Romeo Young’s breath hitched and his whole body turned cold. His heart stopped for a moment before it started hammering inside his chest in loud, forceful beats. Fear filled him, not only for his daughter’s life, but also for his own and everyone else in their Young family.
He didn’t doubt the master hacker’s threat. Not at all. In fact, he believed that it was already an understatement. Given what he knew about the organization, if he pushed their limits too far, his daughter wouldn’t be simply killed just like that.
Perhaps she would be sexually violated, beaten up, maybe even chopped up into several pieces, or perhaps thrown into a cage filled with wild, hungry and rabid animals to be devoured while still alive, before she would be allowed to die a miserable, painful death. Just imagining these gruesome images was enough to transform all of Romeo Young’s earlier indignation at being called a dog into full-blown terror.
The organization wasn’t a simple entity that Romeo Young and his family could fight head on and survive. They were the devils with whom he made a deal to achieve the wealth, status and power that he had been coveting for a long time for himself and his whole family.
Although he knew that accepting the devil’s extremely tempting offer was fraught with danger, he still grabbed the opportunity without any hesitation. The Youngs were tired of staying as glorified servants of Jin Liwei and Lu Jianhong. It was now high time to become the masters of their own territory.
However, they had no desire to give up the Singaporean branch of Jin Corporation and start a new business of their own. Instead, they wanted to snatch not only the Singapore branch that they controlled but the entire multibillion dollar company as well. Only then would they feel that they had become true kings.
El Payaso, a high-ranking representative of the organization, promised to give the Youngs what they desired the most on the condition that they needed to do anything and everything that the organization ordered them to do for at least ten generations starting from Romeo Young’s generation as the first. Rose Young’s generation would be the second. In short, the entire Young family would become puppets of the organization.
Romeo Young, however, was willing to sacrifice this much because even though the organization would become the real masters behind Jin Corporation in the future, the rest of the world wouldn’t know that. In the eyes of the public, the Youngs were the new owners of Jin Corporation.
All of these thoughts ran in Romeo Young’s mind in just a few seconds and helped him to regain clarity after El Payaso threatened to kill his daughter. He just needed to remember his ultimate goal and work towards achieving it which meant following El Payaso’s each and every order without fail from now on.
“I understand, Mr. El Payaso,” he said in a much calmer tone. “I’ll do my best not to disappoint you again because of my daughter’s foolish love towards Jin Liwei. So please…I beg you not to harm her.”
The robotic voice chuckled. “I always knew that you’re a smart man, Romeo. You know what’s good for you. You’re also very decisive in achieving your own ambitions. That’s what I like about you. If only the rest of your family members, especially your idiotic daughter, have the same discerning eye as you do.”
There was a robotic sigh which sounded very creepy to Romeo Young’s ears. “I heard that your daughter together with your wife have been pestering my disciples nonstop. Your wife keeps on calling the safe house almost every minute of the day while your daughter acts like a spoiled princess, demanding this and that. Tell me, Romeo, do they not know that they have no right at all to demand anything from us?”
Romeo Young paled before anger filled him. He couldn’t wait to call his wife and tell her to stop causing trouble for him and the future of their family.
There was a pause as the robotic voice stopped speaking. Romeo Young pulled the phone from his ear for a moment and looked at it, wondering if the master hacker had hung up on him.
No, he didn’t. The call was still ongoing. Why wasn’t he speaking then?
“Fine,” the robotic voice finally spoke again after another creepy sigh. “Your daughter will be safe with my people…for now. Remember this. Rose Young’s safety doesn’t depend on me. It depends on YOU. As long as you and your family satisfy us with your performance, we’ll treat your daughter well and keep her safe from incarceration in China.”
“Mr. El Payaso, is it possible for my daughter to return to Singapore? Or if not here, I would like to have her sent to another country. It’s too dangerous for her to stay in mainland China.”
“Hmmm.”
Romeo Young once again waited almost a minute before hearing the master hacker’s decision.
“No.”
His hand holding the phone tightened until it turned white. “Sir, please.”
“Oh, Romeo. We’ll keep Rose Young with us for now. I think that it’s better for you to have, hm, some motivation to become more productive and to work harder towards achieving our mutual goals, don’t you think?”
Even though Romeo Young was filled with discontent, he still forced himself to agree and bow down to El Payaso’s threat. The master hacker gave him some instructions before hanging up on him.
After the call, Romeo Young felt like he could breathe again. And so he did. He gulped in big mouthfuls of air. His sweat-soaked business suit made his skin feel clammy.
Just earlier today, he was lording over his employees without caring even if he caused more than a couple of them to dissolve into tears. While talking to El Payaso, however, he had been forced to act subservient.
It was at that moment that Romeo Young felt like he was indeed a dog who had to bark if his master said to bark and to jump if his master said to jump.
Disobedience meant punishment.
On the other hand, total obedience meant reward.
Big rewards.
It was a no-brainer which one he would choose.
Fine.
If he needed to become a dog, then he would become one.
