Delta glanced at the man. “Sorry, the Marcille Faction belongs to the Colton Group, and people expect to see a Colton son running it. If Wolfram gets back, the most he’s going to do is show up. I’m still taking over… at least until the end of the year. If we fail to get my desired score, I have to leave.”
“I’m so sure Mr. Colton Senior will give you a chance to stay, Mrs. Colton. You are handling the company so nicely.” The deputy wanted her to be instated as the real CEO; alas, she was not Colton by blood. It was always that ghost haunting the CEO’s office.
Then again, none of them heard stories of how Wolfram wanted to take back power from his wife. There were even rumors that Wolfram was lounging in his office, while Delta attended to the work of the CEO. No matter; as long as the company was running like one of the famed factions of the Colton Group…
Delta still received the chicken-scented business card. She looked over and saw the name of the CEO in front of her. It was Finlay Baker, and the name seemed to be rather familiar. This guy owned small shopping malls to fit the smaller business districts in the city. Ah, yes… This man owned the market where she used to sell her oranges. She didn’t say anything anymore and kept the card. She decided to give this man a good chance after running some background checks. After all, it was because of his wonderful fee system that she managed to sell her oranges without worrying about her spot in the market. Along the way to the private room, Delta started texting her friends to run more checks about the two CEOs that she secretly took photos of. She needed to make sure they were good acquaintances.
In the House of Ra server… Cleopatra: How do I send credits again? [Cleopatra sent 9999 credit/s to Sobek!] Akhenaten: WHAT?!?! Sekhmet: You just returned to shower the crocodile with some ka-ching?! [Cleopatra sent 1000 credit/s to Akhenaten!] [Cleopatra sent 1000 credit/s to Sekhmet!] [Akhenaten sent 999 credit/s to Cleopatra!] Sobek: HOLY— WHYYYYY Akhenaten: What did you doooooo? Cleopatra: It’s personal. I just have no other ways to send money to Sobek.
“All right.” That was all Delta said. After all, Wolfram dropped the call before she could even answer. She just pocketed her phone and took the phone on top of her desk. Picking it up, she dialed a few numbers to disseminate her own orders. She spoke in a serious tone, “Babi, prepare for a fire contingency and extraction now.” … The news of the Hermia faction building burning down after a few explosions on its foundations terrified a lot of people in the city. One of the most secured buildings just shot up in flames and black smoke just a few minutes before the workday was over. Everyone almost clogged the lobbies and the staircases, causing a stampede and blockages in different places in the building. Hermia was the oldest faction among the four, and the one that D
He asked with a soft voice, “You’re really going up there with just them? The SWAT Team they sent is still climbing. Let’s wait till they get in position first.” Delta shook her head. “Let’s continue walking. If we don’t hurry, they will begin killing people. I’m not going to be liable for a death I could have stopped.” “Aren’t you Wolfram Colton?” A detective continued with them. They crossed the burning place without fear because Wolfram brought better masks to keep them from breathing smoke. “I’m surprised you guys allowed a civilian to climb a burning building. Did your superiors tell you to stand down and go with the situation?” Wolfram glanced at the detectives as he walked with his wife. “Those guys upstairs are international criminals, after all. They probably wanted to catch those guys more than save the
The resolution of the problem was too weird for that detective, but he saw how Delta and Wolfram seemed to have handled the matter quite well. Since they couldn’t be seen together, the Red Core had left, while the SWAT Team held onto the saboteurs. When they got out, the fire department continued putting out the fire. Delta looked up at the burning building with a little squint because of the brightness of the flames. Before she could look away, they all saw how white smoke exploded on the top floor. The firefighters were spooked by it, more when another spread through the sixth floor. The other floors were also cleansed by white smoke, effectively putting off the flames in an instant. “That thing is dangerous!” The lead firefighter growled. From the residue that dropped on the ground through the windows, he figured those were concentrated chemicals that made
Delta was brushing her hair while thinking of the party they would be attending next week. She had her invitation on her table while visualizing what to wear to such a prestigious event. The invitations had been long sent, but Akhenaten very much gave theirs to Sobek. Digital versions were not accepted, so Sobek would have to mail them to everyone. Akhenaten should be doing so, but he didn’t want to pry addresses from people who still wished to remain anonymous. There was no anonymity toward a mischievous hacker like Sobek, so Akhenaten figured Sobek should be able to send them without trouble. It’s just that Sobek ended up passing the matter to Delta and Wolfram. Only Delta knew where Imhotep and the others could be found, and Wolfram promised to give it to Cleopatra. The crocodile only needed to send one to Sekhmet.
A knock came on the door. It was the maid in charge of the two kids, Lorie. She smiled at the two kids. “Miss Eine, Foxley, it’s time to get dressed for tonight’s dinner. Madam, you should start changing, too. Lena will be here in a few minutes.” “Sister Lorie, look! Mommy knows how to tie the bowtie!” Foxley showed off his bowtie, and the maid nodded in glee. He then took her hand and walked with her to his room without dragging her. “He’s already taking after his uncle…” Delta’s eyes flickered before standing up as if reminded of Eine’s request. “Let’s pick your shoes first before I get to change.” Eine held her hand and walked with her mother. “Mommy, don’t you want Wolfie to be our Daddy? You didn’t answer my question.” Delta smiled at her little girl. “It’s not
A gift? Delta figured it was Regina’s gift for Eine. Wolfram held the one for Foxley, so the other one should have been handed to her if it was expensive. The woman would smile at the grouchy old lady, but Trisha had already crossed behind her to get next to Regina’s seat. From her tote bag came a clear envelope with some folded documents and a vaccine card. She handed them to Wolfram. “There’s no name for him yet. You deal with that. Contact the veterinarian if you made changes. Starting from right now, I have nothing to do with that—” She eyed Foxley, the boy intently staring at her as she spoke to Wolfram. Trisha slowed down to make her words clear. “Ti-be-tan Mas-tiff. You hear me? I have nothing to do with that Ti-be-tan Mas-tiff anymore. Say it back.” “…Aunt Trisha has nothing to do with this Tibetan Mastif
Feet shuffled as someone ran up to the main lobby. There were giggles in her mouth as she ran around like a small child let loose in their new house. It was just that… it was not their new house. Delta just incredibly missed the majestic visage of the Blue Moon Estate.Instead of having the honeymoon right after the wedding, Delta asked to have it moved to another month—or even at the end of the year. After all, Wolfram was still undergoing physical therapy for his body. She also needed to catch up with work to snatch Zenon’s seat on the board.Nah, Trisha knew how to be kind even if she was like an old witch. Delta long forgot to zero in on Zenon’s seat. Yuri should just pick someone else’s.“Delta, aren’t you a little too giddy?” Wolfram laughed a little as he called out from the door. He was also caught perusing the door of his real house. Ever since they received that threat toward Eine and Foxley, they had relocated to the Willow House. It was nothing but a safe house prepared f
Even though the newlyweds escaped the church, Trisha was sure that they would return for the reception. She was making rounds to see the food served to the guests, but she only heard everyone discussing a few things about the wedding. They talked about the venue, the other guests, Delta’s angelic entrance… the children, the wedding vows, and the willful escape.Some matrons and maidens gossiped about the children a lot. It was evident in their vows that Delta’s little angels were not Wolfram’s children. However, the two kids would say ‘Daddy Wolfie’ every time.“Trisha, when are they returning?” Janelle stealthily went to her side and offered her a drink as an excuse. “We still have to tell Delta about the thing.”“Psh, do you think I’m not ready? Delta already knows about the plan.” Trisha huffed and still took the drink Janelle gave her. She sipped on it and waved her hand to make Janelle scarce. They shouldn’t be caught talking, or else people might get the wrong idea.Just as Jane
Chatters returned with squeals and cooing as the flower girls and the ringbearers came. Eine and Regina were like little fairies scattering the flower petals. Even if guests could not bring their children, the bride and groom’s family still had theirs. After all, these three had a role to play.Foxley walked next to Gulper, the dog carrying a pillow on its back. Gulper even had a suit that matched its owner’s clothes. The rings were on the pillow, encased in a glass box for people on the aisle to see. It was a pair of white rings with diamonds and gold linings.The music soon died down before the bridal theme started playing. However, instead of the normal song, what played was an old song only a few could recall. Wolfram figured it was that one song Delta liked listening to while she was waiting for Carolus to come home when they were still children.“Here she comes…” “Oh, my God… her gown is so gorgeous…”The people stood for the coming of the bride. When the doors opened again, the
The wares vendor hid behind her stand, but Delta still came to hand one to her. She didn’t do much for Delta’s mental well-being, but she was the first one who would lend Delta money when she needed to loan some to make ends meet.Delta still smiled at her, so the third vendor only chuckled nervously. “I’m really sorry. I just thought you grew so ungrateful and left without a word…”“A wedding? I guess you’re doing well. That’s good.” The man was eating the strawberries he bought while listening to them. He even offered some to Delta. “I’m also happy for you… even if you don’t know me at all.”“Don’t know? But I remember all my repeat customers. Thank you for buying a crate every time.” Delta also smiled at the man. However, she didn’t have any invitation for him. It was not like he expected one as well. She just indulged him by asking for one strawberry.…Days after…Delta kept on twirling in her room as she waited for the ceremony to start. She was already suited in her wedding gow
The solemn greeting of the maids echoed to the stairwell where Delta was. Instead of heading back to the home office, she changed direction and went to greet her husband. She descended the stairs and found him walking home after another day of physical therapy.Unlike what Delta thought, even his blades burned against his skin that time. Not only the obvious spot had third-degree burns. For Wolfram to regain his ambidexterity and attack speed, he needed to do a lot of physical therapy. Of course, it came with frustration and exhaustion.Wolfram walked with his eyes closed, so it was fairly easy for Delta to catch him with her own body. When he bumped into her, he only gasped softly and whined upon seeing the bright smile on her lips.“Delta, have you finished with the guest list?” Wolfram wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she did the same on his waist. “You also look mischievous. Are you doing something strange?”“No, nothing strange.” She giggled as she then moved to show him
The sound of papers shifting conquered the room as two men were looking through them. Some were letters of congratulations as if hoping they would be invited to the wedding. Yuri had devised this thing when he married Mariska. Only those who could give the nicest wedding gifts were allowed to come to his wedding. Since Zenon did the same, everyone assumed Wolfram would not break tradition.Delta was working on customizing the letters to respond to the rest, while Finlay and Gendry were on the soft carpet. The two were going through the offers; one was grading their realism, while the other was running checks on whoever sent them. Delta could ask Angeline to go through them, but she needed that secretary to handle more things required by the company.She then chuckled as she took a break from typing. Delta gazed at the two working hard on drawing out a list of candidates. The woman would have to run it through Colton Industries afterward. After all, she needed to see which were blackli
Carolus glared at him before shaking his head in helplessness. These old people should just have their fun from time to time if they like. Shezmu just laughed at the poor person before looking at the tombstones. “So, this is where you always go to when you vanish. Sheesh, if not for Red Core, we won’t even find you.”Carolus turned to his other side and watched Khepri slowly sit down because of his awful injuries. Babi was also there, as well as three more older members of the House of Ra. He all remembered them as active operatives even before he became one—aside from Babi. They were also well-acquainted with Kathy as if they all grew up under her care.Babi hugged her knees and placed her chin on them. “What kind of lady is Ms. Kathy? Since you’re not going back here anymore, I think today’s the only day worth talking about her. Also, we still have a lot of time before the sun sets.”“Yeah, it’s better than you speaking to a tombstone… unless we’re actually imposing on you.” Khepri
Yuri was the first one to react and laugh while the rest of the men’s brows furrowed deeper. Trisha’s eyes bulged out on Delta, while Mariska went straight to pinching the woman’s face. Janelle only covered her mouth with a hand as if she knew what was happening.“It’s nice to find that Delta is indeed mentally sound as well.” Yuri only giggled as he saw what the women did to the spoiled little sister. “We’ll just leave when your friends start coming. For now, let’s discuss a few things.”“Foxley, Eine, Regina, let’s find pretty flowers for these two. Look at how sad their room is.” Trisha gathered the kids, who were also concerned about the lack of flowers. They left the room in an instant as if on a mission. The second Mrs. Colton just whispered a few things to her husband before she walked out of the door entirely.Yuri eyed the door close before assuming a seat on the visitor stool no one was using. “Congratulations on completing one of your most difficult tasks, Delta. Now that y
Delta moved her weak hands to hold the phone on her own. She wanted to get into a more comfortable position than straining her neck. “Wolfie, how are you? Does anywhere hurt more than your heart? You didn’t ask the children to visit you, right?”[“No, Sobek made the call to the Willow House earlier. I spoke to them like this.”] Wolfram made a helpless sigh. [“Delta, you come back here walking and well, okay? Five weeks might not be enough for us to recover fully. If anything, I want to get married without any IV drips anywhere.”]“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to hide those under your clothes.” Delta laughed and made Wolfram pout bigger. She then moved her hand in front of the screen as if caressing his face without touching the screen. “I can’t wait to come back to you…”Wolfram dropped his sour face and smiled at his wife. [“If I recover faster than you, can I visit you there? It should be safe enough, yes?”]Delta shook her head. “I don’t want to get stuck here for days. Maybe we