“I didn’t come here to buy Del Rosario Insurance. I came to buy the seat at the head of La Camara.”
At my words, Celeste shouted in panic.
She called for the guards outside.
“Bodyguards!!!! Security!!! What are you doing? Get in here, now!!!!!”
She screamed at the top of her lungs, but the door did not open.
There was probably no one outside the door.
Allen and his team had most likely subdued all of Celeste’s bodyguards and were waiting for us.
No matter how much Celeste screamed, no one would come through that door.
When things didn’t go her way, she hurriedly pulled out her phone.
She had to call the police, at least.
She had to call someone.
Somehow, she had to get out of this situation.
But with a single gesture from me, her phone was already in my hand.
I’d even taken the gun from her hand. A phone was nothing.
“Huh?”
Only her startled cry echoed through the conference room like a scream.
Right now, she had nothing.
She was a woman who could have anything she wanted, but here and now, the only thing she could do was let out a bewildered cry.
She couldn’t receive help from outside, and even her phone had been taken away.
At this moment, Celeste’s power and wealth had become utterly useless.
There was only a frail woman in her fifties sitting there.
“Who were you going to call? Esteban, the retired soldier? Or Miguel, the boss of the police organization?”
“H-how do you know that?”
“You think I came here blindly? I at least looked into who you are and who you’ve been colluding with to pull this shit.”
“You… you… and you still came here knowing that? You really must have wanted to die. Once you’re marked by us, you’re dead.”
A frail woman in her fifties with nothing to her name started making threats.
“Yeah. If you walk out of here like this, I’ll die. That’s why I’m going to kill you. I don’t want to die either.”
“Puhah. If you kill me, you won’t be able to buy Del Rosario Insurance.”
“What did you think I said? I’m not interested in that crap. Why would I take on such a troublesome asset? That was just an excuse to meet you.”
“Y-you…”
“What I’m interested in is the seat at the head of La Camara. But if you’re alive, it’ll be difficult to take that seat. So, honestly, I came here to kill you. Thanks for agreeing to meet me so readily.”
“The seat at the head of La Camara isn’t something you can obtain just by killing me. La Camara exists because its members trust and follow me completely. Killing me doesn’t mean you can become the head of La Camara.”
“Thanks for the advice. But I’ll handle that myself. I’d feel too bad if I got your help with even that, when I’m going to kill you and all.”
“D-don’t do that. Let’s talk this over. I can sell Del Rosario Insurance to you at a good price, and I can arrange a high position for you in La Camara. There’s a path where both of us can be happy, so is there really any need to take the hard way?”
Even in this situation, she attempted to negotiate.
It was an attitude I should watch and learn from.
Even now, she was trying to secure money.
“You said happiness can’t be shared, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“That’s what you said. When you were doing an M&A with another insurance company. The other side said there was a way for both companies to coexist and asked to live together, and you said that, didn’t you? That happiness can’t be shared.”
“No. There must be some misunderstanding.”
Her expression became desperate.
She forced herself to deny it.
“Fuck, why does that damn misunderstanding show up every single time without fail?”
“Don’t do this…”
“Enough. Scott.”
“Yes, sir.”
Scott, who had been sitting behind me, answered.
“Let’s wrap this up quickly and go home. I’m tired.”
“How should we handle it? Should we make it an accidental death?”
“Is there no natural death option? I’d prefer natural causes.”
“Natural causes are a hassle…”
Scott grumbled.
He wouldn’t be Scott if he didn’t grumble.
Anyway, once this job is over, I’m putting Scott through training again.
Tires and Scott are best when they’re rolled hard.
He had lost some weight, but it still wasn’t enough.
Scott waddled toward Celeste.
The mere act of Scott approaching was an enormous terror to Celeste.
Normally, she feared no one.
But she had been consumed by the primal terror called death.
With each step Scott took closer, it felt as though her entire body stiffened.
Her hair stood on end, her breath caught, and her heart seemed to twist.
But Scott asked in a kindly tone, far removed from such terror.
“There’s cardiac arrest and cerebral hemorrhage. Which would be more comfortable for you? Or if you have a chronic illness, we can tailor it that way. If you have high blood pressure or diabetes, we can match it to that.”
“Why are you doing this to me…”
In the end, she shed tears of fear.
She had been called the White Empress, but before death, she was endlessly shabby.
“I’ll give you everything. Just spare my life.”
She even began begging for her life.
“Why are you being so tacky? You lived splendidly. Let’s go splendidly when you leave, too.”
“No, I said I’ll help you. I’ll help you become the head of La Camara.”
“How will you help?”
“I can go with you and tell them you’re the successor who will follow after me.”
“Say it into this. Tell me how you’ll say it.”
Celeste gave a plausible explanation as to why I should inherit La Camara, and I recorded the scene on my phone.
It was a video with not a shred of sincerity in it.
But it didn’t matter.
Celeste personally stating that she would make me the successor of La Camara was enough.
People live according to the situation. No one lives by sincerity.
“Even if there’s no heart in it, isn’t this too heartless? Even I don’t believe it watching this. Even if we all know it’s a lie, shouldn’t you make it a little convincing? Don’t you think?”
“I told you, it’s not a lie.”
“Scott. Did that just sound like a lie? Or like she meant it?”
“I couldn’t feel even one gram of sincerity.”
“See? He says it’s a lie. Do we really need to repeat this kind of wasteful process? If I kill you, it all ends.”
“I’ll give you Del Rosario Insurance. No, I’ll give you the Del Rosario Group.”
“Don’t worry. Once you’re dead, we’ll take it on our own.”
“What?”
“Even if you die, your fingers will still be left. We can use those to write up the contract.”
“No. That’s illegal.”
Celeste retorted as if it were absurd.
“It’s fine. If you point a gun at a judge, they’ll say it’s valid. If you even give them taxi fare on the way home, they become absolutely loyal. I’ve done it a few times, so I know.”
“You…”
“You didn’t know? I’m a rebel and a gangster. I don’t follow things like the law.”
“Then you’re…”
“Yeah. That’s right. I’m the person you were looking for. The one who took Melchor’s assets and messed with your Del Rosario Insurance.”
“Eek…”
“Done with your questions? If the Q&A session is over, shall we adjourn? Let’s all go our separate ways.”
“No…”
“See you in hell. I don’t think I’ll be making it to heaven either. Let’s have a sauna in the sulfur fire there.”
“Sir. Mixed bathing is not allowed.”
Scott cut in tactlessly.
I’m definitely going to run you ragged.
“Really? Sorry. He says mixed bathing isn’t allowed.”
“Don’t do this, please spare me. I’ll do anything you tell me to. I mean it. I can swear it. I’m telling you the truth. Please, I’m begging you. Spare me…”
With those words, Celeste collapsed forward as if falling on her face.
Because Scott had struck her from behind.
Looking at Scott, I said dryly,
“Let’s end it as a traffic accident.”
“Yes.”
*******
Breaking news.
Celeste Del Rosario, chairwoman of the Del Rosario Group in the Philippines, died in a traffic accident early this morning.
It has been confirmed that while returning home after work, the chairwoman’s vehicle crashed directly into a nearby building.
Chairwoman Celeste is said to have died instantly at the scene from the impact.
CCTV analysis captured footage of the vehicle repeatedly losing its balance and swerving.
This is known to be a typical pattern commonly seen in drunk-driving accidents.
The police are expanding their investigation while leaving all possibilities open, including the possibility of drunk driving.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
We will bring you further details as soon as they are confirmed.
.
.
.
Renzo, Celeste’s husband, who had been watching the news, could not understand the situation.
Celeste did not drive.
She had a personal chauffeur.
She even worked in the car.
That was why she did not drive.
Because she said time was too precious.
She did not drink alcohol either.
Because she said it clouded the mind.
And yet, drunk driving?
He couldn’t believe it.
That was not the only suspicious point.
Before her death, she had signed a suspicious contract.
She had transferred all the shares and assets she owned to someone else.
To someone he had never even heard of in her lifetime.
And that person was from the Cayman Islands.
What reason would Celeste have to get involved with someone from the Cayman Islands?
And right before she died, at that.
This was a conspiracy.
A massive conspiracy unknown to Renzo had killed his wife.
What came first for Renzo was anger rather than grief over his wife’s death.
He had to find them.
He had to find the culprit who killed his wife Celeste,
and he had to recover the assets his wife had been robbed of.
He searched everywhere.
He went to every place that might be of help to him.
The police, members of the National Assembly, La Camara, even chairmen of the business world.
If there was anywhere he could receive even the slightest help, he went.
But nowhere was there anyone who said they would help Renzo.
Some people did not hesitate to say they were glad Celeste was dead.
That was how much Celeste had been hated by people.
They had been too afraid to say it normally, but now that Celeste was dead, there was nothing to hold them back.
Even so, Renzo felt wronged.
It could not end like this.
Celeste’s end could not be like this.
She had been a giant of the Philippines.
Her death would not become great simply because her funeral was extravagant.
Even if she could not come back to life, she had to die with honor.
She could not become a drunk driver who caused an accident.
First, he had to clear her name of the disgrace of drunk driving.
He had to prove that she had been murdered by someone.
At the very least, he had to prove that her death was unjust.
Before Renzo, a man in a Hawaiian shirt appeared.
No, when he came home, the man was sitting comfortably as if it were his own house, reading a book.
“You’re back? It’s been hard lately, hasn’t it?”
“W-who are you… in someone else’s house… without permission…”
“If you find out who I am, you’ll die. Are you okay with that?”
“What?”
Renzo carefully observed the man in the Hawaiian shirt.
He looked infinitely frivolous, but charisma that made him impossible to treat carelessly was ingrained in his body.
Without realizing it, Renzo shrank before him.
“I know what you’ve been thinking and what you’ve been going around doing lately. Don’t.”
“What did you say?”
“I said don’t. That’s the only advice I can give you for your sake. I don’t want to lay a hand on you too.”
At that moment, Renzo felt it.
This man was the culprit who had killed his wife.
He had thought that if he found the culprit who killed his wife, rage would surge up inside him,
that he would tear the man to pieces on the spot, but reality was not like that.
The thought that he had to survive came first.
“Honestly, you knew too, didn’t you? What your wife had been going around doing.”
“……”
“If you lived well thanks to your wife, you should be satisfied with that. Just how much more did you want to have?”
“I was only…”
“I know. That you were born as the young master of a rich family and lived your whole life in luxury. But your family fell, and even though you knew what your wife was doing, you pretended not to see because you couldn’t give up acting like a young master. Far from stopping her, you went along with it. You helped her.”
“That was for the Philippines…”
“You cared so much for the Philippines, yet the Philippines became poor and you people became rich?”
“No, things just turned out that way while we were working. What do you want me to do about it?”
Renzo shouted.
In this bewildering situation, Renzo did not even know what he himself was saying.
He was merely spitting out whatever came to mind.
“The fact that I came to speak to you directly—consider it the last bit of consideration I can give you.”
“You think I’ll just stay quiet like this? I’ll use everything I have to catch you. And then I’ll throw you in prison.”
Since things had already come to this, Renzo raised his voice.
He found himself too pathetic for not even being able to utter a sound before the man who had killed his wife.
He felt pathetic for having been frightened by a man like that.
Even so, the man was still perfectly at ease.
“Hahaha. You know from meeting them, don’t you? They won’t help you. They’re parasite bastards. They cling to whichever side has more to suck dry. When they clung to Celeste, there was something to suck dry over there. Now there’s simply more to suck dry on my side.”
“One day, the same thing will happen to you.”
“That’s right. I think so too.”
“And you’ll go to prison.”
“Probably? But did Celeste go to prison? After doing so many terrible things, after stealing other people’s happiness, did she go to prison?”
“That’s because the judiciary said she wasn’t guilty…”
“I’m going to be innocent too. So don’t pick such a reckless fight.”
“Even so, I can’t just sit still like this. I’ll get revenge somehow.”
“I’ll be rooting for you. For your revenge. Before that, check once more what you have to fight with. The Del Rosario Group? Political and business connections? Do you still have any of that left?”
“I still have plenty of weapons. I’ll take you down no matter what.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be right where I am. So if you’re confident, come find me. I’ll be waiting.”
“……”
Hawaiian paused for a moment before speaking.
“If it were me, instead of talking about revenge, I would have reflected and apologized. Like wife, like husband, is that it? Then I’ll treat you exactly the same. I’ll return to you the exact methods you used to torment people and steal their property. I’ll take your wealth with those exact methods, and I’ll threaten you. The world hasn’t changed at all. Only the positions of power have switched. You’ve merely gone from the one on top to the one underneath. Try living in the world of the powerless. The day will come when you miss this shitty day.”
Hearing those words, Renzo trembled.
He was already beginning to feel it, little by little.
It was reality.
The gazes of the people who had welcomed him wherever he went had turned cold.
They no longer received him warmly.
Without money or Celeste, Renzo was nothing.
He was just a bothersome overgrown child.
He had said he would get revenge, but honestly, he had no confidence he could.
Still, even if it was only words, he wanted to say he would take revenge.
Since things had come to this anyway, he wanted to ask what he was curious about.
“But why did you kill her?”
“Who? Your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Why did I kill her… For the Philippines, for justice, for revenge on behalf of the wronged… It wasn’t anything grand like that. Celeste was simply blocking what I was trying to do. She couldn’t be persuaded. She wouldn’t negotiate. I had no choice.”
“……”
The man shrugged.
Renzo had nothing more to say to that.
The man’s words were clear and simple.
It wasn’t for some great cause or sense of mission.
He was simply saying she had been an obstacle in front of him, so he removed her.
That meant that if Renzo stood in that man’s way, he could be killed at any time as well.
That man was dangerous.
He could not be blocked.
Not long after, Renzo liquidated all the property he owned and left the Philippines with his children.
Leaving behind the words that he would never return.