***
Laura's POV
Emir, my son, exited through the door.
He brought soone troubleso with little to no warning and dropped her on .
While bragging about during that entire ti, might I add.
'Isn't that too much?'
'I worry about him sotis.'
Rather, I worry about him all the ti, but this was more regarding his ntal state.
'But with this... I'll at least take a load off him.'
"Now, let's talk business."
...
...
Mariane was beside as we finished with all the logistics and legal jargon related to the rger.
We decided the split a few days ago, and we were now setting up shop.
It was in the upper district!
When I started this whole thing, I never imagined that we'd reach this level.
Not even with Lyra's help.
But I guess... I underestimated her.
We even had enough money to spend on ten more shops.
This one shop would be a small rental.
Well... small when compared to what Lyra had in her plans.
Anyways, now we were waiting on Logan.
He called himself Longshot, so he was another of those gun fanatics, or so I assud.
'Emir will get along well with him.'
"Why the hell is he taking so long?"
Mariane complained once again.
An action she repeated in the past many minutes.
"Who knows."
I answered simply.
I didn't care much for it.
This man was vetted by Lyra, Emir's partner in cri.
His jailer.
And if she had the smarts to keep my son in check, then this Longshot wouldn't dare to do shit.
'Oops, no swearing.'
I chuckled at that thought, imagining my cute little daughter reprimanding .
And sure enough, my thoughts ca true.
Not the daughter one.
When the man finally arrived, he huffed and puffed as if he had run a marathon.
He looked to be a buff middle-aged man with a thick beard and blonde hair.
His hair was short, so it didn't cover the large scar that ran down the side of his face. "You're late."
At Mariane's comnt, Logan began to chuckle nervously while massaging his neck.
"Haha.... Sorry, boss, it'll never happen again.
His voice was dry and heavy.
It also showed slight sadness.
'Why?'
'Does he regret joining us?'
'I need to know.'
"Tell . Why were you late?"
||
|| ||
He remained silent, but I urged him to speak.
"....I-It was my wife's anniversary...."
Usually, in such situations, one would congratulate the one who announced such news.
A happy marriage was, is, and always will be a good thing.
But not in this world, and I knew this well.
Logan had hidden a word in his reply.
It was his wife's 'death' anniversary.
And I didn't need to verify that.
Before coming here, I checked up on Lyra's report.
She ntioned that Logan lost both his wife and son while on his journey to this sector, A-11.
It was a common story.
He then ended up in a rut.
Again, it was a common story.
Depression plagued his every breath.
Many holess ntioned his wobbled walks through the slums.
This was where his story branched to the unorthodox.
During one of those walks, Logan was robbed of all his worth.
Then one day, he went to exact his revenge in a fit of rage.
Logan planned to massacre all those who stole from him. But the first of those that crossed his path were a family.
A broke father asked Logan to buy his services.
A mother asked Logan to buy her body for a night.
A child wished to clean Logan's shoes for a few UC.
Logan lost his will.
When he was about to leave, the mother pleaded.
But he denied her once again.
"H-How about this then?! You can have my daughter! She's a virgin! She won't resist; just
give..."
Logan was asked if he wished for her daughter instead.
Her daughter wasn't even above the age of six.
The man was driven to insanity.
That day, he received his first kill.
Human kills.
Four of them.
He didn't aim for the children.
Only for adults.
But the kids stepped forward to protect their groveling parents.
And they died a grueso death.
That was the day when Longshot was born.
A man who tasked himself with never missing ever again.
Another task was ford that day as well.
Longshot had to survive.
Not only for himself but for his new daughter as well...
Yes, Logan had missed the little one.
Now he had to raise soone, a responsibility he brought upon himself.
He made ends et as a dealer selling weapons in the market.
And the rest was history.
Huff...
My eyes teared up for a mont, but I quickly wiped them away.
'No... I can't be weak before my subordinates.'
A statent that my son bombarded with until I understood.
Lyra did so too.
I felt bad for Logan, but I forced it to stop at that.
We had no room to sympathize with others.
'If I don't get my life together.'
"Then I'd have a story similar to his.'
'Maybe even worse...'
"...May she rest in peace."
Logan thanked repeatedly, and then, after a few pleasantries, he followed us in.
We began to discuss the expenses we'd incur.
They went wild with their ideas, proposing everything they longed to have.
But I kept reminding them that this shop was only a rental.
We would eventually buy shops that combined the rchandise of both companies, so they
had to wait until then.
--
When everything was settled, I returned to my shop.
Jingle~
The bell rang behind as my gaze landed on Raymond and Jamal behind the counter.
"HEAD BOSS!"
They saluted .
I chuckled at their actions and told them to calm down.
"But the bossman will kill ...."
My head tilted at Jamal's words.
"You an Emir?"
Whenever I heard death or anything related to it, Emir was the first that ca to mind.
"Yeah, boss."
And I wasn't wrong.
'Hmmm...'
'Well, it's true.'
'Usually, when people are given an inch, they take a mile.'
'So I'm better off following dear's advice then.'
I nodded.
"You call Emir bossman now?" "Yep! I talked with the old man, and we decided to call the bossman the bossman since the
boss-"
"Alright, alright, when did he leave?"
I cut him off.
'Jamal really likes to hear himself talk.'
"It wasn't long..."
...
I talked with them for a while, mainly Raymond, as Jamal left halfway through and then
headed to my office.
The chair wasn't in the previous position I left it in.
'Looks like he played a lot around here...'
After I sat down, I procured the docunts I prepared for the court hearing.
Those Corpo scoundrels only allowed paper docunts in court, and I wasn't used to handling
those.
There were a lot.
I then combed through them one by one, making sure that everything Lyra told to print
was there.
...
"I'm done...."
I breathed out while leaning back on the chair, finally finished with my day's work.
Ring! Ring!
I flinched slightly, not used to receiving ssages this late at night.
'Did sothing happen?'
I quickly fished out my terminal, only to see my worst nightmare unfold on the screen.
{The court hearing has been brought forward.....}
My eyes didn't dare read further.
I wasn't scared.
I wasn't terrified.
Or so I wished.
My nerves were boiling.
My mind was on the verge of breaking down.
"No.... T-They'll take ...."
No one was there to listen to my stuttering form.
"Haaaah.... Haah. Haaah....."
My breathing grew ragged.
I knew they would pull sothing, but not this fast.
Ring! Ring!
My hand smashed through the papers as I quickly picked up my terminal again.
"Please be fake, a prank-"
My mouth paused.
It was a single ssage from my son.
[I'm coming ho.]
That was it.
Nothing more. But that was enough for to calm down.
Emir was there.
My pride and joy. "They won't take him away from .'
"They won't take my family away from .'
I vowed that what happened with Oliver would never be repeated.
'And I'll make sure of it.'
'My darling will make sure of it.'
"Those Elite bastards will taste his wrath.'
'Oops...'
'I swore again.'
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