A ripple of terror washed over the businessmen as they felt

an overwhelming aura looming over them.

A lady whom they know by the name of Law Frier, made her way

into the meeting hall with her four cousins — Harvey, Caden, Deniel, and Warren

— Rain, their butler, right behind them.

They walked confidently, postures perfect, chins held high.

Everyone couldn't keep their eyes off of them, but their gazes longer more on

her. Law.

She doesn't show any emotion. And the frightening presence

of strength they felt was coming from her.

Once they enter in the meeting hall, everyone in the hall

immediately stood, lowering their heads as a sign of respect, and one can see

the terror in their eyes.

"L-lady Law, we didn't expect the Friers' visit,"

one of the businessmen said, but she ignored him and made her way to the throne

situated on the stage in front of the long table around which the businessmen

gathered. She sat on her seat, and her cousins sat down beside her.

"The meeting shall start over," Caden ordered

coldly, and they did as they were told.

The Friers lent their ears in the duration of the meeting,

even throwing some suggestions and their opinions on the matter, but Law

impatiently tapped her fingers on the table, a telltale that she didn't like

what she was hearing.

"The Montenegro's commercial land on the Philippines is

the best spot to build our new branch," Mr. Walter spoke.

"We already told them about the benefits they'll get if

they agree, yet we haven't received a single reply, " Mr. Tsong-go pointed

out.

"Because the Mondragons are also after their

land," Mr. Marasigan stated.

"What!?" everyone chorused angrily. All hell broke

loose, and everyone pitched in their complaints, until all voices melded

together into one chaotic orchestra.

Law raised an eyebrow, trying not to roll her eyes. Harvey,

on the other hand, didn't take the noise all too well. He slammed his fist on

the table, causing the businessmen to stop their bickering abruptly.

They looked at the source of the sound, and their faces

paled as white as Harvey's fist.

*"Shut the fck up,"** Harvey seethed, emphasizing

each word slowly.

Harvey was a scary man, but Law was scarier.

Everyone turned to her and saw the continuous tapping of her

fingers. She was stoic as ever, her blank facial expression not betraying any

of her anger. But they felt the calm rage she emitted.

They squirmed in their chairs, drifting their eyes away from

her when her cold eyes landed on them.

"O-our Apologies Sir Harvey," they said in unison.

"The meeting shall continue," Harvey said coldly,

"but if any of you so much as raise your voices above a damn whisper, I'll

make sure none of you ever speak again."

Everyone gulped and nodded in reply.

Mr. Marasigan bravely spoke first. "As I was saying,

Mondragons are also after their land and the Montenegros can't decide

immediately because they are pressed between two powerful and influential

families."

All of them nodded in agreement.

"Then we should wait their reply," another

businessman supplied.

Law's eyes snapped to the person and stopped tapping her

fingers.

The man gulped, suddenly feeling cold.

"No," Law ordered. She stood from her seat and

looked at everyone's eyes.  "You're

all businessmen, which means all of you are good at dealing with business and

financial matters, you should all know that time is of the essence.

"It's my time, and they're wasting it. It's my money,

and they're doing nothing but sitting idly and cower when two powerful families

fight over their property." She walked around the table, making the men

flinch at her stare.

"All of you are part of a committee chosen by my very

own father to deal with matters concerning what you know best, that's why y'all

are here, yet none of you had shown me even the slightest bit of

competence." She licked her bottom lip in frustration.

"Which family are you from?" she asked as she

stopped behind the man who gave the idiotic suggestion.

"C-Custo-custodio, M-my La-lady." The hairs on the

back of his neck stood, and the skin on his arms prickled with goose flesh when

Law leaned to him, her mouth inches away from his ear.

She whispered, "You should watch what you're saying,

especially when I'm around."

His body shook fearfully, and he nodded, head bowed

solemnly.

Law stood straight, looking at everyone, and making them

immediately look away to avoid eye contact.

"We are no longer going to ask for the land." She

paused and made her way up, back to her throne. "Because we are going to

take it with or without their say."

Their eyes widen in shock, and they started to sweat despite

the whirring of the air conditioner ringing in their ears.

"Oh, don't look so surprised," Warren said

haughtily. "Y'all should know what a Frier is capable of." Smirking

amusedly, he stood up and put his hands in his coat pocket.

"Additionally, waiting is not what we do," Deniel

added. "We do not beg. We do not follow anyone's conditions, we make our

own."

Law's eyes were cold,

Law's eyes were cold, but behind her eyelids was an intense

fire, burning and pillaging everything that stood in its way. She glared at

them, challenging them to speak up, to disobey.

But No one was brave enough to disagree, however, not

because it wasn't true, but because they knew what the price to pay was when

they dared to defy the Friers.A

The Friers could tell that everyone was just holding back from lashing out. The businessmen bit their tongues, in fear of speaking up.

But Law noticed someone clenching his fists tightly, but his face remained calm as he stared forcefully at the table in front of him, as if finding something strongly interesting about it.

She tilted her head, eyebrow raised.

'Who is he again?' she asked herself.

Law beckoned Rain over, and he did. She whispered something into his ear. He nodded, before leaving the room without anyone noticing.

Harvey glanced at Law and saw that she was staring intently at someone. He followed her glare and found out that the target of her menacing eyes was Thomson Marasigan.

He shot Law a puzzled look.

Harvey didn't see Thomson's tightly clenched fists. Harvey didn't see the way Mr. Marasigan unclenched his hands under the pressure of Law's intense glare.

Harvey knew that Law was angry, and someone who didn't know her well, might never have realized. She was so silent, so unassuming, that, albeit everyone can feel the scary aura she radiated, no one could guess just how much anger she felt.

Harvey opened his mouth to ask her why she was staring at Thomson Marasigan like he killed her family, resurrected them, only to kill them again, but Caden cut him off.

"It's settled, then. You may now leave," Caden dismissed.

Everyone sighed in relief, bowing their heads.

Suddenly, Law spoke, making them freeze in their places.

"Speak," she demanded, looking directly at Thomson.

He let out a mocking laugh. Everyone gasped and looked at him in horror.

"You call yourself a businesswoman?" he drawled out confidently, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "Honey, let us handle this; you're getting in our way."

"Oh shit," Warren muttered, amused. "You just signed your death warrant."

"Why so amused? " Thomson asked, grinning.

Warren shot Thomson a look, snorting.

Thomson clenched his fists, annoyed at how passive Law's face was. What the hell is this woman, a robot?

"You said so yourself: businessmen are good at handling business and financial matters, but because of your arrogance and pride, you take what isn't yours without the real owners' say!" he yelled furiously. "What if someone took your land forcefully, huh? What the hell would you feel? If a monster like you even has emotions, that is."

Silence. Everyone began to shake in fear.

"Is that the real reason why you're here? To preach about good deeds? Or you are here because someone ordered you? " Rain asked coldly, and everyone flinched at his sudden appearance.

Thomson didn't answer Rain, his steely gaze focused on Law. He didn't know where his confidence came from, all he knew was that each second he looked at the so-called leader, his anger grew, and his veins became visible under his skin, his rage making his face red.

"YOU ARE NO BUSINESSWOMAN! YOU ARE NO A LEADER! YOU'RE JUST A PIECE OF--- acckkk!"

Law's hands were around his neck in a snap. He couldn't breathe.

"Accck--!" He began to claw at her hand, trying to get her to release him. Alas, she wouldn't budge.

Her eyes glinted with a furious cruelty that no one dared to cross."Enough," she said, her voice loud and cold. "You're working for me; you are my slave, and I am your master. You have no right to tell me what I am and what I'm not."

Thomson's face tuned purple. His eyes were red as he fought back, but Law was stronger. Her hands were iron fists, and Thomson's were plastic fingers.

"You are under my mercy. I can snap your neck without a single thought, and you wouldn't even know what's happening. I am stronger than you by far; you don't get to question me."

Without warning, Law hooked her fingers on Thomson's face and slammed his head on the wall behind him. Her hand found his hair, and she gripped it tight, forcing the weakened man to look at her.

"That's nothing compared to I'm capable of. I can make your blood ooze out of your veins in long, agonizing periods of time. I can bathe you in acid with your eyes widen open. I can torture your family and make you watch." Her voice was icy yet hot, like winter and summer rolled into one, only harsher and more painful than a frostbite or a sunburn.

"This isn't a normal business. This is a Mafia business. We don't play by the rules; we play dirty. You should know that by now." Law let go of him.

Rain grabbed him and pulled him on his feet, hauling him out of the room.

"My people questioning my position and ability to lead is an act of defiance. Loyalty is the sole core of this committee. Once you're in this, you cannot step out of the line. Defy me and die."

With one last glare at everyone in the room, she turned her back to them and left, slamming the door behind her shut.

On her way out of the meeting hall, Law decided to go to her office. She spied her private elevator and went in after she pressed a button.

The elevator door opened, and darkness greeted her like an old friend, but when she stepped out, the lights started to turn on one by one — one bulb lightens up the room with each stride.

The sound of her heels clicking against the cold marble floor echoed throughout the empty hallway.

That's when she noticed her shaking hands. She clenched her fist, hoping to stop it from shaking, but her efforts were futile. She cursed silently.

"I should have killed him," she whispered to herself.

She stopped in front of her office door, opened it and went inside, then closed it behind her.

The moon is the room's only source of light, illuminating the entirety of her office from the outside, its light passing through the glass walls of her office.

A cool breeze blew into the room from the veranda. As the wind kissed her skin, she felt her tense muscles relax.

She sat on her swivel chair, turning it around to face the spectacular view of London city. She leaned back against the cushion of her chair, feeling its softness, closing her eyes to enjoy the comforting silence and solitude.

She couldn't remember the last time she had proper rest, a night where she lay comfortably in her king-sized bed, fast asleep and without a care in the world. All she could remember were bits and pieces of the many times she had to finish lots of paperwork and travel to different countries. (For business purposes, of course. Not as a tourist. Never as a tourist.)

And there was this other reason, too. The past that haunts her to this day, eating up her insides and making her want to shrivel up into a small ball of exhaustion, restlessness and sadness until she's nothing but a speck of dust left to die.

"You weren't brought into this world to be happy and be loved! You were born to kill and do your responsibility as a Frier. People like you don't deserve to be happy. Especially those who are born with the blood of monsters and the ashes of those who were murdered brutally."

She furrowed her eyebrows, not wanting have those flashes of memories again. They always made her break down into pieces, and she'd have a hard time picking them up again.

Someone knocked lightly on the door, before it swings open and someone stepped in. She closed her eyes tiredly.

"Lady Law."

She didn't bother opening her eyes to acknowledge the person. She knew who it was already. She hummed instead, too tired to speak.

Rain walked closer and bowed as a respect, despite knowing that Law couldn't see it. It became a habit to him.

"Your father is coming in a few minutes. He brought a guest with him."

Law's right eyebrow rose, and she opened her eyes, shooting Rain a questioning look, which he purposefully ignored.

'My father is coming? This must be something of extreme importance, seeing as he usually tells me to go to him when he wants something,' she thought. 'He is not an ordinary man, he doesn't pay attention to things that do not strike him as important. Now that I think of it, this will be the first time he will come to my office . . . I wonder what this is about.'

Law disregarded the thought immediately, knowing that in a few minutes, her questions will be answered when they arrive.

"Wine."

With that one word, Rain knew what to do. He walked to the nearest table, where a bottle of wine and a glass are placed. He poured wine into the glass and gave it to Law.

Rain stayed beside Law, and the both of them marveled at the beautiful view. The city lights made Law feel wistful as she took a sip of her wine. They reminded her of the galaxy, and the utter darkness between the lights where no building situated was outer space. It was like looking at the Milky Way, only smaller, far more comprehensible, and more real.

Comfortable silence filled the room.

A small sigh escaped her lips, and suddenly she was reminded of how insignificant she was on the grand scale of the universe. She was nothing but a graveyard of fallen stars. Humans were the stuff of the stars, after all. And compared to the hugeness of the universe, she was nothing more than an atom.

"Rain, how long have we been together?" She asked finally, filling the void of silence that blanketed them.

Rain looked at her, and he saw an emotion flash through her eyes, so quick that he nearly missed it. He diverted his gaze outside the glass wall and answered, "We've been together since we were both 6 years old," he said with the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips.

Rain looked at her again when she didn't speak. And he noticed that something was bothering her. He returned his gaze to the marvelous view in front of them.

"I know something's bothering you. I want to help you, really. But if this is about the past, then all I could say is just ---- I'm sorry," he said sadly. "I know that I'm not supposed to say that word, as I am the butler of the most feared person in the world, but this is you that we are talking about. I will gladly say it until the end of time itself, because it's true. We can't change our past but we can accept it and move on."

He continued, "Accepting and moving on — two of the hardest things in life. It hurts like hell, but you gotta push through. It's the only way to live with it."

Law looked at Rain's direction. 'I can't,' she thought. Her mouth felt numb, and she was unable to say it out loud.

"I was just going to ask you if you were happy within those years that you were with me until now." She paused as she stood up to get another glass of wine and gave it to Rain.

Rain looked at her in shock but, he gladly accepted it. Not that it was the first time that Law give him a drink or anything. It's just that he least expected it would happen now; now that Law's hands were shaking, and he knew she felt worthless and terrible.

"Did you . . . did you ever regret your decision to stay?" Law looked directly at Rain's eyes.

Rain gave her a small smile. "Why wouldn't I be happy? And why the hell would I ever regret staying with you?"

This was the first time she saw Rain smiling genuinely.

A smile tugged at her very own lips, so she bit her bottom lip down to prevent a full grin from breaking out. "Stop smiling. You look like an idiot," she said instead sitting back down.

And the room was filled with another bout of comfortable silence again.

Then suddenly, her office door opened.

Rain immediately looked up and saw a tall man standing by the door, a stranger behind him. "Good Evening Mr. Laxus" Rain greeted with a bow, but the man just nodded at him, not even sparing him a glance.

"Where's Law?" Mr. Laxus asked.

Rain didn't have to answer.

Law turned her swivel chair to face them. She snapped her fingers, and the lights turned on.

Standing in front of her was a handsome man in his early 50's, with cold, calculating, gray eyes and an intimidating aura.

Law didn't see the stranger behind him from where she sat. "What do you need, father?" She asked in a bored tone.

"This young Mondragon has something to discuss with you," her Father said, stepping aside to reveal a handsome, young man who gave her a blinding white smile.

I nodded, and they approached me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Law. I'm Jacob," he said, stretching a hand out to me.

"I don't have time for introductions, Mr. Mondragon. State your business and leave."

The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement, making me mentally roll my eyes in annoyance.

Rain gestured for them to sit on the maroon couch in front of my desk and handed them each a glass of wine, but my Father declined.

"I don't have time for this things. The current situation is under your judgement, Law. And you are who he wants, not me," he says coldly, looking at me in the eye and took his leave.

He's supposed to be the man for this matter, even if it's me they want. Something just doesn't seems right about him.

I diverted my attention to the man in front of me and saw him staring intently at me.

"You stared enough."

"My apology. It's just that, you're still the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen." he said, bringing his glass to his lips while looking at me.This man really has guts. As much as I wanted to shoot him I refrained myself.

I signaled Rain to leave the room. He hesitated for a moment before sighing in agreement. He bowed and left the room, glaring at Jacob.

But Jacolb just chuckled at him.

I walked over to the file cabinet and came back holding a long brown envelope.

"He surely has a grudge on me."

I look back at him and give him a hard stare, sitting on my swivel chair. "Don't pretend that you know nothing, Jacob."

His face morphed into a serious one.

"What exactly is your reason for coming here?"

"I'm here to discuss the Frier and Mondragon mafia in behalf of my father," he said hesitantly. It was clear that he wasn't sure of his answer.

"Don't waste my time with this 'discussion' of yours. I don't know why my father let you in, but if this is one of your shitty antics, Mondragon, I'm warning you." I said through gritted teeth as I glared at him.

He stayed silent, knowing how much I absolutely despise it when someone talks back to me.

I threw the envelope at him, and he caught it.

"Open it." I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the edge of my desk. I rested my chin on my intertwined fingers.

"What's with these names?" he asked, confused.

"Give it to your father. He'll know what to do."

Awkward silence filled the room, blanketing us with a thick atmosphere of discomfort.

A small sigh escaped his lips.

I looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"So . . ." he said. "The, uh— about the problem in the Montenegros's commercial land?" His voice was questioning.

"The Montenegros planned all of this. But they didn't know that the Mondragons and Friers are secret allies."

"How did you know? We thought that the Smiths planned it. Knowing them, they are the ones who want us to get us under each other's skin."

"Don't forget that I am a Frier, Mr. Mondragon. You know how a Frier thinks," I said sternly and stared at him intently.

He didn't respond, but the way he looked at me, it's as if he wants to say something.

"Tell your father that the shipping of the weapons will be the day after tomorrow at the New Port, Philippines. He shall do what we planned, or else... He knows what will happen."

He just nodded in reply.

"You're dismissed," I said and stood up, making my way to the door to leave, not wanting to stay longer with him, but he just stayed on his seat, not moving, just staring at me.

I saw sadness in his eyes, but my chest is lead and my heart is stone. I feel nothing.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.

A single dramatic moment is enough for this night. I don't need another one. So I just ignored him and opened the door to leave, but he quickly stood up, grabbed the side of my hips, turned me around so I'm facing him, and pushed me gently against the door.

And the next thing I knew, Jacob is kissing me aggressively and his hands were exploring my body.

He reeked of alcohol not just some kind of wine, because the scent overwhelming my nose. But that was no excuse to touch me without my consent.

Before my brain could function properly, my right fist already made contact with his cheek, causing him to step back and hold his bleeding lips.

But I am not done yet.

I pulled him harshly and shoved him to the wall. I wrapped both hands around his neck, choking him. I looked at him with my deadliest glare.

*"Regrets are inevitable, but they can't change what has already happened. No matter what your reasons are, I don't give a fcking damn. Try that little stunt again, Mr. Mondragon, and you might do more than regret." I let go of his neck and straightened my dress "You're not the Jacob I know. So unprofessional.**" I said sharply, trying to keep the disappointment from seeping into my voice, but failing miserably.

He straighten his back and his ruined suit before looking at me seriously. "I just did what I wanted to. And when I do that next time, you're not going to shove me away," he said determinedly.

"I'm not some starry-eyed waif you can easily overpower with your godforsaken sorcery."

And I shut the door at his face.

I made my way to the elevator and saw Rain standing outside.

He looked shocked when he saw me. I didn't know why, so I ignored it, but when the elevator closed, I saw my reflection on the reflective surface.

Ruined lipstick, swollen lips. No wonder he looked at me like that. I wiped my lipstick off and glared at Rain for not telling me, but he shrugged it off. Asshole.

"What floor, milady?"

"Rooftop. Prep the chopper. We need to head to the Philippines. They'll be shipping the weapons tomorrow."

He pressed his earpiece and repeated my command.

"And tell the main headquarters that my verdict is simple: death," I said to him, staring straight ahead. I could feel his eyes on me. "Assassinate the Montenegro family. Leave no survivors."

One life taken is insufficient. That's the punishment for trying to fool the Friers.