Season 3 chapter 17
The Shadowed Departure
Filoska grabbed her purse with shaking hands. She didn't say another word. She turned around and practically sprinted out of the meeting hall, her heels clicking rapidly against the marble floors.
Her mind was a violent, spinning storm of panic. It was a massive, impossible dilemma. Kniya and Malesh were absolute lunatics, yes. They were chaotic, unpredictable trillionaires who shot at each other over spilled coffee. But they also paid her an exorbitant salary and protected her from the rest of the corporate world. Luring them into a royal assassination trap felt deeply wrong.
But if she didn't, her little brother was a dead man.
She burst through the front doors of Dontils Villa, gasping for the cool evening air. The unmarked royal sedan was still waiting for her in the driveway. She practically threw herself into the backseat, locking the doors as the driver immediately hit the gas.
As the luxury car sped down the long, tree-lined driveway, the heavy iron gates closing behind it, Filoska buried her face in her hands, trying to figure out how the hell she was going to trick the two most paranoid men in the Republic.
What she completely failed to notice, however, was the figure standing just outside the perimeter of the estate.
As the royal sedan turned onto the main federal highway, a dark, completely unmarked motorcycle silently pulled out from an alleyway a few blocks down. The rider, dressed entirely in black leather with a tinted helmet, smoothly shifted gears.
Keeping a perfectly calculated, highly untraceable distance, the mysterious rider began to secretly follow Filoska's car straight back to Seistain.
The Psychological Curtain
As soon as the heavy wooden doors of the meeting hall clicked shut behind Filoska, the tense, terrifying atmosphere in the room completely shifted.
The highly disrespectful personal guard let out a long, exhausted sigh and dropped his casual, slouching posture. He stood up straight, adjusting his uniform.
"Sir, finally the act is over," the guard said, looking at Leon Debestez. "Can you tell me what you will actually do if she doesn't let them through the park? What if she just walks into Kavilson Steel, explains the entire royal scenario to the Managing Directors, and asks for their heavily armed help? What will you do then? Because you haven't basically thought of that exact scenario."
Leon smirked, completely dropping his panicked, stressed-out persona. The chaotic, incompetent royal routine had been carefully designed to make Filoska underestimate them, while the photograph of her brother secured her compliance.
"Don't worry about that. That doesn't matter now," Leon said coldly, adjusting his diamond cufflinks. "I would literally assassinate her before she even finishes her sentence if she even asks for the word 'help' from them for anything else. You know I have already sent one of my absolute best men on a motorcycle to just shadow her around and just note everything down. If she does our task without any failure and if she complies to the thing... she lives. But if she doesn't?"
Leon's eyes darkened with pure malice.
"I would first brutally kill her brother," Leon stated bluntly. "And then I would kill her immediately, right in front of those corporate bosses. She is not going against the crown. She is not betraying her own royal family."
Leon then turned around, glaring at both the guard and Muntari the assassin, who was wiping mayonnaise off his fingers.
"And both of you!" Leon snapped, his formal arrogance returning. "Please learn to have some basic fucking manners when you talk with the absolute leader of the royal family! You know I am the leader, and you cannot talk with me like that, even when we are putting on an act! Have some manners!"
Muntari rolled his eyes, throwing his sandwich wrapper onto the expensive mahogany table.
"But I am not a part of the royal family, sir," Muntari pointed out dryly. "Why are you lecturing me about this thing? I am an independent contractor. And yeah, we all know that the psychological intimidation act was a really great interaction. You don't need to cry about it."
"Just get the fuck out of this room!" Leon shrieked, completely losing his temper again. "I know that you are not part of this fucking family! So just get lost, you idiot!"
The Six-Day Dilemma
Location: Filoska's Private Apartment, Seistain Hub
Exactly six days had passed since Filoska Vinten had fled the Dontils Villa.
She had not stepped foot inside the Kavilson Steel headquarters for almost a week. She had barely slept, barely eaten, and spent most of her time pacing back and forth across the hardwood floor of her luxurious apartment living room.
She was trapped in the most terrifying, high-stakes dilemma of her entire corporate life.
Every time she looked out her heavily tinted living room window, she saw nothing but regular Seistain traffic. Pedestrians walking their dogs, delivery trucks, standard commuters. And that was exactly what terrified her the most. She knew for an absolute fact that Leon had sent one of his royal assassins to watch her every single move. She just had absolutely no idea who it was, where they were hiding, or how closely they were listening.
Filoska gripped her hair, letting out a frustrated, terrified groan.
If she walked into Kniya and Malesh's office and told them the truth—that the head of the royal family was plotting to assassinate them and had kidnapped her brother—the situation would instantly turn fatal. Kniya and Malesh would obviously try to protect her using their massive private security and limitless corporate funds, but it wouldn't matter.
Because the second she opened her mouth to warn her bosses, whoever Leon had secretly planted outside her apartment or inside the Kavilson building would immediately report her betrayal. Her little brother would be murdered in that dark room before Kniya and Malesh could even dispatch a rescue team.
But if I lead them to the park... Filoska thought, tears of sheer panic welling in her eyes. I am leading the Managing Directors directly into a royal death trap. They gave me a massive raise. They trust me to run this company.
She stared at her encrypted company phone sitting on the kitchen counter. The deadline was tomorrow. She had to make a choice: betray the two most powerful corporate Managing Directors in the Republic, or sign her own little brother's death warrant.
The Literature Run
Location: Executive Suite, Seistain Main Hub
While Filoska was having a complete psychological breakdown across the city, Kniya Anderson and Malesh were sitting in their completely repaired, glass-walled executive office, doing absolutely nothing of geopolitical importance.
Kniya was spinning slowly in his massive leather chair, staring at the ceiling.
"Malesh," Kniya asked, breaking the silence. "Do you know why Filoska is not coming into the office for these many days? It has been almost a week."
Malesh looked up from his quarterly energy reports, his face completely deadpan.
"I think so the family matter would be really important to her, Kniya," Malesh stated logically. "I told you that sometimes regular people are really, you know, engrossed in some of the most important family matters, and we have to give her some time to handle her civilian issues."
"Okay," Kniya sighed, kicking his legs up onto his desk. "You know, Malesh... I am really bored. We haven't found a single significant thing about this federal statue conspiracy, the military is quiet, and I think so we should just go out and spend some time out there."
"Oh, fucking no," Malesh rejected instantly, leaning back into the sofa. "I am not going out. I am really lazy right now. You know I am too bored. I am not going out into the public."
"Please, please!" Kniya begged, acting like a child who had been trapped indoors all day. "Let's go out! And you know, we can buy something!"
"What are you going to buy?" Malesh asked, highly suspicious. "Another expensive fucking car? You literally own forty of them."
"No, no!" Kniya promised, holding his hands up. "Yeah, I know that I love my exotic vehicles, but I am not going to buy a car this time! So, yeah. You know, let's just go out for a walk and buy some novels. You know, some fictional novels and comics for entertainment. This federal research is so boring."
"I will not go with you," Malesh stated stubbornly, crossing his arms. "Because it is a profound waste of my executive time. I do not read fictional comics."
Kniya smirked, dropping his trump card.
"You will come with me," Kniya said confidently. "Because I am also going to buy some highly detailed fart articles during this journey. You know you absolutely love them. And I will also buy some important newspaper gossips about rich people's private lives. You know you are secretly way too interested in them."
Malesh froze. His eyes slightly widened. He maintained his deadpan expression, but his corporate resolve completely crumbled.
"Uh... Kniya," Malesh muttered smoothly, quickly standing up from the sofa and brushing off his suit. "You literally hit to the main point. Okay. Let's go."