Chapter 457: His plan.
Kael
If there is one thing I have come to understand in the full two decades and some years that I have walked this earth, then it is the fact that people do not just say words without thinking about it or meaning it.
People will not call you stupid if they do not think you are stupid, neither will they think you were dead if they didn’t do one of these few things:
One: if they didn’t see you die.
Two: if they didn’t try to kill you.
Three: if they didn’t plot or pay someone to kill you while being sure that their plots had worked...
And four: all of the above.
My jaws set into a straight line just as these thoughts hit me and I stalked towards Micah, deliberately waking as slowly as I could and not once taking my eyes off his eyes which for some reason, could no longer hold my stares anymore.
He was visibly shaking, visibly fretting and if it wasn’t for the excessive chaos happening in the room, then everyone would’ve heard how loudly his heart was pounding against his chest. However, I ignored all of this as I asked coolly; "Tell me, what makes you think we were dead?"
At my words, he lowered his head briefly, straightened his tie and tried to smile— but it didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes were as cold as hell.
"I... I didn’t mean it literally."
"Tell me, how did you mean it then?" I asked softly, all the while pushing closer to him until I was standing so close, I could smell the fear coming from him in tiny wisps.
He smelled of bergamot, wood and fear... and at this point, it was a lot of fear. "Kael, why are you doing this?" He asked,
His response slash question made my eyebrows raise into my hairline. I frowned slightly, let my eyes drag over his body and asked; "Doing what?"
While we talked, the shareholders continued to bark out words in and against our favor, while pressmen and women clicked wildly at their cameras, all wanting to capture this heated moment and make a headline out of it.
I saw the annoyance fleet past Micah’s eyes before he cleared his throat exaggeratedly and sighed; "I genuinely did not mean it like that, lovely cousin. I heard that you three wanted— no scratch that— that you three needed to retire for a few years. That you wanted all of your affairs to be out of public scrutiny, and what other way is there to make that happen besides making everyone believe that you are dead?"
"So in other words, you lied." Zevran hissed, causing him to immediately shake his head vigorously.
"No! No, I didn’t!" He snapped, "what would I gain from lying?"
"I don’t know... perhaps the position as new CEO!" I chirped in, causing his eyes to lower briefly before his mask of indifference slipped back in.
"You lied about our death or aliveness... if that is even the right word we should call it and even lied about us ’deciding’ to retire."
"So it was never your plan to retire?!" Someone shouted from the crowd and I immediately shook my head without checking to see who it was.
"No." I answered gravely just as the crowd fell into silence.
I guess all it takes to make them go quiet is to be an Alpha— something that Micah clearly was not.
"...I have never planned to retire from something that is my birthright. Neither have my brothers. Recently, we lost a friend in the person of Alpha Jarek Frostclaw and we had taken a step away from the hustle and bustle of the world as our way of mourning our dead. And do any of you know what happened right after that?!" I growled, causing most of the people whose faces I could see from where I stood shake their heads at me, their voices uniform as they rasped;
"No."
"We were forced out of our solitary by the news... these false news circulating around the world of our retirement. One that was started by our dearest cousin here, Micah."
More gasps rippled through the crowd, and the air grew so tense, you could literally cut through it with a knife.
My hands shot out to grab his collar before I could control myself and I found myself bunching at the clothes and pulling it towards myself until he was standing right in front of my face, stuttering and shaking in both rage and embarrassment.
"Kael..."
"It is Alpha Kael to you, you ingrate!" I snapped back, cutting him off abruptly. "You have wanted to rule for so long. Wanted what was left to us by our father despite the fact that he left things to you too even though you’re not of his blood. And now... now you’re spreading false news about us? Telling the world that we are dead just so that you would be granted access to something that was never yours to begin with?"
"I said... I said I didn’t mean it!"
"Did you also not mean it when you secretly began to acquire shares from shareholders behind our backs?!" I snarled, and as I did, I noticed how the said shareholders in question lowered their heads in shame.
"Did you really not mean it when you called for a meeting behind our backs and began to create new rules in an organization that was never yours to begin with?" I snarled and he gulped.
"No... I s-swear!"
"I saw you when you relayed the news of our ’deaths’ to Gavin Blackthorne, and I can tell you one thing for free. You believed your lie. You looked like you were very sure that it happened. So I ask you, did you say it to ensure that the public stays out of our business like you claim or is there something you know that we do not?"
As soon as I asked that, silence— deep tense silence— settled in the room. Everyone turned to watch with wide eyes, and while it seemed as though Micah was slow to understand what I meant by that, when he finally got it, his mouth fell open.
He hissed; "A-are you accusing me of something?"
"I wouldn’t put anything past you... not even attempted murder." I clapped back coldly, and for a moment, Micah didn’t respond. His eyes wouldn’t leave my face even for a moment and the frown on his face deepened so much with each passing second until his face became as hard as stone.
He seethed; "That’s rich."
I frowned. "Huh?"
"That’s rich coming from you..." he repeated fearlessly, "...especially for someone who has tried so many times in the past to murder me."
As soon as he said that, the room fell into chaos. Everyone who looked like they were taking our sides only seconds ago switched. The ones who seemed embarrassed earlier straightened their backs, and Micah... Micah who had been fearful only a second ago, now seemed fearless and cold as he aggressively pushed my hands off his collar, rearranged his collar and stood proudly with glinting eyes.
I knew what he was doing.
This was called deflection or smear campaign.
But I wouldn’t give in.
I smiled. "I think you have to back that up. I wouldn’t bicker back and forth with you or give you the satisfaction of trying to explain shit to the public. All I need from you is proof." I said and with that, I turned away from him, only to pause in my tracks when he suddenly yelled out;
"Is this proof enough?!"
I frowned, turned around and froze when I saw dark purple lines around his wrist and neck. He had thrown off his suit and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt until they exposed his bruised arms. His collar buttons were also loose to reveal the marks on his neck.
His eyes met mine and he seethed; "Is this proof enough?"
"What the fuck?"
"I am asking you, Alpha Kael...!" He snarled, dragging the word ’Alpha’ as if to place an unreasonable amount of emphasis on it. "Is this the proof you need?"
No one asked the right questions. No one tried to know ’how’ these marks on his body directly translated to almost getting killed by me and my brothers. Goddess, at this point, it seemed as though no one cared and all the press cared about was taking candid photos.
All the shareholders cared about was the effect this would have on our stock price.
And all Micah cared about was this information... and knowing that no one would listen to us.
"Men like them are not fit to rule or lead this company!" Someone suddenly shouted from the back of the room and as soon as I heard that, my heart plummeted.
Panic for the first time since forever, clawed its way through my veins until it settled around my chest, gripping at my heart.
I froze.
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