7:00 a.m., Military Chief Office ;With a tiring groan, Rong Yufan struggled to open and adjust his eyes to the bright lights around him. He was still in the G.o.dforsaken interrogation room. Shawn Florence wasn"t there anymore. Neither was David Florence or Elijah Williams. Just one person. A person whom he would recognize even in the sleep, or from the beyond. A person who"d faced death, because of him. A person who had been his formidable enemy, ever since the moment she had breathed her first.
"h.e.l.lo there, Young Master Rong!", Rong Xinghe mumbled, her gaze fixed upon her phone screen.
"I love you. You can fight through this.", her darling"s text read. With a "Love you too.", the girl messaged back and switched her phone off before she lifted her head up to look at her detestable and hateful "once-upon-time" brother.
"David really did a number on you, didn"t he?", the girl remarked, pointing her chin towards the man"s facial injuries.
"Nothing I couldn"t handle.", Rong Yufan smirked smugly, "Little Sister."
Rong Xinghe felt her stomach churn and head aching, not just at the man"s words, but the way he said it. "Little sister, my foot!" He had some nerve mentioning the unfortunate relations.h.i.+p they had, she cursed. But obviously, she wasn"t going to let the jerk get under her skin.
"By the way, how are Mr. and Mrs. Lu? And how is Baby Alix, huh?", the man interrupted the girl"s train of thoughts as he laughed manically. The girl, of course, knew what the man was referring to. He, after all, had once hypnotized Zhou Che to ram his car into her brother"s, under the intent of killing Lu Wei and her then-eight-month-pregnant Sister-in-law.
"For someone who is about to die, aren"t you quite chirpy?", Rong Xinghe crossed her legs at her ankles, as she switched on the video recorder set-up on the table separating them.
"I am not going to utter a single word unless I have my lawyer by my side.", Rong Yufan squinted his eyes, his tone cold and resolute.
"Military is independent of the country"s const.i.tution. We do not respond to threats, nor to the judiciary. Here, you will speak what I want to hear, and do what I want to see.", Rong Xinghe replied indifferently, "Got it?
"Now, how exactly are you a.s.sociated with Lucas Wilson and Ahmed Ali Fadhil?"
___________________
9:00 a.m., Afghanistan ;
Kabul Serena Hotel ;
Abram Orlov opened the door to find Aftaab Ali leaning against it, two of his many bodyguards standing behind him, looking around the empty corridor cautiously.
"I want One Million Dollars converted and transferred to Country X by tomorrow. Is it possible?", the man smiled, extending his hands towards Abram.
"I look forward to working with you.", Abram Orlov chuckled, as he shook hands with the man firmly, "Please come in."
"Earlier, you said you had many reasons to join hands with me, and that you would reveal them to me once I was on board.", Aftaab Ali mentioned, stepping inside the grand hotel suite, his gaze scanning almost every corner of the room vigilantly, "May I know what they are, now?"
"Not any specific reason. It"s just a mere dream. A wish, actually.", Abram Ali scratched the back of his head awkwardly as if he was too embarra.s.sed to even say it out aloud.
"Come on! I wouldn"t want us to be just business partners, Mr. Fedrov.", the man smacked the man"s left shoulder playfully, "And friends shouldn"t keep things from each other, right? What is it? Tell me."
"Right.", Abram laughed, "How about this? For each one of my secret, you tell me one of yours. In?"
Aftaab Ali stared at the pouring whiskey into two Ocean San Marino gla.s.ses for a while, warily, before he cleared his throat and threw his hands up in resignation, "In.", he replied with a short, scornful laugh. He"d already concluded this much about this Albert Fedrov by now, to be honest. This man wasn"t a fool. Contrary to that, he was akin to a crocodile. Static, motionless, waiting for the prey to approach it with all its guards down, ready to rip it apart. Naturally, it was important to test the waters before jumping into it with some stranger. Nevertheless, what harm could a game of 20 questions could possibly do to him, at the most?
___________________
11:00 a.m., Military Chief Office ;
"Did you get anything out of him?", Shawn Florence followed behind the girl as she rushed towards her office hurriedly.
"Not really.", the girl shook her head, "He is a tough nut to crack, Shawn. Do you seriously think he would spill all his beans so quickly?
"Not to mention, he is an excellent hypnotist. Mind games do not really work against him."
"Then what are you so worked up about?", the man asked, confused.
"It isn"t just business they want. There is a pattern Ahmed Ali Fadhil has always followed."
"What pattern?"
"I don"t know.", the girl turned to grin at the man ebulliently, "We are going to study all his operations from the scratch. There must be a typical plan, a method, with the help of which, he manages to get into his "target" locations and destroy it as if he owns them, without anyone getting involved or even so, obstructing him, right?
"I was in Syria the last time he did it. So I know for a fact he that he likes to always have a backup for himself, in case his initial plan fails."
"Wait...", Shawn Florence"s eyes flew wide open as he wrapped his hand around the girl"s wrist tightly, pulling her attention towards him, "Please tell me he isn"t coming."
Rong Xinghe was slightly taken aback by the man"s sudden and strong approach. Subconsciously, the girl looked into the man"s eyes, memories of those five years when the Eleven of them were practically staying together flooding through her mind.
"Xinghe?", Shawn Florence furrowed his brows, waving his hands in front of the woman, "What happened?"
Stepping back into reality, the girl closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, she smiled confidently at the man, "He is coming, Shawn, whether we like it or not.
"And we have to locate him before that. He is the main handler of all the plans he has ever engineered."
Shawn Florence stared at the woman in front of her warily for a few seconds, before he finally let out a sigh, "Xinghe, just promise me one thing."
"What?"
"No matter what happens, you will not get involved with Ahmed Ali Fadhil personally. Let Jackson and Abram handle it. Get me into it, if you want. But just stay out of this one. Okay?"
"And why, exactly?", the girl questioned, her tone laced with confusion.
"Because that man is plain bad news, Xinghe.", the man replied, "For him, women are nothing but a means for pleasure.
"Secondly, now, nothing might"ve happened between us during those five years, and I know that we fought our feelings then, but I will never stop protecting you. Do you get it?"
"Shawn...", the girl turned around and started walking towards her office, away from the man, "I am-"
"Engaged? I know.", the man chuckled coolly, "Yuan is nice and understanding and sensitive. I noticed that during your engagement ceremony itself. He deserves you. He is a worthy man.
"But as I said, I will never stop protecting you."