The cursed dungeon that housed the souls of those vengeful and murderous individuals was stained with the blood of sinners far beyond the realm of normality. Only the craziest of offenders were brought to serve a life sentence in this place so the number of occupants wasn't very high. But the crimes any one of them had committed were enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone willing to delve into such thick darkness.
Even amongst these criminals, the particular jail cell belonged to a terrifying individual that frightened even the staunchest believers of justice. The jailer who was tasked with delivering food to this particular criminal was unable to bring forth the courage to look at the prisoner even though the latter was completely shackled and held down under the weight of the chains.
Not all the prisoners in the underground dungeon were given the same treatment. This prisoner was special because his crimes were too terrible and the possibility of such an evil out in the open was a curse on humanity that would slowly but gradually eat away at it in the long run.
While the jailer was fumbling about gathering his courage to open the cell and venture beyond, he was interrupted by an officer marching in his direction.
"Oye…you there…WAIT."
The jailer couldn't be happier at being interrupted. He turned towards the voice immediately and awaited further instructions hoping that the officer would relieve him of his duty for the time being.
The officer didn't issue any further orders and the jailer obediently waited until the officer was standing a few meters away.
The officer took a step forward and a whispered a few words in his ear that caused his lips to curl upwards.
The jailer handed over the tray of food to the officer and left that particular corridor all the while hiding the intense bout of happiness that spurted forth from his soul. Just the fact that he didn't have to see the terrifying sight for a day made his day sunny and bright even though no sunlight could penetrate the heart of the dungeon.
Just as the jailer left, the officer signaled with a low pitch whistle that was more of a croak compared to a whistle. It appeared that the officer wasn't very proficient in the act of whistling but did it anyway.
Following the croaking signal, a tall and broad figure wearing an oversized cloak appeared out of an inconspicuous corner as if he had been waiting for the signal all along. As he moved, there was a slight dragging of footsteps as if the man under the hood was an old figure. The cloak swayed as the old figure moved towards the officer with hurried steps and finally under the light of the wall lamps the figure hidden under the hood turned out to be that of Hogan; the leader of the Hunter family who had recently been looking for underhanded means of taking down the Windsor family.
The prisoner in the cell had previously not taken the slightest interest when the officer had sent away the terrified jailer responsible for bringing him his daily meals. But when the old man made his appearance beside the officer, the prisoner cast a wary glance towards the cloaked figure.
It appeared that the prisoner had grown suspicious at the appearance of an outsider in the godforsaken dungeon. The logic behind his inference was further steeled when he noticed that the cloaked man was neither wearing a uniform of the police nor did he reveal his identity.
On the contrary, the cloaked figure did his best to hide from the eyes of the law and came to meet him in secret which could only mean that he needed something.
The prisoner's previously lifeless eyes flashed with a cunning glint as he turned his head to stare straight at Hogan with no intention to hide his murderous intentions.
…
Marico was diving in the sea of wealth ever since Christina brought those trucks with her. The wealth in his treasury kept on increasing as the profits from various sales trips returned a bountiful yield that couldn't be compared to any of the Windsor family's previous businesses.
There was nothing for him to do besides counting money on a daily basis as the business was booming. He made several new deals in the cities further away from Byzantium city in order to lay down foundation of his sugar business in those cities. This would help his business with the entry into those foreign markets once he intended to build his sugar factories in the vicinity of those markets.
When Christina had first come to Byzantium city with the hundred trucks in tow, Marico had taken the time out of his busy schedule to negotiate the terms of their cooperation with her. He had long since heard of her reputation as a shrewd businesswoman who was following in the footsteps of her father; the Marquis of the empire.
Marico hadn't expected the negotiations to be easy as the Windsor family was on its last legs already. The pressure from the other three top families of Byzantium city had forced them into the corner by issuing a blockade on all types of transportation for their product. As such Christina and the Elizabeth family was their resort.
Marico believed that Christina being the professional that she was would try to get as much benefit out of the deal as possible. But instead of wringing the Windsor family dry, she was perfectly reasonable and agreed on the deal in such an amicable manner that he couldn't even believe until after the deal had been struck and the necessary procedures finalized.
Christina had been so accommodating that Marico couldn't help but feel extremely guilty afterwards. That was one of the reason that he insisted that Christina stay with them at the main Windsor family estate during their collaboration.
Moreover, Marico knew that Christina wasn't acting this way out of the goodness of her heart. She was doing this because the Windsor family had good relationship with Zach. He was practically taking advantage of Zach without the latter even knowing about it probably.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺