The Alpha's Villainess Wife-Chapter 16: Ten Million

"What happened back there? Who was it?" Patro questioned one of his men who was driving the car.

The man’s gaze jerked to the rearview mirror. "I’m not sure...sir. But when I came in there, you were unconscious on the floor. I couldn’t find anyone else in the room."

Patro angrily ran his fingers through the strands of his black hair. None of this made freaking sense to him. Someone had hit him, but he couldn’t recall who it had been. The only thing he seemed to remember was losing his temper on Eve, and then as if things took a turn before he could register any of it, he blacked out.

He was sure it couldn’t be Eve. Impossible. Not even five of Eve could hurt him that way.

"Did you get the CCTV camera inside that room?" he questioned.

The man shook his head.

"No, sir. The CCTV within the room was turned off, so there was nothing for us to see."

Patro narrowed his eyes and then suddenly began chuckling at himself. So this was her plan, huh? Getting him into that room, setting him up, and provoking him?

He laughed more, unable to believe he’d fallen for it.

"Good one, Eve. Good one."

She played him pretty well this time around. But she just—

The phone in his pocket began ringing and before he answered, he said to the driver, "Go back into that building later and get me every CCTV footage, got it? I know that bitch couldn’t have done this alone."

"Yes, sir."

————

A matte black car pulled over and the chauffeur stepped down, hurrying over to open the back door.

A pair of polished shoes settled on the concrete floor first and then the person came out. Malakai straightened up and adjusted his suit vest. He tossed his jacket over to the driver and began to approach the building right in front of him, his hands shoved into the pocket of his pants.

The building held a sign above it. [TUD: The Ultimate Discuss] It was one of the biggest publishing firms in the pack—and definitely the most reliable.

Malakai stepped into the building and came to a stop. First few pairs of eyes fell on him and as if having recognized him, they grew like saucers and one of the employees immediately rose from her seat.

She rushed towards him and bowed rapidly, a big smile on her face. "M-mr. Nasty. Welcome to TUD."

"Can I speak with your boss?" he asked.

She frantically nodded at him and hurried off. A few seconds later, she returned with a middle-aged omega woman, blonde bob cut hair, face filled with smiles, and a height of no less than five foot five.

"Mr. Basti. Please call me, Elowen. Welcome to TUD." She bowed slightly and rose back with a smile that had somehow stretched farther. "What brings you here?"

"I have...a request I would like to make with you?" Malakai responded.

"Oh." She nodded. "Please follow me."

They headed to her office where he sat opposite her, legs crossed and fingers steepled.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?"

"No. There is no need for that."

Elowen took her seat. "I want to say congratulations on your...recent marriage." She cleared her throat. "H-how is your wife?"

Malakai, for the first time, smiled. "She’s perfectly fine. Sound asleep at home like a baby."

"Ah..." She nodded, chuckling with nervous laughter. "That’s—that’s good. So..." She hesitated. "Is there...a problem?"

"No." Malakai shook his head. "But I have a request."

"What...request?"

"You were present at the auction tonight, weren’t you?"

Her eyes flickered.

"You’re also planning to publish about it, are you not?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Yes...I am," she responded.

"And you’re going to do so in Patro’s favor, won’t you?"

An awkward chuckle bubbled out of Elowen and she dismissed his words. "Sir, our firm doesn’t work like that. We’re not exactly under anyone, you know."

"Really?"

Malakai’s stare was as blank as it could be. There was no trace of amusement.

She fidgeted with her fingers. If this man decided to buy this firm, to burn it to the ground, she doubted he wouldn’t be able to. She didn’t own TUD and therefore couldn’t afford to offend him in any way. Her manager role was a big deal to her—it wasn’t easy to secure the position.

That was why they’d always gave in to Patro Zolotov whenever he got into any scandal. Offending these big names was not wise. But this time around, she had Malakai Basti instead of Patro Zolotov seated right in front of her

Clearing her throat again, she asked, "What is your request? What would you like me to do?"

Malakai relaxed in his seat and slanted his head to the side. "Patro will one way or the other be able to buy away the other publishing firms to write in his favor of tonight’s incident. So for that, I’ll deposit ten million weils to TUD."

At the end of his sentence, Elowen almost choked on her saliva. "T-ten million?" Not even Patro paid that much.

Was the moon goddess on their side or did they strike some kind of luck? Ten million weils was huge.

"Consider it compensation, because I’m going to need you to stand behind my wife even if every publishing company succumbs to Patro. Do you understand me?" His voice was rough.

Elowen hastily nodded. "Of course, sir. Your wife has our utmost support."

Malakai pulled up a smile and rattled the chair back to stand on his feet. "That is all. I assume this is a deal made?"

Elowen rose from her seat.

"You have my utmost assurance, sir," she said. Then asked, "May I inquire why you chose our company?"

Malakai paused for a second in thought and shrugged. "I’ve read one of your works. You are an excellent writer. It is as simple as that." And with that, he turned and began to head out of the door.

"Expect the alert in five minutes."

The door slammed closed.