Kolt saw his mage acting on his sentiments and laughed heartily. He had never seen his stoic bodyguard acting in such a manner but that went to show how concerned he was about Zach's retaliation.
Kolt's eyes narrowed down to a slit as a cruel expression took over his previously smiling face as he replied, "Don't fret; he won't be alive for much longer. The only reason he is currently breathing is because he needs to work for me. He needs to make me more money to help me with my goals. He needs to live so this project can reach maturity soon. The day I get these trucks to mass production will be his last day."
The mage was visibly worried even though Kolt had disclosed his plans to him. He was worried because he couldn't ascertain the height that Zach could reach during this time. Alas, Prince Kolt was unable to understand him at the moment since he was busy counting the money that would roll in for him soon.
But one thing that both the Prince and his bodyguard failed to take into account was that there was someone else who heard that conversation between them; someone other than the two principal actors in that dialogue; someone who had been hearing every single word that had been uttered in the conference room since the very beginning.
Unknown to the Prince Kolt and even to Zach, Sarah the daughter of the Macrae family leader had been hiding above the roof of the conference room. The roof was surprisingly very weak when it came to soundproofing thanks to which she had been able to listen in to every single thing without making her presence known to everyone involved.
Surprisingly, Sarah was the first one to notice the scores of royal soldiers who had been positioned in place to surround the entire Luther estate. She had been drinking by herself when this happened and therefore with nothing to do she had ended up following the Prince who had come sauntering into the estate like he owned it.
As Prince Kolt was led to the conference room, she had chosen to follow him from above so as to keep an eye on him. The presence of a Prince in a small city like this was nothing short of a miracle. Therefore, she knew that there had to be a good enough reason for his arrival and with so much fanfare to boot. She could smell something exquisite cooking right under her nose and she wanted to know about it at the very least even if she could not be a part of it.
When she witnessed the events that took place in that room and the discussion that took place after Zach had left the place, she hurriedly retreated towards the banquet hall so as to not attract suspicion. Afterwards, upon finding a chance she sneaked out of the Luther family estate and rushed towards home. She needed to discuss this with her family since it was big news. The prince himself had come to take a portion of Zach's truck business and it seemed that he had something to grab Zach by the balls.
While Sarah was thinking that she had been quite clever and not a single soul had seen through her actions, there was one person who had not only seen everything but had allowed it to happen purposely in this way.
It was none other than Christina who had long since found out that Sarah had been eavesdropping on them from above. The only reason she had not revealed anything about her presence was because she had been having a bad feeling ever since Prince Kolt had arrived at the scene of her marriage.
From what Christina made of the situation, Prince Kolt was her enemy in every sense. Since she was going to be Zach's wife, his enemies were going to be her enemies as well whether she liked it or not. Therefore she believed that sharing this kind of information with the Macrae family might secure some help to her and Zach albeit in return for certain benefits. But sharing a part of the business with Macrae family was definitely better than handing it all over to the Prince. Since Kolt had become their common enemy for the time being, Christina wasn't averse to a compromise with the Macrae family as well.
The only thing Christina was still wondering about was why Zach who had been nothing less than domineering in front of all the families had suddenly given in to the Prince despite attempting to take his life in the middle of the negotiations. She was unable to make sense. She could only imagine what it was that Prince Kolt knew about Zach that he could use against him and that was why she had dragged Zach with her to the dressing room to find out.
"What is it? Why did you drag me in here?" Zach asked Christina who was still holding his arm captive and wasn't willing to let go despite his obvious resistance.
Christina didn't answer and closed and bolted the door from the inside so that no one other than the two would be able to enter the room.
Before she could come back and reply to his earlier question, there was loud banging on the door like someone was trying to break the door to pieces.
Zach knew who it was without even asking.
"Luna, wait outside for a bit. I will be out in a moment."
The thudding on the door ceased as soon as Zach spoke.
Christina couldn't understand what Luna wanted with Zach but she needed some answers from Zach as well.
"Tell me, why did you sign those papers? What does the prince have on you? I need to know as well if I am going to be involved in this. I have a right to and you know that."
Zach obviously understood her concerns as he looked at her with compassion. He could tell that she truly wanted to help him but he had more important things to do at the moment.
"Don't worry; I won't hide anything from you. Wait until after the wedding, because right now I need to make some arrangements so we can be prepared for what is going to come inevitably."
Zach didn't wait around to listen to her answer or any of her objection as he rushed towards the door, unbolted it without a hitch and went off somewhere with Luna in tow who had somehow cleansed herself of the blood from earlier.
Christina stood rooted to the spot as she watched him leave. She thought that Zach was unwilling to trust her entirely before their marriage and that was the reason why he had been unwilling to reveal his weakness to her. To some extent she was right but mostly it was because Zach was pressed for time.
Christina felt that it was only right for a marriage that was the result of a business deal and not of love but she couldn't help but feel slightly bad about it.
As Christina stood rooted to the spot in the dressing room wondering if things could have been different somehow, Zach was making his way towards Bruce who was still surrounded by the horde of guests who were all vying for his attention.
Surprisingly, no one in the hall knew of the arrival of the prince despite the entourage he had brought with him. Even Bruce the master of the estate had not been informed apparently and everything had been strictly contained by the Elizabeth family.
Pulling out Bruce from the crowd of guest turned out to be quite a difficult feat for Zach who had to apologize countless times for taking their precious Bruce away from them. Seeing as he was the groom, everybody gave him face and let Bruce go with him with saddened faces.
Picking up a wine glass for the both of them, Zach took Bruce to a secluded corner and told him everything that transpired within the confines of the conference room.
Bruce was quite shocked to say the very least. The fact that his eyes hadn't popped out of their sockets in surprise was quite the favorable turn of events. Bruce didn't know what to say when he found out that Zach had tried to neutralize the Prince. The business shares transfer was quite the delirium for both Bruce and Zach since it was a joint venture for both of them. While the idea belonged to Zach, the infrastructure had been the responsibility of Bruce and the Luther family.
"What are you going to do now? Knowing you, there must be something cooking up in that brain of yours." Bruce asked Zach as soon as he had consumed all the information relayed to him by Zach.
"Of course I have a plan. What do you think I called you out here to discuss then?" Zach retorted with a helpless smile on his face.
"Out with it then" Bruce furrowed his brows as he asked Zach to reveal the mystery.
"I am going to leave Elizabeth city soon." Zach dropped the bombshell without even changing his expression.
"How soon are we talking about?"
"Right after the wedding ceremony" Zach replied with a solemn look clouding his face.
"Aren't you being too hasty? There must be some other solution to this." asked Bruce as he ran his fingers through his hair in contemplation.
"There aren't. I wouldn't be trying to leave if there was the slightest chance that I could get rid of that bastard's hold over me. As long as they know where I am, they will continue to exploit me to gain more benefits from our hard work." Zach replied solemnly as he knew why Bruce was trying to convince him to stay.
