Arthur sat looking straight ahead, seemingly trying to string words together in his head. Once he found the right words, he wrote them down on a piece of paper.
Lately, Arthur had been writing a lot. Ever since Liliana sent him a letter that time, he and his mother had been writing back and forth once a week. It was enough to keep Arthur entertained in the midst of his current situation. Liliana also seems to be very happy every time she receives a letter back from Arthur.
"I hope we can talk in person soon, Mom. Not through letters like now," Arthur muttered as he folded the letter he had just finished writing. Tomorrow, he planned to deliver the letter to Liliana along with some items he had bought especially for his mother.
It had been almost three weeks since Arthur had moved into his new home. So far, Eve still hadn't realized that she had left the apartment for so long. It seemed like Dave had completely shut her out. Enough to make Arthur comfortable actually, as if Arthur was on vacation without having to deal with her.
Arthur's daydream was interrupted by the system screen suddenly turning on, without being connected. There seemed to be a mission from the system that he had to complete.
"You have a new mission from the system. If you do it successfully, your points and account balance will increase a hundredfold. However, if you fail, your score will return to zero." The system announced through a voice over.
'ACCEPT MISSION.
'REFUSE.
Arthur thought for a moment. This was his chance to increase his points and the amount of money in his account quickly. However, the risk was also high. If he failed, he would lose everything he had accumulated so far. It was a difficult choice.
"Sometimes we have to risk everything to succeed," Arthur later muttered to himself. He decided to accept the mission.
After sighing for a moment, Arthur selected the accept option. The system screen lit up again and displayed the mission Arthur had to complete.
'MAKE THE TARGET LOSE 10 MILLION DOLLARS OF THE COMPANY'S MONEY IN LESS THAN ONE MONTH. TARGET = DAVE GREENS.
Arthur was a little stunned when he read the mission. He did intend to bankrupt the Great Food Company to bring Dave down. But making the man lose 10 million dollars of the company's money in less than a month was a bit hard to imagine. How was he supposed to make it happen?
"Dave has to fail a big project," Arthur said after thinking hard for a while.
"Haish, why should the mission have a time limit. Something like that can't be done in a hurry." Arthur grumbled slightly.
"By the way, can the mission acceptance be canceled or not, anyway?" the man asked himself again.
The system screen lit up again and displayed a text.
'MISSIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED CANNOT BE CANCELED. CANCELING A MISSION IS THE SAME AS FAILING TO COMPLETE THE MISSION.'
"Huh, alright. Let's think hard about how to complete the mission on time." Arthur finally could only sigh in resignation. He began to think seriously because he had no choice but to complete the mission on time.
A moment later, Arthur remembered Eve's promise at the beginning of their relationship the other day. She said she would arrange for Arthur to get the tender for the construction of the Great Food Company's new factory. Before Eve's betrayal, Arthur had planned to build a new factory that would become the main production site. It was a big project, so Arthur had planned the project very carefully.
"If the project is handled by a fake construction company, Dave will lose a lot of the company's money, right?" Arthur's smile immediately appeared when he said that. His eyes lit up instantly. He immediately knew what to do.
He couldn't help but admit that he still really needed Eve to carry out his actions. He had to seduce the woman and trick her once again.
Although reluctant, Arthur tried to contact Eve through a phone call. But unexpectedly, Eve rejected the call. Arthur repeated the call several times, but Eve continued to reject it.
Arthur was stunned for a moment as he stared at his phone screen. He thought hard about what was going on right now. Did Eve's refusal just now have anything to do with her recent disappearance? Could Eve have known Arthur's true intentions? But how could she know?
All sorts of prejudices filled Arthur's head, making him feel a little uneasy. It would be a pity to be found out now, because he was in danger of not being able to complete the mission if he didn't use Eve's help.
"If that woman is no longer usable, I'll have to find another way." Arthur muttered. He went back to thinking about how to keep his plan going without having to rely on Eve's role.
In the midst of Arthur's confusion, his cell phone suddenly rang. It seemed that Eve was trying to call him back.
Arthur didn't waste any time. He immediately accepted the call.
"Why did you reject my call?" Arthur asked matter-of-factly after he received the phone call.
"I was with Dave. I almost got caught," Eve said in a half-whisper.
Arthur inwardly breathed a sigh of relief because it seemed that Eve didn't know anything about him yet.
"What's wrong?" Eve asked.
Arthur sighed for a moment, trying to make the words he was about to say sound sincere.
"You haven't contacted me lately. I miss you," Arthur then said in a low tone.
There was a long sigh on the other side.
"I'm sorry. It's not that I didn't call you on purpose. Dave kept me on the edge of my seat. That man is getting crazy and possessive," Eve said.
"I thought you were leaving me and forgetting our plans," Arthur said again.
"Of course not." Eve replied firmly.
Arthur smiled wryly. Now he was sure that Eve could still be used as a tool.
"I want to believe that you're not avoiding me, but bad thoughts keep coming up since we haven't seen each other in a while." Arthur sounded a little complaining, as if he was a girl sulking over being ignored by his girlfriend.
"Tonight he said Dave has to go away on an urgent matter. He didn't invite me, so I can come to your apartment," Eve said comfortingly.
"I'm not at the apartment. I'm also out of town on business. Why don't we meet somewhere." Arthur made a suggestion. Of course he didn't want Eve to know that he was no longer living in the apartment.
"Okay, where do we meet?" Eve asked.
"You decide the place. I'll come," Arthur said.
Eve was silent for a moment before agreeing to Arthur's suggestion. The woman then mentioned a place on the outskirts of the city.
"I'll wait for you there. But you're really coming, aren't you, Eve?" asked Arthur in a hopeful tone.
"Of course. I miss you a lot too. I feel like I'm going crazy lately," Eve said. Her voice sounded so frustrated.
"Why, did Dave Greens hurt you?" asked Arthur rather angrily, as if he really cared about Eve.
"His behavior is getting more and more insane. He hurts me a lot even though he might not do it on purpose." Eve said.
"To be honest, I really need to be comforted by you, Artha. Dave almost drove me crazy," Eve added.
Arthur's smile grew. When Eve was in this unstable state, it would be easier for him to manipulate her mind.
"I'll entertain you as much as you want, Eve. Just make sure you really come to see me tonight. Let's entertain each other," Arthur said.
"I hope we can get Dave down soon. I can't stand being around that guy anymore. I feel like I'm going to die." Eve complained again with a desperate sigh.
"Don't worry, Eve. I've already devised a plan. But to do that, I still need your help. I hope you still want to work together to do that so that we can be free to have a relationship, without having to hide anymore like now." Arthur said convincingly.
"Is the plan really going to bring Dave down?" Eve asked enthusiastically.
"Yes, if it works, then Dave will find it hard to get back on his feet," Arthur said.
Eve was silent for a moment. I don't know what she was thinking right now.
"I will definitely do anything that can free me from Dave," Eve then said with determination.