The alliance with Nari Han was a signed contract, a new, deadly piece on our side of the board. After the tense, exhilarating meeting in her office, Tiffany went straight to the Phoenix Capital Group headquarters, her mind no doubt already buzzing with a dozen new strategies. But I didn't follow her. Instead, I found myself back in the quiet solitude of the park with Anna, the two of us walking in a comfortable silence as the afternoon sun cast long shadows across the grass.
I needed to clear my head, to burn off the restless energy that was thrumming under my skin. I found a sturdy tree branch and began my daily mission, the familiar strain of the pull-ups a welcome, grounding pain. Anna just sat on a nearby bench, watching me, her expression a mixture of awe and a quiet, profound gratitude.
"I'm in awe, Leader," she said, her voice a soft murmur that still carried in the quiet air. She quickly corrected herself. "Sorry… Adam. You saw my worth. You're helping me get my justice."
I didn't say anything, just continued my workout, the rhythmic pull and release a form of meditation.
"Now," she continued, her voice gaining a new, fragile strength, "I'm sure I can get Rio's revenge."
After I finished my training, my muscles screaming in protest, I collapsed onto the bench beside her. The scent of cut grass and damp earth filled the air.
"How will you punish him?" I asked, my voice a little rough from the exertion. I looked at her, my gaze direct and unwavering. "It means you're thinking about how we can orchestrate his suicide."
Her breath hitched. Her amber eyes went wide, not with hope, but with a flicker of raw fear. The word hung in the air between them, ugly and real. "Suicide?" she whispered, the sound fragile, as if the very concept might shatter. "You're… you're talking about murder."
"I'm talking about justice, Anna," I said casually, as if we were discussing the weather. "But you have to be sure. Can you handle the guilt of killing a person? It's true, we wouldn't be pushing him off a roof ourselves. But we would be forcing him to do it. We would be the ones putting the idea in his head, the ones closing every other door until that is the only one left."
She looked down at her hands, which were twisting nervously in her lap. The timid, frightened girl I first met was back, her shoulders slumped. For a long moment, the only sound was the distant laughter of children and the rustle of leaves. I could see the war raging within her. The world she knew, with its rules and laws, was telling her to recoil in horror. But that world had done nothing for Rio. It had offered no justice, only silence.
I watched as her expression slowly changed. Her trembling hands stilled. She closed her eyes, and I could almost see the memories flashing behind her eyelids—the pain, the helplessness, the all-consuming grief that had become her constant companion. When she opened them again, the fear was gone.
She looked up, and the look in her eyes sent a shiver down my spine. It wasn't the bright flame of rage, but the cold, hard glint of forged steel. "If it is possible," she said, her voice a low, chilling whisper, "then that is the most terrifying, and the most pleasurable thing I could ever wish for."
In that moment, I didn't see the usually timid girl. I saw something new. Something forged in the fires of her own personal hell. I saw her desperation, her all-consuming need for a justice the world would never give her.
"Do you have any information on Hughes?" I asked, my own tone shifting, becoming more serious, more strategic.
Her expression fell, the fire in her eyes replaced by a familiar dejection. "No, not yet," she admitted. "I'm sure we could get information about anyone else. But getting information on him… it's tough. I used some of my sources, and I came to know that he's an analog person."
"Why?" I asked.
"I'm damn sure he's hiding so many secrets," she said, her frustration palpable. "But there's no way to know for sure because he's so intelligent. He leaves no digital footprint. No social media, no online banking, nothing. He's a ghost." She looked at me, her own brilliant mind acknowledging a worthy opponent. "He is a very cautious person."
"Okay," I said, a slow, confident smile spreading across my face. "I have an idea. Don't worry. I will get the information."
She looked at me, her eyes wide with a mixture of hope and disbelief. "How?"
"I can't tell you," I replied, my smile turning a little mysterious. "But I will give you the data you need."
She looked delighted, a genuine, happy smile finally breaking through her somber expression.
"If you truly desire to kill him," I continued, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous tone, "then I assure you, we will make sure he dies painfully. We will orchestrate his suicide. But you have to promise me something. You will not tell a single soul about this. Not the guild, not the inner circle. No one."
She didn't hesitate. She launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around me in a fierce, desperate hug. "I won't," she whispered against my chest. "I promise."
"Then let me think," I said, my own mind already churning, the pieces of a dark, intricate plan beginning to fall into place.
She pulled back just enough to look up at me, a new, unsettling question in her eyes. "Don't you feel guilty? By killing someone?"
I just smiled, a cold, hard expression that was devoid of any warmth. "I believe in a simple principle, Anna. Blood for blood. Hughes is the reason Rio committed suicide. Then he also needs to commit suicide." I looked into her eyes, my own gaze cold and definitive, a look that could freeze a person to death.
She asked, her voice a little shaky, "Then how are you going to get revenge on Lina and Friedrich?"
"Hmm," I mused, a new, cruel idea sparking in my mind. "I am going to make Friedrich and Lina feel the same pain they inflicted on me."
She looked confused. "Are you… are you going after the women in their families?"
I just smiled, a devilish, predatory grin. "I'm going to torment them to their very souls."
She held my hand, her grip surprisingly strong. "Now we are comrades in crime," she said, her voice a strange mixture of fear and a thrilling, newfound excitement.
"You can say that," I replied. "But you can't tell anyone about this. Not now. We will reveal it someday. But for now, this is our little secret."
"Yes," she whispered, hugging me again, her head resting on my shoulder. "This is our little secret." She looked up at me, her amber eyes shining with a new, unwavering light. "Adam, you are ruthless and cunning. But I don't care. You are my savior."
And in that moment, as the sun began to set, casting long, dark shadows across the park, a new, dangerous pact was sealed. Anna was no longer just my asset, my hacker, my cute junior. She was my accomplice. My weapon. And together, we were about to become a nightmare.