When he asked the question, the last thing Dante expected was for Finn to get up and run away. Although he had a feeling that the topic was a sore spot for the boy, he couldn’t help but think the reaction was a bit over the top.
Letting his thoughts linger for some time, Dante then turned his eyes to the yellow gym bag on the floor. Despite everything he said about the AI being his friend, the brat still left him there and ran.
[Dante: So? Are you gonna tell me or what?]
[Jake: Tell you what?]
[Dante: Do you need some reprogramming or something?] Pursing his lips, Dante types another text. [Why’s the little shit after Jaguar?]
[Jake: If you’re so smart then figure it out yourself, asshole.]
[How rude.] Volcan said. [Maybe some deprogramming is needed after all.]
’Yeah...’ Heaving a long sigh, Dante lay down on his back, banishing the heavy thoughts from his mind. ’Let’s deal with this another time. Focus on our current trouble.’
The last thing he needed right now was to bother himself with the impatient brat. Three weeks have passed since he obtained VOLCAN, and just when the fear of being tracked down began to fade, he went and pulled that stunt right in front of the people he was trying to avoid. Not only that, but he also made a new enemy along the way, practically doubling the number of people coming after him.
Dante felt that he was back to when he woke up in The Clinic after killing Aegis. It will be quite a while before he is able to regain some of the peace of mind he had enjoyed, but considering the things he did and those he planned to do, it doesn’t feel like he would get a break anytime soon.
Dale Kasby has been on a roll as of late. The new startup he helped get off the ground was rising to the moon, and with the latest deal he closed for it, the bonus he was about to get would help push his stock portfolio to its next stage. All that was left to do was wait for one of the big players to buy the company, and from there, he could move on to the next opportunity.
With all his recent achievements, one would think his mood couldn’t be better. And it was, up until he received a video of his wife entering a certain hotel. He didn’t think much of it at first, but then the anonymous sender followed by the digital key to one of the rooms.
Dale’s curiosity got the better of him, so he went personally to that hotel, praying the entire time that the whole thing was just a sick prank, and that what the anonymous sender was alluding to was incorrect. Nevertheless, he knew deep in his heart that it was all true.
His wife was cheating on him with the very guard he hired to protect her. He didn’t know how long it was going on for, nor did he care. He caught them red-handed and that’s all that mattered.
Once his thoughts in order were in order, he made a few calls, dealt with the matter, and went about his day as he had planned. The night was supposed to be a joyous one spent celebrating all his recent achievements, but the one person who was supposed to share his happiness stabbed him in the back, leaving him to drown his sorrows in booze.
His bar of choice was an invite-only place with a strict list of customers. After downing the last drop from a top-shelf brandy, he asked for more only to be told that another customer had ordered the last bottle. Looking around, Dale quickly found the senseless idiot who couldn’t read the room and immediately went to complain, but was soon left stunned by what he saw.
Her beauty wasn’t what caught his attention, nor was it the purple hair and dress. A man of his wealth had gorgeous women fawning over him the entire time so looks didn’t sway him that much. What caused him to simmer down was the absolutely miserable state she was in. It wasn’t exactly a competition, but he could tell her sorrows were almost on the same level as his, maybe even worse.
Before he knew it, the two of them were sitting at the same table dumping their misery on each other. He soon learned about her husband’s affair and how he had manipulated her into signing over the rights to several of the high-end properties she owned, along with other investments of hers.
They drank and ranted about all the things they did to their partners, only to be rewarded with betrayal. Though it was a little cruel, Dale felt glad that he was able to meet someone who understood his suffering. Eventually, he found the courage to invite the purple-haired woman back to his place, intending to forget about his wife for that night.
Waking up the next morning, Dale felt like nails were being hammered into his skull. His date was gone, too, which made him wonder if the previous night was just his imagination. Disappointed, he decided to forget and go about his life as usual, but just as he was about to enjoy his coffee, one of the servants rushed over, saying the police were at his door.
A few minutes later, his hands were in cuffs, and he was dragged to one of their cars. Apparently, his wife’s corpse was discovered, and the people he hired to take care of it ratted him out. As if that wasn’t enough, all of his accounts were drained, every last illegal thing he did suddenly came to light, and in a single day, he found himself on the road to a trial he would never survive.
A single day was all it took for his entire life to go down the drain. Everything he earned, everything he built, everything he worked for. Gone. All of it. As the detectives interrogating him spoke of what his final sentence was going to be, only one question kept playing on repeat in Dale’s mind.
Where did it all go wrong?