Is this destiny?

~ Nearby Houston, estate belonging to Marcus White ~

10:17 AM

Lukas entered his father's study and saw that Marcus and Jasmine are there, waiting for him.

"How are you doing?", Marcus asked obviously still drowsy Lukas.

"Tired and achy.", Lukas responded.

He is achy because his broken arms are hurting and tired because he barely got any sleep last night. Two shadows with glowing red eyes, visiting him in the middle of the night was… terrifying.

"Staff told me that you wetted your bed last night. Care to explain?", Marcus scowled.

Lukas lowered his head in embarrassment. What will he say? That the two shadows visited him and scared the soul out of him? No, he can't mention anything related to the army of Chaos. Whenever he mentioned it, it never ended well because… no one believes him. He can see that they are looking at him like he is crazy. Heck, if he is the one listening to such stories, he would not believe it either.

But his father is still looking at him and waiting for an explanation. "I had a dream last night that I went to the restroom… it was a vivid dream and by the time I realized that it's not real, it was too late."

"I see…", Marcus didn't believe him, and he made zero effort to conceal that fact. It made him wonder, why would Lukas lie? "Nothing strange happened last night?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Because something happened. I'm not sure what, but some things are not in place. I suspect that we had a thief.", Marcus said unhappily.

As soon as he entered the study, he noticed that something is off about his desk. And contents of his drawers are… rearranged. He didn't find anything missing, but there is a chance that he just didn't notice it, yet.

Even before reaching his study, Marcus found that many things are out of place. All decorative figurines and statues as well as photos in his study and through the hallways are turned backward! Even the ones just outside his bedroom! It made him feel that everyone turned their backs on him, but he is probably overthinking it.

Marcus is finding it difficult to believe that thieves snuck into his mansion full of expensive decor and instead of taking something, they just turned everything around. And they didn't leave any traces behind!

"A thief? Security guys didn't see anything? What about security cameras?", Lukas asked.

Marcus rubbed his temples and sighed before responding: "Everything looks fine."

"Are you saying that there is a thief out there who knows where security blind spots are, so he can move through our house undetected?" Lukas was hoping that his father will conclude that those are NOT people!

Marcus was still shaking his head. "We don't have so many blind spots so that a person can move through the mansion and not be spotted."

Lukas knows that he should not be happy about this, but lately his father is treating him badly and he finds this confused state oddly satisfying. And why is Jasmine just standing there like a statue? That is so uncharacteristic of her.

No matter how much he wanted to shout how it was the Gods of Chaos, Lukas swallowed it down. His father will come to that conclusion eventually, and Lukas will play it cool and gloat when his father admits that this whole time Lukas is the one who got it right!

"There is nothing missing in my room, and I didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. If any thief was here last night, I slept through it. Can I leave now?"

Lukas wants to go back and catch up on his sleep. He saw Marcus wave his hand dismissively and went back to his room.

"What do you think?", Marcus asked Jasmine.

"He knows something.", Jasmine concluded. "Lukas would never miss an opportunity to find out more about a mysterious thief, especially how lately he is rambling about the army of Chaos."

"I think so too.", Marcus agreed with her. "I expected him to immediately say how it was something related to Chaos, and yet… he didn't."

Jasmine frowned. "Is there a chance that he… switched sides?"

Marcus' expression hardened. He does not have a very good opinion of Lukas' character, but to switch sides and betray his father? That is unbelievable! Or is it?

"Increase monitoring of Lukas.", Marcus ordered in a stern tone. "I want to know with whom he talks and when. Other than a wet bed, was there anything else unusual in his room?"

Jasmine looked at her notes. "The maid reported that she closed his window. With his panic around the army of Chaos, ever since his first arm was broken, Lukas always double-checked that his windows are closed, fearing that someone will sneak in."

Marcus thought about it. "His window… It's facing the garden. Have our guards check for any traces of intruders there. The soil is soft, if we are lucky, we might find some footprints…" He gestured to Jasmine to head out and issue those orders to the staff.

When Jasmine left, Marcus called Gavin.

"I have a job for you. I want you to keep tabs on any calls and texts that my son makes or receives. Also, I want to know about any email correspondence…"

Gavin took notes of instructions Marcus gave him.

"Got it.", Gavin confirmed. "Did you find your cell phone?"

"My what?", Marcus thought that he didn't understand the question.

"Your assistant called and asked me to trace your phone's location. She said that it's important to you. I found it at a hotel…"

…

Marcus was still thinking about his phone call with Gavin when Jasmine returned to his study.

He does not want to believe that Jasmine is working behind his back, but he has to check. "Jasmine, how did you know where to find me when you came from San Antonio?"

Jasmine paused for a second, surprised that we went to that topic. Is he going to ask her more questions about Aiden and his fiancée? But she can't tell him that she tracked his phone because he will ask 'why?' and she will say that his calendar was empty, and she was jealous… and Marcus does NOT like when women claim ownership of him.

"I am your assistant. How can I not know where you are?", Jasmine responded with a smile.

Marcus nodded in understanding.

Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Marcus returned to the documents in front of him, and he will not ask more about that topic.

What she didn't know is that Marcus' nod was one of disappointment. Her answer confirmed that she is lying. Well, Marcus didn't reach where he is because he trusts people, but some part of him believed that Jasmine might be a woman by his side who has the capability to be of use for more than just bed warming and executing orders.

Now he needs to reexamine his understanding of this woman. Is she even executing his orders? If she lied about how she found him, what else she lied about? Marcus sighed while confirming to himself that he is on his own. He can't rely on anyone because people are either incapable or… traitors. Ah, it's lonely at the top.

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