Fredrick's POV
Harmon Designs - Early Morning
"Arrange for the meeting," I told my secretary.
No one asked why a sudden meeting,
They never did.
Because they knew when my tone shifted like this…
I had already made my decision that no one can change.
This meant I won't repeat the instructions, and I won't repeat the intent.
And I never tell twice.
My gaze moved across the hall.
I studied their reaction.
Measured and observed them.
They reacted with speed…precise…and silence.
Good.
They understood this wasn't a routine.
It was an adjustment.
My voice was calm, measured and far from the force I ever used before.
Everyone scattered around as no one had the ability to question me.
They understood.
Forcing Jonathan failed, now it's time for precision.
Though force had its own place.
But force also creates resistance.
And resistance creates distance.
And now what I needed was…
Alignment.
I didn't need control over him..
Or pressure over him,
Only alignment.
Once it's established..
Control flows naturally.
And this time..
No matter what, I won't lose it.
"Keep the meeting personal," I added as I adjusted my cuff slowly.
"The time to be formal has passed."
A pause followed.
"Jonathan won't respond to pressure anymore,"
Silence followed.
"Now he'll respond to things that are relevant."
People never respond to authority.
Especially not when they've outgrown it.
Then they only respond to necessity.
To what they need.
To what matters to them the most.
And Jonathan had made that clear seven years ago.
Now, he had only enforced it.
Now he didn't care about power.
He didn't care about pressure.
But I knew even now there were things he would react to.
Janet was one of them.
My gaze drifted towards the glass window as I looked at the city skyline.
"And right now…"
A faint smile slipped my lips.
"The only thing relevant for Jonathan is Veronica and Janet."
"Send Jonathan a personal email," I told my secretary.
"Tell him I knew where to start looking,"
I repeated the line once in my mind to test its weight.
It wasn't too little,
It wasn't too much,
Just enough.
Too much information would make him walk away.
Too little information would make him decline from coming.
Balance was the key to unlock to get control back into my hands.
I had no intention of giving him any answer,
I was only giving him a movement.
A direction, something to follow.
After all, right now he was a man who was searching blindly.
If guided…even if fake,
But as long as he believes he's following the path on his own will in return for alignment is no loss to me.
"He doesn't need certainty," I said quietly.
"He just needs a direction to go towards."
My secretary nodded cautiously and asked.
"And Jonathan?"
I leaned back into my chair.
"He needs restraint,"
"If I give him certainty now,"
A pause.
I tapped with my fingers against the desk.
"He'll walk away."
Another pause.
"But if he's given a path…"
A smile formed on my lips.
"He'll follow it to where I want him to."
Jonathan's POV
Rollings Designs - A few minutes later
"Mr. Harmon just sent you a personal email." My secretary said,
I didn't look up immediately.
As I was waiting for his next move.
Of course when public attack fails, one attacks personally.
"Content?" I asked casually although I already had a hint.
"He says, 'he knows where to look?"
"He hasn't specified what or where?" my secretary added.
A pause.
I placed the file I was holding in my hand on the desk.
"He doesn't need to,"
Of course he didn't need to.
He never revealed his intent directly.
He always implied…suggested…guided.
Over the past seven years with him,
I had seen this before…
And fell for it.
A brief pause followed.
My fingers tightened around the file I held in my hand.
Not now.
Not ever again.
This time I won't walk blindly.
Now I knew exactly what both of them were capable of.
And more importantly…
What they wanted in return from me.
Silence followed as my gaze lifted.
"Is he pressuring—"
I cut my staff member's words midway.
"This isn't pressure….it's a shift."
Pressure always forces a reaction.
It practically invites it.
And that makes it more dangerous.
Because reactions can be controlled.
But choices…are personal.
And once a man starts to choose…
He stops questioning.
This was the trap he set for me…
And I had already seen it.
Another pause as my PA frowned slightly.
"A shift, Mr. Rollings?"
"Yes."
I stood up.
"His attempt to control me has failed."
I released a quiet breath.
"Now he'll try to get his control over me back."
"Send a reply," I told my secretary.
"Tell them to keep the meeting private,"
"No recordings allowed…no interruptions,"
"Yes, Mr. Rollings."
A pause.
"And no assumptions should be made before."
My PA hesitated.
"Mr. Rollings… do you think—"
"I know what he's intending to do."
Silence followed.
"He'll offer me something that I can't refuse."
A brief pause.
"Something I want and have no reason to reject."
My fingers stilled.
"He'll expect me to react and oblige to the offer."
I exhaled slowly.
"This happiness…I won't let him have."
A room at the Grand Del Hotel
I came with my PA.
As we entered, I noticed the room was quiet…extremely quiet.
The atmosphere wasn't formal and neither confrontational.
It was…deliberately neutral.
It was too neutral..too controlled.
Even the silence in the room felt controlled.
Too measured…too much calculated.
This was not a simple meeting.
It was a clear set up.
A set up designed…
For me to lower my guard.
To make me feel comfortable.
To let go of my hostility towards him.
So his real move could land in front of me unnoticed.
My gaze moved across the room.
The table seating distance was deliberate.
My suggestion for no interruptions or distractions was followed.
Too obedient.
Now everything narrowed down to one thing…
Our conversation.
I stood at the glass door, waiting.
No urgency as I didn't knock.
Not impatient as I was calm.
As the door opened, I didn't raise my hand immediately.
"Jonathan."
My name left his lips evenly.
As if nothing had happened.
As if everything was the way it was.
I looked around the room.
Nothing in the room was accidental.
Everything…right from the seating,
To the distance…
The lightning…
Everything was controlled.
I walked over to my chair without any hesitation as my PA followed me.
"Mr. Harmon."
My voice remained neutral.
I didn't give him any acknowledgment beyond what was necessary.
My voice wasn't hostile,
It wasn't warm.
Only present.
I waited for his gesture to sit.
Even then…
I remained quiet.
Waiting for his reaction.
Fredrick's POV
I exhaled in frustration as this wasn't the result I expected.
"I'll get straight to the point."
A pause followed.
"I know where to start looking."
Silence followed again.
I watched him closely to see how he'd react.
I wasn't interested in his words,
But his reaction.
Will he be eager or not?
My expression changed from tense to confused.
He didn't move.
He didn't react.
No shift at all.
And that was interesting to me.
He was too controlled… too still.
He wasn't the Jonathan I knew,
The one I used to manipulate.
Before at times like this…
He would have shifted.
Even if it was a flicker or a reaction.
Anything…something.
But now…
Nothing.
And that made him…
unpredictable to read.
A slow breath left my mouth.
So he had learned over the years.
Good.
That only meant I had to learn faster than him.
"I believe you've been searching for them," I continued.
Another pause followed.
"I can make it easier for you."
Jonathan's POV
I practically laughed in my mind.
There it was straight from his mouth.
The bait I was waiting for him to lay out.
Clean and simple before the eyes.
And it was effective.
More effective than I thought.
I was once the man who reacted first,
And always thought later.
I was the one who believed intent meant to match words.
That previous version of me…
Would have leaned forward…
He would have asked for more…
He would have already taken the offer by now.
A pause.
The before me…
Was the reason Veronica could never speak her heart with me.
The reason I lost her.
And, I won't make the same mistake again.
Now, I didn't react or reply immediately.
I kept a neutral look.
As looking surprised or leaning forward would make him feel he's won.
"You called me over to offer me some information," I finally spoke.
It wasn't a question but a statement.
I paused for a brief moment.
"And what do you want in return?"
"In return?" Fredrick feigned being hurt.
The words were too soft and measured.
"Align the way Harmon Designs and Rollings Designs were, of course."
A pause followed.
"We don't have to be in a conflict,"
Silence followed.
"You're the one who began it."
I let my words settle in.
Then…
"Jonathan, you're not the only one affected by this,"
He said, opening his arms.
Then I saw a twinkle in his eyes.
"He's going to use his trump card."
"Janet…"
Her name hung in the air light,
But deliberate.
"She also deserves a stable environment."
Janet.
Her name didn't show on my face…
It landed.
Exactly where he wanted it to.
It wasn't only that he took her name.
It was about everything related to her name…that I now missed.
Her laughter,
Her silence,
The absence I face when I go home.
The empty bedroom she left behind.
All of it..
Compressed in that one moment he took her name.
And he knew how to use it…
Just too well.
My fingers curled slightly under the table.
Just enough to ground myself,
But not enough for him to know.
Because this was the point he expected I would break down.
And this was exactly no matter how broke I was inside…
I wouldn't let him know.
I didn't react or reply immediately.
But my voice was…
Low and colder than I had ever used before anyone.
"Don't you…"
A pause followed as I wanted to keep my emotions away from him.
"Dare to use her to get to me."
Silence followed.
I leaned back slightly.
"You're offering me a direction," I continued.
"But there's no truth to that."
A pause followed.
"And you expect compliance from me."
"You're being careful?" he said.
"You weren't like this before."
I observed him without reacting.
He was trying his best to remain measured and restrained.
But his composure was breaking.
A faint smile touched my lips.
"The reason for that is…"
I tilted my head slightly.
"Being reckless…
"…cost my family."
Silence followed.
"…and time that belonged to them."
"…it's something that should never have happened."
I stood up.
Slowly…deliberately.
My PA followed.
Same tone.
"What you just offered…isn't information."
A pause followed.
"It's only a leverage."
Silence followed.
"You don't know and never knew where they were from day one."
Another pause followed.
"And if you did…"
I met his gaze directly.
"You wouldn't be sitting across from me negotiating about it."
The words settled between us.
My intention was clear and final.
"And from today onwards I shall never follow the path laid down by you."
A brief silence followed.
I turned around and without wasting another second I walked out without looking back.
This time I didn't pause.
I didn't reconsider his offer.
I didn't look back as I had no more requirements to.
Now there was nothing left between me and the Harmons'.
The alliance…
The control…
The illusion they would help me…
All faded away.
Now only the truth stood before me.
And today for the first time…
I was no longer searching blindly.
Now I knew what I was to look for.
And more importantly,
Now I knew what I had to ignore.
I knew where I was to look, and what I had to do.