His Contractual Mistress

"The princess has been dealing with him for the past couple of years. She once traveled to the IN Country, but Liam learned her whereabouts. She lost her freedom and had to limit her visits to most parts of Asia. The only safer places for her are the Northern countries... Mainland City, or Seoul. There are parts in IN Country that were allied to the Huo Clan." 

"So, her life was in danger because of Liam Huo? And this man is pursuing her for marriage, huh?" Carl contemplated; he wants to be enlightened further. "So, tell me more about Liam Huo." 

"Liam Huo is the Princess's first knight. Like me, he is the princess's childhood friend. In his belief, he is the only man the Princess thinks of as a knight. But to his horror, every guy she was close to becomes her knight, and Liam threw a fret about it."

"But because of some matters, they have to separate ways, and we're happy because he's a pain in the a*s... Well, Liam's uncle, King Lamandi, adopted him. The king has no son to be his heir, and Liam is the most qualified as his cousin's son. Liam became busy with his training, doing royal duties, and pursued his college degree; then, he got involved in Underground World later," Pitt went on.

"And because of the association, Liam meets the Princess again. In the beginning, things were fine. He is protecting the princess, and we all travel together. But on one of our trips, Liam killed someone he caught that has an ulterior motive with the princess. The princess couldn't accept his violent behavior. She wants Liam to stay away from her since then. But what happened instead?"

"He asked the Princess's hand for marriage, but the princess rejected him. When he tried to abduct the princess, they encountered a bloody fight against Liam's men, as it cost lives. We lost a few knights. After that, it banned Liam not only from Australia but the entire Oceania Continent." 

Listening to the story the entire time, Carl lifted his right hand and scratched his chin. "The first knight, huh? Then a future king? Later on, he killed everyone that is threatening his chances to win over Hailey's love? I guess Vincent would not like it. So, if Liam is a jealous man, and so Vincent does. Now Liam has begun a war toward Vincent."

"The princess wanted to keep Mr. Shen to stay in Australia to ensure his safety," Pitt said. "But he keeps visiting his girlfriend now and then." 

"Yeah. You can't keep him away from Hailey," Carl nodded in agreement. 

"The princess has no interest in having a boyfriend, honestly. She thinks of everyone as only her brother. And what's only in her mind is to start her own company, travel the world, and build her city. To make the story short, the Princess came to Metro City to search for Vincent Shen, your cousin, to offer him a project. Then she finds out he is Eva's husband. She didn't tell me about this. Just recently, I learned everything." 

"Hold up there! Are you saying that Hailey already knew about Eva even before she came to Metro City?" 

Pitt replied, "Yes, we know Eva as Bryan's long-time girlfriend. But we didn't know that she got married, and we don't know that his nominal husband is Vincent Shen, in which the princess falls in love with your cousin even he's a married man." Pitt curled his lips, showing how it upset him. 

"My cousin was already in love with her even before he got married," Carl explains. He is prepared to defend Vincent, of course. He was only forced into that marriage because he is an obedient son. But not anymore after he meets Hailey once again. 

"What do you mean by that, Carl?" Pitt asked as it confused him regarding his statement. 

"Vincent is against this arranged marriage, the reason he searches the world to find her. But he failed. Now I could tell why he didn't see her. Then the association hid her away and assured Vincent didn't find any trace of her… I am, right?" Carl concluded. He just learned about that story, and now it makes sense. 

"Well, you probably are right. Possibly it reached his cousin's knowledge, Shun Crow. I could imagine how Shun Crow played your cousin not to find the princess."

"It looks like that was what happened three years ago," Carl concurred. He asked, "So, what is your plan regarding Liam Huo?"

"We want to trap him, and we need help to succeed in our plans."

"Then are you saying that?"

"Bruce will explain to Mr. Shen regarding what we came up with. So, about your uncle... We need access to all the traffic surveillance cameras around the city." 

"Alright. I'll talk to Rodney and Zaijan. I need their help to convince Uncle Samuel. It would be best if Rodney who talk to uncle. He could make an excuse that we have a critical case to solve. That's why the Mafia Association has to be involved in this."

"Thank you for listening to my proposition. I'm sure Mr. Shen won't allow anyone to steal his fiance. He needs our help; we need him as well, including your family connections."

"This is our gain. Liam Huo is the one who orchestrated Vincent's accident. We investigate what his ulterior motive is. Vincent didn't offend him. But learning all this? Then he wants Vincent dead as he is the princess's lover?" 

"That's right. And the princess should not deal with this alone." Pitt uttered with the hope that it will be over soon. 

"Hm… everything that I heard this morning overwhelms me. We are about to play chess. The Knights, the Queen, and a King in opponent pieces. So, who is my cousin among the pieces? Hailey and Liam both from the line of royals. So my cousin is the bishop? I think Vincent isn't the King yet until he defeats the acclaimed King." 

"I will agree with that. He has to prove himself first that he is a rightful king for our queen," says Pitt meaningfully.

On that morning, Carl set up Pitt, Rodney, and Zaijan to meet at lunch. He invited his cousins to join them in Vincent's yacht for a talk. 

After that, the knights received the approval to use the Shen Tower's Security Room. Hansen immediately set up the system and connected it to the city's surveillance cameras. 

"Yo!" 

The knights turned their heads to the door, and it surprised them to recognize the person who entered the room. But Pitt knew him, of course. 

"Lord Rodney James Lopez," Pitt smirked. However, it displeased the guy. 

"Stop mentioning my full name, d*mba*s!" 

"Who you called d*mba*s!" Pitt blurted out. All the nerves on his forehead appeared from irritation. He took a step forward and then lifted his right leg—a flying kick straightway toward Rodney's face. 

But he dodges it easily and throws his right punch as a counterattack; after a few exchanges of punches that none hit on their bodies—the two men stopped playing around. 

"Ah. I never had a great spar for a while. The idiots that give me a headache lately are all chickens. I'm just about to open my mouth. They've already peed on their pants," Rodney complains; he continued… "Vincent has been busy. He's the only one who could beat me except you." 

"Oh. I look forward to inviting Mr. Shen for one on one. How many rounds would he last?" Pitt grins excitedly. He looked forward to that day to come. 

However, Rodney just snorted at Pitt's query. "Are you serious about challenging him?" 

Pitt's eyes glimmered from Rodney's meaningful smirks. It means Vincent Shen is a perfect spar. Of course, he will invite him for a friendly fight. But he has an ulterior motive. 

'I'm going to beat him up for took a move to our princess without our permission!' 

Observing Pitt's ugly facial expression, the other men guess what he has been thinking. He has a plan to beat up Vincent Shen. 

"I will bet on Mr. Shen," Tom whispered to Hansen. 

The guy pondered for a moment before he decided. "I think my cousin wants me to bet on him." 

Tom and Hansen clench their palm into a fist and throw their knuckles at each other to seal their bet. Both are grinning. They wanted to witness Pitt get beaten up once in a while. 

*

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

As the investigation progressed with Matthew Lawrence's help, the employees who planted the bomb are now apprehended and confessed to the authorities. They pointed out who the mastermind of the bombings was, and they confirmed that Vincent's engineer is a part of the job. 

However, Vincent has mixed feelings about it. Somehow, he had known all of his engineers and architects. He trusted them all. 

Recently, one older engineer quit his job. He approved it as the main reason he will migrate to the U Continent to be with his daughter. Now, according to the investigation. He wasn't living with his daughter but in Nevada. 

Not only that, he owns a cabin somewhere, then a boat, and drives a nice car. Vincent felt devastated being betrayed like this. He racked his head to look at every angle of the reason, and his engineer betrayed him. 

At a round table, Theo and Vince had a dinner meeting with Matt, Rubin, Tim, and Roland. Matt shared the result of his investigation. 

"I think we should all fly to P Country," said Matt in a serious tone as he is sweeping his eyes to the table. 

Creasing his forehead, Vincent queried Matt.

"P Country? Is the mastermind living in my country? Or is he in Metro City?" Vincent asked with a panic in his voice. The first person who came to his mind is Hailey and her safety. "Can it be this person after me other than the motive to take revenge against the Shangs?" 

"You are correct, Vincent. This man is after the princess, and he is also responsible for your recent accident." 

"Liam Huo..." Vincent clenches his fists. He wanted to fly at this very moment, to be with Hailey. "Then what are we waiting for?" 

"We have to fly tonight, yes. But I received a report. The princess's knights are preparing to trap him, and they wanted to ask as much help from you and your cousins. The Lopez family runs Metro City, and they need all the access to the surveillance cameras around the city to monitor every move of Liam's men." 

"I'll call Rodney to work on it," said Vince, he mused afterward.

'For once, I'm going to settle this with you, Liam Huo!'