The Dragon Lady

Declaration of War

Our table was made up of business personalities and their partners. Merrylia and I blended in with ease as if we know the people around us. It was that moment when Mr. Wilfred went to the stage and spoke,

"Good evening, my guests. Tonight we celebrate the day of the Wilfred Enterprises' creation. I thank you for  coming here and sharing my glee in being able to build this with my hard work. Let's have a toast!"

I raised my glass like the others even if all I wanted to do was spill it on his ridiculous face. I heard a scoff beside me and I looked at Merrylia.

"Hard work? I never knew he could make such a joke." A disgusted look passed her face and she set down her glass. She knows more than I do, maybe that's the reason why they're after her. I was about to ask her when the hearing device went static.

"Ms. Devilia? Mr. Loward?" A voice asked. Because of the hard mix of accents, I figured it was Fred, the german commander we recruited straight from the military. He was one of the best officials and  the government wasn't showing any signs of being negotiable until I showed at their doorstep. Let's just say that while under Merrylia's employ, I was able to learn some tricks on how to convince people and Fred appears to be interested on working under woman who doesn't quake under his sinister glare which is quite a challenge even for the manliest of men. Sometimes even me when I let my guard down. I learned a lot in this job but I know that there are still more to this twisted world of business that would change how I look at things here.

"Yes? What is it?" Merrylia whispered softly.

"Men are coming from all sides of the building, they are surrounding the whole perimeter close to ours."

"Damn." I cursed under my breath. To hell with courtesy! This men are sneaky bastards. My eyes searched the room and landed on Mr. Wilfred, he has a small smirk plastered on his lips. He planned this. I was about to take a sip of my wine to prevent my teeth from clashing together when Merrylia held my arm.

"Don't."

"Why Ma'am?"

"Wines don't smell like almonds." I know that very well but why is she saying this? My brows furrowed and I held up the glass to my nose and sniffed. Why does it smell like almo-

Damn.

"They put cyanide on our drinks." My grip on my glass tightened and I heard a faint crack. Why is he so bent on bringing Merrylia down? And more importantly, what connections do they have? The hatred on Mr. Wilfred's eyes whenever he glances at Merrylia contradicted what she told me at the office. They knew each other enough to hate one another.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"Don't worry. I already knew this would happen. I knew all about the Wilfred Enterprises including when it was established. It's definitely not today." Merrylia's face was void of any emotions but by the way her eyes glinted in the dark told me that she's about to cross someone. Then I realized the extent Mr. Wilfred took to create a fake celebration where he could lure her in and kill her put the blame on somebody else. He's smart. But then she's also clever. From the corner of the I saw one of Merrylia's men pull a young man into a powder room. It might be the one who put poison on our foods. Merrylia slowly stood up from her seat and flashed as smile.

"May I excuse myself, ladies and gentlemen? I have to use the powder room." She softly asked like a demure girl. Too bad demure girls didn't have the tendency to show fierce rage on their eyes, it would've been as beautiful as this.

My eyes followed her as she made her way to the powder room, her purse tightly held in her hand. I slowly stood up and pretended to get some drink after I spilled it secretly on the carpet below the table. I went to the powder room and gave one last look around me and entered. Inside stood Merrylia and Drake the pseudo-waiter, and a male kneeling on the floor with a cloth stuffed in his mouth.

"What did he say?" I enquired.

"Nothing yet. But not for long." Merrylia opened her purse and pulled out a  gun, a silencer at its tip. She stepped closer to the man who doesn't seem frightened at all. He clearly doesn't believe that she could hurt him. He's about to know better.

"I'm going to remove this cloth but once I do, don't you dare scream bloody murder because I'm going to put a bullet between your eyes and burn your body until no evidence is left behind." Her voice was cold but her eyes were blazing. A chill went down my back with her words. The young man's face paled and the scorn on his eyes disappeared. Merrylia removed the cloth from his mouth and kept the gun close to his head.

"Now talk!" Merrylia whispered harshly.

"I-it wasn't me, I swear. It was Mr. Wilfred, he said he'll give me more money if I put it on your drinks." The young man shivered as he spoke, his eyes still on the barrel of the gun.

"And did you realise that he will pin my death down on you if ever you succeeded?" She said, raising her brows as if she were looking at a worm.

"But that's not what I meant. Tell me, what does he plan on doing tonight?"