anwhile...
"Yah! Yah! Hah!" Chacha beat the makeshift dummy rcilessly until its neck was almost falling and its body riddled with tears.
"Yah! Hah!" The situation for Second’s dummy was the sa.
The two children unleashed their anger and frustrations in the clearing. Baby stood on the sidelines with a few of his colleagues, shaking their heads at the little master and miss. Their eyes veered to the pictures taped on the dummy’s head.
It was Atlas’s face.
"I will not forgive Daddy for hurting my mommy!" Chacha huffed sharply. "I will teach him a lesson."
"Chacha, practice more!" Second punched the dummy, then looked back at his sister. "We will challenge him later!"
"Mhm!"
And with that, the children continued their practice, dismbering the poor dummies.
"It’s been a while since I saw the little treasures of the Zorken family throw a tantrum," one of the n watching them murmured.
"I don’t think that’s what you call a tantrum," another replied. "That’s violence. Real violence."
They shook their heads, but weren’t worried that Atlas would see his pictures on the dummies.
"Who’s going to tell them he probably didn’t beat her the way they think?" One of the n wondered. "And that they might be expecting soon."
After all, the twins had been livid early this morning when they woke up. They rushed to their parents’ room, only to see Lola sleeping motionless like a log. From what they overheard, when they snuck under the bed and saw so "bruises" on her, they were startled.
Atlas’s remarks didn’t help, since he had told them it was his fault.
So the twins, with their wild imaginations, believed their father had let their mother get hurt—or perhaps that he was the cause.
Well, it was his doing, the n thought. But I’m sure she also had fun... maybe.
"Wow..." one of the n muttered. "We might actually welco the madam on the island."
"The Zorken Family having a woman at the helm with him... I hope it changes things."
"He’ll kill us if he grows old alone, for sure."
Because Atlas had always worked them all to the bone. Unlike them, he had been single. He never understood that n with wives and families needed to persuade, to love, and to spend ti with them.
"I never really interacted with her, but Baby, what do you think of her?" one of them asked, making the others turn to Baby.
Baby didn’t answer imdiately, his eyes fixed on the twins. When he finally peeled his gaze away and looked at them, he said,
"Not sure."
"Huh?" They furrowed their brows. "Didn’t you like her?"
Baby sighed shallowly. "I do. But I don’t know if she will accept that this relationship... is not like any other relationship."
Cringy as it might sound, Atlas was a king. Maybe not royalty in the way the world defined it, but he held the power of one.
"No one will dare stop the boss from taking a woman in, no matter where she ca from," Baby continued. "But if this relationship doesn’t work, it won’t just end in a breakup. She’ll end up dead."
Because if Lola beca exposed to the environnt of the secret society, she couldn’t just walk away. That’s how it had always been. And even though Atlas had never stopped fighting these old ways, he knew that unless he lived for two more centuries—or wiped out the entire secret society—nothing would change.
That was their reality.
"Man... how complicated." One of the n threw his hands behind his head. "He should’ve just agreed when it was proposed to take Scarlet as his wife. We wouldn’t have to worry about a disaster of a breakup—if it even happens."
A collective sigh escaped all of them as their eyes went back to the twins. They tried to push thoughts of this complicated relationship to the back of their minds... but it was sothing that would always linger.
*
*
*
At the sa ti, Lola read the results Atlas had given her about the origin of the funds lissa had been funneling to Hudson all these years.
"I already had a guess," she scoffed, running her tongue along her inner cheek. "I just didn’t think she would actually do sothing like this—or that she’d have this kind of power in LL Construction. But I guess Lawrence Young truly trusts his daughter."
Thanks to Atlas, Lola had finally confird what miracle lissa had been pulling off to fund such a lavish lifestyle. And thanks to Atlas digging deeper, she now had a clearer angle: lissa had secret funds.
Where had she gotten them?
"These substandard materials are one thing, but these kickbacks on all these projects where these funds ca from is a different criminal offense," Atlas said, leaning back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other. "But since Lawrence Young signed off on all these docunts, he’ll be the one to take the fall."
Lola laughed dryly, gazing at him. She wanted to say sothing, but was rendered speechless.
"All these years, he only treated her as his only daughter." She scratched her temple. "Yet she’s been stealing from him and putting him in huge trouble once this cos out."
This was a massive scandal, and once it surfaced, LL Construction would definitely declare bankruptcy.
"There’s another page in there." Atlas jerked his chin at the papers in her hand. "Check the next one."
Without hesitation, Lola flipped to the next page. It was a local news article about a collapsed building that killed several people about four years ago. The case was already closed because soone had been convicted and was serving ti in prison.
The construction company behind the building was LL Construction. But the article cleared their nas because soone else had already taken the fall.
"Wait a second..." Lola trailed off, checking the ledger. The account number showed where the money had gone. Aside from Hudson, lissa had been funneling money into another account consistently.
"There are extra details on the page after that article," Atlas said calmly. "She’s not only funding this man from where it all started, but also a few others. One of the accounts belongs to a family mber of the man in prison."
Lola’s mouth parted as she listened, scanning the other files. When she reached the last page, she slowly looked up at Atlas.
"I didn’t think she was that smart to pull all this off." She scoffed. "Is lissa actually this sly?"
"Not her." Atlas tilted his head, propping his knuckles on his jaw. "I don’t know this lili you’re talking about, but she sounds like an idiot. Soone else was doing it under her na. And liodas is probably aware of it too."
Lola’s face twitched. "It’s lissa."
"In the Young family... who has better access to all the family business and Lawrence Young’s affairs?" He ignored her correction and continued, giving her a knowing look. "Make your deductions."
Realization dawned on her as a na and a face instantly ca to mind.
"Jasmine... Young."
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