Chapter One Hundred and Ninety- One
The lump in her throat swelled and she forced it down. "No, sir," she whispered.
A beat.
"What do you an, no?" he roared. "You have been preparing for this day all your life and you tell no?"
"Demir got caught," she said, giving him the only answer that could justify their failure, hoping it would buy her a second before the word incompetent landed, even though she knew it was already forming on his tongue.
"What do you an he got caught? How has he been incompetent twice in a row?" Marco snapped. "Is he trying to say Aht is stronger and wiser than he is? Where is Demir now? Tell him not to show his face until I calm down. I hope Cole at least managed to kill Markus!"
Asli drew in a breath. "Markus is alive, sir."
The explosion ca imdiately.
"Are you people joking with ?" His anger crackled through the phone. "How can my strongest warriors go to war with their right-hand n and still fail? What have I been training you for? What have you been doing training your n for?"
She stayed silent and took it. Like she always had.
"Aht is willing to negotiate," she said and the regret ca the mont the words left her mouth.
"Negotiate?" he shouted. "The man whose father slaughtered your entire family? You went to war and you’re telling he wants to negotiate? How did the two of you even end up talking in the middle of a battlefield?"
If he was this angry now, she didn’t want to imagine what would happen if he ever found out she was carrying Aht’s child.
’I’d have to elope,’ she thought bleakly, gripping the phone tighter. ’Or die.’ Whatever option she chose, she was going to die when he found out.
"It’s because he was captured, sir," she said carefully. "They sent an envelope for us to deliver to you."
"I don’t care what’s inside that envelope!" Marco thundered. "I need them dead. Do you know how much they’ve cost ? Billions, Asli. Billions."
Her father kept yelling, his rage spilling through the line, and a thought slipped in uninvited ’was this really about her family at all? Or was it about the warehouses Aht and Markus were tearing apart, the losses piling up where it actually hurt him?’
Was this just a tool for him? Did he only speak of her past unless it served a purpose to him? Did he only linger on her dead family unless it sharpened her into a weapon?
She didn’t think so. He had trained her before Aht and Markus began to target his warehouses, and even before she could cross the road by herself. Unless he was a prophet who knew a day would co they would cause him trouble.
He had trained her on vengeance, fed her that story over and over, her father was his best friend.
Yet, why did it sound now like none of that mattered? At that mont, why did she feel he wanted them dead because...
"Stop them before they cause any more damage," he warned, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Sothing inside her snapped and for the first ti, she didn’t care what she said to him. "It is Demir you should be wary of," she said, her voice steady despite everything. "He’s selling your lands. Who knows? He may even be planning your death."
"What nonsense is that?"
"Sir, the docunts Aht sent include contracts signed by Demir," she said. "He’s selling portions of the Villa."
"That’s impossible. This could be a setup. Demir will never do that. Kill him!" Marco barked.
She didn’t stop.
"The docunts are legitimate," she said, forcing the lie through her teeth. "I verified the stamps and the signatures." she couldn’t believe she was lying for the people she was ant to kill.
"Let understand this," he said slowly. "You took these docunts in exchange for what?"
She didn’t tell him about Aht’s promise. Or the truth he was trying to uncover for her.
"In exchange for his father’s life."
"Have you forgotten he has given you the envelope? What are you waiting for? Go back there and kill them," Marco ordered.
Her spine went cold.
"He said there’s more," Asli added smoothly. "He’ll only release them after a bond is signed. Until then, they are keeping Demir as well."
Silence stretched.
"If Demir is a traitor," Marco said at last, "why should I negotiate for his life?"
Asli thought grimly: If he could discard his nephew so easily, what was she to him?
Then...
"Fall back," Marco said suddenly.
*****
Demir
"How dare he lock up? The idiot! Who does he think he is? Just because he is sleeping with Asli, he thinks he can order his n to lay their filthy hands on ?" He paced the cell, fuming. A whole him, caught and locked up.
"Asli brought us here knowing fully well that she was only coming to see her lover. Pretending to hate him and shooting at his n. What the hell is wrong with her?" he asked in disgust.
He slamd his fist against the wall, fury radiating from him. "And they were completely oblivious to the war! And he... he kept touching her. Touching what is mine! Asli is mine to touch only. Mine! Very soon, I will be the only one she needs and thinks about."
And then suddenly, a wicked smile twisted across his face. Daniel would be waiting for Asli. Whether she was pregnant or not, it didn’t matter, she’d miscarry, and Aht would be the one to bla. This was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
He threw his head back and laughed, the sound sharp, cruel, and echoing off the walls.
"Co to think of it... this is flawless!" he sneered. "No one could ever suspect . This is in fact, a blessing in disguise!"
His laughter bubbled over again, louder, more unhinged, as he imagined the chaos yet to co.
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