When Leandro woke up again, he was already lying on his bed. He immediately jolted up, frowning, he looked around the room. Where is he? It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he was still in his room. Still, the frown on his face didn’t disappear. Why was he in bed? He immediately examined his clothing and immediately froze when he realized that he was no longer wearing his coat. He was no longer wearing his shoes. It was as if… he had just woken up!
“Was that a dream?” he roamed his eyes around the room and let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t see Lily or that scary looking man named Daohu. He then clutched his chest, relief flashing through his eyes. Good thing it was only a dream. He sat on bed before he heard a loud knocking on his door. He immediately got up but didn’t move when he spotted a tablet on his night stand.
Leandro started trembling as he moved his hands towards his gun. As expected it was still there. However, the tablet near him was proof that Lily was here last night! Without having any second thoughts, Leandro ignored the knocking as he grabbed the tablet and switched it on. He immediately examined it and made sure that the files were indeed deleted.
“Leandro! Are you here? Why are you not answering my calls?” Mikaela who was behind the door, decided to use a spare key to enter the room. She had been knocking for more than five minutes and she was honestly worried that something had happened to her brother. “Why are you standing there like a statue? Did you already see the news?”
“What? What news?” An ominous feeling rose within him. Could it be…
“The video! It was the video of me and father arguing! I already tried to ask our people to delete it… but it keeps on coming! Leandro… what are we going to do now?”
It was as if a lightning struck Leandro as he listened to Mikaela’s words. How could that be? Lily promised that she would not upload the video. Ignoring his sister, he opened the tablet again and checked it. There were no videos or any other files. However, a note soon caught his attention. He immediately opened it and staggered once he read Lily’s note.
[As promised I didn’t release it to the public. But I can’t promise you that other people won’t release it.- Lily]
“This…”
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Mikaela’s words interrupted his stupor. He eyed his sister, a tinge of defeat can be seen in his eyes. “I — I think Lily was here.”
“What? What do you mean?” Mikaela’s face immediately lost its color as she scanned the room. “She was here?”
He nodded in response. He opened his mouth, only to close it again when he realized that he cannot tell her about the hundred million dollars that he had just given to Lily.
“What did she do? Leandro… did she … Is she going to kill us?” Panic rose within her. The fact that Lily was able to come inside without them knowing only meant one thing. She had the means to come in here and kill them. This place was not as secure as they originally thought. “The Security. We should increase the security! We should double it… no… triple the security and ask for grandfather’s help! Leandro you must give him a call as soon as possible.” She repeatedly tugged her brother’s arm, pulling him out of his own thoughts.
“And what would you like me to say?” He removed his sister’s hands from his arm and walked towards the bar inside his bedroom. Without hesitation, Leandro opened a bottle of whiskey and downed its contents without using a glass. He gulped and gulped, hoping the spice of the alcohol could give him some ideas on what to do right now.
“Father.” Mikaela uttered. “We should let father go.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Then would you like her to kill us?”
“She won’t kill us! She is not that type of person.” He sighed. “She would rather see us suffer.”
“But… we have been suffering for the past few months!’
“And you think that is enough? How stupid can you be?”
“You— How dare you call me stupid when this is all your fault in the first place!” Mikeala yelled. “Isn’t this all your fault? You tried to kill them! And you failed! The least that you could do was succeed!”
Leandro ignored his screaming sister as he thought of what happened the previous night. He could not predict Lily’s next move but he knew this wouldn’t be the end of it. Was she really planning on making them suffer until they wish for their own deaths? He involuntarily trembled as he thought of Lily’s cold eyes earlier. “I will go ahead and call grandfather.” He was running out of ideas. He needed someone to guide him. Someone experienced enough to defeat Lily.
However, before he could pick up his phone, everything suddenly turned black. It took them a second to realize that it was a blackout. How could the electric power inside the palace suddenly shut down? Leandro could not help but feel his heart start to beat wildly against his chest. He remembered about the blackout months ago that was associated with Lily. Then only one word came to his mind. “Father.”
“What?” Mikaela asked just as the lights turned back on. This time, the black out didn’t even last a minute. “What was that?” Both of them immediately opened the phone to try and call their assistant to tell them about what happened.
“Father.”
“What?”
“Call someone to check on father!” Leandro started panicking. And that was when they heard someone knock on the door. Both of them paused as they looked at the entrance of Leandro’s room.
“Your highness! Your highness!” An urgent voice called out from the other side of the door.
Without saying anything Leandro strode towards the door. He opened it and immediately looked at one of his trusted knights. “Speak.” The knight’s next words almost immediately turned his complexion pale.
“The underground… Someone freed and took the Grand Duke out of the Palace.”
