His Devious Rule

In the Oasis mansion,

Despite working the previous day, Alvin still had lots of pending work and Ean was taunting him at every chance he got. He can\'t scold Ean because he was always ahead of his schedule before he got his Little Donut. 

Yet he indulged himself with his wife in the morning, then argued with her when she chose a cab over him chauffeuring her. 

\'Ungrateful woman.\' He felt lazy to go out when he could work from home... while waiting for his wife. 

Thus the three men - Alvin, Rob, and Zane got busy in the study room of the Oasis mansion.

While Alvin was busy in a meeting with Skylark directors, Rob kept an eye on Casper\'s new strike. Casper was causing chaos in the business field. People began doubting Skylark just by the stupid news headlines and senseless words of the anchorwoman on the news channel.

Rob wanted to know which headless business analyst gave them the statement that Alvin will drown the Matthews Industries.

Ean had secured the major project of the year but if the current news continued, there was a chance of facing issues with further progress in the project and their new projects. It wasn\'t about the project or money, it was the reputation of the company at risk.

Thus the Skylark PR department staff were losing their cool; Rob wondered how Ean was keeping his chill about all these. 

Casper definitely knew his way of manipulating the situation when they shoved him to a dead end.

Irritated and bored, Rob glanced at the little man between his work. Zane was silently sitting on a small stool, doing his homework at the center table instead of his bedroom which was well equipped for his studies too. 

More than half an hour has passed when Alvin ended the emergency morning meeting and his eyes met Zane\'s hesitance. 

Why was his little enemy double thinking to speak?

Alvin guessed Zane had a question or doubt but was unsure how he might react. So he cued the little man to go near him. He definitely could spare him a few minutes.

Surprised, Zane grabbed his books and quickly ran up to him and explained his doubt. Alvin pushed away all his work aside and began teaching Zane with so much patience, it nearly baffled Rob.

Well, Rob\'s attention shifted to his snoozing mobile due to a call from the security of the mansion. He answered the call and kept his voice low, "Yes?"

The troubled voice of the security guard came, [Mr. Robertson, there is a man named Alaric…] After a pause, the guard uttered the name more fluently, [Alaric De Michéle, CEO of APEX.]

Rob\'s brows furrowed without understanding why the CEO of APEX, the top, highly organized security company of the Narnia appeared at the mansion without appointment or notification. 

Although they weren\'t into security solutions, they had their security system due to the artifacts and antique business. So Alaric couldn\'t be there to recommend himself as a business partner.

Is Casper Matthews up to something?

Because Matthews Entertainment is one of the largest clients of APEX. And Rob wouldn\'t be surprised if the latter was into underhand, illegal things.

Rob did think twice before offending the man who was associated with many influential personalities from various sectors with over eighteen branches in Narnia. He wasn\'t going to get scared of the big names of the country.

When security was yet to ask Rob if he should open the gates, Rob cut it short, "Don\'t allow him." By the end of his words, he had quietly rushed out of the study room. 

Alaric De Michèle wasn\'t the person who would saunter anywhere without a purpose. They couldn\'t take the man lightly either. So Rob wanted to dig into the man and the possible purpose of appearing there.

Alvin\'s sharp ears caught Rob\'s words and noticed his abrupt departure but he feigned ignorance. With Zane on his lap, eager to learn from him, he focused on teaching him by trusting Rob to handle whatever it was.

Nevertheless, shortly his mobile beeped, lighting the dark screen on the desk. Alvin glanced at the screen. He had received a picture from an unknown number. He instinctively wanted to ignore it but recalling Rob\'s reaction a moment ago, he reluctantly swiped his finger on the screen. 

Zane, who noticed his father\'s hand move, unawarely glanced at the screen and exclaimed as soon as he identified the side profile of the person in the picture, "Momma!?" His mother was looking up at a building. 

Suddenly his back straightened looking at an unknown number sending a picture of his mother to Alvin. Why will somebody do that?

Alvin\'s face darkened several shades looking at the picture. Although his first thought was to protect his wife, he kept his cool to act wisely. Somebody wasn\'t only following his Goofball, they dared to send him a picture.

Is that somebody trying to frighten him?

Is Anya oblivious to the threat? 

Or is she letting the men follow her purposefully?

After all, her prestigious award has made her a public figure. And she earned the gossip section due to his identity.

This couldn\'t be Casper as the latter knew provoking Anya was much more dangerous than attacking him or Skylark.

Alvin had to control with all his might by dropping a message to Anya or sending a whole troop to protect her. He wasn\'t going to underestimate her. 

He focused on the little man who was smart enough to read the oddness of the message. Staying with Anya, his little enemy was able to pick unusualness.

After five minutes, the dark screen lit up again from the same number. Zane instinctively wanted to check if it was his mother and swiped on the screen. "Err…" He doesn\'t have access to his father\'s phone.

Alvin didn\'t evade the little man\'s curiosity. He placed his finger on the screen to unlock and an image popped up on the screen. "Huh!?" Zane let out a confused hum looking at the image of Alvin\'s sea mansion they had visited in West Coast city. 

Zane didn\'t know that mansion held billions of worth of artifacts and antiques whereas Alvin\'s face was dark as cloudy sky. It was supposed to be a safe house. 

The sender accurately knew if Anya\'s image fails to alarm him, the second picture will do wonders. However, the sender was yet to know that Alvin would rather watch his mansion burn to ashes than see his wife endure even a small scratch.

A text message arrived immediately, [Open this damn gate before I lose my f**king patience.]

Alvin was quick to move his mobile away to avoid the little man\'s eyes reading the f-word. His wife has banned curse words.

He would have loved to play the man who was behind the messages but only a half-witted man would dare to provoke him with a picture of Anya and the warehouse while asking to let him enter his tightly secured mansion.

On top of that, Rob\'s reaction wasn\'t something to be neglected. Thus Alvin chose to attend to the person who wasn\'t only sounding like an impatient man, he was commanding and fearless.

Alvin dialed the security at the gate and got to know the name of the person. Alaric De Michèle aka Alaric Mitchell, is a senior at university. The son of a businessman and a blue blood who had disappeared from the radar for two whole years.

Behind the storming calmness, there was a hint of curiosity that brought him out to his doorstep.

With Zane\'s big eyes blinking at him, Alvin restrained from using any wrong words, [Let him in.] His chilling voice came out unbelievably calmer.

Zane could read the trouble and work Alvin had. He was already happy Alvin didn\'t ignore him so he voluntarily said, "Chipmunk Monster, I will study something else." He meant, \'Do your work.\'

Nevertheless, Alvin secured the little man on his lap and continued to teach him. They can\'t change their identities, so Anya wanted a simple childhood with their care and attention for Zane. So Alvin was going to give everything to his little enemy that he didn\'t have while growing up.

A Father\'s Time and Attention.