"Of course not. Why would I believe an idiot over you?" Desmond ignored his brother and pulled her hand to hug her. He checked her all over for injuries, knowing that the last person he could trust was his cunning brother.

"I'm glad you think so." She rested her head against his chest with her arms wrapped around him. He was facing away from the mirror so when she pulled her head from Desmond's chest, she saw the expression on Jaime's face. He was trying hard to hold his anger even though he was on the verge of exploding. She thought he would walk out but instead, he took a picture of them.

She turned to laugh at his antics. "Oh Jaime. You forget that you are a man too. Sure, you took a photo as evidence of my relationship with your brother, but what were you doing in the ladies' washrooms?"

Before he could respond, she added, "You never know, I could have recorded the entire thing. You threatening me and all. I could simply say that I was scared and called my boss to help me, and that I leaned against him instinctively out of fright."

Jaime frowned in anger. This woman could come up with anything. Not to mention, he was certain that she could still access that video. The longer she had it, the more dangerous it was for him.

When the duo left the bathroom, a frown remained on Jaime's face. He was initially planning to collaborate with Zaria but it now seemed impossible. She had to get out of the picture.

He went back to his car and took out a phone that no one knew he had, then contacted someone. "I want that woman dead before midnight. Zaria Williams."

"Got it." The other party did not ask questions and took the task readily, as though they had been waiting for it.

…

On the other end, Samantha paced in the living room of her villa as she waited for the men she had just summoned. She felt as though she was standing on pins and needles and when they finally arrived, she let out a soft sigh of relief.

"What took you so long?" She asked a purple-haired man who looked frail and much weaker than the other four, but who was actually the strongest and most terrifying of them all.

"We were finishing up on some missions. Miss, what can we do for you?" He asked, but he was yet to finish asking when a stack of paper was slammed on the table. He went over and picked them up curiously, to find that they were pictures of a woman.

"What would you like us to do with this beauty? Fuck her?" The man asked, running his foul tongue over his lips lecherously.

"Don't you dare." Samantha growled.

"Oh, what a bummer." He dared to remark, but the others remained silent even though they felt the same way when they looked at the woman in the picture. She had a beautiful face and alluring figure, and if they hadn't seen her on the news before, they would have mistaken her for a front cover model.

"Bring her to me before 6pm." Samantha ordered then dismissed the men.

She then sat calmly on the couch. Between 7pm and midnight, she would have five hours to teach Zaria what happened to people who poked their long noses where they were least needed. That damned woman would not have it easy. It was all her fault that the Fort family's matter came to light before the right time and almost wrecked hers and Jaime's plan. It 2as also all her fault that Jaime was behaving more like a lunatic. She would make the woman pay for all her crimes before murdering her in the slowest, most painful way.

…

After work, Zaria was about to enter her car when her phone chimed with a text message from Creszone.

"In case you don't know yet, you are being followed."

The sender was Zeus, and she was thankful.

She did know that she had been followed since she left the bathroom with Desmond after infuriating the rationality out of Jaime, so she knew that it had something to do with him. She knew that her life must be in danger.

Though she couldn't help wondering, how did Zeus know, and why was he paying so much attention to her?

"Are you going home already?" Came the voice of Desmond, who was once again trying to stick onto her.

"Yes. I need to have a word with my dad." She tilted her head to spare him a glance. Before he could suggest dropping her off or having her stay over at his mansion, she quickly said her goodbyes. "See you tomorrow, Desmond. And take extra care of yourself."

"Extra care…" He mumbled when she had driven off. What did that mean? Did she think that he was in some kind of danger?

_

Zaria stopped by the convenience store to buy some ingredients to cook dinner later. By this time, she was aware of the car that had been following her since she left Preston and Fort Group.

When she had completed her purchase, she looked behind her through the glass doors of the convenience store, which were able to show a slight reflection because they were tinted from the outside.

The man that had been following her must be the purple-haired fellow who looked out of place in the convenience store, because he had bought nothing and because he was smoking despite the presence of a No smoking sign at the door. What made him all the more outstanding was the fact that none of the store staff bothered with him. He must be a known ruffian around here, she thought.

Knowing that he would notice her looking at him if she took too long, she pushed the door open and left the store with her purchase in hand, noticing from a series of soft footsteps behind her that he had followed her.

She hurried to her car and kept the bag of groceries, before leaving and disappearing into an alley.

"Stupid woman. I didn't know that beauties could be so stupid too." The man snickered. She had managed to get to her car. She should have driven off, but she entered an alley instead. Although he found her stupid, he couldn't complain because she had made work multiple times easier for him.

He followed her into the alley and when he reached the end which was a dead end, he frowned. Where did she go?

"Looking for me?" Came a voice behind him, spooking him out of his skin. Before he could turn to grab her, he felt something bump into his head and he heard the shatter of glass, followed by the burning sensation of a sour, acidic liquid down his neck and face. He passed out.

"How dare you!" A roar resounded behind her, and she knew that it was the man's companions who had been following secretly.

She turned back to them and shrugged. "Too bad, your friend here finished all the vinegar. I would have given you some. But I could give you this."

As soon as she spoke, she threw the remaining top part of the broken bottle of vinegar at the man in front. It went right through his neck, rendering him immobile as he slowly slid to the ground.

The other three hesitated and treaded more carefully.

"Want some?" She picked another shard, not caring that it sliced through her palm when she grabbed it.

"Attack her together!" Roared a bald man, not believing that she would be able to beat all of them together.

Zaria panicked when she heard the order. She wasn't that good in fighting and had only picked up some self-defense skills. She could knock down one or two ruffians if she caught them off guard, but in the face of three of them who were prepared, she felt outnumbered.

"Do you dare?" She tried to keep up her sinister stance and threw the glass shard. When her target dodged it, she felt chills run down her body. They closed in on her and two of them grabbed her arms as she tried to punch, then a kick assaulted her stomach.

She gritted her teeth to stop herself from crying out while punches and kicks landed all over her body.

Her skin felt sore and she knew that she had bruises all over. She could feel the taste and strong smell of blood in her mouth, her own blood that was a rest of her accidentally biting the insides of her cheeks.

"Bring her to the boss." One of them spoke, and another countered.

"No way. We have to make her pay for murdering our mates."

She caught on the main word. We're those two men who she had attacked dead?

Trying to keep her eyes awake, she realized that they were arguing. Then she noticed that while hitting her, one of them had dropped a pen knife.