Read. Vote. Comment.
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The ball organized by the House of Vasiliev was phenomenal. With the amount of royalty who graced the event as well as the very reason it was held put it on headlines of the morning papers the very next day.
A loud shrill echoed the walls of Orlov manor as Svetlana scream at the top of her lungs. Reading the daily's headline put her in a roller coaster ride. Ivana is Snežana and she is the fiancée of the next Duke of Muscova.
'How the hell did it happen? Where did she hide? How was she alive? Wait- Bertrand said he killed her. He lied! The damn bastard lied! He is so dead once I find him!!!'
Silent thoughts swam in Svetlana's mind as she paced back and forth her bedroom. After a couple of minutes, she stop and grab her phone as she dial the number of the investigator she commissioned to look for the Orlov siblings but the line is dead. Staring at the phone as soon as she heard the dial tone made her realize that she was duped. Anger rose from the deepest part of her being.
'She did this! She played me for a fool. But this is not yet the end. She will regret fighting me. Snežana or whatever she calls herself now will suffer for what she did.' Svetlana swore to herself.
After going back to her senses, Svetlana called the other person who can help her. She had already formulated a plan and ready to execute once the other party agrees.
'Hello.' A deep, strong voice answered her call.
'It's time.' She stated knowing that the person on the other line understands her.
'When do you want it done?'
'As soon as possible. You will gain Vasili and Helene if you succeed.'
'The extent of your hatred exceeds my expectation. Your madness has reached its extreme.'
'My hatred for that girl is above and beyond imagination.'
'May I inquire why you loath her so much?'
'She is the very image of something I wanted to become but can never be. She is the perfect example of the life I have desired so much. Her happiness, her beauty, her personality. Her very presence is my bitterness. Her light is my darkness.' Svetlana explained to the man, expressing her anger towards the girl whose life she covet.
'That is quite disturbing, Madame. Your jealousy runs deep.'
'And it will reach you if you do not follow my order. I have dug my grave a long time ago. There is no turning back for me. What will make me happy now is her death. And you will do my bidding, Luther. Otherwise we will go down together.'
'Ah, threats! All your words are threats. How about I tell you one thing about me.' Luther stated in a low voice that sounded calm and dangerous. 'Never threaten a Von Warren lightly. Never try to intimidate me. Your words are nothing compared to what I can do. You and I are allies for as long as I want to, not the other way around. I may support you because of our contract but I will never tolerate you using me as a henchman. I do not like to be threaten. Do you understand?'
Svetlana huff but hearing Luther scared her. She forgot who she is talking to. The man is intimidating. He is someone she doesn't want to fight with.
'Fine. I will not. But do what you agreed with me. Kill her and I will even give you Kaiser. Just put her out of my way completely.'
'I'll see about it.'
Luther ended the call and throw the phone on his bed. The hag ordered for him to kill Ivana. As much as he wanted to back out, he cannot. The contract stated that he has to kill for her and being a part of the mafia, he needed to follow the agreement.
The girl looks so angelic and yet he feels that she has hidden her horns inside her halo. Now he has to think of a way to stall Svetlana's order until he finds a way to save Ivana.
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'Babe, we have a problem.'
'What is it?'
'The witch has given her order.'
'Damn! We have to find a way to either stall her or stop her plans.'
'I know. I'm trying but you know the rules and the consequences.'
'I'll think of something. I'm not going to let everyone suffer because of that witch!'
'I will also try to talk to the boss. Thank you, Orphie.'
'Take care, babe. Please be safe.'
'I will.'
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Odin entered the foyer of Lucca's mansion followed by the rest of the brothers. They just came back in Moscow and went directly to their sister's fiancé's house.
Ivana greeted them with a thin smile. Tension is in the air and everyone is on the edge. She led them to the study room at the far end of the hall. Once inside, she settled on the divan while the rest of the brothers spread around. Odin sat beside her while Orpheus stand beside the floor-to-wall window on her left. Arthur, Hermes and Khalil sat on the sofa across them while Loki went to the executive chair on their right with Fenrir on top of the desk.
Ivana turn her back towards Orpheus who was talking on the phone. He sigh once the call ended. She look back at Odin.
'What brought you guys here? I thought you will be back in 2 days.'
'We had to return as soon as possible when Orpheus got the call.'
'So who is this person that warned you?' she asked her brother.
'You will never guess, princess.' Orpheus said as he sat on her other side. 'And don't ask. It will be best for you not to know.'
'And when will I meet this person?'
'Soon.'
'Alright. So what's the progress of the plan?'
'We were able to gain back the control of Helene and Vasili. I have put in trusted managers on the hotels.'
'Kaiser and Orlov are fine under Rupert's hands. The rest of the hotels that we have are in the good hands of Arman. We stopped Rossiya's construction in the meantime.'
'Nikolai has established that Mr. Ravi is the current CEO of the whole Orlov Empire to the rest of the society. Edouard has our back in case Svetlana tries to contest.'
'What about Bertrand?'
'We have his statement. He is in a safe house protected by certain people.'
'Do I need to know who these people are?'
'No. Better for you to be out of loop with this kind of knowledge.'
'Fine.'
'When do you want us to appear?'
'There will be a gala that will be held in Orlov. How about we use that event to introduce the rightful heirs of Orlov Empire?'
'That's going to be risky. You know that you are being targeted by an assassin right?'
'We don't want you to be in any danger.'
'I already experienced death. I think I can manage an assassin.'
'Princess, don't treat this as nothing but a game. It is your life that is in danger.'
'Everything is a game if it involves Svetlana and we all know that. Her hatred towards me is endless although I don't know why. I had been nothing but good to her.'
'I was told that she hated your very existence. You are the epitome of everything she cannot have.'
'Who told you that?'
'My spy. Nonetheless, she is very mad that you are alive. She will pursue you to the end of the earth if it will be your death that she will find.'
'And that is something we need to prevent.'
'Then we will make sure that her game ends before that happens.'
'So how do you propose this to end?'
'And what about Lucca? By the way, where is he?'
'He said he will be at the palace today.'
'Does he know about our plan?'
'No. I don't want to impose on him too much. This is our battle. He has nothing to do with this.'
'I don't think so princess. He will not let anything or anyone to harm you. That we are sure of.'
'Fine. But I will not let this battle with Svetlana harm him or his status any more than it already is right now. We are going to end this soon or I will personally shoot Svetlana in the head.' The brothers laughed at her words.
'Well, that is something to watch out for. Our princess has grown well.'
'I have to after everything that happened.'
'And you will always have our back to do as you will.'
'Thank you brothers.'
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Svetlana knows who is doing this to her and she will no doubt get to the bottom of this. That spiteful woman who is her stepdaughter will get what she deserve. Svetlana is not just a baroness. She never intended to just become the wife of a powerful business emperor for nothing. She is a force to be reckoned with and she will definitely win this battle against Snežana.
That morning she read the morning daily and was dumbfounded on the headline. It read that the entire Orlov Empire is now headed by Mr. Ravi who will be gracing the gala in Orlov Hotel tomorrow night.
According to Nikolai who is the Corporate Communications & Public Affairs Head of the empire, Helene and Vasili are now under the management of Odin while Kaiser and Orlov are managed by Rupert. It also said on the newspaper that the Orlov siblings, all 8 of them, will attend the gala to support the change in the management.
The side of Svetlana's lips curved into an evil grin as she decided when to execute her plan. After a few minutes, she called Luther on the phone.
'What is it?'
'There will be a gala in Orlov. Do your job.'
'That is a public event. Many reporters and media men are going to attend. Do you want me to be arrested?'
'You are not someone to easily be seized. Or are you backing out of the contract? If that is the case, then you better be ready for your punishment. I heard that it is either death or lose a part of your body. In any case, it will be your loss.'
'I will do my job in my own time.'
'No. You will do as I say. Kill her or I will have your boss kill you.'
'And what is the deal?'
'You will have complete control over Helene, Vasili and Kaiser.'
'Have you read the news today, Madame? If so, I don't think I still have to follow you. The hotels I wanted are no longer under your power.'
'Once she dies, all the hotels will be under my name.'
'Are you sure about that? Because as far as I know, if you do not have the majority of the shares then you lose all your rights as CEO and cannot transfer any establishments under the company name.'
'Impossible. I still have 40% of the shares. I am still a stockholder.'
'Then make sure of it. I will be at the gala as well watching. If the board stated that you are still the CEO, then I will do my job. If not, I will leave.'
'That is not our deal.'
'It now is. I have talked to the boss and he had confirmed that the change in our contract is valid. We don't do anything for free.'
Svetlana burst into strings of expletive as Luther laughed on the other line. He ended the call after.
Svetlana sat on her bed with a dark look on her face contemplating how she will get through this problem. The only solution is for that woman to disappear. Forever.