Chapter 05

Zayden

“No, sir. We haven’t seen anyone like that come here,” the receptionist said.

I nodded and walked out.

It had been three weeks since that night, but I still couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get her out of my head.

There was something about her that drew me in.

I rubbed my forehead and clenched my jaw.

What was I even doing here?

What was I going to tell her?

That I was sorry?

That I took something precious from her while she was drunk?

I couldn’t vividly remember her face, but I could still remember that night as if it had happened yesterday.

My phone buzzed.

“Boss, we’ve got him,” Marcus whispered through the phone.

“Play with him until I come. But don’t kill him.”

“Noted, boss.”

I ended the call and headed straight to my penthouse downtown.

I walked into the room where Marcus had been holding him.

My eyes immediately landed on the man tied to the chair.

He was already bleeding from the corner of his mouth, but somehow, he was smiling.

It was the kind of smile that made my skin crawl.

Marcus stood behind him, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Who sent you?” I asked, staring straight into his eyes.

The man laughed.

A low, irritating laugh that echoed through the room.

“You rich people are all the same.”

My jaw tightened as I brushed my hair backward.

He looked around the room before laughing again.

“I should have known this would happen.”

Marcus stepped forward and grabbed his chin.

“Boss demands an answer, or—”

The man looked at him and grinned.

“Or what?”

Marcus grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of the chair.

The man barely had time to react before Marcus slammed him against the wall.

“I said who fucking sent you?”

“You.”

He spat the word out with a crooked smile, like he had completely lost his mind.

Marcus punched him in the stomach.

The man folded over with a painful groan.

I watched him slowly straighten.

Then he started laughing again.

I couldn’t understand how someone could laugh after being hit like that.

He spat blood onto the floor.

“You think this scares me?”

Marcus raised his fist again, but I lifted a hand to stop him.

I knew Marcus wasn’t going to stop once he started, and with things going this way, the man would never open his mouth.

I stepped closer and crouched down to his level.

I lifted his chin.

“What did you take?” I asked coldly, my voice still calm.

The man stared at me.

Silence.

Then he started humming under his breath.

My eyes narrowed.

Whoever had sent him knew exactly how to choose loyal people.

“I’m asking you a question.”

He smiled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You were caught inside the executive floor.”

His smile faded for a second.

Then he laughed again.

“I work there.”

Marcus scoffed.

The man turned toward him and laughed again.

I could feel my patience disappearing.

My hands formed fists, and I bit the inside of my cheek.

I pulled out the photograph one of my security officers had taken and placed it on the table in front of him.

He glanced at it.

“You were caught accessing restricted files in the executive office. What were you doing?”

He shrugged.

“Looking around.”

“At midnight?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Marcus shook his head.

The man laughed again.

I leaned against the table.

“You’re not leaving this room until I get an answer.”

He looked at me.

Then he suddenly started laughing again.

“You rich bastards think money gives you power over everyone.”

I said nothing.

He stared at me.

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know you stole confidential information from my company.”

“I didn’t steal it.”

I let the silence stretch between us.

Soon enough, he would break.

“Who paid you?” I asked quietly.

He had been injected with drugs, and they were clearly starting to take effect.

The man shook his head.

“Nobody.”

“Then why did you take it?”

“I needed it.”

“For what?”

He laughed.

“For fun.”

Marcus moved toward him.

The man immediately flinched.

“I said I didn’t steal anything!”

His voice cracked.

Then he began laughing again.

I watched him carefully before signaling for Marcus to bring the photographs.

He placed one in front of me.

I picked it up.

His daughter.

A girl of about twelve, wearing a school uniform.

The moment the man saw the picture, his entire body started shaking.

“Please, don’t touch her, she doesn't know anything,” he cried.

Then he started laughing again.

“Now tell me who sent you and why you did this, or I’ll send her dead body as a Christmas gift to your pregnant wife.”

He stopped laughing.

His eyes met mine.

He shook his head violently and pressed his hands over his ears.

“S-stop it. Let her go.”

“Then speak to me,” I whispered into his ear.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it.”

His voice cracked.

“My daughter needs her school fees. They were going to throw her out.”

His fingers trembled.

“And my mother needs surgery.”

He looked down at his hands.

“I didn’t have the money.”

“So you sold my information.”

“I didn’t sell anything.”

“You just said you needed money.”

“I borrowed it.”

“From who?”

He didn't answer.

Marcus stepped forward.

The man suddenly started laughing.

“Don’t touch me!”

Marcus stopped.

The man looked at me.

“They said nobody would get hurt.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Who?”

He shook his head.

“I can’t.”

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“You already betrayed them by getting caught.”

His eyes widened.

“They’ll kill me.”

Marcus folded his arms.

“Then you should have thought about that before stealing from the company.”

The man started laughing again.

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it.”

“They have people everywhere.”

“Who?”

He shook his head.

“No.”

I stepped closer.

“Name.”

“No.”

I stared at him.

He started shaking his head faster.

“No. No, no, no.”

He squeezed his eyes shut.

“Please.”

I waited.

For several seconds, the room remained silent.

Then he opened his eyes again.

“They told me to get the files.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know his name.”

My expression hardened.

“Then tell me what you know.”

“He came to me through someone else.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know!”

He suddenly laughed again, almost hysterically.

“I don’t know!”

He exhaled heavily and began moving his hands through the air as if trying to draw something.

I immediately looked at Marcus.

“Get me a pen and paper.”

Marcus brought them.

I handed them to the man.

His hands trembled as he began drawing.

Slowly, a mask took shape on the paper.

Smooth black surface.

Narrow, hollow eyes.

A sharp nose.

A thin, expressionless mouth.

And carved into the forehead was a strange circle-shaped symbol.

I stared at it.

“They all wore this,” the man whispered.

He dropped the pen.

“I never saw their faces. I don't know anything else. Please, let me go.”

I picked up the drawing.

My eyes remained fixed on the symbol.

Then I looked at Marcus.

“The Devaen,” I whispered.

Marcus’s expression changed.

I slowly folded the paper.

Then I snapped the pen in my hand, my eyes darkening as I clenched on my jaws.