"Where were you in my first life?"
******
[FLASHBACK]
"Argh! Who are you?!?" Nathaniel growled, trying to break free from the chair to which he was bound. His eyes were blindfolded, giving him no idea who the people who raided his place and abducted him were. "Hey! You cowards! Why don’t you show yourselves, huh?!"
"Cowards! Scared that once I see you, you’d be dead at?! Hah!"
Nathaniel ran his mouth on and on, unafraid that sothing would hit him and hurt him. Little did he know, Zoren was standing several steps away. For the next ten minutes, Nathaniel’s fierce remarks echoed in the small, old apartnt, and nothing else.
"Sir." Mark approached Zoren’s side, studying the latter’s profile.
Zoren didn’t speak for a while, tilting his head slightly as he observed the person who had put Penelope Bennet in that hole. He squinted a little, unsure of what he was looking at. According to their investigation, this guy was Penelope Bennet’s friend.
Nathaniel had approached Penny under the guise of a friend; she had no idea he was part of an organized group. He also held a significant position in the organization he belonged to. He was important—rich, with a legitimate business, living in a high-end, exclusive condominium.
Zoren had already ford an impression of the man before this encounter. However, now that he was staring at Nathaniel face-to-face and listening to all of his remarks, that impression shattered.
"I said, show your face, you cowards—" Nathaniel’s breath hitched when he heard a man’s deep voice speak quietly.
"Take it off."
Mark lowered his head and, without a second hesitation, glanced at one of the n on standby. Another man marched to Nathaniel, standing behind him before removing his blindfold.
Nathaniel hissed and shut his eyes, a reaction he thought necessary for the sudden light. To his surprise, when he peeked, the lights were dim, and soone was standing in front of him. Slowly, he widened his eyes and furrowed his brows.
"Zoren... Pierson?" he called, but Zoren’s expression didn’t change. Nathaniel let out a scoff and laughed. "Mr. Zoren Pierson — what a surprise!"
This was the first ti Nathaniel and Zoren were eting. However, Nathaniel recognizing him didn’t surprise Zoren. Information was Nathaniel’s forte, and it was expected that he had done his research on Zoren Pierson — the most powerful man in Anteca.
Nathaniel relaxed his shoulders as if having Zoren here was not sothing to fear. "So, what do I owe this eting, Mr. Pierson? If you want to avail my services, you could have just called . You didn’t have to take here."
"..." Zoren didn’t answer but kept his gaze fixed on Nathaniel. After a second, he raised a hand and opened his palm.
Nathaniel’s brows rose as he watched Mark approach Zoren and place a pistol in his palm. Instead of showing panic or fear, Nathaniel simply let out a faint, dry laugh.
"You’re going to kill , huh?" Nathaniel ran his tongue across his inner cheek, rocking his head as if he had seen this coming. "Alright."
Assembling the silencer, Zoren finally spoke. "I thought you’d make a fuss about that."
"Haha!" Nathaniel laughed loudly, cocking his head back. "Nah. I’m good. Death doesn’t scare ."
"What does?"
Nathaniel smiled, watching Zoren slowly lift his gaze to him. "Nothing."
"Well, that is good for you." Zoren nodded before he casually raised the pistol at Nathaniel. Tilting his head slightly, he raised a brow when Nathaniel spoke.
"Before you kill ..." Nathaniel trailed off as if searching for the right words to say. "... do you know her? Penny, I an."
"No."
"Then why are you doing this for her?"
Zoren didn’t want to linger, but Nathaniel’s question sohow paused his actions. Slowly, Zoren put the gun down, earning a look from everyone in the room.
"Instead of asking why I am doing this for soone I don’t know, I should ask... why did you do it to soone you know? To soone who trusted you?" he returned calmly. "Weren’t you friends? She trusted you... more than anyone, I think."
Nathaniel smiled helplessly and shrugged. "Everything I say is just an excuse."
"Would you mind if that excuse is your last words?"
"If you put it that way, then the answer is no," Nathaniel chuckled. "Man... you really are Zoren Pierson. In a way, you have a way with words. Words that aren’t scary, but enough to make soone obey."
Zoren didn’t react to the seemingly flattering remarks; he didn’t care about that. All he wanted was to quench his curiosity. He wanted to know what Penny was like. He wanted to feel her anger and disappointnt. After all, Zoren was now involved in all of this.
"You wouldn’t believe this if I told you I tried... to save her," Nathaniel remarked. "I’m not saying this because I want to save my life. Actually, I don’t mind dying at all."
Despite the playfulness in his voice, his eyes spoke sincerity. "It’s true I approached her because she would be needed in approaching Atlas Bennet. I didn’t know Atlas Bennet trusted her so much that she could actually make decisions in the company."
"At first, it wasn’t a problem, and she was very naive—" Nathaniel halted as Zoren’s grip on his pistol tightened, making a slight noise. "Chill, man. Haha. If I didn’t know better, I would actually think you guys are lovers or sothing."
Another shallow laugh escaped Nathaniel as he felt comfortable in his binds. "But that’s the truth. That woman... that foolish woman is naive — it’s irritating. You have no idea just how annoying she was."
"If she is like that, why did you try to save her when you shouldn’t have?"
A wave of silence fell between them as Nathaniel lowered his gaze. The corner of his mouth turned up into a brief smile as his eyes softened with guilt and regret.
"You know, when people are losers, even your own family looks down on you. People look at you as if you’re not worth anything." Nathaniel lifted his eyes to Zoren and smiled. "She knows I’m a loser, but it didn’t really matter. I was human in her eyes."
He let out a mocking laugh. "That’s why I wanted — I tried to save her. Unfortunately, it was all futile."
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