CHAOTIC MEETING

5 PM. Sumire carefully peek out the window's car and the cold, but serene afternoon greeted her. The wind whipped her black colored hair across her face, a pair of midnight eyes peering through the fluffy clouds drifted across the sky. Ahead of her loomed was an old-fashioned majestic palace-like manor stood. Sunlight streaming down illuminated the groups of trees that stood proudly, bumps on a smooth, green plain. Peering at the trees, the flash of a golden sunset, a cool and breezy gentle gust of wind blew against her face.

Mort got out of the car and opened the door for her. Sumire stepped out and the long red carpet, and the number of men in their black suits lined up towards the end. They all bowed to Mort which slightly surprised Sumire. Mort hold her hand and sauntered together down the long red carpet aisle in the middle of bowed heads of men while the black beast panther was tailing and growling behind them.

Her bustier ruffle white french slit dress slightly danced in the afternoon breeze as she was in awe of the palace-like garden filled with well-manicured plants and sculptures, one of which is the grandiose Fountain of Neptune.

No one dared to meet his eyes and they all remained bowed. Mort walks like a male model. He possessed a latent, leonine power radiating so much power and authority, beside him, was a striking beauty with sleek raven hair walked with elegance and grace. Sumire playfully plastered a bossy expression on her face to perfectly match him.

When they reached the ingress of the castle-like manor, Mort stopped walking and looked at the exquisite architecture coldly. It's been more than a decade since he left this hellish home.

"Welcome back, Sir." The Head Butler of the house greeted him. Mort just nodded at him and bring the maiden closer to him.

Mort and Sumire entered, holding hands openly. She was awestruck at the sight, the modern but classical design, and the golden chandeliers and ornaments elegantly embellishing the entire place. The wall and dome-like roof were filled with inspired deities' paintings. The marble floor reflects its splendor and the air of wealth and opulence is nearly unimaginable. She felt like she was taken back in the 15th century. The place is beautifully-preserved and surely can tell a tale as old as time.

They saunter through the gold and white corridors and headed straight to the dining hall. The red and gold dining hall greeted her, the beautiful details of the strings of hand-cut crystal that drape the chandelier. The place looks classy feel and sophisticated with the gold cutleries and expensive liquor. She was enlightened by all the foods on the long table. The lavish dinner made her drool. Sumire gasped at the pressure of seeing three unfamiliar people staring intently at her at the long table and the hordes of trained maids standing behind them. The place oozes so much wealth and the people emanating power but no one can surpass Mort's air of superiority that naturally comes off him. She can tell right away, from their looks, genes don't lie.

'I didn't expect this day would be meeting his parents.' Sumire uttered in her mind and she got even more nervous when her eyes landed on the elder of the family who was looking at her earnestly.

Sumire held Mort's right arm tightly, he can feel her intense nervousness and pressure around her. He throws them an icy-cold stare.

"Ty nakonets vernulsya." said the Don with a stoic expression.

"Ty pozval menya syuda," Mort responded frigidly, with a hint of sarcasm. He and Sumire were still standing not far from the dining table and Charlotte looked bitterly at their hands intertwined.

"I summoned you here many times but now you're home because of that girl." With a hint of stern in his voice, Don Zagreus bluntly said and looked at Sumire with his glacial looks on her. Sumire shrank back behind Mort.

"Don't scare her, grandpa." Mischa chillingly said and took some vatrushka bun from the plate and ate it.

"Let them seat first before roasting them." Laurel seconded and sip on the wine.

The maid pulled the chair between the middle-aged couple and Charlotte for him to sit. While Laurel, Klauss, Narco, Leroy, Lyric, Mischa, and Dieu are seated opposite him. The other maid pulled a chair for Sumire to sit away from him. She was standing on the edge of the long rectangular table opposite the Don. Mort was about to drag his chair towards Sumire's place when Don Zagreus suddenly faked a cough and looked at him with a hint of warning.

The Don motioned the maids to return to their quarters except for the head butler of the family who was standing in the corner.

Mort slightly nodded to Sumire and she sit on the chair facing the head elder of the Aslanov clan. Sumire immediately felt the huge gap between her and his family, their status, how their worlds differ from each other.

"I know you're smart enough to know why you're here." The Don said straightforwardly. The Head Butler walked to his side and handed over the black envelope he was holding which the old man immediately accepted.

Sumire in her place can't help but starts to overthink. 'Should he give me a cheque worth billions just to stay away from Mort for good? I thought it only exists in the drama...'

The Don opened it and start reading the contents of that envelope.

"Name: Sumire Caste Leone Massoullève, Born: November 01, ****, Age: 23, Job: Actress, Model, Height: 170.18 cm, Father's Name: Chase Massoullève, Mother's Name: Lunaire Caste Leone..."

Don Zagreus began to read her basic information which made her stunned and speechless in her seat. 'They actually had me investigated?' She utter in disbelief inside her mind. The Don continued reading her net worth, and the remaining valuable information before facing her.

"So you are the sole daughter of Mr. Chase and Mrs. Lunaire Massoullève. I can't say anything about your clean background. But still, I can't accept you." Don Zagreus bluntly said making Charlotte flash a triumphant smirk on her red lips. She fixed her revealing red dress making her cleavage visible to Mort and playfully curl her hair. Obviously, the Head of the Aslanov family, the most powerful Mafia clan is on her side.

Sumire frowned and boldly met the Don's eyes. "Let's say you can't accept me but why did you choose Charlotte out of so many calibers of beauties?" She asked and faced Charlotte. The two rivals exchange hostile stares but Sumire's habit of angling her head to the sides and studying her with unforgiving judgement.

"Seriously? This incompetent, self-entitled, and presumptuous harlot." Sumire viciously added making Charlotte hang her mouth open.

"Are you saying I'm a wanton woman?! How dare you!" Charlotte hissed angrily.

"You heard me right? Look at yourself, you have no decency and modesty. You're the perfect definition of a wanton woman." Sumire then smirked and sip the wine to annoy Charlotte more.

"I think you misunderstood. Ms. Charlotte De Mavius is a suitable wife for my eldest grandson. She is an heiress to a Mafia clan which is lacking in your family." Don Zagreus calmly said.

"Ah, that mafia thingy. With just one glance, Mort can be distinguished as a leader of a dangerous group of mobs, but Charlotte seems the opposite, she lacks that presence. If she and Mort walk together in a room, she would be misconceived as his handmaiden." Sumire delivered a stinging rebuke.

A bolt of laughter and chuckles bombarded the dining hall on Laurel's side of the table making Charlotte grip the table napkin into a knot, her eyes blazing murderously at Sumire. But that cachinnation quickly vanished when the Don glared in their direction.

"You are pretty, then again, rattlesnake has a pretty pattern on it. You got a pretty sharp tongue." Don Zagreus said while eyes squinted on the maiden, deeply criticizing her.

"This is the first time someone talks you back, Dad. Such a waste if you throw her in the ocean. I like her." Said Lady Katyusha Milena in a cold tone and emotionless face, Mort's mother. The matriarch of the family looks so gorgeously dangerous even in his 50s yet she radiates an aura of tyranny and intimidation making her mistaken as the real Aslanov. Mischa looks similarly to her in her teenage days and Mort obviously inherited his coldness from her mother. According to them, his mother was born in the winter season. She's like snow, beautiful but cold. She had the rarest pair of piercing blue-purple eyes. She also wears her signature black outfit on a daily occasion.

"I love the idea but I don't like to make trouble with the Massoullèves." The Don replied. Laurel, Klauss, Narco, Mischa, and the twins who were listening to them remained eating silently.

"You are too much! Why should you be the one to decide Mort's future wife?" Sumire couldn't help but carelessly utters her displeasure. She was already annoyed with this manipulative old man.

"Why? Has Mort already confessed to you?" Charlotte laughs when Sumire fell silent, a grin forming on her lips. Sumire frowned at Don Zagreus' question. Yes, Mort hasn't confessed to her yet but she's working on it to make him say it.

Dieu on the other hand secretly steals a glance at the maiden seating just a few inches from his seat. 'Hmmm...interesting...'

Sumire looks at Mort as if pleading, asking for his help but the hunk utters no words. He remained silent and unconcerned at all.

"He's not my Boss's cup of tea." Klauss suddenly butts in and then took a sip from the wine glass he was holding and gave Sumire a teasing smirk under the glass.

"But I remember vividly, brother surprised her on her birthday and brought her to his yacht even though it was late." Mischa seconded and stomped Klauss's feet beneath the table.

"Yeah, and she's the first woman he brings on his mansion too." The twins added in chorus and winked at Sumire. Charlotte gritted her teeth at the thought of Sumire in her future husband's home.

"Boss gave more than half of Klauss' office to her. See, Sumire is more important to Boss than Klauss who has been his secretary for a long time." Narco said giving Klauss a teasing smile. Klauss quickly gave him a hard thwack in the head.

"I can confirm this. I saw him cage her in his embrace on the sofa." Laurel added. Sumire smiled and was teary-eyed at their support for her. She felt that piercing glare stabbing her and turned her coy smile to Charlotte whose face twitched in bitterness.

"But still I can't accept her. Besides, we have already decided with his parents on who will be Mort's betrothed wife." The Don said in finality tone. Again, Charlotte smiled victoriously at her.

"You are the only one who decides. I do not meddle with my son's relationship and decision." A handsome man in his 60s with small rubble on his face opposed. Dimitrius Aliev, Mort's father, is a man who has his face sculpted near to perfection. He was tall, cunning, and also calculated. He has a pair of green orbs which obviously inherited by his sons and daughter. Unlike his wife, Dimitrius Aliev is calm and cool.

"Same here." His wife seconded which angered the Don.

"Do you think this is a kind of joke? The future of our organization depends on it." Don Zagreus said, he barked with the authority of a man who was not to be crossed.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Mort asked coldly, a tinged with menace silencing everyone in the hall. They felt a strange danger dominating the air. Dieu quietly observes the surroundings and always glances in Sumire's direction.

Mort's aura of power, his command, and confidence, the sense that—whatever he was—he was something humankind wasn't prepared to face. His icy stare bored into the old Don making it hard for him not to back away.

"A lot more." The Don responded in a much calmer tone.

"I don't have time." Detachedly, Mort stood up from his chair, and just as Charlotte was about to hold him, she withdrew her hand when she saw the dark expression on Mort's face.

Mort immediately took Sumire's hand. Footsteps thundered down the dining hall as they marched out of the place without bidding goodbye. Laurel, Narco, Klauss, and the twins stood up and follow after them, leaving the place.

When Mort and Sumire finally got out of the grand Aslanov's palace-like home she felt relief. The veil of darkness reigns and the night sky was picturesque. The moon, a glowing yellowy white, loomed large, surrounded by an ethereal glow. Millions of stars were sprinkled behind it. From the phantom car, Mort was about to open the door for her when Sumire suddenly spoke.

"Is it okay if we leave your grandpa like that?" She asked worriedly. Mort turned to her with a dark expression still lingering on his face. He stepped forward, and her feet unconsciously move on their own, she gradually stepped back as she felt a sudden fear rose inside of her.

'Did I say something wrong?' Her back was now leaning against the car door as he caged her with his massive frame. His eyes coldly dawned deeply into her.

"I find his idea undesirable but I am interested in how long will you last now that you know my family," Mort said in a deep, husky but dangerous tone making her night even more colder.

Sumire fell into his mesmerizing pair of emerald eyes glows menacingly in the dark. She stared at him. A few seconds of silence passed and the sweet breath of air gently caressed her face beautifully disarrayed her hair.

'I'm more interested in how long you can hold onto your feelings for me.'