章 13: Skyscraper

That night.

Carl and Brent visited a hot nightspot at the top of Gallion Skyscraper, a forty-story high building owned by one of the richest men in the country which happens to be Carl's friend.

The waiter ushered them into the glass-walled private room, offering a breathtaking view of the city's nightscape. On the other side, the bar came into view, people can be seen gyrating on the dance floor while the others are drinking at their tables.

The private room was soundproof, any noise from the outside can't be heard inside.

The waiter delivered their order and placed them on the table.

The men began drinking vodka while watching the people having fun on the dance floor in the bar.

"You don't want to go to the bar and meet some hot women? I'm sure they will flock to you when they see you," Carl suggested.

Brent shook his head. "No. I don't have time for another woman. My woman is hard to control already," he replied.

Carl chuckled. "I see, so this new woman of yours is feisty as Aurora?" he asked.

"Yes. They have the same temperament..." replied Brent.

"Are you also going to force yourself on your new woman just like what you did to Aurora in the past?" Carl asked.

"Not this time, I'll make sure I won't repeat the same mistake again," Brent said, his eyes flashing with pain remembering his tumultuous past with Aurora.

"Ah, I see... I got it," Carl said.

"I want to make Irene fall for me naturally without forcing myself on her. Unfortunately, she was already resisting my presence in her dreams. She told me that she doesn't want to be associated with a vampire like me," Brent stated sadly.

"Have you already shown yourself to her in person?" Carl asked.

"Yeah, one time. That was the time she's trying to cut her finger with the ring, she fainted and I have to erase her memory of me and that particular bloody event," Brent explained.

"Whoaaa... she's really something!" Carl commented.

Brent smiled. "Yeah, she's infuriating as hell but I like her just the same. She's my woman so I'm going to take things slow with her. I'll try to be patient with her and tolerate her outburst even if sometimes I just want to abduct her and imprison her in my house."

Carl grinned. "You are indeed infatuated with her. The way you spoke about her says it all."

Brent sipped his wine and shifted his attention to the dazzling view of the sky outside the building. "She's pretty annoying though. I might not be able to hold on to my patience any longer if she keeps pushing me away. My patience is wearing out," he said.

Carl chuckled. "Well, it's up to you. Be it by force or not, I know you will get her eventually just like you did with Aurora in the past."

Brent sighed heavily. "I'll give Irene a period of one year to accept me, if not, then I will claim her as my woman whether she likes it or not," he said, his eyes gleamed with determination.

"Have fun with your new love. I hope this time, you can finally have a shot at a happy ending with her," Carl said sincerely.

Brent smiled. "I will do everything in my power to make her fall in love with me in a natural way. I will try my best not to force her. But if she still refuses to acknowledge me as her man then I have no other way but to execute my Plan B," he said, his eyes turned opaque dark all of a sudden.

Carl coughs a little. "Um... Can we talk about business now?" he asked, changing the topic quickly.

Brent looked at him. "What do you want to discuss with me? Are we facing a serious problem in our business right now?" he asked, eager to help. Carl has been doing all the heavy work for the last 100 years, managing his businesses, and keeping it successful year after year.

"I have been eyeing the business of the Iron & Grill Company, if we can have a partnership with them we will have a chance to become a bigger player in the steel industry. But it looks like they were favoring other rivals' offers," Carl elaborated further.

"I see... Let's discuss this issue right here. Brief me on everything about this company, I want to see the owner of the company. I'll try to convince them to give us the partnership. I can give it a try, nothing to lose..." Brent said casually.

"Okay," Carl replied. He took a brown envelope from his briefcase and placed them on the table. "This is a photo of the current owner and her hobbies and everything about her..."

Brent stared at the photo of the woman for a few seconds. A mischievous smile curled upon his lips. "Oh, it's a woman... easy peasy..." he said brazenly.

Carl chuckled. "You said you are not interested in another woman but the way you looked at the photo, you look like you are trying to devour her," he joked.

Brent erupted in laughter. "Who said that I'm going to devour her? Although she looks pretty and sexy, my woman is still the best!" he said.

"Look at you, so loyal to the woman who didn't give a damn to you, you are really whipped!" Carl snickered.

Brent stopped laughing, his face turned serious. "Alright, let's start discussing this woman and how to win her over to our side..." he said.

"Okay, let's get started!" Carl said and sipped the remaining wine on his glass before discussing the owner of the Iron and Grill Company with his boss.

~~~0~~~

The following day.

One hour after breakfast, Irene and her mother walked into the neighborhood and began distributing the money to the people on the list.

They came upon a closed store and knocked on the door.

A woman in her late 60's opened the door. Wrinkles of hardships were etched on her forehead. She looked at her visitors with sadness and weariness in her eyes. "What do you want?" she asked, a bit coldly.

Adoora smiled warmly. "We're here to pay my husband's debt to you. I'm sorry it took us this long. We already have the money..." she said cheerfully. She recalled that the woman told her that their small store went bankrupt because they entrusted the money to Roland. That money was supposedly important for the daily operation of the store. She felt guilty right now.

Expression of shock enveloped the woman's face. "What-? You come here to pay your husband's debt? Are you sure?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Adoora nodded her head.

The woman's face shone brightly. "Please, come inside. I won't say no to a blessing when my family needed it so much!" she said enthusiastically.

They settled on the sofa and Adoora patted the distraught woman's hand. "I'm very sorry that my husband caused the demise of your store and livelihood. Please accept our apologies," she said, teary-eyed.

Irene placed the brown envelope containing money into the woman's hands. "Here's the money. A total of $100 thousand is inside this envelope. We hope that you can re-open your store again with this money," she said in a heartfelt voice.

"Thank you! This money will help us greatly during these difficult times," the woman said in a grateful tone, grabbing the envelope tightly with both hands, fearing it will evaporate into thin air.

"We will go now," Adoora said, rising to her feet.

Irene and her mother left the house.

They went to the location of the next person on the list which is just two blocks from the previous house.

They arrived at the next house.

The house looked nice and cozy but Adoora knew that the head of the family had just recently got into an accident, they were having money problems due to the mounting hospital bills.

Irene pressed the doorbell button and waited for the house owner to let them in.

A few minutes later, the gate was opened by a teenage guy.

"Hello, Brian... Can we see your mother and father? We are here to pay our debts," Adoora told the teenager.

"Come in," Brian said, he opened the gate wide for the visitors to enter.

They were ushered to the garden.

"Please, make yourself comfortable. I'll inform my mother that you're here," Brian said.

Irene and Adoora lowered themselves into the couch, admiring the beautiful fountain spouting water nearby. The flowers and plants in the garden are in full bloom, a feast for the eyes.

The door opened and a woman in her late 40's can be seen approaching the visitor's location. Her face soured instantly the moment she saw them.

"Why are you here?" the woman asked without bothering to offer any drinks to the visitors. She was in a bad mood.

Adoora smiled. "I'm here to pay my husband's debt. I'm sorry it took us so long, but we have the money now to pay you. The money worth $75k is in this envelope," she said. She quickly placed the brown envelope in the woman's hands.

The woman's eyes brighten up. "Really? This is amazing!" she gushes. She removed the money from the envelope and began counting the paper bills twice, satisfied with the correct amount, she looked at her visitors. "Thank you so much, we need this money very badly. Just wait for a moment, I will serve you some refreshment," she offered, going back to the house.

"No thanks! We still need to go somewhere. We will go now, thank you for accommodating us!" Adoora said politely.

The mother and daughter duo left the house and proceeded to their next destination, repeating the same thing.

The afternoon went by like a blur.

Irene and Adoora finished their task at 7:00 in the evening, they went home afterward, feeling satisfied that today they brought happy smiles to a lot of people that were also suffering like them.

The family spent dinner together at the kitchen table, munching on one bucket of spicy fried chicken.

...

That night.

While Irene was in a deep sleep, Brent appeared in the room, he has no plan to stay longer.

He kissed Irene's lips goodnight then disappeared a few minutes later.