Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 105: VIOLATIONS*

"We'll be carrying out the mission tonight. What important information do you have to share with us?"

Ari didn't even tell me there was a deadline. It was a good thing I managed to get information from that guy last night at the dance.

I was invited to the meeting suite to share my information with Andrei and Ari while they prepared for tonight. I doubt Ari would be surprised by most of the things I was told, but there might be one thing I was sure that she didn’t manage to find out. All that was left to do was to make sure I won our little challenge.

"The exchange will be taking place in room 1040 tonight at 9pm."

"I know that."

"After taking the key chips from the couple, they still plan to take the woman away…and they plan to eliminate the husband."

"I know that too."

Would Andrei be okay, though? He has probably trained for situations like this; hopefully he learnt some ninja techniques when he lived in Japan.

"Then, did you know about how they plan to use the key chips?"

"What do you mean? As far as I know, they're going to use the key chips to activate the regular chips and distribute the Undercode-wannabe program to Paladin underlings."

"Well, they are only going to do that with half of the normal chips."

Ari and Andrei looked at me intently after I said that. So, I continued, "They have another device that connects the key chips together. When the key chips are connected, that device will load a different program onto the key chips. They plan to use this new setup to imprint a special program on the other half of the chips. I was told it is a program that can destroy other Undercode programs even if the user can't see Undercode."

"What?!" Ari exclaimed. If she was genuinely unaware of this piece of information, then I believe I just won our little challenge.

"Now, that's going to be a problem," Andrei said, while munching on a chocolate bar. He's going to need his energy levels up to deal with the guys who will come after him later. "Did he tell you where this new device is?"

"The mediator of the trade, the target we were watching on Sunday, has it. He's going to use it during the trade before handing off all the chips to the fake maestro."

"That's good then, since everything will be in one place."

At Ari's nonverbal cues for me to leave, I excused myself and turned around to leave the room. Should I have said something to Andrei before leaving? I was worried about him going on the mission, but it was probably not the first time he had dealt with this level of danger.

"I'm going to my room for a second," Andrei said as he got up and walked to the door, and Ari didn't stop him.

He left the room after me as I walked down the corridor ahead of him in silence. I hesitated as I walked past the door to Andrei's suite, but in the end I kept walking.

"Aren't you coming inside?"

When did he get there? Before I realized it, he had already reached his door and had it half-open when he invited me inside. Well, that made things easier. Or did he also want to talk to me about something?

"Weren't you the one who wanted to talk to me? Why are you being so timid around Ari?"

Or I suppose he saw through me. I wasn't trying to be timid around her. It was just difficult to act when someone glares at you with murderous intent all the time. Besides, there was a part of me that wanted to salvage my relationship with Ari, no matter how hostile she acted towards me, because I didn't think that was how she truly felt about me.

"Then, repel her with murderous intent of your own, but I guess that's the extent of your feelings for me."

What was this man saying? He clearly needed to reset his expectations.

"There is just that great of a difference between us. It has nothing to do with the extent of my feelings."

"Alright. What did you want to say to me?"

"I just wanted to tell you to stay safe out there tonight."

"Are you worried about me?"

"Of course. Unlike the fight with Gillian, a greater number of stronger men will be coming after you this time."

"Thanks for worrying about me. Will you give me a hug? That would lift my spirits before I head into battle."

We hadn't gotten that far into the suite when we had started talking. He was leaning against the wall after passing the entry hall. I innocently walked towards him to give him a hug like he asked. When I was about two feet away from him, I reached my hands forward and he took a step towards me as he stepped away from the wall.

Before I could wrap my arms around him, he held my left hand and spun me around so that my back hit the wall, but he caught my head with his other hand. What was he doing? In the next second, my underwhelming reflexes were no match for how swiftly he closed in and kissed me as he pushed me against the wall. That…wasn’t fair…doing that without warning. My mind went blank the longer his lips stayed locked with mine and he continued to take full advantage of my defenceless state.

I slid to the ground after he finally stepped away from the kiss. I opened my eyes in time to see him delightfully licking his lips as I slid against the wall. A French…in this situation…and it was our first one too. My mind could hardly keep up with how quickly that happened, and I was just as angry as I was blissfully happy.

"As you thought, that wasn't very romantic. So, I can't let that be the last time. Shall we pick this up when I return?" he said with his usual confident smile as he walked out of the room.

Surely, there were other ways to get his point across. I barely registered what he said as my mind was distracted by an infinite replay of what just happened, accompanied by every detail of the two minute sensation my body just experienced. I felt I wouldn't escape this inception for the rest of the night, or maybe the week. My legs felt weak as I crawled back to my room. For the next few hours, I sought the comfort of my blankets and waited until Andrei returned from the mission.

Andrei and Ari made their way downstairs to the tenth floor of the hotel to put an end to the mission. They used the key they received from the Japanese couple to enter their room and wait for the escorts to arrive at 9pm. By the time the escorts knocked on their door, they had completely transitioned into their roles as the frightened, helpless couple who were at the mercy of the Paladin agents.

After the escorts confirmed that they had the items, the disguised Japanese couple were brought to room 1040 at 9pm sharp, where the mediator and the fake maestro were waiting. The bodyguards took the key chips and the box of regular computer chips from the couple, then proceeded to gag them and tie their hands and feet while they checked the items. With the help of his assistant, the fake maestro used the key chips to first activate half of the normal chips, then he took the new device from the mediator and combined the key chips within it to activate the other half of the normal chips with the Undercode destruction program.

When all of this was done, they packed the normal chips, the key chips and the activation devices in a black box that the fake maestro took with him as he left the room. Some of the fake maestro's bodyguards then approached the woman they thought was the wife and grabbed her off the floor. She screamed and tried to fight pitifully for her life as the large men all laughed at her scared frame and her futile attempt. The man that they thought was her husband made noises of frightened retaliation as he tearfully watched them break their fragile agreement.

The man was kicked to the ground while he watched as the woman was taken away. A few of the mediator's bodyguards remained to deal with the man while everyone else left to ensure that the items safely left the premises. The mediator saw off the fake maestro as he got into his van and departed from the hotel with the items and the woman they thought was the wife.

In the van, the woman 'unskilfully' shook the gag off her face and began pleading with the fake maestro to spare her and let her return home with her husband. The fake maestro replied with a warped smile that the man was going to be killed tonight and she should give up on returning home. The fake maestro seemed satisfied when the woman then appeared dejected and looked like she lost the will to fight back.

After driving in silence for a couple more minutes, Ari resumed her counterattack. From her recon at the dance last night, she noticed which mannerisms the fake maestro was weak to, and used that to get him to let his guard down and allowed him to bring her beside him to 'comfort her'. As soon as she had the box with the items within reach, she broke a pill in her mouth and blew it in front of the fake maestro, who instantly passed out. The gas from the pill dispersed instantly and filled the entire van so that all of the bodyguards passed out. Since the driver was blocked off by a partition behind the driver's seat, the gas didn't reach him, so he continued driving to the airport, all according to plan.

As Ari held her breath, she took the box and quietly opened the back door of the van. She peeped outside to make sure no suspicious cars were following, then she noticed the headlights of a black convertible blinking rapidly. She flung the doors open as the car spun around and started driving in reverse. When the car came close to the van, she jumped out of the van and landed perfectly in the car with the box, then pressed a button on the remote to close the van doors using a sensor she implanted in the doors yesterday. She praised Andrei for escaping from the bodyguards at the hotel and thanked him for his assistance as they sped away from the scene all within a couple of seconds.

I had instantly fallen asleep after I got to my room and woke up around midnight. I wasn't sure, but I expected that the mission was over by now. When I called Kiran, he confirmed that the mission had ended successfully, and that Andrei was back in his room. I suppose I was wrong to doubt that he would have been in trouble, but I was glad nonetheless.

I happily skipped over to his room to see him now that this mission was finally over. I heard voices when I opened the door, and what would you know? It was none other than Ari who had intruded where she didn't belong. Even after losing our challenge, I wasn't surprised she still showed her face around him. I approached the end of the entrance corridor quietly to assess the situation, especially since it sounded like they were arguing.

"Did you think you could fool me, Andrei? I know absolutely everything about you and how you think." The way she said that was immensely irksome.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied indifferently.

"Really? We'll see after I get that item you're hiding."

What was going on now? I thought the mission was finished. I peeped around the corner to see Ari tightly squeezing his hands as she held him down on the bed while she shouted angrily at him. Although I wanted to reel her off of him, it seemed a bit reckless since I didn't know what the circumstances were.

But I wished I hadn't bothered to care about the circumstances…since it was too late to act after she stuck her tongue down his throat in the next half-second.