Chapter One Hundred And Thirty"Sir, the investors from Mauritania have pulled out from the deal. They are demanding we pay for the breach of contract as well!"Damien slammed his open palm on the top of his desk, and the entire desk rattled violently. He was breathing hard as he raked his hand through his head, trying to process the news Liam had just told him.This was the first real emotion he'd shown since they arrived at the office that morning, and realized they were neck deep in crisis.A series of attack had hit Romero that morning. Hackers had infiltrated their systems and stolen sensitive data, trade secrets, financial records...Some of these data were placed on the dark web, while the others were still inaccessible, with the hackers demanding for a ransom of up to four hundred and fifty billion.Typical ramsomeware, but it had to come at this particular time.Some investors and customers had already gotten wind of what was happening in Romero, and how sensitive information
Chapter One Hundred And Thirty One "Keep in mind, Lana, that it pains me greatly to do this." Samuel Fernandez said in a greatly displeased tone, "Why do I have to give my money to something as worthless as Romero?! And you dare to ask it of me?""I know, Dad. I'm sorry." Lana said apologetically, biting her bottom lip but still her face was alight with joy and relief.He was going to do it, she was sure.He would definitely do it.It was the only thing she could do from her end here.Damien had left his breakfast hurriedly that morning after recieving a call from Liam. His face had darkened immediately, and his hands clenched into fists so tight, his knuckles went white."I'm on my way." He said, soon after and stood up from the table, grabbing his suit jacket from off his chair."I have to go, Lana." That was the only answer he gave her, at her insistent questions.When she'd arrived at the office with Damien that morning, she was met with chaos. The entire office was in a frenzy,
Chapter One Hundred And Thirty TwoDamien did not move from his position behind his desk. Instead, his eyes watched every of Paul's movement, as the tall man relaxed fully on the chair, looking right at home. The words Paul had just spoken resounded in his head once more."You want money. We'll give you money.""What do you mean by you'll give us money?" Liam asked tentatively, unsure if he had heard well."It means exactly what it means, Mr Dantes." Paul replied, drily, ignoring the subtle arch of Liam's eyebrow at the mention of his last name. He fixed the assistant a cool look, "Romero is in a tight spot right now, isn't it?"The other man, who had been quiet all along, finally drew out a sheaf of papers from his suitcase, "The Fernandez Empire is willing to give the Romero Empire five trillion dollars to get out of this crisis." He placed the papers on Damien's desk and drew back, a satisfied look on his face, "You can just sign where indicated and its all yours."Liam looked ba
Chapter One Hundred And Thirty Three"Mother, you're not supposed to be here."Damien gritted, shooting a glare at Liam who immediately brought out his phone, and placed a call at the security guards, supposedly stationed outside the office.The guards had been given instructions not to let Vera anywhere in the premises as she repeatedly caused trouble, but one way or the other, she managed to slink her way in.Damien sighed inwardly, as he glared at his mother in frustration and embarrassment. She had to do this just in front of Paul, who was watching them with a curious and amused gleam in his eyes. But Vera didn't seem to care or know the effect she was producing She shook her head vigorously, "There's no way I will just sit and watch our company go down the drain." She cried out, then glared at him, "You can't keep me cooped up forever, Damien!"She broke down then, weeping copiously. Rina rushed over to her side, and gently held her shoulders."Its okay, Mother." She said, soo
Chapter One Hundred And Thirty-Four"Damien!" Vera hissed at him, giving him a flaming look from head to toe, "What are you talking about? Do you wish to see us go down?"She glanced at Lana with a tight smile, then leaned in to whisper fiercely in her son's ears, "Just take it now that the Fernandez Empire are being nice."Damien's face hardened and he glared at Liam, "Get the guards and have them escort Mother home." He ordered grimly, and Vera's eyes widened in alarm."No!" The obnoxious woman yelled, looking prepared to dig her feet into the ground if necessary, than to allow herself dragged out like before."I will not endure such ridicule again!" She thought to herself in despair, then quickly grabbed Lana's hand."Lana dear." She called in a beseeching tone, "Please, do not listen to whatever Damien's saying. You can go ahead and ask your father to send the money."Lana yanked her hand away Vera's hold, irked by by the woman's pleading, "Please, do not touch me." She uttered st
Chapter One Hundred And Thirty Five "What? What did you say?"Rina blanched at that question from Damien. She went pale, as she realized she'd probably said more than she was supposed to.Lana stepped forward, her brows arched in suspicion, "You said you won't stop until Romero becomes like your so called Carter family." She asked, then scoffed in disbelief, "Did you have a hand in this attack, Rina?"Everyone faced Rina immediately and the woman felt attacked. She swallowed hard, feeling none of the bravado she'd had felt earlier, when she was giving her passionate speech.She should not have said what she had said, but Vera had so annoyed her, that Rina just let it all out.She sighed inwardly, as her stomach churned with fear.Zaire was going to kill her, when he discovered this."Seriously?" Vera's shrill voice broke the silence, as she pointed an accusing finger at Rina, "you are behind the attack against us?! How dare you do that?!""I..I...I don't know what you're talking abou
Chapter One Hundred And Thirty Six"We've recovered all the data, sir!"Damien's face lightened with relief as he heard those words.His fingers tightened around the phone in joyous anticipation, "All...the data?""Yes sir, everything was recovered just a few minutes ago!" The head of IT department sounded very excited.After all, a major part of the crisis had just been evaded.Yes!Damien wanted to punch the air in victory, as relief surged through him once again. Relief so powerful that it almost sent him sprawling to his knees. The others noted his change in attitude and stared at him, confused."What? What is it?" Lana asked, her voice tinged with confusion and concern, "Is everything okay?"However, Damien's lighthearted mood faded as his eyes met with that of Paul. Suspicion clouded his brows and he placed the phone back to his ear."Hold on. How did that happen?" He asked tentatively, "How were you able to recover the data?""Well sir, we could suddenly gain access to it." T
Chapter One Hundred And Thirty SevenRina ran straight to the parking lot using the stairs, with Liam hot on her heels. She was wheezing, almost doubled over, as she made for her camry, digging in her bag for her keys. Suddenly, the screeching of car tires could be heard and Rina held her hand over her eyes, before she was blinded by the headlights of the oncoming vehicle. She jumped out of the way as well, when it seemed as though the van was after her life."Ow!" She cried out as she hit the floor hard.The van swerved to the side and came to a stop with a screech. The driver looked out his window and yelled at her."Get in!"Rina blinked in shock as she realized it was her henchman, Carlos!About time the bitch showed up!Joy lit her face and she winced in pain, trying to get up from the floor. The sound of Liam kicking the door to the parking lot open, gave her the energy and galvanized her into action.Her eyes met with his angry ones and Liam bared his teeth teeth at her, as he
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-five "Let's go in, first." Anila said urgently as she walked into the corridor and pressed the button on the wall, watching with bated breath until the shelf slid back into place.She turned to Adrian then, "What about the young Miss?" She asked as she walked past him, "Is she okay?""Screw the young miss." Adrian spat out loudly in anger as they both entered the small room, "What the hell is going on? Who the hell were those men?!"Adrian was clearly frustrated. He did not mean to yell and rarely lost his cool, but he was pissed with what just happened a few moments ago in his own house.Anila sighed, "if you will only let me explain, then I will. Stop yelling at me." She reprimanded him as she walked over to Lana.Lana was huddled on the bed, cowering under the bed covers in fear. She and Adrian had stayed back in the room when Anila had gone out.She had been trembling and whimpering in fear as they heard the men ransacked the room, while Adrian pace
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-FourThe banging on the door continued and silence fell in the room.It took a while for Lana to realize that the banging was not actually on the door to the room.It sounded farther, but that did nothing to ease the trembling of her body or the loud thumps of her heart beat."I said, open up!" Another yell came and this time it was accompanied by a solid thump, like a vicious kick to the door."What the hell? Who knocks like that?" Adrian said, frowning in annoyance. He was about to walk towards the door when Anila stopped him."No Adrian! Don't go." She called out to him, holding out a hand to stop him.Adrian looked from the door to his mother, "What?" He asked, his confusion becoming more apparent. Lana exchanged a frightened glance with Anila, who was calmer actually.She patted Lana's hand then stood up and walked towards the door."I will go out and meet them" She said calmly to Adrian."Excuse me?" Adrian asked, arching an eyebrow at that state
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-ThreeThe words were hardly out of his mouth when the door to the room was pushed open and a middle-aged woman appeared.Lana turned to the door sharply, fear written all over her face as the woman walked into the room silently, and her eyes met that of Lana's. The next instant, they widened with joy and relief."You're awake! Oh thank heavens!" She said as she rushed towards Lana and took both of her hands in hers, "I knew you'd come around! Bless the heavens!"She turned to look at the red haired man, who went about his watering as calmly as before."Look Adrian, I told you she'll be fine." She said as she beamed up at Lana, because she was clearly four inches shorter than her."I know mother," The red haired guy, Adrian replied drily, "I treated her."Lana stared at him, "Treated?" She asked, eyeing the guy in surprise.He was a doctor?The middle aged woman nodded, "Adrian had found you in the forest when he went for his morning walk." She explained
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-TwoShe was in the forest, running with her hands stretched out in front of her as she stumbled over fallen tree logs. Her dress was torn and her knees were scraped. She was limping due to the cuts under the sole of her feet, which the cool damp earth of the forest did nothing to soothe.Yet, Lana ran.She was blinded by a film of tears and terrified gasps came out of her mouth as she stumbled through the dark forest."LANA!"He was close!He would get her and throw her back into that suffocating place. Taking control of her whole life."No, never..." Lana muttered breathlessly as she ran. The moon was hidden behind the huge rain clouds filling the sky now. Now, and then, lightening cracked through the sky, sending a flash of white through the forest.The rumbling of thunder will follow soon after and it made Lana shriek and shudder in terror as she ran.No! No! Stay away, please!Suddenly, a hand shot out from before her and grabbed her throat tightly,
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-One.Lana turned sharply and looked into the darkness behind her. It seemed as though she'd heard something scream. Or was it her imagination?Imagination or not, it was definitely the cue she needed to open the fucking trapdoor. Luckily, the trapdoor wasn't locked and opened up easily before her to reveal another darkness below.Lana swallowed hard as a sudden rush of cold air hit her face. She shivered uncontrollably and willed her beating heart to calm down.This was just the same as walking into the passageway, she reminded herself, Everything will be fine. There are no snakes waiting down there.The way the wind whistled from below made her wonder how far the drop was.She laid down the trapdoor, and peered down into the hole with her torchlight. The beam flashed on a slab of wood below her, then another and another all connected with a rope.A ladder!She allowed the light of the torch to travel down until she finally saw the ground.It was not ve
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty Zaire was still in his study with Aryan, who was making numerous calls.It really seemed like Romero was on his way to Moreno, due to the tip off that Rina had given them.Zaire regretted ever revealing this place to Rina. He had brought her here as well and a bitter taste filled his mouth, as he realized how her presence must have tainted his precious sanctuary."I really should have killed her a long time ago." He thought to himself as he downed the contents of his second glass of whiskey.Well, there was still time.He could still kill her and also give the same treatment to his beloved half-brother. A slight smile curved his lips as he relished the thought of Damien coming to challenge him on his own turf.He'd be able to come in easily but to go out will not be so easy.He also regretted the fact that he'd brought Lana to Moreno. He could have easily taken her to Italy or Cuba, but he figured they were too far away and he needed to still be able to
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-NineGripping the metal torchlight to her chest, Lana hurried back into the room and climbed unto the bed once more.She glanced back at the door, her ears picking up every little sound. She expected it to open up at any moment and Zaire would walk in.She'd get caught before she even started anything and faced with more torment than she could imagine."There's no time to waste." She reminded herself as she edged closer to the wall, "Let's get out of here, Lana."Slowly, she reached out her hand to the wall and pushed it. The wall did not budge.Lana swallowed hard as her heart started beating faster once again.What the hell? Why isn't the wall opening up now?She pushed the wall again with all her might and still nothing."Okay Lana." She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Remain calm and think. We have to open this wall."She closed her eyes and tried to remember how she'd had managed to open the wall earlier that day.Her memory was fuzzy w
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-Eight"It seems Romero has been able to gain access into our base.""The fuck did you just say to me?!" Zaire snarled as he pulled the door to Lana's room close behind him, "He accessed our base? How the fuck was he able to do that with his weak system?!"Aryan swallowed hard as he spoke carefully, "It seems he had help from Fernandez." He informed Zaire, "The email which we sent to Miss Vermont was the key to the base, sir."Zaire immediately gripped the collars of Aryan's shirt, fiercely and drew him to him, "You said there was no way they'd be able to trace it!" Zaire said harshly, baring his teeth at Aryan, "What is the meaning of this sloppy work?!"Aryan averted his gaze from Zaire, even as the strain of his collars being gripped was making it difficult for him to breath."I'm sorry, sir." He uttered in a small voice, looking more than a trifle apologetic, "I made sure I looked through it all but Fernandez has one of the best IT teams and system i
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-SevenLana laid perfectly still in Zaire's arms, hoping, praying silently that he falls asleep.It was still freaking daylight and if she was to get out of the house and still manage to find her way around this place, then she needed to do it during the daytime.The thought of making her way around the walls of the house at night filled her with fear, but it did not kill her determination.Besides, it would even be easier to do so when Zaire and Aryan are asleep. Zaire does not usually come to check up on her at nights, but the bastard was changing.He was getting bolder, climbing into bed with her. It was only a matter of time before he convinced her they were lovers, and there was nothing wrong with them being intimate.She had only managed to put him off for so long using the fact that she did not know him so well.Zaire had been decent all along, patiently waiting but she guessed his patience ran out with this little act of his now.The words he'd s