Funny enough, the balance has not yet tilted to one side of the scale. It was good news that Kaysen joined them from the very beginning, causing LIEN has full authority in the south. Since Malaka had been heavily infested with The Lee's minions.

Hugh took his time working on his expertise. Within the last few hours, he managed to check all the scanned documents that Seora had safely secured before she resigned.

To think that someone who looks innocent like Seora Song could be this sly of a vixen. Its not something to hide about the fact he doesn't trust that birdie at all. He knows he's not the only one who felt the same way. A hacker like him has gone through multiple behind the scenes work that he knows what to expect and what not.

He knows Seora has more up her sleeves.

A knock on the door steals his attention away from the screen. Nathan walked into his room, unscathed and looking the same as he has always been. 

"Didn't you mentioned you had a meeting before?"

"Didn't you hack my office this morning to know such details?" Hugh pulled up a smirk. He knows he can't hide anything from the leader. If he's ahead of everybody, then Nathan is way more advance.

"I have gone through what you had asked for. The meeting on July 15th. The contract was signed by three different parties like we had predicted. But, Schubert's name wasn't in any of these contracts."

Nathan reads the printed version of the same document. Like Hugh had said, the particular contract had not mentioned any other names that the main trio who had signed for it. July 15th was a crucial date because everything went down from there on.

And its not just limited to his underground syndicate, but extending to the Maverick empire. 

"Mecu Group?" He mumbled the name of the third signee's company. His eyes locked with Hugh's. The hacker twitched a smile. 

"A construction company. I had asked Nicholas to help on that matter. He's working on it." Hugh recalled his conversation with the mentioned guy. It's been days and Nicholas has yet to give him any updates.

"Blake Harland."

"I've search his name within our subsidiaries and allies but no result. Schubert must have associated himself with The Lee's and Douglas through this guy." Hugh predicted but Nathan immediately denied them.

"No. Its the other way around." 

Nathan ignores the pessimist attitude Hugh showed him. Schubert Maverick wasn't that calculative to begin with. He's cunning and sneaky but never the one who could commence a constructive idea let alone planning them. 

Before the conversation between the two could come to an end, the leader become aware of something amongst all the contracts. He noticed there was a pattern on the way these contracts were written and delivered. 

It could be argued that the contracts might be a copy of the previous and they had changed the contents only. However, not all secretary or personal assistants, not even a representative of any organisation would undermine the legal aspects of an agreement contract. Especially with the likes of Douglas and The Lee's. 

They weren't just three people in this scheme, there's four of them. And the last person was a solicitor, no doubt.

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"They've been using the building for five years and surprisingly they are very well organised." The guy across from Nicholas said as he sips his liquor. He was the person in-charged of the ring that situated near the building he was working on. They used to be friend with each other in the same gang and now both have come this far in life.

"Any suspicious activity?" He asked before he look over to the pictures taken by his friend's subordinates. The guy shook his head. 

"None. Nothing." Nicholas frown to that statement.

"Nothing at all?" The guy shook his head before he continued. "That's why I think these people are weird. But you know what's more weird?"

The guy moved a little closer as he cleared his voice. His eyes were warry as if he had never told a single soul about the information he was going to pass on. Nicolas took his chance. 

"I saw a government plate number the other day." He whispered lowly. Both of them exchanged a look. 

"Who?"

"There's two of them." He cut his words. "You know that you mentioned you had a couple of shares in that one company?" Nicholas tilted his head in confusion.

"Which company? The Maverick?"

"Ah! That one. Wait, I think I did search him in the internet." The guy dropped his glass of liquor and pulled out his smartphone. He immediately search up the history and shoved the screen towards Nicholas. 

Nicholas on the other hand, looked surprised but he pulled a smirk at the end. Finally, they had something to use against him. He looked up at his friend before he said,

"So you're saying, this guy was here the other day with someone from the government?" Nicholas asked as he pointed to the picture of a familiar looking face. The face that Nathan hates all his life.

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yuuki