"She is nothing like her half-sister Claudia."
Alexander leaned back in his chair, listening to his assistant.
"She's the daughter of George's mistress. You know what that means. And worse she has some health issues too."
"How was she treated by her family?" He didn't understand why he wanted to know. He just couldn't get rid of the image of that burnt scar on her stomach. It reminded him of when the gang members would press and whip him with hot steel each time he refused to commit a crime. But hers was a different case. She was the daughter of a wealthy man, she had some privilege to that of normal people even though she wasn't legitimate. Then why did she have such a scar on her stomach? Who had done that to her?
"Why are you asking this? Did you take pity on her?" Ethan asked curiously, staring intently, as if he was trying to read his mind.
"Pity? I don't take pity on my enemy, Ethan."
Ethan shot him a conflicted gaze before he nodded in agreement. "I was able to track her best friend, I could run some interrogation on her."
"Schedule a meeting with her right now."
"Boss?"
"You heard me."
"You will do the interrogation yourself?"
"Yes."
Though Ethan was confused and somehow disappointed, he didn't argue further.
"Seith is here to meet you," he informed after some hesitation.
Alexander's brows furrowed as he gazed at Ethan. "Seith? Tell him I don't want to meet him."
"But, he's already here…" Ethan insisted. Alexander gritted his teeth. He didn't like this. His step-brother never visited him unless he wanted to cause trouble. The last time he came, some furniture was broken in a fight with him. And today, it could be worse, because he wasn't in his right state of mind at all.
"What brought you here?" Alexander asked as soon as Seith strode into his study.
"What? Didn't you miss me at all?" Seith smirked, as he sat down at the desk. "I have been away for seven months and…"
"That didn't answer my question," he cut Seith off.
Seith leaned forward.
"Father has handed over the company to me. He planned to dissolve your engagement to Claudia Steele as well."
Claudia Steele. Alexander wasn't surprised that John Ford wanted to dissolve the engagement. He needed an heiress for his heir, anyway. The selfish bastard would do anything to acquire more wealth.
"Your father can do whatever he wants. It's none of my business," he replied, not looking up from the papers.
"Never thought you would give up a billion-dollar heiress so easily. I thought revenge was your goal." Seith breathed, his shoulders dropping as he leaned back on the chair.
"I will get my revenge without marrying Claudia Steele." He finally met Seith's gaze.
"How? You need the heiress to bring her father down."
Alexander didn't like this. He hated when his plans were being interrogated. He didn't need anyone's opinion.
"If you have nothing else to say, leave. I am busy," he said as calmly as possible.
"He killed your mother," Seith finally began, "it was a brutal sight. And those gangsters too…" he added, pretending to be sad.
Alexander's eyes darkened. He clenched his fist, trying to suppress the new wave of rage that hit him. "Get out," he growled.
A sly smile curled at Seith's lips. "Why? Did I hit a nerve? Those gangsters had fun fucking you like a dog."
Sure, they did. If there was one thing Viktor Reno loved watching was men fucking men. He was addicted to it.
His favorite person was Alexander, because he was very young then. Viktor would seat with a glass of wine, enjoying his screams of pain as he ordered grown ass men to fuck and ruin his ass hole till he couldn't take it anymore and passed out.
"Do you like it? I bet you will never forget those sweet memories when your gang members fuck you to the brink of death."
Seith was right. He would never forget those dark days. The memories might fade, but his body would always bear the scars, a constant reminder of what he had endured.
Before Alexander could grasp what was happening, Ethan, who had been leaning against the wall listening to them, charged towards Seith, his usual calm composure replaced by rage as he grabbed Seith by the collar.
"You motherfucker! You don't talk to my boss like that!" Ethan snarled, ready to throw Seith across the room.
"Calm down, Ethan." Alexander was quick to stop him.
"No. Boss. He needs to shut his mouth for good." Ethan's anger was palpable. He had never seen Ethan this angry before now.
"Let him go. I will deal with it myself," he said to Ethan. "And leave. We will talk later."
Ethan hesitated before losing his grip on Seith's collar, who only sneered at him. It irritated Ethan further. "Fuck you," he muttered under his breath before walking out of the room.
"Wow! I'm glad that my little brother got someone worthy to run a few fists with. It would be fun," Seith crackled. "I wish he knew you fourteen years ago… maybe he would have joined you to fight off those leeches who dug out your mother's organs." Now, Alexander could feel his blood boiling.
That was what Seith wanted. If he couldn't get his reaction by talking about what those gangsters did to him, he would resort to how brutally his mother was murdered.
"I watched the CCTV footage. The poor woman was dying miserably." Seith's smug deepened when he saw the fire lit in Alexander's eyes. "But I don't think she deserved it even though she took away my father. It was unfortunate for her."
Alexander closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he returned to his calm self, then he stood up from his chair and walked towards Seith.
Before this, a few months ago, Seith would talk about his mother to trigger him. He found it entertaining when he fought with him and caused destruction in his own home.
But right now, he wasn't even close to doing that. He was as calm as the night ocean and it unsettled Seith.
He stood in front of Seith and stared straight into his eyes. "She's already dead no matter what you say. But I promise you this…" he paused, "once I am finished with George Steele, tell your father to watch his back, he will be next."
Fear flashed through Seith's eyes before it was quickly replaced by a wide grin. He also stood up to match with Alexander's gaze. "Watch your back also. Anna Steele, isn't she? She's a beautiful one after all." He brushed some invisible dirt away from Alexander's shoulder. "Just keep an eye on her, she will be useful very soon. The show is about to get started." With that sneer playing across his lips, he turned around towards the door.
Alexander was flabbergasted as he watched Seith leave. How the hell did he know about Anna?
"Boss, Anna Steele's friend is here." Ethan's voice came behind the door.
"Let her in."