CHAPTER 111: TAKE... WHO EXACTLY?

[Summit Partners: Chairman’s Office]

"I asked for Yuri, Allen," Atlas said, leaning back in his swivel chair and staring at Allen across the desk. His frosty eyes then drifted to the woman seated on the guest couch in the office.

"I didn’t ask for her."

Allen sighed, knowing this would happen when he returned to Novera without the person Atlas had requested.

"I did my best, sir," Allen mentally winced, imagining Atlas’s thought that his "best" was pathetic. "But Yuri was hiding somewhere. I think she had a premonition that I was coming to get her."

Atlas’s face darkened, causing Allen to avoid his gaze. Just then, the woman chuckled.

"Do you hate me so much that you have to scold Allen like that?" the woman quipped, pushing herself up from the couch since the person she came for didn’t bother to.

She strolled toward the desk, leaning against it. "Atlas, I’m here because there are so many things we need to talk about," she hummed. "More important than me overseeing the security operations of the Order."

"I don’t hate you," Atlas casually gave her a brief look. "But it does bother me when you think my actions have anything to do with you."

The woman’s smile stiffened slightly, but she didn’t let it show.

"I gave an order, and it wasn’t delivered," he added flatly. "I don’t like it."

"Sir, Yuri did leave a note for me, though," Allen said, pulling out a crumpled paper, which he folded and tried to straighten. "Here it is."

Without a word, Atlas took it. The note read:

[I think you might need me. Before that, let me just sleep first. I’ll come when I wake up.]

As he read the short letter, Allen and the woman studied his expressionless face. The note was short, but somehow, Atlas was reading it longer than he should have been.

"What horrible handwriting," he muttered, though he didn’t look as displeased anymore.

Allen could only heave a sigh of relief. This was the reason he came back, even without the person Atlas trusted so deeply. It was just that Yuri was quite... strange, even though she was the only person—aside from Allen—who could keep up with Atlas’s way of life and work.

Atlas lifted his eyes to Allen and then to the woman. Since he already knew that Yuri needed some time to "re-spawn," he just let her be for now. When his eyes landed on the woman, Atlas placed his hands on the armrest and pushed himself up.

Once standing, he glanced at the woman and then at Allen before walking to a stand in the corner.

"Report," he said as he made his own coffee. With his eyes down, their corners sharpened as he uttered quietly, "Who’s been testing the water, Scarlet?"

The woman, Scarlet, crossed her arms under her chest as she raised her chin. "You have a bigger issue right now, Atlas. Lola Young," she stressed, her brows rising. "Who is she in your life?"

He didn’t answer, but he glanced at her over his shoulder.

"I’m asking as the head of your security operations," she said indifferently. "She’s not going to be your weakness, will she? Otherwise, I’ll have to take her out—"

Pew!

Just as those words left her tongue, the glass wall quietly cracked, and a small hole appeared in the middle of it. Scarlet arched a brow as she gazed at the carpet, where a bullet casing lay. She didn’t move, nor did Allen jump in shock. Instead, the two of them just stared at the shell casing and the little hole that had penetrated the thick glass without shattering it.

"Take... who exactly?" Atlas continued, adding a small amount of sugar to his coffee. "Don’t hang yourself with the rope I had given you, Scarlet." He paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Know your place."

Scarlet swallowed hard while maintaining an unfazed front. Allen, on the other hand, bit his tongue as he sensed the rising tension between the two.

"Scarlet will stay here for your security," Allen interjected before this goes out of hand. "I’ve already called a security team for you, the children, and Miss Young."

"Send some for my family."

Allen lowered his head. "They said there’s no need for that."

"I see." Atlas nodded at Allen, and without further ado, Allen shot Scarlet a look.

"Scar, let’s go."

Scarlet, however, didn’t leave with him immediately as she stared at Atlas. "Before I go, know that my intentions are only for you and the Order, Atlas. Everyone is waiting for you to show a moment of vulnerability. You and I, and everyone, knew it didn’t matter if this vulnerability lasted for a minute or less than a second."

"The moment they see your weakness, those who had been waiting for it will attack you through it," she added in a knowing and cold tone. "No mercy."

With that, she picked up her purse and faced Allen. He cleared his throat and chose silence, striding off with her following behind him. But before they could leave the office, Atlas spoke again.

"Scarlet," he called, casually leaning against the stand with a coffee in his hand. His fingertip brushed the rim of the cup, eyeing the woman. "You’re underestimating Lola."

Scarlet didn’t answer, but let out a shallow sneer. "I hope I am, Atlas. Because I’d really hate to see that you’re overestimating her."

And just like that, she resumed her steps, walking past Allen. Allen watched her go before he sighed heavily.

"She’s just thinking of your welfare, sir," Allen remarked. "I’ll be assisting her and everyone in their temporary home. Please call me when you need anything."

With that, Allen lowered his head slightly before he walked out without pausing. Atlas, on the other hand, stared at the shut door briefly and didn’t think much about it. Pushing himself away from the stand, he picked up a phone from the drawer.

"Clean my office," he ordered as soon as the line connected, then glanced at the window behind his desk. "And replace this glass."