*Ding *Dong*

“Hey Eva, we shouldn’t barge in the other people’s house in the morning.” Mia was trying to hide behind Eva.

“Barge? He should be happy that I didn’t bring my bat.”

“Who are you?” a man opened the door. Not a man but a boy to be precise. Looking at the little boy Eva was unable to spit the fire she was containing in herself.

“What do you want, old lady? If you aren’t going to say anything then I’m going to close the door.”

‘Like father, like son. Wait for a minute.’ Eva shouted, “Who are you calling old lady?” Eva was about to charge at the boy but Mia stopped her.

“Where is your father?”

“My father is at the office.”

“Your mother?”

And he closed the door on their face.

“Hey? Hey? What was that?”

“Eva calm down? We will be late at the…”

Right at that moment, the door opened again. Behind it stood a woman. One couldn’t guess her age but she looked like an office lady. She not just looked like one but also dressed like one.

“Sorry, my son’s rude behaviour. But how can I help you?” The woman looked confused.

“She moved into that apartment, yesterday.” Mia pointed at the door behind them, but before she could continue her words, Eva burst out.

“And your husband attacked us with a baseball bat. And destroyed my new sound system.”

“My husband?”

The confused look of the woman enraged Eva more, “Yes, you might not know but he barged in my apartment and said he did it because the sound was disturbing the sleep of his sweetheart.”

Listening to Eva’s words the woman was able to comprehend the mystery. She put up a smile and said, “Please wait a moment.” Entered the room.

“She was blushing.”

Mia shook her head and whispered, “If my boyfriend had done the same for me then that would have been my reaction too.”

“Please take this.” The woman came back and gave them a card, similar to the one the man had handed her, “I don’t know how much it costs, but if you need more please don’t hesitate to ask for more.” This time she handed them a visiting card.

Before they could respond, she smiled at them, “Please, we are busy now. We can talk later, have a good day.” And closed the door.

“What just happened?” Veins popped up on her beautiful face that had turned red in rage. Eva was about to bang on the door but failed to succeed.

“Eva, you should stop now.”

“Did you see her? Throwing money like that? Who do they think they are? They don’t know me. I will drag them to the police.”

“Now, now. Calm down. Let’s go to the studio first and…”

Mia dragged Eva away from the door. One could hear her anger even after the elevator closed its door.

*****------*****

Owen was happy. Well, happy wasn’t the right words to explain his ecstasy.

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‘Three years, three long years. I have given my all to the group for three years and now a platinum album. No no no, looking at the trends it will go double platinum by the end of the month.’

He was excited, too excited to sleep at night and his phone didn’t have any intention of letting him. Still, he was happy but…

Looking at the girls in front of him, he felt that someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him.

“As long as he is there I will not join any show,” Eva shouted.

‘Let’s say he is a gangster but what is the relation between him and your reason between not joining the show?’ Owen wanted to curse but it was her family who was funding the whole group and if she…

‘Only one who can control her now…’ Owen turned to Iris to help. The dependable big sister of the group, Iris just smiled at him, “Even I want to meet him once.”

‘What? It’s not even a day that they had tested success and their personality took a total 180-degree turn? How unlucky could I be?’

“Ok, Ok I get it. Don’t worry Eva, He will be behind the bar before long. And I will see if I could get them out of the apartment.”

“I want them out, by the time I return to the apartment, otherwise…”

“Ok, ok. He will be out.” Owen nodded vigorously. ‘Who do you think I am? Real estate police?’

“Why are you shouting?” Mia who had fallen asleep protested, however, it just oiled the anger inside Owen.

“Why are you sleeping now? We have a press conference in an hour. If you sleep now your face will be all puffy.”

“Manager, Please let me sleep a little more. They didn’t let me sleep last night.” Her objection would have met another rejection but Owen’s phone rang first.

“Hello.” He screamed at the phone.

“Manager Owen, the people from the Pod securities had arrived.”

“What should I do? Should I take them to lunch?” The woman on the other side was shocked by the sudden outburst and didn’t know how to respond.

‘Useless. Every one of them is useless.’ Owen took a deep breath, “Bring them to the floor, give them the details of the programme. Tell them, if anybody touches the girls, then it wouldn’t just be the job they will be losing.

“Ok.” The answer that came from the other side was weak.

“What about the make-up artist?”

“They were waiting in the make-up room.”

“Why didn’t anybody let me know.” He disconnected the line without giving any chance to justify herself.

‘Useless. I will get all of them out.’ he was cursing outside, but as soon as he entered the room his expression changed again.

“Yes, yes, brother I will go with you. Just get him out of that apartment.” Eva was talking to his brother on the phone.

‘The President of the AK pharmaceutical?’ Thinking about it, one couldn’t help but shudder in fear.

Though they might not be comparable to the business giant SHM group, at least when it comes to pharmaceutical and electronics the AK group is in the top three.

No matter who they are, they will think twice before going against the AK group. Now that the girl had told his brother, all Owen had felt was sympathy for the man he had never met.

‘At least I don’t have to put my hand into the mess.’ Owen, with a smile on his face, announced, “Come on girls, we have to go. Only 55 minutes left. Quick quick.”

Still, Owen had to put too much effort to send them to the make-up room. About 40 minutes later, he knocked on the door of the make-up room. After getting the confirmation he entered with three bodyguards behind him.

“Wow, The girls look beautiful as usual. Chop chop. We don’t have much time to waste. Oh! These three are specially trained bodyguards.”

“As you are now a B-listed celebrity, it’s time you should have your bodyguard. So they are Noah, Mateo and Aiden.”

“YOU…”

The girls’ reaction wasn’t something Owen had expected. One is cowering in fear, Iris’s eye was shining and…

“Why are you here?” Eva was screaming at the top of her lungs. “Are you following me?”

‘Who? Which one are you talking about?’ Owen turned toward the new faces to see who was the accused one, but the man walked passed him even before he could look at his face.

No matter how much she screamed, fear was embedded in her bones. She took a step back by instinct, “What? Now that I have called my brother, you are afraid?”

‘Could it be the network of the AK groups was so fast? No, they were here even before Eva had called her brother. Then?’ A bad premonition rose in his heart as Owen moved to intervene but it was too late.

As soon as the man put his hand towards Eva, she jumped on the chair in fear.

“Wh-what do you want?”

“Give it back.”

The man’s voice was like a bucket of cold water. Eva couldn’t help but shudder in fear, “Wh-What?”

“Return the card you had extorted from Arya.”

With his words, silence enveloped the room. Everyone heard him loud and clear. As a result, all the eyes turned towards Eva, who could only mumble, “Ex-extorted?”