"What do you mean he did not come?"

A middle-aged man sits on a chair, playing with a small golden statue of The Grim Reaper in his hand while slightly squinting his eyes at the person standing behind the ripping oak table in front of him.

"He sent an apology to old man Satō for not coming to the auction today. Apparently, he didn't feel well when he woke up in the morning. Satō sent him a painting of Taiso Yoshitoshi as a gift, and said he hoped he gets well soon." The young man looks subservient.

"Our chap got sussed out?"

"No, sir. The auction went on perfectly fine, no one suspected one bit. Maybe we have bad luck, Fumito is for real ill today."

"You talk so much, but you don't think as much, do you?" The middle-aged man raises his face and narrows his eyes at him, "For the past few decades, the number of times Fumito Ueda has been sick can be counted on the fingers of one hand. He suddenly feels ill on the day we want to kill him? Do you believe in such a coincidence?"

"...Sir, does he already know our plan?"

"Knowing that old man, if he knew the truth, he would be having a gun to my head right now."

The young man silences, and then he timidly opens up, "Maybe someone snitched. Ansaldo?"

The middle-aged man shakes his head. He places the statue of The Grim Reaper back on the table, then stands up from the chair.

"Ansaldo boy is blind by love. He's been in a bustle to throw a proposal these past few months, and just proposed to the Berger girl last night, how can he be in the mood for anything else?"

"Then who could it be?"

"Have people follow Fumito and Scarlett Ueda closely. Also, we need an internal purge."

The middle-aged man walks past the young lad bowing next to him, he adjusts his shirt, opens the heavy door and walks out.

The so-called blind-by-love Ansaldo is leisurely enjoying a Panini with a glass of warm honey lemonade, in his hand is a copy of Zahra Berger's detailed information. The thick, heavy wooden door suddenly opens, and a zestful figure enters.

"Ansaldo my friend! What the hell are you doing here? It's been ages since you have given a shit about Quasimodo! I heard Carlo say you left Zahra alone last night? My young master is no limp dick!"

"Pietro, will you shut up?" says jokingly Ansaldo, he doesn't even raise his head.

Pietro is Ansaldo's childhood friend and the person he trusts the most. In his previous life, Pietro died taking a bullet for Zahra during a fight for benefits following Fumito's death. In this life, Ansaldo won't let his stupid friend pass in such a lame way.

"What the fuck, Ansaldo?! Honey lemonade?!" Pietro casually sits down on the emerald velvet chair next to Ansaldo, he does not stop babbling, "You get back to Quasimodo to go into the library to drink honey lemonade? What the fuck is going on?"

Ansaldo raises his glass and takes a sip, "Good for health." Then, before Pietro picks up his jaws from the floor, he shoves the file on the table, "Too perfect."

"What?" Pietro doesn't understand shit, he looks down at the file, and quickly frowns, "Are you inspecting Zahra?"

Ansaldo pours himself another half cup of honey lemonade, "Mikel Berger helped my old man in a business case and the two became close. Two months later, I ran into Zahra, his daughter, at an underground party. Five years later, I proposed to her. Everything is so perfect. It is like an elaborately orchestrated play."

Pietro looks up, he is no longer flippant but seriously stares at his best friend's face.

"Do you know what you're talking about?"

"Not only do I know what I am talking about, but I also know what I am going to do."

"What?"

....

"Sir, someone named Hector wants to see you." The butler in a black tuxedo knocks twice on the door and then bows to Ansaldo.

Ansaldo and Pietro have been in the library talking for two hours. The door is not closed, at this place, no one dares to eavesdrop behind Ansaldo's back.

Ansaldo is using a pen to point out something on the map when the butler comes in. He doesn't look up, "Only family in Quasimodo."

"Yes, sir." The man is still bowing, "But he said, quote-unquote, For a bright European future, is this Hector worthy of being master Ansaldo's exception?"

Pietro raises his head, he realizes something.

"For a bright European future, is that Hector Cruz? He said that exact shit when he ran for a seat in the European Parliament last year."

"Just a clown." Ansaldo drops the pen on the table, then stands up and pats Pietro's shoulder, "Come on, I'll show you some good drama."

"What good drama?" Pietro is confused, but he follows Ansaldo to the grand living room downstairs.

---

Credit on Chapter 3 Cover: Rock Staar on Unsplash.