[18]

Damian decided to open the window in the room that looks out onto the balcony. He opened the window to let the night breeze into his room, which is decorated in soft cream colours. The owner of this room is looking for someone with a warm personality. Unfortunately, that wasn't Damian Sawyer.

Once again, the night breeze messed up Damian's rather curly and thick hair. The view in front of him was just a line of tall trees and an artificial lake that reflected the moonlight. It was peaceful, but not exactly what Damian needed. His thoughts were already racing. His hands clenched on the balcony railing, and his jaw tightened. Leonard Sawyer was still on Damian's mind. If it weren't for the position Leonard holds, there's no doubt he'd be in Damian's court.

The middle-aged man had done a lot of things that had caused a lot of harm to Damian's company. No, it wasn't. It wasn't entirely Damian's until the time came—about two years away. The time will come when Damian also must introduce the next heir to carry on his father and grandfather's legacy. The one that had been built up so well, controlling so many important sectors, and most notably, there was no business-like business under the cover of darkness.

The Sawyer family had a tight grip on everything. But until the next heir came along, Damian couldn't have complete control. There were still plenty of distractions, and the most annoying one came from Leonard Sawyer. The old man wasn't great at business. He wasn't a great negotiator. But he had a way of talking, a nine-tailed fox-like demeanor, and an incredibly irritating way of pitting people against each other. Damian had to give him extra attention.

It's also worth remembering that a lot of problems had arisen because of Leonard's actions. "You're the one who was asked to manage Sawyer's assets, Damian," the man said. "I can still get to the main heir candidate. Do you know what to do? As long as you don't agree with the terms of the will, you don't have the right to stop me."

"Damn it!" Damian cursed, still feeling the effects of his emotions. "Once my son is born, I'll make sure you regret everything you've done, Leonard!" He used his clenched hand to hit the edge of the balcony. It was either good fortune or bad that the balcony railing was made of strong iron to hold the glass panels in place. Damian, who had gotten used to the pain, didn't care if his knuckles were red.

The vibrations from Damian's cell phone, which was in his pocket, interrupted him for a moment. He quickly reached for it and saw who the uninvited guest was tonight. Damian's expression turned serious as he saw the name on his phone screen was not who he was expecting.

Harold Lazuardi.

He was just an ordinary officer who ended up being a key figure in the Kenzo investigation. He was someone Damian could rely on and trust.

“Am I disturbing your evening, honorable Mr. Sawyer?"

Damian couldn't help but snort in displeasure. "Stay out of my business, Ordinary Officer."

Harold laughed on the other end. "You're as annoying as your name suggests."

Damian picked one of the cigars in his pocket. He moved towards the lounge chair at the corner of the balcony and sat down. He took a moment to enjoy the cigar while he waited for Harold to speak.

The man wasn't one for small talk, let alone contacting Damian on such a personal level.

"I've got two suspects involved."

Damian took a puff of his cigar to show he was listening to what Harold had to say.

"I've also asked Victor to take care of it. These two are going to help us track down the main shooting mastermind, Damian."

"Can I see their tomorrow?" Damian asked, trying to keep his voice calm. But you know that tone can make others recoil in horror.

"It depends on what happens tonight, Damian. Victor's working on this by himself and he doesn't want to be disturbed."

Damian smiled. "That's typical, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure if I should tell Marcus or not. "But before I get into that, I should let you know first, right?"

"I don't think you need to loop in Marcus on this. His work at Catterpilar is pretty intense right now, and I need him there."

"And please, don't do anything that might endanger those two lives, Damian."

"You're asking me to do the impossible, Ordinary Officer?" Damian replied with a smile. "I don't understand why you would do this."

"Damn you!" Meanwhile, Harold was laughing. "If it weren't for the fact that one of the perpetrators was from a different division, I'd be fine with you shooting them."

"Whoa!" Damian stood up straight. "You really got me thinking. Even a man in uniform with a gun, under the rule of the central government and classy officials, still needs dirty money to inflate his stomach."

"Don't forget, Damian, you're one of the main donors that the man in uniform is targeting." Harold's tone was neutral but sarcastic.

"Are you one of them?" Damian asked again, blowing smoke from his lungs.

"I just want what I'm owed, Damian. You know that, right?"

Damian nodded right away. “Take it easy, Harold. Damian Sawyer never breaks his word."

Before long, the call was disconnected. There was one thing, though, that made him reluctant to stow his cell phone away again. One of his monitoring apps showed a red indicator. It was important for Damian to find out what happened. His eyes landed on a conversation that had taken place on social media, where Tessa Monroe's name came up.

[I'm really concerned about you, Miya. Everything okay? Can you tell me what happened? I can come and get you soon, Miya.}

Then someone wrote a typed reply.

{I'm doing well now. There's no need to worry. We'll meet soon. Just be patient.}

Not long after, Tessa replied with several messages, but it seemed that Miya wasn't sure what kind of limitations to set as part of the agreement.

"Good job." Damian put his phone back in his pocket. The night was getting darker, but the moon was shining brighter than ever. But the man didn't seem to mind. All he was interested in was wrapping up his business and then enjoying himself as usual.

"It looks like Mr. Damian doesn't want to be disturbed, Mrs. Rebecca."

"You're actually going to stop me from seeing Damian? Who are you, anyway?"

The voice at the door was pretty loud. Damian just chuckled, but he didn't want to approach the commotion because he knew the woman in the wheelchair would win the argument. When he glanced at the door, he saw her moving closer with a big smile.

"I didn't think you'd be back tonight, sweetheart!" Rebecca was genuinely pleased. She was so caught up in what had happened at the dinner table earlier that she didn't even think about her head, which was suddenly full. "I missed you."

The wheelchair was already right next to the chair Damian was sitting in. Rebecca wrinkled her nose at the cigar smoke she could still smell on the balcony. "Could you maybe tone down the cigar a bit?"

“Shut up.” That was all Damian said without bothering to turn his head or pay attention to the woman beside him.

Rebecca gave him a disapproving look. Rebecca was used to Damian's cold treatment, but she still tried to keep her husband's attention. "You don't want to know how I'm doing?"

"I saw you enjoying a nice dinner, and now you're in my room with a big smile. Don't you think that means you're living well in this mansion?"

Rebecca took a deep breath. "You're making me heartbroken, Damian."

"Letting you use this space is one of the few chances I can give you. After that huge mistake you made, think about this: why would I still want to keep you, Rebecca?"

The woman shuddered in fear. Damian's eyes were intense, like a hawk ready to pounce on its prey.

"I'm sorry."

"I'll accept your forgiveness as long as you do what I ask, Rebecca." Damian put out his cigar. He stood up and went over to the woman, who was still his wife. He supported her movements with both hands, holding the wheelchair's arms firmly. Those soot-black eyes immediately locked onto the other person, who had not moved because of fear as well as being increasingly vigilant.

"What... is it?" Rebecca asked in a trembling voice. "Just tell me."

"If I'm lucky, within a month, I'll get an heir. And you, the honor of motherhood."

Rebecca's eyes opened perfectly. She met Damian's eagle-eyed gaze and tried to find a lie there. But she didn't find it there. Damian seriously said this completely unexpected thing.

“Isn't that fun, Rebecca?”