The Devil's Cage

Seconds later, Bain put down the communicator.

"Something happened in the South Sector," Bain said with a serious face, his eyes looking at the kitchen. It seemed like Bain hadn't given up on his initial thoughts.

The Herders had always lacked manpower, otherwise the South Sector wouldn't request aid from the East Sector on their own problem.

"I'll take good care of her," Kieran replied.

Since the deal was made and Kieran had acquired the sweet end, he tended to keep his promise.

"Em," Bain nodded and went off.

However, right before he stepped out of the door, Bain turned around to Kieran and asked, "Do you know about what happened in the North Sector?"

"North Sector? What happened there?" Kieran looked confused.

"Nothing, I'll be back soon," said Bain. He then walked into the night without a pause, swiftly vanishing from sight.

Kieran saw Bain off with squinted eyes.

Some things were better kept between him and Starbeck. In short, Kieran still didn't fully trust Bain, or more accurately, the organization itself—the Herders.

Even though until now, everyone that Kieran had met from the Herders were rather decent people, they were merely associates in pursuing the same goal and trading partners, the facts didn't change.

So it would be ideal for Kieran to keep another trump card for a rainy day.

Kieran continued reading his newspaper and turned on the tv for the evening news.

The front page of the newspaper was about the big incident yesterday.

Kieran simply glanced over it and placed his attention on the tv.

Unfortunately, the Herders did a good job, not a single bit of news about yesterday was reported, or rather, the news was covered up.

Kieran thought about it for a second before he picked up the phone and called his assistant.

...

"I am a reporter! I have the right to interview him!"

Holding the phone in her ear, Amy wanted to ram into the dinner venue but she was stopped by two buff security guards at the entrance, not even able to take a step forward.

The security guards didn't care about Amy causing a scene.

One of them even said to her, "Ms. Amy, the reason you are here is because of your identity as a reporter, better appreciate it. As for the interview, someone will tell you how to write it."

The security guard then returned to his emotionless face, neglecting every single curse from Amy.

"Amy, calm down! This isn't a place that we can simply stomp in."

The assistant cameraman behind Amy dragged her to the corner, dissuading her softly.

Amy wanted to argue but she ultimately lost her breath and gave up.

"I know but I'm not buying it!" Amy grumbled softly.

"Yeah! Why do we have to listen to them!?"

One of the young men in the interview group said loudly in agreement but when his words escaped his mouth, everyone in the group, including Amy, glared at him.

The young man who thought he would win hearts was instantly stunned. He didn't know what just happened.

"Why do we have to listen to them? Because the owner here owns 90% of the shares of our company! Is that enough?!" Amy scolded the young man.

Scared, the young man shrunk back and kept his mouth shut.

Amy chuckled out of disdain in her heart when she saw the young man's reaction.

She knew what the young man wanted to do based on how he looked at her.

That disgusting gaze filled with lust was similar to most men, likewise his capability.

His thoughts and skills could not match, thus making a fool of himself.

Another idiot fell to the grasp of lust!

That's how Amy commented on him in her heart.

A strong unwillingness rose from her heart again. She really wanted to know what happened here, because of her persistence of a reporter and also the curiosity of a woman.

Though, she perfectly understood the consequences of finding out the truth.

Should someone find out about her sneaking about, she would have to pack her bags and leave again. No newspaper firm or television station would ever hire her again.

She knew what the owner of this place could do, but to give up…

While Amy was in a dilemma, choosing between her pride or her life, her phone rang.

The newest model flip phone in a pink color, when she flipped it open, Kieran's voice came through.

"Can you find out what happened in the South Sector?"

His tone was flat, emotionless, even as he was making a request.

Amy didn't tangle with him on manners though.

"I probably already know what happened in the South but I can't get the details because it happened in the house of my boss' boss. I can't just walk in and demand the truth, I may even have to write an article with somebody holding my hands, probably even harsher than the intern reporters," Amy replied frankly.

"Then what are you doing to do?"

Even through the phone, Kieran could feel the grudge in between the lines of Amy's words.

"Do you want to elevate my status as a full time assistant?" Amy asked.

"I do not," Kieran replied straightforwardly.

"... You don't want to know what am I going to do?" Amy asked curiously.

"I already know," Kieran answered straightforwardly again.

"Then aren't you supposed to support me or something?" Amy asked again, in hopes of testing Kieran's intention.

"I am not going to, because even without me, you are still going to do it," Kieran said.

"You know, men are all big, fat, disgusting pork knuckles!" Amy shouted into her phone.

She closed her phone without giving Kieran time to speak anymore, knowing she shouldn't hope for any support from that cold man.

Both of them were of an equal status, Kieran didn't want to rely on a woman to get the upper hand and Amy didn't entirely disagree, she even felt happy about it.

In a way, she had been chasing after this kind of equality.

But… why did she feel so strange when such equality came suddenly?

'It must be that bastard's fault, he is confusing my concept of equality!

I really shouldn't care about him, I should focus on what I should do!'

Amy glanced over the production crew who were waiting patiently, then quietly made her way to the back of the villa.

She wasn't a stranger to the place.

The ex-wife of the owner was one of her best friends, so she used to come here frequently to attend some parties.

That was until that ex-wife, her friend, assumed her ill-intentions against her husband and cut ties with her.

As a matter of fact, Amy only met her friend's, the ex-wife, husband once, and spoke less than 3 words.

As for what happened in the end?

Amy had no idea.

She only knew after two months the ex-wife cut ties with her, then the ex-wife left the villa and went dark.

Amy was way over losing her friend, she didn't want the sadness in her life.

Though she was grateful that her friend would introduce every single inch of the villa to her, like a curator introducing an art gallery, everytime she came here for a party, thus increasing her knowledge of the place.

She knew there was a side door somewhere around the villa.

Unlike the back door which had guards, the side door led to the garage and recording room.

The garage and recording room were part of the villa in terms of structure.

Therefore, once she got in through the side door, she would be making her way inside the villa, but it wasn't that easy.

There were two guard dogs at the side door.

The whole little garden where the side door was located was guarded by these two guard dogs and because of the fierce dogs, there was no need for security here.

Coincidentally, Amy was quite close with the two dogs.

"Hey, Tom! Hey, Jerry!" Amy called out to the dogs quietly.

The cautious guard dogs immediately wagged their tails at Amy's appearance and their tails wagged even faster when Amy took out the pack of ham from her purse.

She fed the dogs the pack of ham, touching their heads intimately and then pushing open the door.

She didn't choose the way to the garage though. When she was arriving at the villa, she saw many cars parked along the road, the garage would have been filled and there must be many drivers on duty.

So, the recording room became her best bet.

Through the long corridor, Amy snuck her way in the recording room.

The recording room wasn't big, around 50 sq ft, with a wide sofa that allowed a person to lay down on it, and a diamond spotlight hanging on the ceiling—even though it wasn't switched on, the dazzling diamond making the ceiling look like the milky way.

All four walls, except for the one where the sofa was facing which had a screen, were equipped with thick noise-isolating foam, guaranteeing zero noise would leak from inside the room.

The door leading into the villa was behind the sofa.

Amy walked around the sofa to reach the door but before she opened, it was opened from the other side.

Amy was shocked, hiding in front of the sofa without a second thought.

The door then closed. Amy heard the door shut but she didn't see the lights on.

"You said it's just an experiment! Why the hell did it kill?!" A voice sounded.

Amy recognized the voice, it belonged to the female butler of the villa—an experienced, polite looking middle-aged woman.

"It was an accident! Accidents happen!"

Another voice replied but Amy couldn't recognize this one.

"Do you know who the accident killed?!" The female butler asked in a heavy tone.

"Who? Some big shot?" The other voice replied without being really concerned.

"The beloved youngest daughter of the villa's owner! If he found out your little accident killed his little daughter, you can imagine what will happen to you!" The female butler said coldly.

"Are you threatening me? Don't forget you and I are on the same boat, we have no place to run!" The other voice answered with a cold laugh.

"That's why I want you to leave Ai City for the time being! At least wait until the dust settles, don't show yourself here…"

"Money! I need a lot of money to leave!" Before the female butler finished, the other voice cut in.

"Go find a hotel in the East Sector that doesn't require you to check in, lay low, and tell me when the coast is clear, I'll send you some money," the female butler replied.

"Fine, I'll call you when I get to the place."

The voice replied and the owner opened the door, leaving the recording room, as did the female butler.

After making sure the two of them left, Amy stood up from the sofa.

'Richard Mayden's little daughter is dead?!'

Amy was astonished.

Richard Mayden, the big boss behind Amy's company.

In fact, Mayden Group had a lot of shares in many companies in Ai City.

Foodservice, clothing, transportation, housing, almost everything in Ai City had a direct or indirect relationship with Mayden Group and the chairman on top of the pyramid was Richard Mayden.

Richard Mayden was a living legend, there were too many astonishing feats about him.

Amy could list more than 10 of Richard Mayden's inspiring examples and the encouraging stories in his path to building his empire.

However, despite the name, his little daughter was also very well-known.

A typical spoiled 'princess' born with a golden spoon.

Before Mayden Group bought all sorts of newspapers or media firms in the city, her name would pop up on the headline frequently but the majority of it was bad news.

Amy persistently assumed that the reason why Mayden Group bought all the media and newspaper firms was because her father was wiping his daughter's ass.

'This is big news!

An exclusive scoop!'

Amy's eyes almost outshone the diamond in the sky, but it was not enough for her.

She needed more details to cover her story, she decided to go deeper, so she went closer to the door, but when she opened the door, she was dumbstruck.

A security guard was also trying to open the door and Amy ran into him face to face.

The noise isolation of the recording room was too good, Amy did not notice the security guard outside the room, likewise the security guard to Amy.

Both of them looked at each other for a second.

Amy wanted to turn around and ran but the guard pulled out his gun at Amy.

Amy put her hands up in the air honestly.

"I can explain!" She said, but the guard didn't care, he pushed the gun at Amy, telling her to go up.

Having a gun pointed at her head, Amy was pushed to the main hall of the villa and instantly caught the attention of everyone.

The owner of the villa, Richard Mayde, stopped conversing with another person and looked at Amy.

Richard Mayden had grayish hair and was slightly chubby but his dark blue suit made him look like a gentleman.

His expressionless face however increased the pressure on Amy, especially when he sized up Amy carefully. Amy found it hard to breathe.

She didn't suffocate though, and somehow, she thought of Kieran in this kind of moment because she had that suffocating feeling in front of Kieran.

From the recording room to the hall, Amy has already figured out what excuse she was going to say and when she caught Richard Mayden's eyes, she spilled her script in an organized manner, "I come in peace, I am here for the truth, that's why I snuck in here."

"Oh? Then what did you find out?" Richard Mayden asked.

His voice sounded calm, definitely not sound like someone who just lost his little daughter.

"I just heard your butler discussing your little daughter's death with someone in the recording room. Based on what I heard, they are directly related to this incident!" Amy said honestly.

She didn't try to play tricks, she knew who she was facing, the man who was considered a legend and tricks would only kill her, instead of helping her.

Richard Mayden laughed when he heard what she said, then pointed behind Amy.

Amy turned around and her face turned ugly.

She saw a body! With a single glance, she was sure the body was the female butler!

Amy's heart fell into panic.

"I got nothing to do with her death!" Amy explained.

"Of course, when you said that Carrie was dead, I assumed you were a crazy woman."

Richard Mayden turned around and raised his hand.

A young, beautiful girl in an evening gown walked over with a smile on her face, placing her hand on Richard Mayden's.

Carrie Mayden!

Richard Mayden's little daughter!

Wasn't she dead!?

Why is she here?

What the f*ck happened?

Amy's heart further plunged into confusion.

A few seconds later, under her confused gaze, something even more bizarre happened.

Richard Mayden pulled out a little handgun and pointed it at Carrie Mayden's head.

BANG!