He arrived at the office with a stern face. Harvin was already there sitting on the couch drinking, who knows what and looked like having fun looking at his phone by the look of his face. When he reached his table, Harvin looked at him with a smirk.
“Are you mocking me?” he asked him with a straight voice.
“Nope. But have you seen this?” Harvin said and gave him his phone. He looked at him for a moment. His eyes asked what it was and Harvin just signaled to the phone. The video is a mess but seconds later, his face shows up. The daughter of the assassin was there filming the video. She’s filming him, to be exact. He was there looking from afar, then she handed him a drink. What happened next didn’t bother him at all. They were making out. Well, she threw herself at him. Then he somewhat remembers what happened that time.

He is feeling energized at the moment. The woman he was fantasying about was there right next to him. She kissed him first and he felt the urge to kiss back. In between their kisses, he asks her. ‘Who are you?’ or ‘What’s your name?’. But he didn’t get an answer. Little did he know that he mistook her for someone else.

“Sir? Alexander!” Harvin shouted and brought him back to reality.
“She demanded from you. She said she'd be here at any minute now.”
“Who?” Harvin took his phone and pointed at the woman in the video.
“Her.”
“Tell her I’m not here.”
Then the woman in the video entered the office with her bodyguards and my men tried to stop her.
“It’s too late for that. I’m already here.” She said and sat on the couch opposite to Harvin’s.
“I can see that,” he replied, raised his hand, and signaled his men to go out.
“What do you want?”
“You!”
“That’s difficult.”
“Just come with me to an event tonight. I need a date.”
“No.”
“Please. Pretty please?” she batted her eyes and pouted with hands clasped together. She doesn’t look cute at all but looked constipated.
“You have men linedup for you.” Harvin spoke.
“No, I don’t like them. I want Alexander.”
Alexander eyed Harvin, saying ‘Make her gone, she’s annoying’.
“He’s a busy man Amanda. Find someone else who’s free and wants to go with you.”
“hmp! Then why don’t you come with me, Harvin? You have a nice face and body. You look like a prince in that little suit of yours. And I wonder how you would look without them.”
“Thank you for that compliment. But it’s a no for me.”
She then stomped her feet and walked away with a pissed face. Making her gone is successful.
“I will never like her. I admit I love women, but not a woman named Amanda. She’s just lucky her father is powerful enough to protect her.” he ranted. Her father was a good friend of Alexander’s father and he respected him. Amanda wanted to be a center of attention in everything. And whatever that can help her with that, she will grab it. Everyone knew that and just pretended to go along because of her father.
“That is so prince-like of you.”
“And now you’re making fun of me? You do remember tonight’s auction, do you?” Harvin asked him.
“Hmm! I know. How could I not, when the item is there.” he looked at him and smirked. He really wanted that item and he didn’t want it to be in possession with the others.

The auction house looked bigger on the inside. It’s like a theater. Seats were lined up with a little stage in the center. They arrived just in time and sat in the fifth row. In the seat, where you can see almost everything since it is elevated. The first few items didn’t interest him at all. The item he’s interested in is still not showing up and he's losing his patience. So, he wandered his eyes in the room. There are familiar people and there aren’t. They are all wearing masks that he thinks is pointless if it is for protecting their identity. Maybe it worked for others, but surely not for him.
Then it was time for the long wait. The item is there.
“Many of you here are looking forward to this item here. Now let me present to you this.” the cloth that was covering the item is removed.
“This dagger is made of pure blue jadeite. Blue jade is considered the rarest jade. Let’s start the bidding at five million. Shall we?”
Others bid at twenty, thirty, forty-five, then fifty. Alexander picked up his number and smiled.
“A hundred.”
“Going once. Going twice.”
“A hundred and fifty million,” said a man below and closer to the stage. He looked at him and gritted his teeth. He knew him. He is his most hated enemy. Gunther Calypso. Ranked second in the world. Yes, he is that rich and powerful, but he can never surpass Alexander.
“Two hundred”
“Two fifty”
“Three”
“Four”
“Five hundred million” he said, and felt so annoyed. But his mind is on the item. He cannot accept it if it is in the hands of another person. Especially Gunther. The bidding kept going until it reached the end with Gunther surrendering.
“Going once? Twice? Anyone? And the item was sold to number twenty-six for two billion. Congratulations. That’s all for this evening and I wish you a goodnight. Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming.”
The auction has ended and the item is in his hand. He felt satisfied with it to include in his collections. They’re about to leave, but Gunther’s voice keeps him.
“That was a little bit of competition back there. Too bad I cannot get hold of that special item. It’s very useful for me,” Gunther said with a cunning look.
“Gunther. I didn’t know it was you back then. This stupid mask makes it harder for me to recognize. Especially the one that does not interest me.”
“Oh! That hurts Alex. Did you know that there’s a story about that dagger? Let me tell you. About ninety-nine years ago, an enchantress was stabbed using that dagger and also, they used that dagger to take out her heart. They said that that dagger is her weakness. Interesting, isn’t it? If that is in my possession, I would probably try it if I found that enchantress. Wouldn’t you agree? Let me leave first Alex, my woman is bored. She wants to go home early. Goodnight, Alex.”
Of course, he knew about the story. That’s why he wanted that dagger in his possession. How great it would be. Then he saw the woman Gunther was talking about. She’s somewhat familiar. He felt like he just saw her. ‘Stupid mask’ he thought. Because of the mask, he wouldn’t be able to properly look at her. But then, he just shrugged it off. It’s Gunther’s woman. He doesn’t care.
Arrived at his house, Harvin is still there following him. He took out the dagger and took a look at it. The dagger looked amazing. Its length is about ten inches. The blade is blue and made of jadeite. The sharp side of the blade glows under the light. Then there’s a carving on the handle. It is a two-headed phoenix. It’s a work of art. Very magnificent.
“Beautiful. What do you think, Harvin?” he showed it and Harvin took it and held it for him to see more of it.
“This looks amazing. And sharp too.” Blood flowed from his finger tips to his palm.
“Now, be careful there. You might scratch it.” he then slowly took the dagger away and placed it in a glass.
“It’s funny that you are more worried about that dagger than your best friend. It’s not THAT obvious that you’re abandoning me.”
“You can take care of yourself,” he said, and handed him a clean towel. He laughed a little to annoy him. Harvin is always there for him, with or without his need for help. They’ve been friends since childhood.
Harvin Rico. His executive assistant and known for being a ladies’ man. He is responsible and the only one he can trust in this society. He was an heir of another mafia group but he gave the title to his brother and decided to work for Alexander. He said he wanted to help him and he was more comfortable with him than those people that treated him only as a puppet.
“Harvin, do you know that woman who was with Gunther?”
“No. His lover maybe.”
“I want you to do a background check on her.”
“What do you need that for?”
“It depends on your report whether I will want her or not.”
“Then, I will start now. If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to take my leave.”
“Go ahead.”
He couldn’t wait until he found out about that woman is what's written all over his face.