Monica.
The CEO of Axon.
The woman whose passion had persuaded him, and made him enter Axon in the first place.
Remembering the look she gave him when it was finally decided that he would be kicked out… Kael didn't know how to feel about her.
Regardless, he had to admit it.
Even for him, doing something with her was a challenge.
He knew that if he was earnest in pursuing her, he actually stood a good chance of having something.
But sleeping with her?
With a time limit of three days?
That was probably impossible.
Still, should he challenge himself?
The thought stirred in Kael, but in the end, he shook his head.
There was no need to aim that high.
No need to try involving Monica, or anyone of similar status.
Kael decided that this time, he was going to take it easy.
Again, he was still going to abide by his rule.
Let the woman offer herself.
But he wasn't going to raise the difficulty any further. He wanted to finish the mission quickly, after all.
They gave him three days.
But Kael planned to finish it today.
His mind was already settled.
Yet before moving into action, his eyes still drifted back to the failure penalty.
The minus sign, more accurately.
Simple… but it mattered.
Because it meant something even simpler.
Not only could they give him money…
They could take it too.
How?
It couldn't possibly be legal.
So? Would they break into his apartment and force him to transfer it?
Or did they have the ability to take it straight from his bank account?
The thought was ridiculous.
And yet…
For a moment, Kael was tempted to fail on purpose, just to see what would happen.
To see how real their reach was.
But curiosity wasn't worth two hundred thousand.
And Kael didn't lose games intentionally.
His thumb moved across the screen, scrolling through the messages he hadn't bothered replying to. Not because he forgot… but because he'd been busy, and because most people weren't worth his time.
Names passed.
Then he paused.
Mia.
A classmate from his university days.
Not particularly hardworking… yet she had graduated with excellent grades.
The reason?
Her social skills.
Or more accurately… her ability to wrap men around her finger.
Back then, she'd had male students lining up to help her with assignments. Some out of hope, some out of obsession, and some because she made it feel like a privilege.
Kael didn't know how far she went with them, and he didn't care.
He only knew one thing for certain.
Mia knew how to seduce.
And that meant she was perfect.
Because if he was going to sleep with someone for a mission, there was no reason to drag an innocent girl into it. No reason to use someone who might have actually cared about him once.
This was cleaner.
Easier.
And if Mia played games… then Kael could play them too.
Decision made, he moved immediately.
He replied.
And almost instantly, Mia replied back, as if she'd been waiting with her phone in hand.
Kael answered her normally, without appearing eager or changing the way he usually dealt with her.
Yet after only a few exchanged messages—
[Can we meet up? Actually, I have something I wanted to consult you about… and we can catch up.]
He received the message he wanted.
Since when were we close enough to "catch up"?
The sentence formed in his mind, but Kael didn't retort. Instead, he waited a few good minutes before replying.
Sure.
Time seemed to pass faster after that.
And before long, Kael was sitting across from Mia in a cafe she had chosen herself.
It was one of those Seattle places that tried to feel calm even while the city drowned in rain — warm lights, dark wood, soft music, and fogged windows that blurred the street into gray watercolor.
Mia sat with a composed smile, all ease on the surface.
A fitted turtleneck hugged her frame, tucked neatly into a high-waisted skirt, with knee-high boots beneath. Her coat rested beside her, and her scarf was already halfway off, as if she'd been waiting for the right moment to look more… approachable.
Nothing about her outfit screamed for attention.
Yet the moment she smoothed her jet-black hair, glossy under the cafe lights, then looked up at him with that small, practiced smile—
Kael had to admit it.
She hadn't been famous for nothing.
And as she leaned forward slightly, speaking and listening with a little too much focus, Kael caught the intention beneath her elegance.
It wasn't desperate.
It wasn't cheap.
It was careful.
Tempting.
And subtle enough to make him wonder if he was imagining it.
Kael listened as she talked about her life after graduation, drifting from one company to another.
A fraudulent company first.
Then another, where her superior took credit for her work.
Then another after that.
It sounded like an adventure, the kind where a competent heroine clawed her way through every obstacle before finally landing somewhere stable.
And even though Kael didn't truly care… Mia somehow made it interesting.
She didn't ramble. She didn't waste words.
Even her questions about him were timed perfectly, sliding in between stories, never pressing where he wouldn't answer.
Kael watched her for a moment longer than necessary.
Is that why she was so famous back then?
Not just her appearance… but this?
For the first time, Kael reevaluated Mia.