‘What the fuck?’Beckett's string of curses continued as he realized that Alfred was the one in front of him now. At first, he was in denial, thinking that maybe he was just seeing things, but no.The great Alfred Allamino, known by everyone as a hard-working and innocent guy, was in his coffee shop, and he was his potential client, for fuck’s sake."I know that you know me already, so I don't need to introduce myself," Alfred said before grinning.He looked around, his grin widening as he scrutinized the employees one by one. "I expected the meeting place to be eerie and dark like an abandoned room. A coffee shop didn't even cross my mind. That was so unique of you.""I believe that our products should be treated with care, too, just like the other products in the market," Beckett coldly replied in front of his voice changer. "And I want my client to be comfortable while talking to me, too."Beckett's voice was cold and intimidating, especially since he was using a voice changer. He
AFTER A couple of rings, the person on the other line answered. “Hello?”“Trevin Angeles,” Beckett replied as he leaned back in his swivel chair and crossed his legs. He also turned his phone to loudspeaker mode so Nathan could hear their conversation. “Did I call the right number? This is Beckett Clainfer.”“Beckett Clainfer...” Trevin repeated his name, clearly thinking. Several seconds passed before he responded. “You're a friend of Jeru, aren't you?”“Yes.” Beckett shifted his gaze to Nathan's tablet before extending his hand. Nathan placed the tablet he was holding on it. “I have a favor to ask. There’s this document we obtained in the middle of an investigation, but it’s heavily encrypted.”"Ordinary hackers can handle that.""It's not only encrypted. The whole flash drive was filled with viruses, too," Beckett replied while reading the notes Nathan had placed in his notes app. "It’s a flash drive containing various viruses, and it could be a trap.""Do you know what kind of vir
"TELL ME, who is it?"Vivianne swallowed hard and seemed to freeze in her place. She was used to her father's behavior like this. Alfred would suddenly throw a knife from time to time, but she never reacted to it.But something was different about Alfred now... It seemed like he was ready to kill at any moment. Vivianne wondered what she had said that triggered her father to be like this."Where did you see a tattoo identical to mine?" Alfred asked again, his voice now deeper than before."I'm not sure," Vivianne replied, lowering her head and taking a deep breath to control the trembling in her body. "The infinity sign tattoo is common, so I don't understand why you're reacting this way.""My tattoo has small thorns surrounding the sign," said Alfred, his gaze unwavering. "Did you see the same thing?""I'm not sure," Vivianne tilted her head, pretending to think about something. "I'll let you know when I can confirm what I saw.""And how can I be sure?"Vivianne sighed before claspin
[You’re probably busy at work, so I didn’t bother calling you. We’ll have dinner in the mansion tomorrow. I won’t take no for an answer.]The message came from her father, Alfred. She didn't expect him to text her. He often pestered her with calls, especially when he had something important to say, so she was surprised, especially by the mention of "dinner." It just didn't sound right to her."Excuse me, I'm just going to the bathroom," Vivianne said to Fiona, who simply nodded. Fiona didn't even look at her and kept her gaze fixed on Beckett, the manager.Vivianne only shrugged. Ever since she started working at Syneverse Entertainment as a dress stylist, Fiona had been distant, or maybe just neutral towards her. However, Fiona did praise her when she did a good job.She wondered if Fiona knew something about her relationship with Beckett or if she was jealous because Beckett was closer to her than to Fiona. But whatever the reason, she decided not to dwell on it. After all, Beckett
Beckett felt like he was drenched with cold water when he heard what Nathan said. After a moment of shock, he quickly rushed out of the warehouse. Nathan was still calling him because there were a few more things that Beckett needed to attend to at work, but he ignored them.Using his car, Beckett drove to the Allamino mansion as fast as he could. The distance from the warehouse to the mansion was quite far, but due to his car speed, he arrived at his destination quickly."Shit. Shit," Beckett repeatedly cursed while gripping the steering wheel tightly. He was also trying to call Vivianne, but she wasn't answering. "Fuck, Vivianne. Answer the phone, goddamn it."As each minute passed, his anxiety grew. Sweat was accumulating on his forehead, and anger was building up in his body. If only he knew that Alfred would make Vivianne his tester on that drug, he wouldn't have sold that jerk anything.After a few minutes, Beckett parked his car in front of the mansion gate. He saw the car Vivi
As if on cue, Beckett's mind went back to that day, especially when Alfred re-enacted exactly what the killer did that night. He was removing his upper garment while playing with a fork in his right hand.Beckett froze in his tracks, his body trembling. It was happening again. The entire place seemed to fill with blood due to his imagination. He even held his breath without realizing that he had let go of Vivianne already.Fortunately, Vivianne was sober enough to steady herself, but she was confused as to why Beckett suddenly stopped walking when he was the one eager to get her out of the house in the first place."Beckett?" Vivianne called to her boyfriend in a soft voice, but he didn't respond. He just kept staring at Alfred, so her gaze also shifted to her father.She furrowed her brow when she saw that his shirt was now removed, and Alfred was facing both of them. There, she saw the tattoo again—an infinity sign with small thorns.At first, she didn't know what was happening, but
A week had passed since Beckett stormed into the Allamino mansion. After that, they both returned to their respective jobs. Like before, they were doing their best not to get caught, especially now that their careers were flourishing even more."Joan, can you get the blower from the other room? This one isn't working well," Vivianne said as she was fixing the hair of an amateur model from Syneverse Entertainment. "Also, grab some hair spray, just in case we run out.""Okay!" Joan replied, Vivianne's assistant, before following her instructions.Vivianne was still Beckett's exclusive dress stylist, but she had started to step out of her comfort zone. Recently, she had tried her luck at hairstyling, and it had become a new hobby for her. Her company was generous enough to let her pursue this new passion with amateur models."Here, Viv," Joan handed over the blower and hair spray when she returned."Thank you," Vivianne said, winking at Joan before fixing the man's hair in front of her.
BECKETT STOPPED breathing for a second upon the mention of his late mother’s name. He didn't even notice that his forehead had furrowed deeply while his left hand clenched tightly. He was filled with even more anxiety as his discoveries slowly pointed towards Alfred's relationship with his mother in the past."Do you have his file?" Beckett asked Nathan.Nathan shook his head as he read the document in his hand. "Yes, boss. But it's quite sparse. It's difficult to find information about the kid because someone seems to be deliberately hiding it from the public."Beckett's brows furrowed even deeper. "Any idea or hunch who it is?""It could be your mother, boss, or maybe his father. Dyrus Hechanova." Nathan scanned the file while looking for information about Dyrus. "According to this, they both worked at a small company with Ma'am Ylona and resigned at the same time. After that, no one knows where Dyrus went. There's no trace left.""How did my mother become that kid's guardian, then?