Act of Forced Betrayal

Chapter 02: Stranger Danger

"Oh, I forgot my laptop at the office. I'll meet you there, okay?" said Max on the phone.

"Okay, catch a cab to go faster, okay bro?" said Max's brother.

"Yeah, sure. I'll update you when I get there, bye." Max ended the call and rode a cab toward his office.

I think Emmanuel's still there, my head kinda hurts. I probably drank too much of that beer. I'll just grab my laptop and meet my brother. Let me call Emmanuel.

**Sorry, the number you're calling is not available, please try again later or leave a message after the tone. [Beep]**

Darn it, maybe he's just busy packing his stuff. Let me try again.

**Sorry, the number you're calling is not available, please try again later or leave a message after the tone. [Beep]**

Fine, I'll just leave a message. Hopefully, he sees it before he leaves.

"Hi, Emmanuel. I forgot to bring my laptop. Could you prepare that for me? Thanks, I'll just grab it once I get there."

Max left the message hoping Emmanuel could see it.

Emmanuel was locking the door but he was called by someone behind him.

He turned around to see no one. Then, someone instantly covered his mouth with a perfume that made him lose consciousness.

"What do we do now?" a voice so deep that it made the sound blurry.

"We will wait until he wakes up" a second voice, coming from a woman.

Emmanuel forced himself to open his eyes, his head was heavy as if someone had just hit it. He felt like he was the one who drank lots of beer.

"Hello?!" Emmanuel yelled. "Where the h**l am I?!" he followed.

"Who the f***k are you?!" Emmanuel focused his eyes to see clearly.

"Someone just woke up" Emmanuel heard the voice again, but this time it sounded like he was laughing.

"Where am I?" Emmanuel spoke calmly to avoid such situations from happening.

"That doesn't matter. Do you know what matters?" a voice sounded like he was laughing again.

"What do you want?" Emmanuel asked, his voice shaky.

"Do you know who this guy is?" asked the man. Emmanuel was shocked to see the picture of the guy thrown at him.

"What do you want from him?" Emmanuel asks.

"Simple, you make him walk into my trap." his voice became serious.

"No." Emmanuel didn't hesitate.

"What? and why is that?" he slowly pulled a knife out of his back pocket.

Emmanuel shivered after he saw the knife.

He looked around, looking for something that might give him an idea of what to do.

He saw a picture hanging on the wall, though it was not clear who it was because of the darkness of the room. The man started walking towards him, revealing his face to the light slowly. Emmanuel finally gained the strength to lift his head up.

*Gasp* Emmanuel's eyes widened after seeing the man's face.

"Why is the door open?" Max asked himself. Seeing no one in the building, he found himself alone in his office. He grabs the laptop and begins searching for Emmanuel.

"Emmanuel?" Max searched the first floor and his office floor but to no avail. "Let me call him..." said Max in a low voice.

**Sorry, the number you're calling is not available, please try again later or leave a message after the tone. [Beep]**

He searched the whole building only to find out that the whole building was clear except for the security guard.

"Hey, have you seen Emmanuel leaving?" Max asked the security.

"Oh, I haven't. He said he was going to lock the front door and leave afterward. Why?" asked the security guard.

"Well he hasn't been answering or returning my calls," Max said. Max groaned and massaged his head to decrease his headache.

"Where were you when he was leaving?" Max asked him.

"Oh, I was about to go to the restroom when he told me that he was going to lock the door at the front." said the guard.

"Do these have recordings?" Max pointed to the camera monitors.

"No, they actually don't", the guard was forlorn because he couldn't see what happened when he was not watching.

"Have you tried calling him again?" the guard follows.

"Let me try again" Max said.

**Ringing**

Emmanuel's phone rang near the guards office, outside the room and quite far from the room. Max grabbed the phone saw all his missed calls.

"Maybe he left his phone without knowing?" said the guard.

"Maybe..." said Max

"Do you know any number he's in contact with?" asked Max.

"No.." said the guard.

"Well, hope he comes tomorrow without his alarm," Max said sarcastically.

Max left the office with his laptop and went directly to where he and his brother planned on meeting.

"What are you doing M-" Emmanuel said.

"I want Max's company!" the man said.

"You won't get it easily!" Emmanuel yelled, bringing silence for 5 seconds.

"What are you saying?" the man asked.

"Do you think he's a fool?!" Emmanuel said.

"No! Exactly why I want you to do it!" the man said.

"What do you mean?..." Emmanuel had so many questions in his mind, but this came out first.

"I don't have to explain myself. Either you do it or you'll never see the light again." the man said.

"What?-" before Emmanuel could finish, the man knew what he was going to say.

"I have a lot of power that can flip you over. I have many people that can back me up. I'm not 'nothing', I own the underworld" the man said.

Emmanuel knew that the underworld leader was a perfect match for Max.

"I own the underworld, I want this world now," the man said.

The man left and signaled someone in the corner of the room to do something. Emmanuel was unsure of what would happen. A woman walked over.

"Better do what he says, little boy," she said, and knocked him out.

Emmanuel woke up in his room, he immediately called Max. He couldn't find his phone, so he had no choice but to go to the office.

He wore his clothes, got ready, and grabbed a ride to his office. Upon his arrival, he goes to Max's office, but Mason stops him.