After finishing their breakfast, Marie and Hanna went out to do Dana's orders. Dana, on the other hand, just sat down on the sofa, peacefully watching television with Martin on her side.
"Sir Martin, what do you think would Jacques's end be?" Hanna asks in passing.
"I believe that would depend on how the court will rule the case out. Why do you ask, young miss?" Martin returned the question to her.
"Nothing much. I'm just curious how a villain and his villainy end" Dana gave a wry smile to Martin.
When Martin saw the smile, he was astonished for a while. Dana definitely inherited master Vilhelm's temperament. Here smile is reminiscent of how her grandfather would plan his decisions in the company. Alas, the young lady is all grown up.
"Whatever you may be planning, please keep it within the boundaries of law." Martin gave his advice.
Dana just smiled at what he was implying and replied politely. "I will. Thanks, Sir Martin."
The two of them watched the news once more, silence echoes within the room. Martin watched with interest while Dana kept on smiling. Looking at the screen, Jacques is wearing a prison jumpsuit, in handcuffs looking disheveled and older than his actual age. He is escorted by the police while trying to enter the police van with all the reporters howling in them for an interview.
Somewhere in prison…
Marie walked through the dark hallway of the prison. The cells are all noisy and rowdy. Some of the inmates gave her different kinds of looks, some are lustful, some are curiosity, some are merely glances of a bored prisoner. Al of that were ignored by her. Marie paid them no mind and just focused on her task. As she reached a specific cell, she thanked the prison guard before giving the person inside a sarcastic smile.
"It's been a while, Jacques. Have you adjusted well to the prison life?"
Hearing the person outside calling him by his first name and taunting him, naturally, Jacques lost his temper and slammed the cell bars.
"You bitch! Did you just call me by my name? You've got guts now huh!? you're just a fucking secretary!" Jacques roared at Marie, giving her a sharp glare. Marie on the other hand responded with the same sharp deathly glare.
"Just a fucking secretary you say. I may be a secretary but look at our current standing just now, you are beneath me. Can't you comprehend the situation, Jacques? Your days are over. You lost to my Madame." Marie's voice was cold. Even the other inmate in the cell gulps in nervousness.
"The Madame wants me to pass on her message. She said, 'Jacques Pierre, you will never have Crimson and Crowns Conglomerate in this lifetime. I will make sure to destroy what you value the most. I have recently acquired the Rose garden in Chantilly. I'll make sure to turn it into a children's playground. Enjoy the prison and my gift for you.' Jacques, you should be honored that my master is quite lenient on dealing with you. To think you get to stay comfortable behind prison bars. Haha!"
A sarcastic laugh echoed as Marie finished her sentence. She just watches Jacques become hysterical after hearing her words. He kept on punching and trying to reach Marie to give her a slap but unfortunately for him, Marie kept her distance well. All he could do was curse and throw tantrums.
"Monsieur Henry, I heard from the guards that your sentence has only six months left, right? I've checked your case, and perhaps there is something we can do. But that will depend on your performance." Marie gave the other inmate an offer in front of Jacques.
The inmate was no fool. He immediately understood what Marie was implying. He walked up to the bars beside Jacques.
"Of course, madame, I will do my best to satisfy your commands. But may I know my reward first?" He enthusiastically boots licked Marie.
"We can try to appeal for a three-month sentence decrement based on your good records. All you need to do is to give our Monsieur Jacques here a very 'Good' time in prison. That's all." Marie did not pay heed to the boot licking, in fact, she used it to her advantage to appeal for Henry's cooperation.
Neither of them cared if Jacques was listening to their conversation. It did not matter since the whole ordeal would be about him after all. They just let Jacques raise his objection.
"No worries madame. I will make sure that this man will surely have a 'good' time here in prison. thanks" Henry grabbed Jacques, hovered his arm to him and gave him a smile as if they were close life buddies. Marie just chuckled in response. Nodding to the man, she then walked out of the prison while hearing Jacques's protest slowly fading in the background.
Back at the Penthouse…
Dana was enjoying the rest of her afternoon looking through some papers and having some conversations with Martin. Both of them done a lot of work, and only when Dana's phone lit up for message notification did, they realize that it was already dinner time.
"Let's call it a day. It's now half past six in the evening. Surely you must be hungry."
Martin was considerate of the fact that Dana was still recovering from her surgery. He then tidies up the documents and put it all in the study room. Dana just let him be and went to the restroom to freshen up. Coming back to the living room, Martin asked her earnestly.
"What would you like for dinner? I can have the chef cook you some hearty meals. It's best if you can have a balance meal for fast recovery."
"Seafood perhaps? I'm craving for some crayfish." Dana replied with a smile.
"Okay. Why don't you go to your bedroom for a quick nap first, and I'll call you up if the food is ready?" Martin suggested.
"Fair enough. Also, can you call Marie and Hanna for dinner? There is something I wanted to talk to them." Dana gave out a favor and went upstairs after receiving a nod.
Sitting at the edge of her queen-sized bed, Dana sighed in boredom. She took her phone from the bedside table and went to the balcony. She sat on the rattan chair and looked at the view of the city lights below. As she looked around, she unconsciously set her gaze on the balcony next door. Seeing that it was empty and dark, she felt a little disappointed.
'Perhaps he's still busy at the company?' she thought unconsciously. 'Oh my god! Why am I thinking of him? Dana, you fool! He's an enemy. You can't let him get to you.'
To change her focus of attention, she called his brother, updating him on her current status.
"Brother, are you busy?"
Jace, who was on the main estate, was about to head to dinner when he received Dana's call.
"Well… I was about to have dinner. What about you? How are you faring? Did you eat?"
"I'm just waiting for the chef to finish cooking…" Dana replied hesitantly. She sighed as if she wanted to say something but decided not to.
Knowing the temperament and personality of his sister very well, Jace instructed the maid outside his room that he would have his dinner later. He then went and sat down on a chair near the balcony.
"Alright… what is the matter? You can tell me everything."
Dana sighed again. "Do you know what it means when you felt some odd sense of relief, feeling a bit happy and calmness to a person you do not expect?"
Jace was silent for a while. He looked at the scenery outside his bedroom before responding to Dana. "By odd, means you're not supposed to have a sense of emotional connection with this person but happened otherwise?" Jace chucked a bit and went silent for a while before continuing. "by my opinion, you might like this person… to which degree, that would depend on the person's identity and your feelings."
"Are you serious?!" Dana did not expect his reply. But before she could ask again, she could hear the maid on the other side of the phone, urging Jace to have dinner. "You should eat now brother. We'll just talk some time about this."
Sensing that Dana doesn't want to continue the topic, Jace respected her wishes.
"Okay, you too. Don't forget to rest and take your medication. Bye for now."
After the call went off, Dana stood up, annoyed. She kept replaying Jace's words into her head.
"What exactly is happening to me? He's handsome, I'll give him that, but he is my business rival. I shouldn't have these kinds of thoughts." As she monologued, she kept pacing back and forth on the balcony.
After finishing her talk, she tapped her cheeks as if waking herself up. She then pinched her cheeks hard. It was only until she felt immense pain did, she release her hand.
"I really should end my connection to him."
Dana rolled her eyes on Alexei's balcony, as if the owner were present. Fixated on clearing her mind, she heard a knock on her bedroom door.