TRACE
"Stop killing people with nonsense, you short-tempered fucker." Logan shook his head in amusement. "Elliot has a hard time defending you most often, and members of Foedus are gonna start doubting us if you continue behaving like that."
"If they questioned my mental capacity, feed them to Doze," I said boringly. "Simple solution."
Doze is the group of my pets: lions, tigers, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, and panthers. They are twelve because they are couples. I designed a mansion, the Manor, for their home because Lev was enraged when there was a time that three members were attacked by some of my cats.
I forgot the three members' names. They are... yeah, right! The stupid professor, the idiot trillionaire, and the moron Yakuza one. Texas, Ohio, and Michigan were full for a day because of them.
I am the only one who enjoyed playing with the Doze. I have two trusted men taking care of the Doze in the Manor, Simoun and Ibarra; those are not their actual names, but I nicknamed them like that because I love the stories of Jose Rizal. The siblings Simoun and Ibarra are the ones who are making sure that the Doze will stay on Manor's premises.
No one wanted to talk to or visit me whenever I was at Manor. Lev, sometimes, if I am badly needed for a meeting, then he sees me there. My cats are pretty friendly and adorable. They are lovely. They are not wild since I raised them as pets; they became domesticated. What happened to the three victims was their fault; they scared my cats, and the cats just fought back. Suitable for their stupidity.
"Back to you... Zup?" I returned my attention to Logan. "Anyway, Jake sent you some models of him. Choose first before I send them to Lev's club."
"I am here because of some important matters. Those women could wait."
"Then what about? Tell me immediately, for I need to take a bath any minute from now."
"First, Lev said he wants to talk to you alone. That is why you must be here on the island once he returns. He was calling you, as he said, but you aren't answering."
I went silent. I noticed that Lev is busy nowadays and keeps on leaving the island. He is probably dating a woman. He is getting old, and of course, he wants to have a wife and children. And I think I already have an idea who that wo— No! I smoked a cigarette. Not yet a woman, perhaps a teenage girl.
"Have an idea where Old Lev is going most of the time?" I asked Logan, chuckling.
Lev is five years older than me. He is not that old, but I have usually called him that to tease him since I was ten. I nicknamed him Old Lev, Oldie, Thunder, Tanders, or Gurang... that even our other friends were influenced to call him the same way. But most of the time, we call him Master Lev.
"No one knows, I think. You have no idea, and Daxon has no idea either. I asked the rest, and I got the same reply... they have no idea what Gurang is doing." Logan shrugged his shoulders.
I just gave a glance at Logan. He is my cousin from my father's side, his mother is the youngest sibling of my shameless father, my aunt, Tita Mommy, as I call Logan's mom.
"I will be here once Lev is back." I was slightly annoyed because of my father, who visited my thoughts. I inhaled smoke again from the cigarette and exhaled it after a while. "What else?"
"Second, Tito Patrick wanted to talk to you. You need to go to Salvacion," Logan informed me, which made me squint my eyes while looking at him. He knows very well that I don't give a damn about my father, and now he is here telling me something I am not interested in.
I shook my head irritably, returned from Logan, and walked to the bathroom.
"I don't give a fuck about your second piece of information. Tell your uncle I am not interested in his drama."
"Paige is missing."
I stopped taking another step and faced Logan again.
Tangina! What the—?!
"What happened?" I asked. What the heck is Logan saying about my sister being missing?
"I have no idea. You have been staying in Agrianthropos for three months, and it was just last night that I heard the news that Paige had been missing for three days. Tito Patrick said that you need to bring Paige home. He thought you brought Paige here with you."
"Fuck!" I needed clarification.
I looked outside the window. I shook my head, thinking about where Paige was.
'Where the hell are you, Paige? That is why you didn't disturb me with your messages for almost a week.'
"Stay here in Agrianthropos, Logan. I'll go to Salvacion." I was about to walk to the bathroom when I remembered something I needed to ask Logan. "By the way, do you have Luxe's number?"
"Yeah, why? You like Luxe now?" he was trying to suppress his laugh. Luxe was one of our newest hackers and trackers.
"Fuck your mouth, Logan! I need a hacker to find Paige! I know Keros could do the job. But I want to test Luxe skills this time."
"Okay, I will call him for you," Logan said while leaving the room. "I will call Luxe because your verbal and communication skills aren't good, Trace. We must find Paige, so you must know how to ask for help properly."
I let Logan go. Aside from thinking of Paige, I had no time to think of anything or anyone. My sister is the only important member of our family for me. I need to find her to make sure she is okay.
I am about to take a bath when my phone rings. I checked the caller ID. Paige!
Fuck!
"Paige!" I angrily answered her call. "Where the fucking hell are you? Don't tell me you are with a boy! I would kill your boyfriend, Paige!"
"Kuya!" Paige, equally angry, exclaimed. "I'm just here with my best friend. Come here and pick me up if you want me to talk to you. And Kuya… I wanna remind you that I am already of legal age, and I have the right to decide if I want to have a boyfriend or do whatever I wanna do with my life. "Don't scare me by saying you'd kill my boyf—"
I cut the line. I don't want to talk to my baby sister anymore. Paige is only nineteen. What legal age is she saying? And what the fuck did she say that she has the right to decide if she wants to have a boyfriend or not? Am I just scaring her?
Tangina! I am not scaring her. I am telling her that I could kill any boy who would be brave enough to court her and make her cry.
My eyes narrowed when I remembered what Paige had said before I cut the line. But what if she already has a boyfriend? What if the incident with Apollo happens again? Apollo is one of us, a member of Foedus too. The first member that bravely joined our organization, and Paige flirted with him three years ago.
No, I won't let it happen again. My sister was young at that time and very impulsive. And yeah…
'Damn it, Paige! You can't have a boyfriend unless you are already thirty!'
Forte KonstraktTaguig City, Metro Manila, PhilippinesNovember 2021CHLOE I was in a hurry. I received a message yesterday that I needed to be at the Forte Konstrakt office strictly at 10 A.M. today. I was informed that the hotel owner had arrived to see the interior designs I had started.I didn't expect that. My schedule was supposed to be next week because Franco told me that he was supposed to introduce the artist to me first. I was the one who would talk to the artist about choosing the paintings and artworks for the hotel. I had to decide since I did the interior designs and paintings should be based on the theme preferred by the hotel owner.The theme was given, and it was weird because the hotel owner chose a dominant and masculine color scheme. It was a hotel, but the chosen colors needed to be more friendly. Anyway, I didn't care, so why should I think about it? I could suggest, but not to the point where I knew better than the owner."Hi!" I greeted Alona, Engr. Franco Ro
TRACE I heard the chuckle of the man who was tied to the chair. I gave him a stern look as he stopped me from thinking about Chloe. Whoever he is is very unlucky because I'm the one facing him. And he looks like a fool who is in a hurry to die for disturbing my thoughts of Chloe. "Who sent you here?" I asked while lighting the wrapped weeds that Isaiah handed me. "Kill me now!" he replied proudly and calmly. "You will have nothing to gain from me." He chuckled. Hah! Nice! I smirked, glancing at him. He is one of those wonderful types of opponents I have met, those whom I will not feel even a little mercy because I prefer to kill them immediately and be done with it. But I need to let him say a name first... a name that is useful so that I don't waste my time here. "Who sent you, you fool?!" I repeated the question angrily and pulled his hair so he could look directly at me, and then I blew smoke into his face. I shook my head as weeds started to work on me. The man was blo
TRACE I delivered a straight punch to the guy in front of me, who gave a disrespectful answer to my question. This was the spy Logan, and Jake caught, causing delays in our transactions here in Sta. Monica. Of all the things that excite me, a disrespectful answer gets me going. I am impressed by those who have the guts to challenge me. I admire people with solid spirits who dare to do things to contradict me. There's only one meaning behind it—either they think I'm weak, or they don't know me at all. And about this jerk in front of me now. I have no plans of tolerating his heroics, especially in the face of their damned syndicate opposing us. Moreover, now that I'm pissed off because I want to go to Manila, but I can't yet. Fuck it! I can't leave Sta. Monica because of these annoying disruptions in the transactions of the Foedus people. Their interference is ruining my plans with Chloe! They're a pain in my ass! Damn them all! My plan was for Chloe to show up at Forte Konstrakt wh
CHLOE "Yes, Mom. Of course… Of course, I am doing my part here… No! Wait! I mean… You don’t need to shout, Mom. I… I just need to look for a job here while waiting for the time that I can talk to the man…” I am trying to explain to Mommy. I had just finished signing the contract in front of me, and she called at the perfect time. I was so excited to tell her that I got a project when she beat me to it with her scolding. As always… I can’t decide for myself. Sad. “As far as I remember, Chloe, we are not starving you,” Mommy angrily said. I have no idea who spilled the beans to my mommy about my job search. Probably my father or Harriet's mother. It could be either of them. And I am not saying that they are starving me; I just want to practice my profession. Is it wrong? “Are you listening, Chloe Jordan McIntyre?!” Mommy said in anger, and I knew she was really mad because she used my full name. I sighed. “I… I just want to practice–” I bit my lower lip as I stopped myself from ex
TRACE“Boss.”I opened my eyes at Isaiah's call. I was about to nap while leaning on the swivel chair inside Logan's room, a chair he used during his teenage years for playing the online game DOTA. This antique swivel chair, valued at fifty thousand US dollars, went up to two hundred thousand dollars in the auction due to Logan's arrogance and foolishness. The auctioneer presented the chair, starting the bid at fifty thousand dollars. Still, Logan, acting like a fool, immediately bid two hundred thousand dollars to impress a girl who was showcasing the item.Thinking of Logan made me smirk, and looking at Isaiah made me sigh. I shook my head to shake off my annoyance with Isaiah, who seemed to have a knack for disturbing me. I raised my brow, waiting for whatever he had to say.“Boss Logan said he needs you at the pier,” he said, further fueling my irritation towards Logan and Jake. Those idiots have been causing trouble for me, going back and forth between Manila and Sta. Monica for
CHLOEPaige’s party was ten days ago, and here I am in front of Forte Tower in BGC Taguig for the call I received yesterday telling me to report to work. I was kind of hesitant since I didn’t apply for this company. I applied to Black Builders, a triple-A construction company that I found while looking for work through online job-hunting sites.I reviewed Black Builders’ company profile, and I was impressed, even awed, by the CEO’s handsome profile that I searched on the net. The CEO is happily married with four children, Benedikt Rurik Petrov-Silva, much known as Brix Petrov-Silva. He is in his mid-thirties but still oozing awesomeness.I got so amused with the write-ups and articles about the handsome CEO of Black Builders and his wife, Ali, a famous influencer with a channel on a video-sharing site. Their family looks so lovely, and I can't help but imagine their love story, though I'm not sure if it's as perfect as depicted in the articles. If it is true, then Ali is one lucky wom