Chapter 371: One Of Them
Never has anyone made her so angry. Not even Kent.
Sure, she despises Kent for the man he is. In fact, she might hate him more than anyone in the world, but never has she been so angry at Kent.
Amon, here on the other hand, she doesn’t hate him as much as Kent; in fact, she finds him the most physically appealing, but his attitude, the way he is treating her, the way he is looking down on her as if she is nothing but an object for his use, this pisses her off very much.
She might find Amon physically attractive, but that doesn’t mean she is going to let him boss her around.
Angelica has had enough with Amon and his games; she doesn’t know how he pulled that off, managing to get the guards fired while in action. Either Amon paid those idiots, or someone is watching them, keeping tabs on everything that is happening here.
And Angelica hopes that it’s her first guess, because if it is the second, she doesn’t know how she will deal with this situation.
So her only option is to call the police. With a third party, that being the authorities, she won’t be in danger if she is in danger.
As she reaches for her phone, she hears her office door slam open and a familiar face walk in.
His forehead, covered in sweat, and his face looks pale, as if he had just experienced the biggest scare of his life. There is panic written all over her face.
"Dad?" Angelica voices, confused, wondering what he is doing here and why he looks so terrified.
But instead of answering him, her dad, Richard Brooke, one of the most well-connected and influential men in the city, locks his eyes with Amon and then suddenly goes down on his knees and presses his forehead to the ground, right before Amon’s feet.
"Mercy! Please! Spare me!" He begs.
Angelica stares at her father wide-eyed, shocked by the scene that is taking place right before her eyes.
She has never seen her father begging before someone like this ever before. Her father is an arrogant man, a powerful man, someone who knows to keep his calm in situations that seem almost impossible to overcome, but he eventually finds a way to be on top of that situation. This is how he became the man he is.
For that, she respected him more than anyone in her life. That is why she wanted to become him.
So to see the same man groveling before Amon, like a lowly peasant. It was an unsettling sight. It’s as if she is in her worst nightmare.
Angelica pinched herself to confirm it, only to feel pain. She knew this was no nightmare; the scene happening before her was as real as it could be.
She looks at Amon again. This time, not out of anger but from fear. This man sitting before her is someone who can make her father cower and beg. Someone whose influence is so grand that he can make life-changing decisions for other people’s lives by just saying a word.
"Who are you?" she couldn’t help but ask out loud.
"ANGELICA!" She jumps in fright as her father shouts her name. He has never raised his voice towards her. She looks at her father, who is looking at her with anger-filled eyes.
"How dare you speak when you have not been granted permission to speak!" Richard says, angrily.
Angelica feels her legs go weak, hearing her father’s sharp words. He has never talked to her like this. ’What is happening?’ she wonders. Her mind is in complete chaos.
"Please forgive her, sir, she doesn’t know what she is doing. Please allow me to talk to her in private. I will make sure she understands everything!" Richard says, looking at Amon.
Angelica sees her father groveling before Amon. She can see the fear in his eyes, but also hope, hoping that Amon listens to him.
Angelica looks back at Amon again, and a shiver runs down her spine.
She remembers how Amon walked in and declared her as his lawyer, as if her fate was already sealed before she even knew it. Just what kind of man does one have to be to be able to do something like that?
Amon smiles, looking at Richard. "Sure, go ahead, make sure she understands," Amon says.
Richard nods and gets back to his feet. He adjusts his suit and glares angrily at Angelica.
"Young lady, out! Now!" Richard says. Angelica feels stuffy seeing her father act so strictly. But she has no other option but to listen to his words.
She nods her head and follows her father out of her office. On her way, she can’t help but steal a glance at Amon one time, who, just like before, has that signature arrogant smile on his face.
Richard walks all the way back to his office as Angelica follows.
They don’t speak a word on their way to Richard’s office. There seems to be a sense of hurry in Richard’s footsteps, while Angelica seems worried, wondering what is happening and why this is happening.
They finally arrive at Richard’s office. He looks at his secretary and tells her to allow no one in before entering. Angelica follows.
Richard closes the door behind him and then starts frantically walking around his office, running his hands over his hair, feeling extremely frustrated.
Angelica looks at her father, nervous, wondering why her father is having a mental breakdown.
"Who is he?" Angelica finally asks. She wants to know who this man is who has managed to rattle her father so much.
Richard stops. "... I don’t know..." he says with a low breath.
Angelica’s eyes widen. "What do you mean you don’t know?" Angelica asks, confused. Why would her father be afraid of a man whom he doesn’t know anything about?
"It means.... I... Don’t... Know!" Richard says, stressing every word.
"Then why? Why are you so afraid of this unknown man? What does he have on you? What does he want?" Angelica asks.
"He has everything...." Richard says. His face becomes pale again.
"Everything? What are you talking about?" Angelica asks.
"He has every dirty little secret about me. From the smallest crime I committed to the most heinous ones. And it’s not only me; he has dirt on every board member, every high-end client. He has literal dirt on every single important person I know..." Richard says.
Now it’s Angelica’s turn to get an ashen face. "Ho..how’s that even possible?" she asks. What Richard just said is something beyond extraordinary. How can a single person have dirt on every big shot in this city?
Her father knows almost all of them, so for Amon to have dirt on all of them it’s beyond even the strictest of investigation agencies.
"Are you sure?" She asks.
"See for yourself," Richard says, pointing at his computer.
Angelica looks at Richard, then at his computer, and walks up to it. On the screen, she sees an unnamed folder. She opens it. She opens the files and sees images, names, crimes they committed, when, where, how, why, and how many were involved.
As Angelica scrolled down, her hands started shaking.
"Dad, what’s going on? What does he want?" Angelica asks. She is now terrified.
"Apparently, you..." Richard says.
"Me, why me? What did I do?" Angelica asks.
"I don’t know.... Do you remember, when you were little, I told you about a certain kind of people, powerful people, people who hide behind the shadows, but control everything, everyone, and their influence is everywhere..." Richard says.
"Yes... I was only ten years old... I thought you told me that story to scare me..." Angelica says, her voice starts shaking.
"Well, I did tell you that to scare you, but I didn’t lie... Now I believe, one of those people is sitting in your office, and he has his eyes on you..." Richard says.
Angelica feels as if her whole world is coming crashing down. She finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"What do I do?" she asks.
"You do as he tells you to do... If he tells you to jump off a building, you jump. If he tells you to kill someone, you kill someone. If he tells you to open up your legs so that he can have his way with you, you do it with a smile on your face... You belong to him now..." Richard says.
"D..dad... What are you saying? Yo.. you told me to be a person who can never be pushed around... And now you are telling me to be a slave?" Angelica asks as her voice trembles.
"Yes... Yes, I did say that. But I didn’t think one of them would set their sight on you, and now that he has, you have no other option. If you do not do as he says, everything’s over. We all will disappear by the end of the day, and not a single soul will dare to question why we just disappeared..." Richard says.
Angelica sits down, defeated.
"That’s it? You are giving up? You want me to give up? Become his slave?" Angelica asks.
"Yes, maybe this is not the end. Maybe you can get on his good side, earn his validation... This might be a blessing in disguise..." Richard says.
"And what if he just wants to use me, and then throw me away once he is bored... What then?" Angelica asks.
"Then... I will mourn for you..." Richard says. His words almost get stuck in his throat as he says them.
Angelica can’t believe her father’s words.