The Entanglement

Episode 3

“Who was who?” Luka asked.

“The woman who just called you,” Cecila replied. She raised his phone to his face.

“Who was that?”

“I have a better question: why are you answering my calls?”

“Why is she calling you baby?!”

Luka frowned, confused. His frown quickly shifted into a look of realization.

He had warned her about calling him whenever she felt like it to avoid situations like this.

“It doesn’t matter who it may have been on the phone or what they were referring to me as when they called.” he said.

“That’s still none of your business.”

“I think it’s very much my business, seeing I’m your wife,”

“You’re really mistaken about what this marriage is about.” Luka laughed.

“Besides, you don’t see me complaining about your boyfriend from earlier,”

“Ex-boyfriend,” Cecila corrected. “He wasn’t supposed to be here, and I can promise you he won’t be back.”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t care where it is you two have your little dates. Now if you don’t mind.”

Luka reached out to grab his phone, but Cecila pulled it away. The dark-haired man furrowed his brows and looked up at her.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m not having it,” she said.

“Not having what exactly?” Luka asked.

“I am not having this disrespect. I know you don’t love me, and frankly, I don’t care if you do. But I will not have you entertaining other women while we’re married. I don’t care why you even agreed to this marriage, but I’ll be damned if I’ll stand by and let you disrespect our vows,”

“Oh please!” he rolled his eyes.

“I would rather not hear any of that from you, of all people! You’re talking to me about motives, when the only reason you married me was because your messed-up family needed the money of my family to keep yourselves afloat!”

A slap flew across Luka’s face.

He instinctively took a step back as a sharp pain stung across his cheek. Cecila glared at him with bloodshot eyes and puffed-up cheeks.

She raised the phone above her head in a motion to throw it at Luka, causing him to flinch.

Her hand hung in the air for several seconds, her face clenched before dropping her hand.

“I hate you.”

She stormed out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door, leaving Luka Constance alone in his damp towel and with a sore face.

*

“Are you deaf? I said Let go of me!”

Malcolm continued to struggle against the security officers as they dragged him out the gate to no avail.

The two stronger men threw him to the ground and slammed the gate behind them.

The brown-haired man shot up to his feet and dusted the dirt off his clothes.

He glared at the men at the other side of the gate, unable to believe the audacity.

“I’m not going to forget this!” he yelled at them, fist flailing in the air. “You’re going to regret it today!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, buddy,” one of the guards said dismissively as they walked off.

Malcolm longed to go through the gate and show the officers what for, but he quickly buried the thought.

He pulled out his phone to order a ride away from here. What he was met with was several messages from numerous anonymous numbers.

He did not bother with checking the messages for their content before putting the phone back in his pocket. It did not matter which number he got a message from.

They were all asking for the same thing: money.

Time was running out, and his debts were only creeping closer. If it weren’t for that damned Constance family coming in when he had almost sealed the deal with Cecila, his situation would have been entirely different.

He knew the Milians were not as well off as before Governor Max’s death, and he did not need them to be.

Their connections alone were enough for him to get enough favors to make all his problems disappear.

Now those favors were being taken advantage of by those Constance bastards.

He kicked the gate in frustration and received a busted toe as a result. Malcolm cursed as he bent over and grabbed his toe.

There were no more alternatives for him to turn to. If he could not think of something he could use to win Cecila over, he would be front-page news tomorrow.

Even if his chances were slim, he had no other choice. It was not like he had another millionaire heiress he could turn to.

Just then, a sleek black limousine pulled up in front of the gate. Malcolm’s head turned when the door swung open, half expecting either one of the couple’s parents.

However, no one stepped out of the vehicle. Rather, a voice called out to him.

“Come in.” it beckoned.

Malcolm was a bit suspicious at the request.

Regardless of his apprehensions, he was not one to refuse a free ride in a luxurious car.

He stepped through the open door and took a place on the leather cushion. The door closed on its own, shutting him in.

The limo was so dimly lit, it took his eyes a while to adjust to the darkness.

Once his vision cleared, he could finally make out the person who had invited him in.

Seated before him was a blonde woman wearing a red dress that fit her body tightly.

Her deep onyx eyes seemed like wells of blackness that could suck Malcolm up if he stared at them for too long.

He quickly averted his eyes lower, where they were met with a bosom so large, it seemed like a burden to carry it everywhere every day.

The seductress sat cross-legged, causing her dress to rise to her thighs. Malcolm gulped almost eagerly as he was hopeful for what more he could see if she happened to ‘accidentally’ raise her leg.

“Malcolm Prier, I assume?” the blonde woman asked.

“Yes ma’am. What can I do for you?”

“You’ll find out in due time. I want to make sure I have the right person for the job first.”

“Well, I’ll have you know that there’s nothing I can’t do!” Malcolm smirked.

“For the right price, of course.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“So, if I was willing to pay you well enough,” the woman began. “You’d kill someone for me?”

Malcolm’s heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.

“When you say ‘kill,’ you don’t mean ‘take someone’s life, right?” Malcolm asked, secretly hoping this was some kind of unfunny joke.

“Oh, I definitely mean taking someone’s life,” the woman confirmed.

“Is there a problem?”

“Obviously!” he exclaimed.

“You can’t just expect me to take someone’s life for money!”

“If that’s the case, why don’t I make this much easier for you then? By the way, how is that company of yours? ‘Prier Logistics,’ was it?”

This time, Malcolm’s heart sank to the floor.

Prier Logistics was not a name he was hoping to hear, especially not here of all places.

“How do you know about that?” he asked, his hands shaking fervently.

“How do I know what?” the woman asked, feigning her obliviousness.

“About the collapse of one small logistics agency, which resulted in the loss of millions of dollars belonging to thousands of people in a pyramid scheme?

‘Fraud of the Year,’ or what did that one news reporter call it? It’s a shame what happened with those anti-fraud agencies and lawsuits.

If it weren’t for them, you wouldn’t have had to take all those loans and bury yourself neck-deep in debt.

Then again, if it weren’t for them, you wouldn’t be here right now and so willing to do what I ask.”

Malcolm clenched his hands as tightly as he could, but their shaking persisted.

His shirt collar felt a lot tighter around his neck, and it was much harder to breathe.

This cursed past of his was so adamant to haunt him regardless of where he was.

He looked at the blonde woman in her abyssal eyes. Now, her beauty does not appear appealing as it once did.

“What do you want?”

“I already said what I want,” she smiled.

“I want you to kill someone for me. You don’t have to, of course. But if you don’t, I’m sure one of those people who are looking for you will be more than willing to do it for me so they can get an idea of where you are, much less confirmed knowledge.”

“And in exchange?” Malcolm asked.

“I’ll clear all your debts. You’ll never have to swallow your pride to get what you want again. Unless you decide to open another logistics agency. If so, then it’s way out of my hands.”

The gates of Constance Lodge swung open.

From it ran Cecila who was followed by a security officer who stood on the sidewalk with a look of confusion on his face.

“What convenient timing!” the woman exclaimed with a small clap.

“There goes your target. Now, Mr. Prier. What would you do for me?”