Chapter 19: Anger and Pain

He smiled provocatively as he watched her confidently enter the visitation room and sit across from him, placing a file on the table. He asked, "Why the long absence? I thought we had become friends?"

Maya responded coldly, "Was that before or after you turned my life into hell?"

Sam feigned regret, saying, "Why? Because I made you discover the truth about Frederick and his nephew?..."

She cut him off impatiently, "Alright, let's put my situation aside for now. There’s something more important."

He spoke, "I'm listening."

Maya looked at him confidently and said, "You’re still connected to Madoff, right?"

Sam's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "What do you want?"

She replied with determination, "I want Madoff himself, and I want you to help me get him."

Crossing his arms over his chest, he said, "Don't you realize you’re playing with fire? Isn't what you're going through now enough?"

She stared at him with disgust, then muttered, "Unfortunately, I'm a woman who enjoys playing with fire." After that, she opened the file, took out a photo, and tossed it on the table in front of him.

With his cuffed hands, Sam picked up the photo. The mocking expression on his face quickly turned to intense anger. His eyes reddened as he snarled, "You wretched woman!"

Maya raised an eyebrow and asked sarcastically, "What’s wrong? Do you know this girl?"

He spoke with ferocity, "Who told you about her? How did you find out? How did you get to her?"

She smiled, "Didn’t we just agree that I enjoy playing with fire?"

He shouted, "You’ve gone too far! I will burn you with this fire one day. You’re not the kind of person who dares to threaten Sam!"

After a moment of silence, she asked, "Are you done? Then listen carefully. Since you’re Madoff’s right-hand man, I want to know the details of the next drug shipment he’s receiving—the exact time and place. Do you understand?"

Sam sarcastically replied, "How about I serve you Madoff himself on a golden, diamond-encrusted platter?"

"That sounds tempting, but unfortunately, we’re going according to my plan, not yours. So, do as I asked."

He asked, "And how am I supposed to know this information from prison?"

"You’ll find out the same way you learned that I’m Faan’s daughter."

Sam pursed his lips and said, "And if I don’t?"

She responded simply, "Then we go back to the photo. Your thirteen-year-old daughter, the one you love and have gone to great lengths to keep hidden from your enemies. I will kill her, just as easily as I found her."

He said in disbelief, "You’re threatening to kill an innocent child?"

Maya coldly replied, "My father was innocent, yet you all killed him in cold blood. So, I have no qualms about killing anyone. I will sacrifice whatever it takes to avenge my father, and unfortunately, your daughter is no exception."

He shouted angrily, "Liar! You wouldn’t dare kill a child."

Maya responded with boredom, "Why not? In fact, I have a strong motive to do so. She’s an innocent child, and I fear that if I let her grow up, she’ll have only two options: either follow in her father’s dirty footsteps or suffer because of them. Since both options are miserable, there’s no harm in sparing her the world’s torment."

She noticed his fists clenching in frustration, and then slyly added, "Why are you so angry? Do you think I’m being unfair? How strange! I recall that you once put a man named Frederick in this exact situation—to choose between his friend and his nephew. Since he sacrificed his friend to save his nephew, I hope you’ll be as wise as he was and choose your daughter, sacrificing your friend."

Sam, still staring at the picture of his daughter in shock, asked, "How did you come up with the idea of blackmailing me in the same way?"

Maya smoothly replied, "A man I once loved told me that ‘iron can only be broken by iron.’ Unfortunately, he was right." Then she stood up and left.

As she walked toward the Special Security Units Center, Maya suddenly stopped when she heard someone call her name. She turned to see Bob hurrying toward her.

He was still catching his breath when he said, "Finally, I found you."

Maya furrowed her brows and replied, "What? Was I missing?"

He answered more calmly than before, "Sort of. Every time I went looking for you, you weren’t there."

She muttered, "You could’ve just called me."

Bob, looking embarrassed, said, "I thought you preferred to be alone."

Maya smiled bitterly and said, "I would definitely prefer you over being alone. No one truly enjoys loneliness, dear."

Bob immediately asked, "Your offer still stands, right?"

She tilted her head, puzzled, "What offer?"

"The one where you said we’re your friends, and we’ll stay that way until we decide otherwise."

"It wasn’t an offer, kid. It was a fact. You’re my friends, and you’ll remain so."

He hesitated, rubbing his neck, "If what you say is true, then why won’t you let us help you?"

Maya whispered doubtfully, "Help me with what?"

Bob replied, stammering, "I don’t know, whatever it is you’re planning to do, I want to help you."

Maya closed her eyes. This was the last thing she needed—a war involving her three friends. What kind of luck drags everyone she cares about into her personal battles? She turned toward the center, saying, "This is my problem alone."

Bob shouted after her, "I hate it when someone claims they trust me but doesn’t care about me at all."

She sharply turned back to him, saying, "Don’t say that. I just don’t want to drag you into something that has nothing to do with you."

Bob responded bravely, "I’m willing to take the risk."

Maya whispered, shaking her head, "The consequences won’t be easy, Bob."

He replied, "As long as you don’t hurt Alex, I don’t care about anyone else."

She gave him a look of disapproval, which quickly softened into a tender gaze, and she smiled, saying, "How did you get so stubborn?" Then she walked past him toward her white car, opened it, and grabbed the file lying on the passenger seat before closing the door.

Returning to Bob, who was standing there watching her, she took his hand and placed the file in it, saying, "Help me, then."

Bob opened the file and found a photo on the first page. He looked at the picture of a girl about twelve years old—slender, with dark skin and short blonde hair. He asked, "Who is she?"

Maya replied, "She’s a thirteen-year-old girl. All I need you to do is watch her. You’ll find the location of her school and home in the file."

"Can I ask who she is?"

"No, not now. Just keep an eye on her and let me know if you notice anything strange. See you soon." Then she entered the center, leaving him behind, staring at the file, wondering who the girl was.

"What are you waiting for? Get out!"

Nina said angrily, with a childish tone, "Not until you tell me when you’ll come home."

Maya replied with exasperation, "How long are we going to talk about this?"

Nina stubbornly repeated, "Until you tell me when you’re coming back home."

Maya responded impatiently, "Soon, I just need a little more time."

Nina asked sadly, "More time for what?"

"More time to calm down and think clearly."

Nina pleaded, "Set a date! I’m not used to being away from you."

Maya laughed and said playfully, "Away from me! I take you to school, pick you up, you come to see me every evening, and I even visit home sometimes. Is that what you call being away?"

Nina pouted and said, "Don’t make fun of me! Isn’t it enough that I agreed to ride in this car?"

"Graduate from high school, and I’ll buy you the most beautiful car. Now stop delaying and get to school, quickly!"

Nina leaned over and gave Maya a quick kiss on the cheek, then murmured, "Take care of yourself."

Maya gently patted her niece's cheek and whispered with a smile, "I’m supposed to be the one saying that to you, but it’s okay to play the role of the niece sometimes. So, I’ll take care of myself. Goodbye, love."

Then Nina opened the door and rushed off to school.

Maya leaned her head back against the seat, thinking about how Sam hadn’t responded to her yet. It had been three days since she visited and threatened him with his daughter. She wondered what he was going to do. She couldn’t predict the actions of a man like Sam.

She turned her head to the left and saw through the side mirror a silver car parked a distance away. Despite the distance, she could make out the man sitting inside. This man—she saw him every day when she dropped off and picked up Nina from school. At first, she thought he was the father of one of the girls at Nina’s school, but that wasn’t true. There was no one in the car but him, and she had never seen anyone get out of it. If she thought about it, and given her suspicious nature, it seemed like the man was following her. Wait! She had seen him somewhere other than the school, and she had been surprised by his presence at the time but had forgotten about it. Where was that place? Oh, yes, when she went to her house yesterday to see her mother, she saw him standing a few meters away from the house, looking up. In fact, he was looking toward Nina’s room. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. Yes, this man wasn’t watching her; he was watching Nina.

Anger consumed her, so she got out of the car, slamming the door shut, and started walking toward him, determined to tear him apart after confirming who sent him. But it seemed he realized she had discovered him, so he quickly started the engine and sped away.

Maya didn’t even attempt to chase him; she knew who had sent him and would deal with him now.

In her haste, Maya didn’t notice Bernard standing in the hallway leading to her team’s room, causing her to bump into him. He grabbed her arm to steady her, then let go, asking in surprise, "What’s the rush?"

Maya shouted angrily, "Is Alexander in his office?"

Bernard replied, "Yes."

She left him and continued toward Alex’s office, but Bernard stopped her, saying, "Maya, please, be considerate of Alex. We just got back from a tough mission, and he was hit hard in the chest during the maneuvers. I even suspect that some of his ribs might be broken."

Maya only gave him a reassuring smile before entering Alex’s office.

When she walked in, she saw him standing next to his desk, leaning over some papers. She quietly approached him until she was standing beside him, then called out, "Alexander!"

He raised his head, surprised to see her, and turned to face her, only for her to shock him by forcefully pushing his chest with both of her open hands.

Alex staggered back a bit, his face pale and his eyes wide. He gritted his teeth, stifling a scream of sharp pain. How did she know that his chest was already torn with pain? But the more pressing question was, what drove her to do that?

A voice shouted angrily from behind her, "What are you doing?"

She turned and saw Bernard standing at the door. She realized her deceitful smile hadn’t fooled him, which is why he was there to protect Alex from her. Wonderful! Bernard had become the guardian angel, sometimes protecting her, and other times protecting him.

Ignoring Bernard, she spoke to Alex in a chillingly calm voice, "Listen, you. When you said you would hire someone to monitor me, I didn’t care at all. But sending someone to watch Nina is a different matter."

Alex slowly lifted his head, struggling to speak, but Maya cut him off, raising her voice, "Wait! Why involve Nina in this? Why send someone to watch her for days? What are you planning to do, you coward? One of the reasons I left my house was that I didn’t want to drag anyone from my family into the hell I live in every day. Did I do that only for you to casually send someone to watch her, trying to involve her and cause her harm?"

Alex replied with difficulty, his hand on his chest, "He wasn’t going to harm her; he wasn’t even going to touch her. All he told me was that monitoring you was difficult, that he couldn’t find you for days because you’d disappear for long periods. So, I asked him to watch Nina instead because even if you disappeared from everyone else, you wouldn’t disappear from her. You wouldn’t stay away from her for even half a day, so it was easier to watch Nina to find you through her. And it worked."

Her angry breaths grew louder, and she shouted, "Day by day, I realize more and more that you’re nothing but a vile scoundrel, a carbon copy of your despicable uncle. I can clearly see the rotten blood running through your veins. Once, I overheard you saying you’d use me to make me give up on avenging your uncle, and another time, someone told me they saw you sneaking out of my office. And now, you throw a little girl—the person dearest to my heart—into this torment to protect a murderer. Your previous qualities were just a facade, and unfortunately, I was mesmerized by them and deceived, just as I was deceived by your uncle."

Alex responded strongly, his anger overcoming his pain, "I would never have let anyone hurt Nina; it was just a temporary measure to monitor you."

Maya’s eyes blazed with fury as she said, "Stay away from her, Alexander! Stay away from her, or I swear, nothing will satisfy me but cutting off your head." Then she grabbed her gun, which she noticed was lying on his desk, and struck him in the chest with its edge using all her strength, causing him to fall to his knees, groaning in pain.

She turned toward the door to leave, then glanced at Bernard, who was stunned by what had just happened. She told him, "Your suspicion is now a certainty. I definitely broke his ribs. Don’t feel guilty; I swear, it’s only for your sake that I didn’t do what I really wanted to do to him. I showed him mercy, just as you asked me to." Then she walked out without looking back.