Previous chapter.The pungent smell of alcohol instantly assaulted Antonio's sense of smell. He frowned and rubbed his nose for a moment before stepping inside and closing the wooden door that was covered in soundproofing. His eyes darted around and the familiar people were already waiting for him there. Nathan and Carl sat on the long sofa while Flo was busy fiddling with a bolster on the not-so-wide bed in the corner of the room.Upon noticing Antonio's presence, Flo was the first to draw her attention to the man. She threw the bolster on the floor and hurriedly got up. "Yo, whatsup, boss!"But Nathan glared at her in surprise, how could he speak that language in this situation.Antonio didn't respond to the strange greeting either. He chose to sit on the sofa with Nathan and Carl, and Flo followed. They all now filled the long table in the center of the room. The table, made of transparent glass that was not covered by a cloth, was filled with various bottles of drinks and several

Chapter before."The northern region was almost sabotaged, they promised about ninety percent of the sales in the couriers' cash transactions," Carl explained. "Their identities aren't known yet because they all use pseudonyms and it looks like... Monsta facilitated them with some fake documents for overseas transactions."Nathan replied immediately. "The ninety percent offer alone is quite lucrative. How could they add such perks to a courier who is most at risk of leaking our information?""Isn't it true that the more you get, the more you fear that person?" Carl asked. "My couriers are not interested in the offer because they are loyal. But how long are we going to trust that loyalty? Come on, in this world, we need money more than anything else."Antonio considered Carl's words and pretty much agreed with them. Then, he looked at Carl after taking a glass of vodka that Nathan had poured a moment ago. "Does your courier have further access to him?""You mean... we're going to see h

The strains of Rihanna's unfaithful suddenly came over the speakers that Antonio was using to accompany himself and his girlfriend at the time, Sydney, to dinner.It had been a long time since Sydney had gotten a new manager and some busy schedules, they hadn't seen each other. Texts and phone calls were only occasional as they were both busy at different times of the day. When Sydney wakes up and gets ready for work, Antonio is busy on the streets with his group. Sometimes he's busy counting the deals they've made, or other times, Antonio is dealing with a heated struggle between rival groups in his dirty business. And when Antonio has some free time, Sydney can only text him, letting him know that he's standing in front of the camera, getting ready for a photo shoot or some other important meeting.Client meetings, she said.But Antonio couldn't believe it.Ever since Nathan had told him that Sydney had been out with a man, at night too, and that they didn't seem to be talking about

Chapter 67Previous Chapter.The man who was slightly taller than Carl frowned. "Do you suspect Monsta sent their people all the way here?""There's no harm in checking. This area is quite safe and rarely raided by the police. I might choose this location as well to distribute my goods if the opportunity arises," Carl explained. "Seeing that it moves so fast, Monsta could have quietly penetrated into the central region. Isn't that right?""Actually, your worries are overblown, Carl. A new player like Monsta wouldn't dare to jump over the tiger's cage just like that."But Carl tapped Nathan on the shoulder and brought his face closer to the man. The interlocutor flexed his forehead as Carl gave another lecture there. "We don't even know if Monsta is a predator... or a victim. That's why we need to check."Carl distanced himself from Nathan, giving him distance as their eyes finally met there. As Nathan digested the words coming out of the man's mouth, the sound of a DJ from inside the

CHAPTER 69The sound of overlapping steps in the corridor after corridor passed by Rose did not make her thoughts about Antonio fade away. The aroma of the honey-covered pancakes he had made to greet her in the morning on her bed was still fresh in her mind.Piece by piece, until Antonio finally finished it all, but Rose's tears couldn't stop flowing. Her blue eyeballs were even starting to tear up again now. The kiss and touch they had last night, went too deep... deep into the woman's heart.She took a deep breath, hoping that the oxygen surrounding her could hold back the puddle of tears that was ready to spill at any moment. Rose occasionally looked up while walking just to prevent her tears from falling again."Don't cry."Those were Antonio's words before a warm peck landed on the slender woman's lips. Ah! Rose couldn't take it anymore, she was going to cry right now. Her memories of Antonio only made her more tormented. Rose thought their relationship would improve, in fact, An