An expensive coffee cup fell onto the spotless wooden floor and shattered.
Hector's fingers trembled, a tangle of emotions crossing his face.
There was shock, anger, confusion... and deeply buried fear and wariness.
When he heard his subordinate's report that the logistics warehouse storing large quantities of glitter had been destroyed, fury surged through him.
It also made him realize something he had anticipated but refused to truly face:
The people who had repeatedly sabotaged his revenge plans had stopped running from his pursuit. They had come back to kill him.
Clearly, they too understood that either he died or they did.
"Mr. Hector?"
The subordinate reporting to Hector trembled, terrified that one wrong move would anger the boss.
Yet, to his surprise, Hector merely waved a hand. "I understand."
The subordinate froze.
He understood?
That was it?
Hector's calm reaction left the subordinate relieved to have escaped disaster, but also bewildered.
He had thought he was dead for certain, with absolutely no chance of escaping.
But Hector neither flew into a rage as expected nor even looked angry. He was calm-far too calm, in fact.
He seemed to notice that his subordinate was still standing before him, waiting for instructions.
Hector waved a hand. "You can go now."
Not daring to delay, the subordinate hastily bowed and fled the office as though he had been granted a pardon.
He feared that if he stayed a second longer, he would be fed to the lions.
Only after his subordinate left did Hector return to his desk, pull open a drawer, and take out a small, dark-orange pill bottle.
He unscrewed the cap, tipped out several pills, and shoved them into his mouth.
He swallowed them straight down without any water.
Hector looked slightly better after taking the medicine, though it