2. Enemy’s Daughter

3. Fair Punishment

<< . Mikolaj . >>

I walk out of the family courtroom, only to see my ex-Wife silently crying in a corner.

Good!

She deserves this. After six months of back and forth, she has finally gotten what she deserved. I pass through her and she blocks my way.

“What did I ever do to get this treatment, Miko?”

I raise my brow at her.

“Oh well, many things… sleeping with my business partner was one of them.” I tell her, amused.

“I never mistreated Jessie... You think cutting me out of her custody is a fair punishment? By doing this, you are punishing her too.”

I ignore her and keep walking towards the parking lot. She tags along with me, determined to talk.

“Please, I am sorry. Don’t cut me out of her life. I cannot live without her.”

Her pleas are pointless. When I cut my enemy, I cut them deep. No apologies do it for me. I like my enemies dying little by little every day.

I stop and look at her coldly. “She needs to be around someone who can teach her better ethics as a woman. I will not allow some whore to raise her.”

Her face crumples.

“You never loved me,” she cries. “Why does it matter if I cheated? You never cared about me. We were in a loveless marriage. I was dying for your attention. I went where I found love, Miko.” She sobs harder.

It annoys me. She is implying I am the problem. Hard to love.

Fuckin Women.

They want everything. Don’t they?

They need money. A Big house. A good fuckin bank balance and when you work hard, pour your sweat and blood into work for them. They cheat. All this empire I built over time. For her and my family. Wasn’t this enough?

I cared for her. Wasn’t that enough? Was it too hard to divorce me before opening her legs for others? Was it too much to ask for? I fulfilled my duties, and I expected her to fulfill hers. I honored her and expected the same from her.

“Well, you are successful, Rose… Now that you finally have my attention, I will break you… until there is nothing left of you and your fuck toy — Callum. I hope he is ready for what’s coming for him.”

“I will prove that you faked that evidence, Miko… Everyone knows I can never be negligent towards Jessica. You will be in shit when we prove our innocence.” She snarls.

Sometimes I love her determination. Little does she know, determination is not enough to win against me. In my world, you do not have a chance if you are afraid to get your hands dirty. I played a game to trap her and she, on the other hand, doesn’t know how to be nasty.

That is where I won and she lost her precious daughter. Our daughter.

“Good luck. I will wait for your move,” I say and get inside my car.

As I drive towards my office, I cannot help but snort. The only dirty thing she did in her life was to sleep with my business partner. She made me look bad in front of everyone, as if I have no control over my woman. I never felt this humiliated in my life!

Now that I have punished her, I need to follow through my trap for my business partner, Callum. To burn that scumbag into the ground. It’s amusing how she didn’t defend him. Not even once.

Callum’s betrayal stung me just as bad as Rose’s infidelity. He was my battle buddy. A brother. We fought together in Iraq. After coming back, we built our business together. So a deception was the last thing I expected from him.

Just like my wife, I had laid a trap for him, and he stepped into it. Now he is frantically trying to find a lawyer to save his ass. I have managed to buy out most of the best lawyers and no one wants to defend him.

God knows how long they had been sleeping behind my back.

…..

I park my car at Josef designs & construction and make my way towards the lift. My father founded this company three decades ago. Lift door opens and a pleasant view of the new tropical design office welcomes me. It’s been a while since I visited here. I am too busy with my combat contracts nowadays.

This renovation was approved by Jonas, My nephew. Just like his clothes, he wanted to give this office a casual vibe.

I don't mind as long as this place doesn't go bankrupt.

I make my way inside his office and see him leaning towards his secretary. A little too close. He whispers something, and she giggles profusely. I shake my head, amused, then clear my throat. They both look at me, perplexed.

“I will call you in later.” Jonas tells her, and she makes her way out, waddling in her tight skirt.

“What was her name again?“ Not that I care. But I need to know potential lawsuits.

“Ava.“

I say, “I hope you know she can be a problem--“

He laughs. “Flirting never hurts nobody, Miko.“

I shake my head at him.

There is no point in lecturing him. I remember my time when I was his age. There is something so thrilling about this time. You feel invincible. Until you realize you are not.

Jonas is my nephew and is barely 20. He came to the USA five years ago. I involved him in our family business when he was barely out of high school. Now that my marriage and my business are split at such a delicate time, he is undoubtedly helpful.

He hands me a file and says, “I have prepared everything just the way you want. But… Are you sure about it?“

It’s Callum’s fate.

“I am not.” I smile at him. “But if we pull this off, He won’t be able to guess what hit him.”

Sometimes it’s necessary to take risks.

We discuss the vital details and I explain to him some points he must pay attention to. Jonas lacks experience and sometimes he cannot see right through my plans. My plans to ruin Callum is a good way to teach Jonas how to be ruthless and cut throats when needed. Not literally. Although that could be a unique experience too. I did it once during my time in Iraq.

I have served for 12 years. My experience and connections gave me an upper hand to secure private combat contracts. People come to us when they need men with high combat skills. Mercenaries, as many call them, are professional soldiers for hire. They serve for the sole purpose of earning money. I like dealing with mercenaries. It gives me a sense of belonging.

“I miss my time in the military,” I admit to Jonas ruefully while checking the files.

He raises his brow at my sudden admission. “So you could shoot the fucker?”

I chuckle. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

It would save me time and planning.

The evening, I figured out that Callum and Rose were fucking behind my back. I laid traps for them.

Like a little lost lamb, Rose stepped into it and was convicted for neglecting and endangering Jessica. I had to prove she was intoxicated while taking her home and she hadn’t strapped her in the car seat.

So so fucking easy to tamper evidence. You need to know the right people and hand them the right price.

For Callum, however… It was a little tricky. First, I exposed some discrepancies under his account and kicked him out of the board. Then I leaked his military contracts into the media. Especially the ones which went wrong for one reason or another. Humanitarians took quite some interest in his human rights violations. Everyone knows that in war and in life & death situations, it’s hard to avoid collateral damage. But try telling that to the news hungry journalists. They can character assassinate even Mother Teresa. Then Who the fuck Callum is?

Fucking Nobody.

He was sued by the families of victims and is struggling to keep out of jail and escape hefty fines. Even if he manages to get away from the conviction, he cannot recover his reputation even in a lifetime.

While he is busy with lawsuits, I am exploiting this time to buy his shares. Slowly and steadily. It’s straining our pockets a little. But I value sweet revenge more than money.

Jonas receives a text and declares,“Callum has secured a lawyer.” He frowns and adds,”A small time… but a good one?”

“Oh!” I am not concerned.

I glance at my watch and tell him, “It’s time to leave or I will be late.” and Jessi will freak out.

He glanced at the clock and said, “Shit, I will be late for my lecture, too.”

His college schedule is quite sporadic. But his ability to handle this place in his free time is quite impressive.

“Meet me at my place with this new lawyer’s details. We will discuss the rest there.“

4. Enemy’s Daughter

<< . Mikolaj . >>

I pull over in the parking lot of The Kids Academy, a fancy daycare of my daughter, and walk inside to pick her.

She comes running towards me, screaming. “Daddy!!”

I pretend to stumble behind with her force and she giggles.

“Easy girl..” I say as I pick her up.

“Did you eat donuts again?” I ask her while fixing her hair. Her hair is as wild as her mothers. I push the guilt away. I cannot show weakness If I want to punish her as she deserves.

“Yes. Easter’s donuts… I eat him too.”

“‘His. Not him.” I correct her and put her in the car seat.

Easter is her ‘this week’s best buddy’. She is speaking more and more complex sentences nowadays.

“Mommy see me.” she says and my jaw clenches.

“She came inside?” I ask her in a calm voice. I removed Rose from the guardian list long ago. Jessie doesn’t answer me and starts playing with the car toy in her hand.

“Jessie… Did momma come inside?”

”No.. she.. she is crying.”

I grimace. She probably created some drama at daycare again. That bitch doesn’t realize it leaves a terrible effect on Jessie if she sees her crying. The sooner she stops seeing her, the easier it would be for Jessie to forget her mother.

I reach home and cook dinner for both of us while watching the news. As expected, some reporters are bashing Rose real bad. Callum is taking good heat too.

I turn my head towards tv when a newsroom discussion about today’s drama starts.

“I don’t know. Mikolaj Josef is a hard man to read. It’s surprising that every time anyone who has even a minor rift with him, somehow goes bankrupt,” a reporter says and the panelist chuckles.

“Now Now! Be careful what you say! You don’t wanna be enemies with him. Do you?”

I shake my head in amusement. These are all stupid tactics to ruin my name in subtle ways. Doesn’t matter to me.

It serves me well if people are afraid of me.

No one can dig up dirt on me because I keep my tracks clean. I am not sloppy like others. I learned a salutary lesson when I was barely at Jonas' age. Since then, I have not slacked off.

After dinner, Jessie creates mayhem for quite a while in the entire house. Thanks to her double donut energy. Then she finally falls asleep around 7:30.

At 7:45, I hear a knock at the door, and I open the door for Jonas. I make a drink for both of us while he opens the compiled report.

“His name is Garrett. Never heard of him, but I have been told he is good,” Jonas says and I frown.

Garrett?

It can’t be him.

“Garrett Adams?” I make a vague guess.

“Yes.”

I put my drink on the counter to open the file and see his photograph pinned at the top. My jaw clenches. I stare at the photograph for a while. It is indeed him. He looks old. Older than me. He is an enemy. The only one with whom I am not even yet.

Rose was right about one thing. I didn’t love her. Because the only woman I loved was stolen away from me by this motherfucker 20 years ago.

I knew he was a small-time lawyer. Defending low lives, barely making a living. I turn a few pages to see if he is still married to her. Her photograph is pinned too. My stomach twists.

Lena Adams.

That’s not her real name.

I still know her By Lena Kowalski. We were childhood friends and our families moved to the USA from Poland together. We grew up next to each other. She was supposed to be Mine. Now look at them, happily married even after this long. He was a bastard and she still chose him. There is a reason Callum and Rose’s betrayal hit me to the core. Because it felt like I was living the same hell all over again. No wonder it stings even after twenty fucking years.

He not only took away Lena from me but also broke my family apart. My brother cannot step foot in the United States because of him. He is the reason Jonas had to leave his father behind in Poland.

I grab his photograph and look at it, thinking—He is so happy in his life— with a loving family.

I, on the other hand, was alone all those years. I had no family left in the States. Even my closest friend was taken away.

I didn’t marry Rose until I was 35. Three years ago she bore me a daughter. Rose knew it was a marriage of convenience, but I cared for her. Never mistreated her. Never cheated on her. She needed a rich name and a lifestyle. I wanted a child. She always knew what she was in for. I am happy with Jessie in my life. Then why do I suddenly have a fire burning within me?

I have always got even with my enemies. Garrett got away from it because I was too young to retaliate. Too kind. Too hurt to even react. I left them behind when Lena got pregnant with his child. I wonder how old that child is now. I turn the page and see a young girl.

As beautiful as her mother.

She has her mother’s eyes. Lips too. I read the information and something peculiar catches my eyes. My lips twitch.

Riley Adams

19 years old

A sophomore at Michigan university in the Business administration and management Program.

Same college and program as Jonas. This is a delightful surprise.

“Do you know this girl?” I ask Jonas and he peeks, then laughs.

“Oh yes… She is a dick tease.”

“I want you to do something, Jonas.”

“What?”

“Put in some effort and get into her pants.”

He chuckles. “Okay… I can try. But why?”

I pick up a photograph of the three of them having lunch and laughing together.

“We won’t buy him out. But twist his arm to make him do what we want…”

And we will use his daughter for this.