Her entire world felt like it was spinning. Not only was her entire body aching, but her head was also in excruciating pain. A groan escaped her pale, plum lips. Slowly, her long eyelashes fluttered as her eyelids, which held her beautiful blue eyes, fluttered open. She tried to move her body, but her hands wouldn't budge.
Athena finally remembered the last thing she had seen before she passed out. "Director!" Her voice was shaky, but she still searched for him. After focusing her eyes repeatedly, Athena finally began to see clearly and observe every corner of the room she was in.
The place was so small and cramped, with several worn chairs stacked next to it, and the dim lighting and lack of any outside light making the room feel stuffy and damp. She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious, how long she'd been trapped there, or whether it was day or night.
Her top priority now was finding Director Nikolov. Secretary Athena tried to move, but her hands and feet were tied tightly, restricting her every movement. She tried repeatedly to break free from the restraints.
That's when the only door in the room opened.
"Oh, you're awake?" An unknown man stood before her, staring at her with an unchanging, pitiless expression. The large man easily grabbed her by the collar, dragging her like a piece of equipment. "Get your filthy hands off me!" Athena struggled, and the woman threw a punch with her bound hands that landed on the man's cheek.
The terrifying face darkened. "You have quite the nerve," the man said, slapping Athena's pale face. Her cheek throbbed in pain, but Athena's anger seemed to have reached its peak.
Director Nikolov has always been haunted by danger. Since working as a secretary, it's not uncommon for them to be attacked, as they are now, or for someone to send an assassin after the director. Athena has been through a lot in these four years.
The blonde woman finally allowed herself to be dragged by the large man, while trying to activate the tracking device on the communication device under her black suit. It seemed Director Nikolov was still there, but the other staff hadn't been able to locate them.
The large man roughly threw Athena as they entered another room, causing her to groan in pain. It felt like her shoulder was badly injured. "Secretary Athena..." A familiar voice called out. Athena turned to find Director Nikolov not far from her, sitting in a chair with a table in front.
Finding her boss intact, Athena sighed in relief. No matter how badly broken her body was, as long as the director was still okay, everything would be fine. "Director, are you okay?"
The director's thin face looked extremely pale and frightened, but his voice remained calm. "What about you? You don't look well." Athena couldn't help but smile. The pain in her head had now merged with the pain in the rest of her body. She could smell the blood emanating from her body.
"As long as you're okay, there's nothing to worry about."
In the midst of their conversation, the door creaked open again. From behind it, a man in a full suit stepped in with his head held high. The sound of his soles against the cold floor echoed, giving off an unsettling feeling.
The man was probably over forty years old. He was well-built and tall, but above all, his eyes were the most striking, terrifying gaze. This was especially true when he looked at Athena, who was bound to the floor, and even more so when he looked at Nikolov, who was frozen in place.
The director, who was so hard to read, always had an unstable mood, but now, Athena could read him very easily.
"Ah... Nikolov, it's been a long time since we've seen each other." The man sat down on the chair provided by the bodyguard who had followed him. He took out a cigar, and the assistant swiftly lit it. The man folded his right leg over his left, took a long drag on the cigar and blew the smoke toward Nikolov.
"Uncle," said Nikolov, who, from where he was, looked like he was shaking.
He heard that the Zhestkiy family was a mafia family in Russia, but the Chairman of ZY Corp chose to move and build a company in another country. Currently, ZY Corp is led by Director Nikolov's father, while the next heir is confirmed to be Nikolov himself. The Chairman loves his work and he has a younger sister who doesn't care about company matters. Overall, his future is very bright without much conflict.
Meanwhile, Athena, the man in front of her, had no idea who he was when her boss called him uncle. The secretary felt like a failure for not knowing much about the boss she had worked for for four years.
"Let me remember, how long has it been since we last saw each other? Four years? Five years?" The man asked again, blowing a sharp puff of cigar smoke at Nikolov.
"Uncle, what is the meaning of all this?" Nikolov tried to keep his voice calm and cool as usual, but from Athena's blue eyes, she still saw something unusual about her boss.
"I warned you, but you didn't listen." The man looked straight at Nikolov.
"You should have just kept drawing your brush on the canvas like you always do." The uncle took a small dagger from his pocket, pointing it at Nikolov's neck. "Instead of sitting in the director's chair and playing your part in the company."
Nikolov swallowed his saliva, watching the tip of the dagger pointing at his neck, the tip of the dagger seemed to glow, "Grandpa asked me to help the President, I couldn't refuse." Nikolov answered, his cold voice trembling.
The uncle laughed out loud, and took a hard drag on his cigar. "Hahaha, do you think I'm stupid? If you said you didn't want to and preferred to be a painter, father wouldn't have forced you. It seems you're underestimating me, Nikolov." The man's face darkened, as if his gaze could kill someone.
The uncle moved his hand, not long after that, a paper was in front of Nikolov. "Sign this paper now, then I will let you go."
"This..." Nikolov read every word on the paper.
"That is a letter stating that you will hand over your position to Aleksei—"
"Director, don't do that!" Athena who witnessed and heard all their conversation cut the man off before he could finish his sentence.