Marcus suddenly got up and smirked at me in strangely disturbing way. I froze, but quickly noticed that fortunately, he didn't come near me. He decided to come to Hiro instead, and then took him away to talk. As soon as Hiro walked out the room few people came to “welcome me” in TK.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Anastasia,” some brown-haired woman pulled out her hand to greet me carrying a disgustingly fake smile.
I remembered that her name was Natasha Elber, a level 3 deputy manager from a purchasing department. I also remembered she was coming from a wealthy family. She got the position mainly because her father was one of the early company's investors… that would explain her arrogance.
“Nice to meet you, Miss…?” I pretended that I didn't know her name.
“Natasha,” she replied, suggesting to call her by name.
I guessed that she decided to act “friendly” towards me, but her i
Hiro stared at Marcus. On the surface he seemed to be composed, but I noticed that something in his eyes became darker. He walked to me, and took my hand, the one Marcus grabbed earlier. He held it and examined my wrist, then he looked at Marcus.“If you touch her hand again, I will break your arm,” he stated without changing the composed tone of his voice.Marcus stared back at him curiously and smirked a little hesitantly. It looked like he was quite surprised with Hiro's reaction. Hiro glared at him more intensively.“If you touch any other part of her body, I will break your neck… friend,” he sneered with the most terrifying expression I had seen on his face.Any traces of a smile disappeared from Marcus's face, he sat silently gazing at Hiro in cold disbelieve. Hiro kept his glare at him for couple more seconds, then he gently grabbed my hand pulling me up from my seat.“Let's go,” he commanded, leadi
When I woke up the next day there was still no reply from Hiro. I was a little worried, but decided to believe he was too tired after getting back from the office to even write me a message.I had to get up early to prepare for “work”. I got to admit it I had never thought that there would be any kind of office work that I would enjoy. Yet, I found my new position challenging and exciting. It was almost like I had become a main character from the novel, a strong heroin type… except for that it was my life… and I wasn't a strong type. Nevertheless, I was full of positive energy, I felt confident, and I was ready for my day 2.I walked out my apartment and decided to knock on Hiro's door… No one answered.“Did he leave already… without me?” I thought and felt an already known sting in my heart once again.I came downstairs and there was a driver waiting for me. I guessed that he truly didn't wait for me an
An aggressive looking blond woman barged into my office and sat comfortably on the sofa without waiting for my invitation or greeting me. I clenched my teeth expecting to hear some spiteful remark in 3, 2, 1…“Oh my God! You're not even pretty,” she sneered, “When I heard the news that some wench got an office just because she slept with the CEO, I thought she'll be a drop dead beauty…” she looked me up and down, chuckling.I heard some faint noises coming from outside. I guessed there were already some people peeking and listening through the crack in my office door. Then I gazed at the blond, she was glaring at and smirking while presenting her long, crossed legs and deep neckline… with tiny breasts supported by a push-up bra.“Excuse me, but… who are you to come here?” I asked, composed.“Sonia Dolan, manager Sonia Dolan,” she smirked.I remembered right away. She was le
I went to get some drinks from a vending machine just outside the building. I did mainly to kill some time since I was willing to give them those fifteen minutes Hiro mention. However, it didn't mean that I wasn't worrying like crazy about what was going on inside.“Should I call for an ambulance or something? God only knows, how are those two dealing with their conflicts! They are not going to kill each other, are they?” my thoughts were absolutely restless.I counted the time, after ten minutes I was already on the edge of a heart attack. I was so nervous I couldn't even think straight anymore. If I could just hear what was going on, maybe I wouldn't have been going out of my mind, but obviously, all the doors in here were soundproof.Fifteen minutes past, I stood beside the door and slowly placed my hand on the scanner, then I opened it but only to leave a crack, so I could at least listen what was going on. I truly prayed to hear both of them spe
I pulled Mia's tongue a little more, and heard that Hiro threatened everyone else in the company not to use any tricks against me. Well… I could clearly see how it worked out. I only thought he might have overdid it, I didn't think the mole would easily approach me ignoring Hiro's threat…“One guy from IT heard that the CEO said when Aya collapsed that she should have been grateful that he didn't cut her face as well. He was so terrifying that they even waited until he left the office to call the medics!” Mia added, after she felt less terrified to tell me more.Strangling and cutting face?! It sounded too familiar to be a simple coincidence, he must have taken a revenge on Aya for me… Although, I didn't think he tried to kill Aya, but his actions were clear – it was an eye for an eye. I kept trying to process all that, should I be happy about or should I be frightened of his uncompromising cruelty? Finally, there was another ques
Nicolas and Nolan clapped their hands admiring my idea. Marcus winked at me, which I found quite creepy, Harvey started grinning towards me like an idiot… Only Aya pretended to stay untouched with this situation, but even she decided to look at me without her usual cold expression. Hiro seemed to be enjoying the whole situation. Was I the only one who felt awkward?Afterwards, Nicolas and Nolan talked about the technical details that needed to be arranged for this plan to work. I was still in a daze, trying to deal with the situation that my fictional scenario was now turning to a real life event, and I was witnessing it vividly.At the end of the meeting Hiro assigned me to work with Nicolas to pick the best possible option to make the window explosion look more like it was caused by a constructional flaw. I couldn't believe it was all happening that fast…The meeting ended and it was the right time to officially meet people I knew only from the p
I was exhausted after a whole day of using my creativity in more intense way that I had ever used while writing my novel, but I felt happy. I discovered that working for TK gave me something that I had never felt before, the feeling of being needed. I wasn't sure that any of my ideas would actually work in real life, but I chose to listen to Nicolas and his experience in that field. Still, I didn't know how should I feel about committing a crime… Should I call myself a villainess from now on?I could be certain of one thing, my life values and my definition of morality had changed drastically. The other strange thing that I found was that I didn't feel guilty with the idea of murdering someone. My brain prepared all kinds of justifications in advance, but what about after it would actually happen?I wanted to talk about it with Hiro, although he probably wouldn't understand my concerns. He lived in this cruel world far too long to put himself in a shoes of a clu
I went down to Melisa's office once more, this time to tell her about Harvey. I didn't feel that he could actually be the mole, but everything around him fitted. He was level 4, he had all the necessary knowledge to give to Triads or Tsuchida… including now!“Melisa… what if he already told those people about the plan for assassination on Zhao Kang?!” I shouted, terrified after telling her everything I had heard from Mia.“Nicolas keeps tracking Zhao's movements, if there was anything unusual we would have heard about it. Until now, there were no changes,” she assured me.“Melisa… who else, except for those at the meeting will know about the whole plan now?” I inquired, since there must have been more people involved.“Well… those from intelligence get only parts of the entire plan, so none of them. Even when there are more men from the tactical group involved they also get partial inte