-

Levi was genuinely stumped. He had no idea where to go from here and now, here he was, back in his office, where he'd rushed to go get his demon 'manual' of sorts, as Onyankopon called it, the moment he got back to the Scouts Foundation, taking it out of the cabinet he had hid in it, haphazardly putting in the code, and then not even waiting to sit down before he started to flip through it for anything that could help him get out this and find a solution.

After that disastrous attempt of trying to complete the deal with the wrestler, feeling more fed up with this situation than ever, he decided to go back to his office. He could no longer ignore the situation he was in or try to find the silver lining of things, because whether he liked it or not, his fate relied on you and it was getting harder and harder for him to leave his pride aside and just try to continue to get you to reason.

That experience with those wrestlers just proved that he couldn't do his job like he used to anymore because he didn't have his powers, and it wouldn't be any different with anyone else he has to complete deals with sooner or later.

As Levi continued to flip quickly along the pages and panic began to fill his veins, that he could no longer keep at bay, he was getting more and more horrified when he saw that he was nearing the end of the book with each page he turned and he still couldn't find anything that could help him.

This couldn't be happening. This book was his last resort to try to fix this issue on his own, but things were looking further and further away from that possibility. Levi wasn't one to panic, but because he's never had to. Now all he could think about was how things were going to be from here on out. But he truly felt what it was like for his face to drain of color when he turned the last page and he was frozen on the spot, with the book open.

It was truly a dead end. If this book didn't help him, he didn't know what would. He knew exactly what would happen to him if this didn't get resolved. He couldn't move a muscle as he continued to stare down at the other end of his book. His hair had fallen in front of his face and lightly fanned over his eyes as his breathing became heavy and uneven.

He really didn't want to admit any of this was happening. When did it all go wrong? 200 years have passed and nothing in his lifetime has even come close to this that has caused him to be so out of sorts. He really didn't get it.

Was he being punished for something? If so, how could he possibly make up for it? He needed to make things right but racking back through his mind clearly wasn't working. The only thing that hinted at what could have made him lose his powers like that was the incident the night before. But even that seemed blurry to him. Nothing could help him connect the dots.

Knowing words or more pages would appear magically at the end of the book, Levi groaned and shut the book loudly as he leaned back in his chair as he put an arm over his face and swallowed hard. He needed to get it together. This book couldn't be all there is to this. He refused to believe it. This is the way Levi has lived for years and it couldn't just change like that.

There had to be some sort of loophole that he wasn't aware of yet. But the thing is that he couldn't take his time with this. The clock was running and even if his distress might be because of the heat of the moment and he felt like he was losing all perspective, he just couldn't think straight and even if he found the simplest of clues, that would be enough to put him at ease. He doesn't recall a time where he's lost control like this, and he didn't like it.

Levi remained leaned back in his chair, dropping his arm from his face, but still kept his head leaned back with his eyes closed. What was he supposed to do?

There were no mentions in that damn book about tattoo's getting transferred, or much less, how to get them back. His mind continued to go back and forth, over and over, through every possibility but that only made his head spin and hurt even more. Why wouldn't you cooperate?

Levi's eyebrows pinched and he raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he let out a sigh. He needed to pull himself together or he wouldn't get anywhere with this.

But then a thought occurred to him. Levi's eyes went wide as he sat up from his chair and reached for his phone on his desk. He grabbed it quickly, opened it, unlocked it, and quickly began looking through his contacts. This was his last shot.

Albeit, even if this option would take the slightest bit longer, it was truly better than nothing, and Levi had everything on the line, He'd remembered having asked Onyankopon to research anything he could about you, and if he knew a little more about you, maybe there could be a way that Levi could sway and convince you to help him. He'd tried doing it alone and his way, which didn't work at all, so now this is what he was counting on.

Levi quickly stumbled upon his assistant's contact on his phone, and did not waste a second to press the button that immediately started calling his assistant's number. Levi raised his phone and pressed his phone to his ear as he felt like his heart was going miles per hour and racing against his chest.

Two of his fingers drummed against his desk as he continued to wait for the other line to pick up and all he heard was a series of dial tones that made only one of his feet on the ground began to bounce rapidly.

Before Levi felt like his heart would beat out of his chest, he finally felt the other line pickup and soon, he heard Onyankopon's voice. "Hey, Levi! What's up?" Onyankopon said, clearly in a good mood. Levi's drumming of his fingers on the desk subsided and so did the bouncing of his leg. He really needed to calm down. He decided he would go straight to the point.

"Hey, did you get to look into the woman I told you about? Anything at all?" Levi asked, and he heard a hum on the other end from his assistant. Levi was just relieved to hear Onyankopon's next words.

"Oh, yeah! I did. I didn't know if you were back in your office yet, so I waited," Onyankopon said, and Levi realized that if his assistant was still in the building, there couldn't be a better time to do this than now. Levi leaned back in his chair and ran a hand back through his hair, then letting it go as strands fell onto his face again.

"Well, get over here, then," Levi grumbled, earning a chuckle from Onyankopon on the other line. He didn't expect anything less from his boss. "Yes, Levi. Right away," He said, and quickly hung up the phone, leaving a couple seconds of silence for Levi to do nothing but try to process all of this a bit better and wait for his assistant. Now that the call ended, Levi pulled his phone away from his ear and put it back on his desk, leaning his head back on his seat as he closed his eyes, trying to pick himself back up.

Whatever this situation was, he didn't want to let it allow him to continue to think and act as irrationally as he did. That situation with the wrestler was a real eye opener. All he could think about before was the worst case scenario and it felt like his world was crumbling. Now, after realizing he needed to go about this another way if he wanted it to work, his mind was cleared.

This information about you that Onyankopon had was his last shot at trying to find any leads that could get you to help him. He knew you weren't his favorite person either, and you had no reason to like him or help him, but hopefully he could get some intel that would be just enough.

Levi knew that you would probably think that in return of helping him, if you agreed, and you would most likely want retribution and something on your end of the deal to make it even and you wouldn't just be lending him your time when you barely knew him and clearly didn't like him. The feeling was mutual, though, which made this that much harder.

You also seem like you don't have your schedule wide open either, so that was going to be an issue. A chip is all he needs to get you to help, even if you had no reason to. What could he possibly say? He'd also have to reveal what he is exactly, which would be another pain in and of itself.

God, why was this so hard? His head was spinning, but he couldn't let himself get carried away again. Now, all he needed to do was wait for Onyankopon and hear what he found out about you.

Levi crossed his arms over his body and continued to remain leaned back in his chair. He couldn't stop his mind from going to the worst possible cases and that's what's driving him nuts. He wished he had more time but he knows he doesn't.

A couple seconds after having his surroundings riddled with silence, while simultaneously hearing nothing more than thousands of thoughts running through his mind, he heard the front door to his office open. One of his eyes opened and he saw that Onyankopon was closing the door and quickly making his way around the room. Levi quickly straightened up in his seat.

"Onyankopon, how much did you find?" Levi said as he leaned his forearms on his desk and watched as his assistant seated himself in the seating living room area in front of his desk. Onyankopon turned on the tablet that he had in hand from the moment he walked in.

"You won't believe it. I found a lot more than I thought I would. She's clearly very important. Her information is out there on the internet from just one search," Onyankopon said, making Levi's eyes narrow and his eyebrows to pinch suspiciously.

He should've known that. Everything from your appearance and from the information on your card alone should've screamed at him that you had some sort of influence in business, but back then, it just didn't occur to him since the situation at the restaurant had just been too much for him to bear. "Okay, so what did you find out about her?" Levi said as he, once again, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, ready to hear.

Levi uncrossed one of his arms and put his hand lightly over his mouth as he tapped his lip thoughtfully. He looked at his assistant and saw the way he scrolled lightly through his notes. "Well, you knew this already, but her name is Y/n L/n. She's known across the business world as Eldia Groups' princess and the group's predicted heiress, but it's just speculation. She's a pretty big deal" Onyankopon started, and Levi continued to listen carefully. Nothing so far rang any bells in his brain as to what he was hearing was useful to him. But there was still a long way to go.

"Go on," Levi said as he saw that his assistant had paused in his words and looked up at his boss expectantly to see if he could continue. He knew Levi was just processing the information and had asked for this information for a reason, so Onyankopon nodded and turned his attention back to the information in his tablet.

"By blood, she is not originally from a family-owned-conglomerate. Both of her parents passed. Her father used to be a mechanical engineer and her mother used to be a small business owner," Onyankopon listened, all the while Levi continued to listen.

He didn't know why but he felt some sort of tug inside him when he heard the details about your parents, but he brushed off the feeling and continued to hear what his assistant was listening to. "She also ended up being their only daughter from their late marriage. Turns out that they passed away in a car accident about 16 years ago on the day of her birthday. She was 10 years old at the time and became an orphan with no other blood relatives to go to," He continued, making Levi's eyebrows furrow once again as he kept his hand at his lips, getting lost in thought while still hearing all of those details.

Even if none of this was becoming useful to him to convince you, in some weird way, he couldn't help but stop to think for a moment as his mind replayed the details about your parents over and over.

He feels like he's really getting a glimpse of your life even if none of this was what he needed to hear. He couldn't deny that it must have been unbelievably hard for you as a child, but he didn't want to dwell on it too much. This wasn't supposed to be his focus right now so Levi went right back to listening to what his assistant was listing off.

"It was only a couple years after that incident that the chairman of Eldia Group, Grisha Jaeger decided to take in Y/n," Onyankopon added and Levi nodded, avidly listening even if he looked like he was looking off into space. He was just taking every bit of this information as much as he could.

"Grisha Jaeger co-founded Eldia Electronics, one of the branches in the group, with Y/n's father," Onyankopon said, and Levi's eyes squinted slightly as he dropped his hand from his mouth and moved it to be on top of the table, drawing shapes on the wood surface of it. None of this seemed helpful.

It seemed that Onyankopon wasn't close to being done, because after Levi sensed a pause from him and was ready to say something, his assistant spoke up and continued to scroll down a page with information about you.

"She really hasn't stopped working for a while, hasn't she? She was a top student in high school, university and graduated early at the top of her class. She has everything going for her," Onyankopon said in awe as he continued to scroll through the website. But Levi didn't care about any of that. None of that seemed relevant to him in any way whatsoever.

Levi stopped drawing circles on the table and straightened up in his seat, ready to say something. "From the sound of it, what hasn't she done yet?" Levi grumbled as he leaned his head on his fist as he propped up his elbow on his desk. "Yeah, that's the million dollar question. She even started her own fashion brand during her college years, and was number one in several charts. That's what ended up becoming Eldia Fashion & Beauty after Eldia Group acquired it. Wow.." Onyankopon mused as he seemed to be getting overly invested in this. But Levi felt like he's heard enough.

Your business life didn't really interest him that much, but that was until he noticed something. Levi turned his gaze away from Onyankopon and there was something that began to pry at his mind.

He took the edge of his jacket and looked down, seeing the inside of it, and there it was in all its glory, a small tag that had the logo of your company on it plastered on it. God, he really couldn't escape you even if he tried, huh? You were everywhere. But now, he had no choice but to have faith that you were his solution.

Levi opened his laptop and began doing some research of his own, and by then, Onyankopon was still spewing out information about you that he had found on that same website. Very unnecessary information about you that Levi was no longer interested in, by the way, but he continued to listen because it's clear his assistant was very impressed by you.

"She's currently single at the moment as well, and her past relationships ended for different reasons but they mostly followed a common theme. that she's practically married to her work," Onyankopon finished as he stood up from the couch and walked over to stand in front of his boss' desk, but Levi wasn't surprised at all by that.

Those were quite literally the first words you said to him at the restaurant when you sat down in front of him and also, earlier that day you said you weren't looking for a relationship any time soon. At the very least, he respected that you were self aware and knew what you wanted. That was one thing you and him had in common.

Onyankopon sighed and his shoulder sank while he turned off his tablet and held it to his side, looking at his boss expectantly. "Well, did that answer anything you needed? That's really all I know for now. What's your plan now?" Onyankopon asked, knowing that the information was for something his boss was clearly planning to do to get his powers back one way or another.

Levi looked up from his computer to face his assistant, who was clearly waiting for an answer. He found all of that information and he hoped it was useful for anything at all. Levi closed his computer and propped up both of his elbows on the table, intertwining his fingers together, leaning the bottom half of his face against them, thinking hard.

Onyankopon watched the way that his boss' narrow and feline-like eyes remained squinted as he seemed to be thinking about something in his mind, and it's he could see his entire body language through his eyes alone and it was fascinating.

But after a few seconds, it was so eerie the way Levi's lips slowly twitched into a smirk and his face had a knowing look of recognition to it, and Onyankopon knew what that meant. He came up with an idea. After everything he listened to about you, Levi had a lightbulb moment in his brain and it felt like everything clicked simultaneously.

Levi's smirk didn't fade, even as he leaned back in his chair and made eye contact with his assistant. Onyankopon watched his boss carefully and crossed his arms. "I know exactly what I'm going to do. It's what I know how to do best," Levi said as his face suddenly turned smug, really hoping Onyankopon could catch his drift and where he was going with this. But it really seems like he underestimated his assistant.

"And that would be...?" Onyankopon said, trying to figure out what his boss meant, and Levi rolled his eyes as he sighed and leaned his head on his hand since his arm was propped up on the armrest. He dragged his hand down and rested it on the bottom half of his face, shaking his head. Levi looked back at his assistant and cleared his throat before continuing.

"Captivating humans, come on, you should know this by now," Levi said as a lazy smile came upon his lips, a sinister tone crawled onto his and his smug look from before returned. A look of recognition crossed Onyankopon's face.

"Ah...gotcha," He said as he chuckled, but in Onyankopon's defense, there were so many ways that sentence could have gone and he went with the odds. Levi was really unpredictable in that sense when it came to his business as a demon and he tried to not get involved too much and it never hurt to make sure.

Now that he knew what he meant, he wanted to know what Levi was planning to exactly to 'captivate' you. It seems like you weren't one to fall for tricks that easily or persuasion as other humans that Levi has made deals with so he wondered how his boss would go about this.

It also looked like you weren't entirely fond of him by the way he described the 'date' before just like Levi clearly was just as fed up with you with the way his boss sounded extremely annoyed just by him asking to look into you.

But Onyankopon didn't know that Levi was already thinking of something by just trying to connect the dots from the night before on how his tattoo disappeared in the first place. Maybe he had to get it back the same way that he lost it, and he already had an idea on how.

He had nothing else to go off of and he had to rely on this. If he followed his plan in the exact same way that he was thinking, then he would have his tattoo back in no time. At least he hoped it worked out the same way, because if it didn't, then he would truly be out of options. He'd be completely screwed.

-

On the way to your office, at last, Hange had made sure to make a pitstop by Erwin's office building and they dropped him off there. On his way out, you bid your goodbye's to your friend and as he closed the door to your car, making his way around as he headed inside the building, you watched him go in and Hange took that as their cue to start driving again.

Now, after being on the road for a while, Hange eventually pulled up and halted the car right in front of your company's building. It was only early afternoon still so you could still come in and check in on your employee's, get things done, and get back into your work rhythm. You wanted to forget everything that happened these last two days and want everything to go back to normal. Even if your 'normal' was forcing you to bury yourself in work.

You preferred that a lot more than trying to mull over the nightmare that these last few days have been. Without having something to do, you would drive yourself crazy thinking about every little detail that was starting to come back to you bit by bit. This is what you needed. You knew you could just go back to your old routine and everything would be okay.

At least you hoped. You're going in later than you usually did, on top of the stocks of your company dropping, so you prayed that things weren't too bad in your absence. You needed to meet up with a couple of your employees, who a couple days ago, you'd asked to come up with a pitch for a new product. You just hoped they came through and everything could stay right on track, and you could start to fix those issues on your own that arose without anything having fallen out of place.

Once Hange put the car in neutral, you quickly gathered your things next to you like your purse, your work items, etc. You turned to the side, ready to open the door, but before you could get any further, you paused in your movements when you saw one of the valet workers that you've happened to see regularly outside of the building these last couple months suddenly rush to open your car door as swiftly as possible.

They must have recognized your car and the license plate since it's often that you hand over your keys to whoever's on the shift and have them take the car to the garage and you can get to your office quicker, and it also saves Hange some time as well. You needed this today of all days since you wanted to have a quick and smooth transition back to work.

You saw that Hange opened their door on their side and stepped out, closing the door behind them. You heard the door click on your end and then you turned your head to see that the valet worker opened your door. You held your purse tight in your grasp and stepped out of the car as well, with one foot at a time, feeling your heels click against the concrete floor.

You stood up and brushed over your clothes, then turned your head to send a grateful smile to the employee. They returned your gesture and as you began forward and into the building, you heard the door shut, and then met Hange halfway, so both of you began to walk side by side into your company's building. You kept your gaze forward, and they hardened just the slightest bit as you realized you were about to walk into an environment in which you had a reputation to uphold. Purely out of instinct.

As Hange walked in rhythm by your side, you could feel your mind centering around one thing, and that was your career. Right now, it was one of the most important things in the world to you right now and you weren't going to let anything change that. You've worked hard for this; endless and sleepless nights, rejection after rejection, years of building it up, and lessons you have permanently learned from and continued to remember.

The sound of yours and Hange's heels reverberated against the ground as you and her got closer to the entrance, and you knew that once you did, you would forget anything that happened before and it wouldn't matter. What lay before those doors is what mattered to you, not some silly dispute over a tattoo, or that psycho that you hoped deep down would be found. This was your life.

You and Hange approached the revolving doors, and in one swift movement, you and her went through it and entered the building at last on the other side of the doors. All you could see were people going back and forth across the lobby, in and out of the building and in your direct eye-line the machines that allowed entrance to the zone where the elevators are.

As both of you continued to walk in sync, when employees noticed your entrance, they immediately halted in place and greeted your arrival as you continued to walk towards the elevators. You heard words like 'Welcome back, Ms. Y/n' and you acknowledged them by turning your head to face them and giving them small nods, which they received and they quickly went back to go about their business. You were glad everything seemed normal.

Hange and you didn't say a word to each other, but they weren't necessary. There had been too much going on for small talk to be enough to fill the silence. When both of you reached the machines, with each of you in one, and placed your keycard on it, the machine's red light turned green while emitting an approving beep, the doors of the machines moved aside, so you and Hange both moved forward and headed straight for the elevators.

Stopping in front of the elevators, while you remained standing in front of them, you watched as Hange pressed on the button to go up and then go back to standing next to you. Both of you had your eyes locked onto the monitor that said that the elevator was going down but none of you dared to say a word. That was until you finally got your mouth to say the words in your throat that had been begging to come out this entire time.

"Hange?" You questioned, and your assistant was quick to turn their head to look at you to see what you'd say next. Their faces fell when they noticed the anguish on your face now that it was just the two of you and there was nobody else around. It took you a couple seconds to say your next couple of words, but they let you take your time, even if you seemed to visibly seem to be struggling to get the words to come out.

"Do you think...do you think I can get the company out of this?" You said, and Hange's eyes widened at how defeated you sounded. They looked back at the elevator's monitor to see that there were still many left until it reached the ground floor. You had a completely different demeanor just walking into the building, and its like you flipped a switch once you knew this was a safe space. And your assistant was exactly that.

Hange sighed and raised their hand, placing it on your shoulder, making your head whip up to look at them in surprise. They felt their heart break at how shaky and gaze they were. It was saddening for them to see constantly.

You've always felt this pressure to make sure everything was perfect, that nothing was out of order and not just for yourself and your very own satisfaction so that you could feel accomplished, but you did it Grisha as well, and shockingly enough, your family that you knew hated your guts. This company was adjoined to your family's company after all. This fall to your company took a harder hit to you than you expected, and you were desperate to show that you were able to come back from it easily and stronger than before. You've been desperate to prove yourself.

Hange had taken small steps to make you reevaluate, but you were just so incredibly stubborn and sure that your way was the only way and they were seeing how it was destroying you from the inside out. Hange sent you a gentle smile and squeezed your shoulder. "Y/n, you can do anything. I've worked for you for years and I know another of Karina's petty schemes will not change that. Besides, you don't have to do it alone," They said, knowing that it was easier said than done, but they hoped you kept their words close to heart. They saw you take a sharp inhale, shaking your head lightly.

"I know, Hange. Trust me. It just seems to me that I have to be the one who makes it right because, maybe...I happened to take my eye off the ball for a second. I don't know when, though, but I did, and I have to fix it," You admitted, and when you saw that Hange was about to say something, you raised your hand to quickly cut them off. You still had a lot to say.

"And I know what you're going to say, but I have to prove to Grisha that I can come back from this just as quickly as It all came down. I had to lie to him before and told him I had it handled. But do I? I wish I knew the answer. I have to make it right or Karina will have the satisfaction of knowing she got her way. I just need some words of encouragement," You finished and sent her a weak smile, which Hange was quick to respond with a beaming smile and a chuckle. They patted your shoulder and nodded at you.

They turned their body to face the elevator again and that smile morphed into a knowing smile that made you raise an eyebrow and a smile tug at your lips. "I'll be there to give you as many as you need. And just so you know, I found something you might need, that is if you want it," They said, and as soon as they did, the elevator reached your floor and dinged but the two of you were still looking at each other knowingly.

As the elevator door opened, your smile turned into a smirk as well. "I'm listening," You said, making Hange laugh as the two of you begin walking into the elevator. Once the elevator doors closed and Hange pushed the door that led to the floor to your main office in the building. The doors closed and they began telling you all about what they found, and the more they did, the more your smirk grew and felt more confident you could turn this whole situation around. It could work. It really could.

But as the two of you headed up, while things seemed to be normal down at the lobby, your office itself was nothing short of chaos. Because of your late arrival, though unusual, they quickly noticed your absence and used it to start putting their energy in other things. Your employees were all young adults like young adults so they could still get a little rowdy sometimes

Everyone was out of their desks right now, and they were all crowding around the desk of a single employee. Sasha Braus. See, she recently picked up a hobby to do tarot cards and the rest of the office has taken a habit of asking her during the day to draw out cards to see how the rest of their day would go and guidance what their futures would be. Nobody ever took it that seriously, though. It was just to pass time on most occasions.

Now, everyone watched carefully as she spread out the cards equally in front of her, face down. Her eyes were zeroed in on the cards, focusing on each card and manifesting the best option. Everyone who was crowding around her had very different reactions. Others were very invested, others had nothing better to do but watch this happen, and others couldn't be bothered and continued working on their desks because you missing an entire day was too good to be true and knew you'd stop by.

Sasha's best friend, Connie Springer, was behind her with his hands on her shoulders and holding them with encouragement. "Come on, Sasha! You can do it! Give us a win today," Connie said excitedly, as he kept an eye on his best friend's movements to see which one she'd choose. There were some who took this game more seriously than others, and others who participated for fun. Connie was not one of those people.

Connie was among the few who were actually invested, while others were hanging around just to watch because they were that bored. "Why are we doing this again?" Ymir asked flatly, earning a gentle nudge from her girlfriend, Historia as the petite, blond girl sent her a sweet smile. "Come on, Ymir. It's all for good fun," Historia said, turning her attention back to Sasha retracting her hand back and forth as she kept changing her mind.

And there were others who had been working for you long enough to know what you were like, but participated regardless. Like Jean Kirschtein, who was one third of the trio of Sasha, Connie and Jean. "Guys, the boss could stop by any second now," Jean said as he tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. He was happy he was able to land this job a couple years ago, but now he reconsiders that fact knowing these were his coworkers.

Ymir, despite not caring about this at all, still rolled her eyes and looked at Jean with a mocking and teasing look. "Don't put your panties in a twist. She hasn't been here for half of the day. We'll be fine," Ymir said as she brushed off the possibility of your arrival, since everyone in the office knew it was highly unlikely, especially after they all witnessed the stocks drop. Jean deadpanned at Ymir and looked back down at what Sasha was doing, still not having picked a card yet, and he could tell they were getting antsy.

But as everyone waited for Sasha's decision on the cards, a voice from across the desks could be heard. "You guys just love wasting time, don't you? It's like you want to lose your jobs" Annie said bluntly as she didn't take her eyes off her computer and continued to work. Her response was met with glares from people crowded around Sasha but Annie really couldn't be bothered to care at all. She continued to work, undisturbed.

Another employee quickly piped up after that, which happened to be Annie's cubicle mate. "Guys, why don't we just go back to work? Usually when she's not around in the morning, she always stops by in the afternoon," Bertholdt stated, as-a-matter-of-factly, and encouraged everyone crowded around Sasha to go back to their assignments. But he knew that with the people he worked with, it was a long shot.

Ymir smirked when she took in Bertholdt's words and then crossed her arms in front of her, looking at Jean cheekily. "Oh yeah, don't you guys have some big pitch she told you three idiots to have prepared for today?" Ymir said as she couldn't help but let out a chuckle after that, knowing that she hasn't seen Sasha, Connie, and Jean work on that pitch for a second.

But it seems some people have selective hearing , like Connie, and clearly had bigger priorities in their heads "Shh! You're breaking her focus," Connie said as he remained over Sasha and watched as his best friend got closer to picking a card. But Jean seemed to be the only one to have processed Ymir's words because his eyes widened, his face drained of color and he straightened up, given that he was leaning his body against the cubicle.

"Oh, shit. She's right, Connie. How are we on that pitch?" Jean said, expressing clear panic in his voice. Him, Sasha, and Connie had gone out for drinks the night before to discuss some ideas, and some were thrown out there, that he could barely remember now because they went a little overboard with the drinks. It's a miracle all three came into work today.

But Jean's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw his friend shrug and brush it off. "I don't know, man. Stop worrying, Jean. With the stock market crashing, she's probably not even thinking about something she asked us to do two days ago," Connie said, making Jean take a large inhale of air, closing his eyes and holding it there as his hands became fists, holding them up. He was barely able to keep it together right now hearing his friend's words. He was really losing his patience.

"Connie, you do realize that that's precisely why she's going to ask us about it today even more dude," Jean said, as he continued to try to get Connie to grasp his words, ignoring the way Ymir was snickering at the situation and Historia was trying to get her to stop. "We'll be fine, relax. She's probably not even going to show today," Connie said as he continued to brush off the fact that they had to present an idea today and they had practically nothing. It's like they forgot who they worked for.

Jean stayed frozen on the spot with the same look of shock on his face before he sighed and then leaned back against the cubicle once again, barely caring about the tarot cards anymore. "I need to find new friends," Jean muttered to himself, but Connie seemed to have heard him because he snorted and let out a laugh after. "Good luck with that," Connie said, making Jean whip his head to look at his friend with offense.

After that, Jean couldn't help but put his attention back on Sasha who had reached over to pick a card at last, and he heard Connie inhale as he took a breath of anticipation. Jean needed some sort of distraction from the fact that they had no material for today, hey, should he be surprised by now?

When Sasha finally pulled out a card and turned it around, everyone but her gasped when they saw that it was the 'demon' card. Everyone but her either jumped in surprise, gasped, or took steps back at this revelation. She had a pout on her face instead as she realized it wasn't the card she was hoping for so badly. Connie reached over and took the card from his friend's hand and looked at it. "It's the demon card!" He yelled out for everyone and people crowded around him to see the card better. It was bad luck.

Jean rolled his eyes and scratched the side of his head in exasperation, but then his attention drifted over to Sasha who looked a little down while everyone else was crowding over to see the card. Jean sighed and took a few steps towards his friend, putting a hand on her back comfortingly.

"What's wrong, Sasha?" Jean said as he patted Sasha's back a couple times, even when she slumped back in her seat and Jean moved his hand to her shoulder instead. At her friends' question, she looked up at him with that same disheartened look on her face. "I really wanted the card that would hint at me getting a good meal today," She said as she let out a sad sigh and began to fiddle with her fingers. Jean deadpanned at her and realized he should've figured it was about that. He raised his free hand and began to rub the back of his neck, just to ease the tension in his body.

"Of course you did, but maybe you'll get it next time. Instead, why don't we think about the pitch presentation for a change and I'll buy you a big dinner tonight," Jean suggested as he put the hand that was on his neck, to rest on his hip, continuing to pat Sasha's shoulder comfortingly.

But his words made her stop fiddling with her fingers and look up at him cluelessly and waited a few seconds as she gathered her thoughts to say something back. "What presentation?" She asked blankly. Jean stopped his movements. He looked down at her and blinked a couple times before his eyes wide, accompanied by Ymir's mocking laugh from across the room that made him close his eyes and inhale and exhale deeply. It didn't help.

Jean turned his head away from Sasha and then began to walk away, back to his cubicle. "Oh my God...we're doomed," He muttered to himself on the way there. This really wasn't his day was it? He had to come up with something for the three of them to present to you, because something told him you'd be walking in through those words at any second now and it was driving him insane. He sat down at his desk, and put his head in his hands.

But it seems like Jean and the trio in general had less time than they thought, because just as everyone had settled back into their seats, another one of the employees who just happened to be by the elevators rushed from where he was and headed towards the cubicle desk area where the rest of the employees were at. He as panting quickly and his face was full of distress. His appearance made everyone suddenly look up and take notice of how out of sorts he looked. making everyone on edge all of a sudden.

"Marco, what is it?" Jean asked from his desk as he watched his friend panted and struggled to get the words out, but from his body language, Jean could tell that Marco had something urgent to say. It was only after a couple seconds once he regained his bearings, Marco spoke. "Guys, she's heading up. The boss," He said as he used his thumb to point backwards.

There were mixed reactions after that. Gasps were heard, others continued working, and others, like Jean buried his head in his hands briefly with a groan before starting to scatter and look around desperately in his desk for anything that maybe indicated that he wrote something down for the pitch which he could use the moment you stepped into the office and you called them in. If neither Connie or Sasha had an idea, then the responsibility fell to him. He flipped over papers, folders, tabs on his computer. Anything at all. God, he had to find something that he could use for this.

Though it seems like nothing was going his way because his face drained of color and his body froze when he heard the elevator ding. He turned his head to the side, towards the elevators, and a couple moments later, he saw you and Hange come around the corner walking side by side.

He was quick to straighten up as you walked across the office, and the entire office of employees greeted your arrival, even his own coworkers who thought you wouldn't show up today. But when you turned your head to the side to make eye contact with your employees, Jean's eyes widened and turned his head away, not to make eye contact because he knew that if he did, you'll call for him, Sasha and Connie for the pitch and he wasn't ready. Not in the slightest, and his friends even more so.

But it seems that him turning his head away quickly caught your attention even more, because you cleared your throat slightly as you walked across the office with Hange next to you and remembered you needed to get right to the point now that you were here and halted in your steps in front of your employee's cubicles. Hange stopped next to you, holding their tablet on their side, looking back and forth between you and your employees.

You stopping in front of their desks was enough for them to have your undivided attention. They had been watching you since you walked in. It was silent for a couple seconds until you finally found the words that you wanted to say and spoke up. "Good afternoon, everyone. I know this isn't the usual time I come in, but some things came up and it delayed my arrival a bit. I wanted to address some things before, but I think they'll have to wait. For now," You started speaking, and paused for a second, quickly finding the faces you were looking for before continuing.

When you did, finding the faces of Connie, Sasha, and Jean, ignoring the way they shrunk in their seats as you made eye contact with each of them, you cleared your throat again and continued. "Braus, Springer, Kirschtein. Meet me in the conference room, please. I want to hear your product pitch," You said, and when you saw the way their eyes widened, blinked at you and nodded numbly, as if in a daze. You felt like that was enough confirmation that they'd do so. You nodded, turning your gaze to look over the rest of the office again. They were all looking at you, waiting for your next instructions.

"As for the rest of you, just keep up the good work. I'll look over your reports by the end of the day," You concluded, earning nods of agreement from the rest of your employees. You sighed subtly to yourself and sent them all a single nod of approval, turning on your heel and beginning to head towards the conference room. As usual, Hange followed behind you and walked in sync with you, despite still feeling eyes on you.

The conference room itself was a room just across the cubicles, so it wasn't that far of a walk, so when you pushed the door open and walked inside with Hange following close behind you, you briskly walked over to sit at the head of the long table in the room. You set your purse on the table, leaning back against your seat comfortably, waiting for your employees to arrive. You felt Hange's presence behind you as they stood behind your desk.

"I really hope they came up with something. The faster I can find a project to focus on, the better. I want to talk to them about the pitch, but also if they've made any headway in trying minimize the damage from here" You said, leaning forward in your chair and brought your chair closer to the table. Hange sighed and took a couple steps away from standing behind you, to proceeding to pulling out the chair closest to you to your right.

They sat down and set their tablet down, letting out a huff as they settled in their chair. "Well, judging by their reaction when you called them, I'd say we'd be pretty lucky if we do get a proposal from them today," Hange pointed out, and you leaned back in your chair again when you recalled their reactions when you called the trio's names. Those weren't the faces of preparedness. You shrugged, and realized that any ideas would be worth considering so you would hear them out with anything they had in mind.

But just as you were going to say something else, something else caught your eye. Since the walls to the conference room were made of glass, you could see in the corner of your eye when the trio stopped outside of the door. You turned your head and raised your hand, giving them a motion that they could come in.

Your eyebrows pinched together when you saw that they were slightly nudging at each other outside, as if to see who would come in first. Your eyes darted to Hange, who had also been looking back at the door for the arrival of your employees and both of you turned your heads to look at each other at the same time. You locked eye contact with your assistant for a second to see if they were seeing the same thing you were, and judging by the way they raised their hand to lightly put it over their mouth, they did.

You pursed your lips together and looked away. They have been working for you for long enough and you should expect this by now. But your face steeled and took a breath when you heard the door finally open and the three of them came in together. They came in together and sat next to each other on your other side, in front of Hange. You waited for a couple seconds until they settled in, giving you a chance to adjust yourself in your seat too.

When they did, you looked at all three of them and were about to speak but then noticed their body language. They did not look like they were at ease at all. They were fidgety, their hands were playing with their notes in hand, and they were avoiding eye contact. You sighed and realized what this was about. You would have to do this a little differently now because they were a lot more unprepared than you expected them to be, so instead, you were going to go about this meeting a different way. You weren't in your right mind either so in a way, you felt compassion to make this easier.

You sighed and sat up. "There's a lot of things I want to discuss, but first things first, I'm sure you three have heard what's happened to the stocks of the company just overnight. I'm going to ask everyone else this, too, but have you done anything to minimize the impact it had?" You asked, and once you asked that, the three of them looked at each other, and you looked at them expectantly. You noticed that to this, they had a different reaction. You were expecting good news. Any kind of updates, really.

It was silent for a couple seconds, until you heard Jean clear his throat and raise his hand. You nodded at him for permission and he sent you a nervous smile. "Well, I have personally been making calls to our investors. I'm aware we lost a lot of our stocks so I made calls to reassure them on our position on the issue, and that everything was under control. I received a lot of the calls, but I made some myself as well," Jean explained. You nodded along.

That was certainly relieving. It gave you a bit more time to get things under control since your partners now had the promise that it would all go back to normal. Though, it did make the pressure rise to make sure Karina does her part so that everything went back to how it used to be, at least for the most part, but you would make sure that she did. No matter what. What she did took a hit that would never allow for things to go back to how they were right away, only part of the way. Which was the most frustrating part about it. It's like you took several steps back on years of hard work,

"That's good. Thank you, Jean. Anyone else?" You said, and you almost laughed at the way that his shoulders sank and his head fell forward. You looked at Connie and Sasha, who were having some sort of staring contest as to who would go first. You looked back at Hange for a second and saw that they were on the verge of bursting out laughing, but were fighting demons to stay professional. They turned their head to the side to hide their face and you turned back to look at your employee's.

You saw that between the two of them, it seems that the duo decided that Connie would speak first, after much debate. You saw the way he fiddled with his fingers and avoided eye contact, but his eyes finally met yours when he began to speak. They were all so nervous from the moment you came into the office and since they walked into the conference room.

"When I heard the news, since I'm usually in charge of our company's public relations, I started receiving emails from companies who were thinking of collaborating with us. I did respond to those emails and reassured them that everything was going to be resolved soon, but me and Sasha have also been constantly releasing rebuttal articles to soften the blow of the original one," Connie reassured and you nodded along. Sure, these were small efforts in comparison to the damage that the first article caused, and it would take a while for these efforts to overthrow the effects of Karina's article, but it was better than nothing. You took them into consideration.

Feeling a little bit more confident, and a little less intimidated to say what she had been working on previously, you turned your eyes to look at Sasha who was showing body language that indicated that she wanted to say something too. You knew her as being part of the legal team, while Connie was in charge of public relations, and Jean worked in the sales and marketing side of the company, along with other employee's that were just outside. They were just the heads of each of their departments.

"Me and Historia decided to start taking legal actions against articles and companies that were spreading rumors and fake news about the incident, and hateful comments as well that tarnish our reputation unfairly," Sasha said, and you crossed your arms in front of you as you nodded. They all did their own efforts in each of their departments to somehow lessen the blow of the damage that was done. You knew that this wasn't a situation that could be waited out and it would fade away in time, because you were sure that even if you got your company back from this, future and current investors would always remember. Everything about this was incredibly frustrating.

You huffed and took a moment to go over in your head everything that the trio just told you. They all did everything they could on their ends, but it would still be a long way until everything went back to how it used to be and you were already planning to line some meetings to meet with more investors soon, but before any of that, you needed to get to the source of this whole thing. You couldn't think about anything else, especially after hearing what Hange had proposed that you did back in the elevator.

You looked at the trio and sent them a grateful smile to all three of them. "Thank you. You all did very well. But it's not over yet and we still have a lot to do. So, to that end, I asked you a couple days ago if you guys could come up with a new pitch idea for a product. Back then, the incident hadn't happened yet, but now, I think we need a new idea more than ever. So, have you guys had a chance to come up with anything?" You asked, and once again, they froze in place and then exchanged looks at each other.

You watched as they began to look and flip through their notes, and in that moment you realized that this is what they must have been nervous about. You realize that they are each from different teams in the company, but this isn't the first time you've asked them for a pitch. You usually like to ask different heads of teams in your company, so that they collaborate, mix their expertise and approach product pitching in different ways. Last time, you asked Ymir, Historia and Marco to do the same.

Sasha could propose ideas related to product claims, costumer agreements, approach legal issues and making sure the material complies with regulatory standards. Connie could propose ideas that revolve around enhancing the public image of the company, the media outreach and also leading the events or campaigns for it. And lastly, Jean, could propose pitches that drive the sales and can promote new products that interest even more clients. That's the view you had in mind when choosing the three of them for this new product pitch. After that, you hoped, they could reach out to the production team that actually creates the products.

These three have done some great work since you hired them, but today their initiative seemed a bit off. You deeply appreciate the efforts they did trying to minimize the damage for the article, but you suppose that you could give them a bit more time to think of something for this product. You watched their body language and saw the way that they looked very out of sorts, they couldn't get words to come out, they were looking at each other and exchanging glances, as if trying to read each other's minds.

You sighed and then decided on what to do, but just as you were about to speak up and tell them that this meeting would be adjourned, the trio seemed to have come to a silent understanding after a lot of shuffling and looking into their notes together and they noticed you were about to end the meeting so you heard Jean clear his throat and you paused in reaching over to grab your purse that you'd set on the table.

"Wait, we did have an idea we came up with. It's still in development but we wanted to see if you liked the sound of it," Jean said, and you nodded, letting go of your purse and settling back in your chair. You noticed in the corner of your eye that Hange was just scrolling away on their tablet, doing their work. But you turned your attention back to the trio and gave them your full attention. "Okay, let's hear it," You said, being willing to listen. Jean nodded gave you a nervous smile, and then turned to look at his coworkers. They gave each other quick nods and had a silent conversation, deciding that Jean would be the one that would give the pitch idea and be their spokesperson.

This was an idea that they had the day before when they went out for drinks but that they had discarded. They decided that they had nothing to lose with bringing up this pitch idea, because it was better than letting the meeting end with no ideas. Jean cleared his throat lightlt and straightened up in his seat. "Okay, so the three of us came up with this idea yesterday. We realized that it's been a while since we have released a beauty and skincare line," Jean started, and you perked up at the mention of this. He's right. You've focused on fashion products recently and you liked the idea of going another way and wanting to do something you haven't done in a while.

As you nodded along, that indicated Jean that he could continue. "So, we were thinking and realized that it could also have sustainable ingredients that have no harm to the environment and are also easily accessible so all kinds of people can buy them. It's also really convenient because it would prove that article wrong and show people that we do have beneficial properties in our products, which is the exact opposite of what that article said, claiming that we have harmful materials. We don't have a name yet, but we're working on it," Jean concluded, and you looked at all three of your employee's. They had hopeful looks on their faces and you were liking the idea.

They all leaned forward in their chairs with anticipation as they watched a small smile tug against your lips, until it turned into a full smile. "I like it," You said, and they all let out a breath of relief at this, looking at each other with ease, knowing that this meeting was going much better than they thought it was going to go. That was until you asked the next question. "I know all of you contributed, but whose idea was it?" You said, and your eyes darted to each of them and that's when everything unraveled.

"Oh, it was mine!" Connie raised his hand, with a proud smile on his face, but then a gasp erupted from Sasha as she looked at her friend with offense. Connie heard this and turned to look at his friend with a clueless look on his face, while Jean, knew where this was going and sighed, leaning back in his chair and putting a hand over his face. "What? No, it wasn't, I brought it up first. You two just piggybacked off of my idea," Sasha countered, and Connie shrugged. You looked back and forth between all three of them, and seeing in the corner of your eye how Hange looked up from their tablet to see what was happening and what had unfolded.

"Yeah, but you're forgetting I bought you those drinks yesterday so it was practically my doing," Connie said, and Sasha just blinked at him trying to figure out what he just said. You turned your head to look at Hange in confusion, wanting to know if they were witnessing the same thing you were. 'What is happening' You said to Hange merely with your eyes as they went wide.

You saw the way they were pursing their lips and shook their head slightly, desperately trying to stay professional watching this. You raised your hand and covered the bottom half of your face as you turned to look at the trio again. You turned around and saw that they were still going at it.

"That doesn't make any sense! It was still my idea!" Sasha said, and Connie looked completely indignant. It's like they completely forgot where they were and continued to back and forth on this. You were watching the scene in front of you in disbelief, and then you noticed Jean leaned forward from his chair and closer to you. Out of instinct, you straightened up in your chair as well knowing he had something to say.

"Is it too late to do my own pitch?" Jean whispered to you and after hearing that, it took everything in you not to laugh. You leaned away from Jean, leaning back in your seat again and kept your head down and turning your head away, remaining as neutral as you could, but it was getting incredibly hard. Sometimes you forget these are the people you hired yourself, so you shouldn't be shocked at all.

You raised your head slightly and looked outside the glass wall of the conference room, and realized that Connie and Sasha had been making a lot more racket than you thought because you looked out to the cubicles and saw that people were standing up from their desks to look over and see where the noise was coming from. It was the rest of your employee's; Historia, Ymir, Marco, Annie, Bertholdt. But they didn't look the least bit shocked. They all looked amused at what they were seeing, even if the sound from their bickering was muffled to them. They did this all the time.

As amusing as this was to you too, you couldn't stay here for a moment longer. You wouldn't admit to that out loud. You cleared your throat loudly enough for all three of them to hear. That seemed to be enough to get them to stop because all three of them immediately turned to look at you, and your face remained neutral.

"I guess we've discussed everything we've had to. If we happen to have another instance where an article like that is released or anything of the sort, let's be more prepared next time. Okay? As for the pitch, continue to work together on it and I'll call all three of you back here in a couple of days so you can show me more about this product, alright? Have a presentation ready. That's all. All three of you are dismissed," You said, swiftly standing up from your chair and grabbing your purse as well.

Hange stood up at the same time as you, and the trio stood up shortly after. Though, before you left, you turned to the trio one last time, and they took notice of this and gave you their attention. "And I promise, I'm going to clean up this mess by the one who caused it in the first place," You said, switching your tone from before into a stern and serious one that made the trio visibly tense on the spot from your words, but they nodded nonetheless. They understood your words clearly.

Without another word, you turned on your heel and walked out the door and Hange followed after you, by your side, as usual. In the corner of your eye, you could also see the trio filing out of the room one after the other as well and they headed back to their desks and their cubicles. You were now headed back to your office and as Hange walked by your side, they leaned closer to you and extended their tablet in front of you to show you something. You looked down and wondered what you were looking at exactly, but Hange quickly cleared it up. "I have Karina's schedule for today," They whispered, and when you looked at the tablet closer, you could see exactly that.

"Okay, good. Forward it to me," You said, and your assistant nodded, taking their tablet back. After that, you and Hange approached the door to your private office. The two of you had made your way from the conference room, around the main office, and were now in front of the door of your office. You opened the door, walked inside, and Hange quickly followed after you, closing the door after them.

You personally really liked your office. On one side it had had a huge floor-to-ceiling wall that overlooked the city, and the other side had a glass window as well that had a view to the entire office and it had a wooden blinds. At the end of the room, you had your desk and in the middle of the room, you had a small seating area with a couple couches, chairs and a coffee table centered in the middle. You had art on the walls, bookshelves, and you had made sure to decorate the office in a way that made you feel the most comfortable and that showed your essence in the best way.

You were now walking across the room and heading straight towards your desk, with Hange following behind you. "I think i'll drive myself there. It'll be quick and I know she'll be there this time. Could you also talk to Jean and the rest of the legal team for updates on the incident and let me know how they've been handling the situation?" You said as you reached your desk, made your way around, and sat down in your chair. But you suddenly felt the air around you change when Hange didn't say anything back.

You looked up and your face twisted with confusion when you saw Hange standing in front of your desk with a look of concern etched onto their face. They hadn't said anything yet. You crossed your arms in front of you and propped up your forearms on your desk, leaning forward. "What's wrong?" You asked softly and Hange sighed as they visibly struggled to find the words. They looked like they was having an internal battle that was so hard for them to express, and it was saddening for you.

It was only after a couple of seconds after fighting their inner turmoil that they found the courage to speak up. "Let me drive you there this time," They blurted out and you were taken aback all of a sudden by that. You tilted your head to the side and leaned back in your seat, keeping your arms crossed. But then, it clicked in your head. The day before, you'd gone your separate ways, you'd driven yourself to see Karina, and it didn't end well, and that alone was an understatement. You sighed and tilted your head back in your chair, keeping your eyes locked on your assistant.

They were probably scared that if you went off on your own again, they won't be there by your side to help if you need it. They didn't know how much help they would've been if they were there that night, if it would've even happened, or if they could have prevented it at all, but Hange was just too loyal for their own good sometimes. They worried so much for you, and with the incident with that psycho and knowing there was someone out on the loose looking for you, they wanted to be by your side even more now in case anything happened. They didn't want to take any chances.

"Hange, I'll be fine. Karina will be there this time. I know it," You said, and then a teasing smirk came upon your lips and a knowing look morphed onto your face. "Besides, weren't you the one who said my word was law?" You chuckled as you leaned away from your chair and began to sort through some documents on your desk. You opened a couple folders and didn't hear much from Hange after that, or at least that's what you thought. You heard them sigh and step closer to your desk.

"I shouldn't have let you go alone yesterday, y/n. The last time you drove yourself to visit Karina, it...didn't go well, I should be there," They said and after hearing that, your movements halted and you slowly looked up at Hange to see that they were looking at you which a look that was mingled with so much concern and sternness that you couldn't look away. They were so scared that something will happen again.

You closed the folder you were looking at, set it down, and let out a huff. You looked back up ay your assistant with as much sincerity as you could. "Hange...you should know, that what happened to me, is because I was just very unlucky. Its nobody's fault you know? It's not yours, or mine. The police will find that psycho and we can all just continue living our lives," You said, even feeling deep down that saying that was stupidly naive. But in times like these, you wanted to prove to yourself you could be strong enough to handle bad things that arise and come back from them. It was just the kind of thing you were telling them down at the lobby, waiting for the elevator.

Hange knew what you were getting at, but they still didn't want to give up so easily. They cared about you deeply. "Yeah, but-" They continued, but you raised your hand slightly to let them know you weren't done yet. You wanted to reassure them than you'll be more than fine if you drove yourself to where Karina is right now and got this issue handled once and for all.

"Hange, you more than anyone should know that I don't want to feel more weak and powerless than I already do. I can do this alone, I need to prove it to myself. I don't want to be the kind of person who blames myself or other people around me. I want to get stuff done," You said as your voice turned softer, more gentle and sincere. You wanted them to know you were sure that this is what you wanted to do and you have never been more sure of anything. If you allowed yourself to lay low, it would mean that you let that creep win.

Hange's eyes hardened a bit as they studied your facial expressions to see if there were any hints of you just trying to spare them and hide what you were really feeling. But from your voice, your eyes, and everything you just told them, all that told them that you were being serious about this. While they were also your friend, they were your assistant first, and what you say goes. As hard as it was for them to let it go, Hange inhaled deeply and nodded. "And we don't want that to happen, now do we?" Hange said, giving in. You shook your head with a smile and for them, that was their cue to go deal with other tasks you've asked them to do, leaving you to do what you thought was right.

They bowed their head forward in silence, with a gentle smile, turned on their heel, and began to make their out of your office. Once they got to the door, opened it, and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind them, you were left all alone. You watched through your blinds as Hange's figured walked away and across the office, with a heavy feeling you couldn't ignore suddenly settling on your chest. You looked down at the documents that you had in your grasp, and inhaled sharply. Now more than ever, is when you need to stay strong.

-

Later that day, in another part of the city, there was none other than Karina Braun going on about her day as she usually did. She was the CEO for Eldia Apparel, so right now, she was trying out new clothes for inspiration for her upcoming collection. Your company and hers are similar in many ways, which is one of the many reasons she resents you and feels like there's constant competition. Though, that resentment was mostly one sided and it was usually felt only on her end. You never thought there was a reason as to why the two of you couldn't see eye to eye, but you were tired of trying to reason with her.

As of right now, she was in a private suite above a high end retail store that she had rented out for the day just so she could try out clothing that she had set aside previously Now, she was walking out of the changing room with a dress that had caught her eye. She walked out of the changing room and walked over to stand in front of two huge mirrors that gave her various angles to see herself in. There was also one of her employee standing next to the mirrors.

When Karina stood in front of the mirrors, looking at herself, the employee gave her a professional smile, accompanied with small claps. "You look great, Ms. Braun," He said, and once he said that. A petty smile creeped up on her face as she smoothed out the fabric of her dress and she chuckled with satisfaction. It was a white, long dress, with a soft ruffle fabric that had light pink flowers imprinted on it. It was short sleeves and they were flowy and ruffled as well.

"Eldia Fashion & Beauty has got to be in shambles and utter chaos right now. I did my job" Karina said as that satisfied smirk didn't leave her face once she realized how much revenue you must have lost because of that article. In fact, that smirk continued to grow knowing the damage she's made.

"Tell me again. How much is it that they lost? Overnight at that. I must have worked a miracle," Karina said as she chuckled and got closer to the mirror to fix her jewelry, awaiting to hear the response of her employee. She heard a hum come from her employee, and a few seconds after, she had her answer.

"Last time I checked, the market closed at just under 20%," He said, making Karina turn around to face him as her smile continued to grow. She had been monitoring the fall of your stocks this entire time and seeing them continue to fall was too sweet of a sight for her. "Oh, poor y/n. It's incredible how a single news article can have so much power, don't you think?" Karina asked, and her employee bowed his head forward in agreement as his neutral smile remained.

"Do you think I should send her some flowers? For comfort, of course," Karina asked her employee snarkily, who remained the same the entire time, but Karina couldn't tell the difference. She was also so absorbed into boasting that she had no clue that since she walked out of that dressing room, there was another presence in the room that she had red to take notice of.

Not even when she looked in the mirror to continue admiring herself did she noticed that you were sitting right behind her in the large couch that adorned the seating area of the suite. You had gotten there while she was in the dressing room, and sat down, making yourself comfortable, and had been aimlessly on your phone until she came out. The employee had asked what business you had with Karina, and you simply said it was family matters and you had been sitting there ever since. You even had the chance to get some tea made.

Karina still hadn't noticed your presence, you scoffed silently at the fact that she still hadn't noticed your presence even when her mirror reflected her and anything behind her. You decided to make yourself known after hearing her boast for long enough. "There's no need for that, Karina. It's not like I want flowers from you anyway," You said as you raised your teacup up to your lips and when she heard your voice, gasped loudly, and turned around, she could only see your eyes from the way the teacup covered the bottom half of your face.

"What...what the hell are you doing here? Did you let her in here?" Karina asked as she faced you, but then she whipped around to question her employee, who remained silent. The entire time when he'd been giving her empty replies, little to no facial expressions, it was simply not to give away you were in the room.

"No need to go after him. I'm here for the same reason as you. To shop. This is still a store, isn't it? Or did I get the place wrong?" You said as you lowered your teacup, shrugged with a smile, and leaned over to place your teacup on its saucer and then leaned back into the couch. as you crossed one leg over the other swiftly. "You've always been so defensive," You said, watching as Karina blinked a couple times, and then her eyes narrowed on you trying to figure out what you were really here to do. Though, it should be obvious.

Karina crossed her arms and her expression turned smug, but that didn't really faze you. "With the state of your company, I didn't think you'd still have the leisure to shop around," She said and you scoffed, standing up form your place on the couch and began to walk over to her. Though, her mouth dropped open when she saw you from head to toe and realized what you were wearing.

"Karina, I think you should remember that you shop with money, not leisure. You of all people should know that very well," You said as you stopped in front of the mirror and began to check yourself out with a smile, though Karina was actively glaring at you. When you got here, you changed into the exact same dress she was trying on and flaunting it right in front of her as she watched you carefully.

You turned away from the mirror and stood in front of her, looking at her dead in the eye. This was a silent yet clear message for her. She hadn't gotten under your skin as much as she thought she did. "I would've thought that with you being the CEO of Eldia Apparel that you would have better taste in clothes," You said simply, giving yourself one last look in the mirror, making Karina's glare turn into a scowl, but you were still unfazed. None of her intimidation attempts bothered you.

You turned your head back to make eye contact with the employee, and gave him a clear signal that you wanted to be alone with Karina for a second. He gave you a look of recognition and nodded, quickly stepping away. But when he did, and turned a corner, he saw about 3 or 4 other employee's who were behind the door, listening in on the conversation. When they saw the man come around the corner, they all froze and their eyes widened as they shrunk in on themselves.

Though, they were shocked when, after a couple of seconds, he quickly moved to turn around and press his ear against the door as well in front of the other employee's. Their eyes widened at this, they looked at each other, shrugged, and then all of them went back to snooping against the door. They knew this was going to be a very interesting conversation, knowing that the two of you are family. They all leaned forward as much as they could, awaiting to hear anxiously.

Back with you and Karina, the moment the employee left as soon as you asked him to, made Karina scowl and doubt his loyalty. He didn't tell her you were in the room either. When the two of you were left alone, you turned back to look at Karina and crossed your arms in front of you as your face remained neutral. It freaked Karina out because she didn't know what you were thinking.

"Why don't we go change and we can talk," You proposed with a tone that seemed all too nice for Karina to believe had any good intention behind it. When she huffed and didn't answer, you simply chuckled and walked around her to head right into the dressing room you'd left your clothes in and stepped inside. When you heard Karina's footsteps and the 'swoosh' of a curtain closing, you knew that she was doing the same, and then the two of you began to change.

A couple minutes later, you ended up getting ready faster than Karina so when you stepped out of the dressing room and didn't see her, you knew she was still changing. You'd put the dress back into a hangar and took it back out with you to the suite, so on your way to sit down, you left it on a rack and headed towards the couch. When you sat down, you crossed one leg over another and grabbed your phone, beginning to scroll through it while you waited for Karina to finish.

A few minutes later, hearing the sound of heels clacking against the floor, you looked up and saw that Karina was coming towards you with a very annoyed look on her face, but it only added to your own satisfaction. It was time for her to pay for her actions, and now, you were going through with Hange's plan, so you knew for certain that it would work. There was no way she'd back away from this.

"It's not like you to suddenly put on a show like that in front of all the employees. What are you really here for?" Karina questioned as she got closer and sat down next to you on the couch. She needed to know why you were so unbothered and suddenly acting so cryptic, but she didn't know is that this was her actions coming back to bite her in the ass. You dropped your phone in your lap and crossed your arms, shrugging slightly as you kept your face blank and undisturbed.

"No reason. I was just worried about you, you know?" You said as you feigned a pitiful tone in your voice, but Karina simply looked at you in confusion. When have you ever worried about her? In anything. This wasn't like you. You were up to something and she wanted to know what it was. "Since when? You have never felt any pity or worry for me. Ever," Karina said, and you continued to look at her as your eyes slightly squinted at her words, but remained impartial.

"Well, why wouldn't I be worried? When your personal life is at the verge of being exposed and leaked, why wouldn't I feel worry for you?" You said casually and Karina's head whipped to look at you. What were you talking about? She couldn't find anything to say so she let you continue. "You know, stock prices can always come back, rebound and mend themselves. But you know what doesn't?" You said and Karina shook her head, not knowing where you were going with this.

Her silence gave you the go-ahead to continue. Your eyes became dark and so did your voice "Your reputation. People will always remember," You threatened, and you could see the way Karina's eyes widen and her pupils constrict. But you saw the way she blinked away her shock and laughed nervously. "What are you talking about? What private life?" She said as her voice wavered. A smirk tugged at your lips seeing the way that she could barely conceal her guilt and anguish.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," You started, grabbing your purse and opened it. This is when Hange's plan would really come to into play. It's all thanks to them. You began to dig into your purse and saw the way Karina's eyes focused on your movements. What could you possibly have on her that you were being this cryptic for? The the moment you pulled your had out of your purse with a couple pictures, and then dropped them right in front of her.

Karina didn't want to look down and see what you were showing her, but when she did, you saw the way she stopped breathing for a second and all color drained from her face. Your face steeled and your eyes hardened just looking at her reaction. These were pictures of her with a man, but not just any man. A man that was none other than a CEO that was Reiner's competitor and that he has told you he's struggling to surpass. The pictures were...scandalous, to say the least.

"It's a shame, you know? You really should hide your private life better if you're going to pull stunts like the one you did with my stocks. You're not the only one who's interested in me. Because, guess what? I'm very interested in you too," You said as your voice turned bitter and harsh, letting Karina that you were in no mood to play games. You wanted to end this now, and it will. You'll make sure of it.

"You really should have covered your tracks better. It was so easy to get these pictures, it's like you wanted to get caught," You chuckled mockingly, crossing your arms again. You watched as she grabbed the pictures and your smirk widened. "How did you even get these?" Karina muttered, but you still heard her loud and clear. You adjusted yourself in your seat and leant back against the pillows comfortably. You would never reveal that Hange was the one who got these, but just seeing her reaction, with so much distress, was already satisfactory enough for you. But you were still far from done with her.

"It's easy. I won't reveal my secrets to you, and I know falling in love isn't a crime, but a betrayal like this to your own son, in public, might as well be," You said and you saw the way she swallowed hard, looking back between you and the pictures, clearly reeling and spiraling about not knowing what to do now. You were the worst person to have found out about this. You're clearly blackmailing her.

"How dare you blackmail me like this?" Karina shot back at you, but you continued to look just as smug as she was before when she was bragging about wanting to take down your company. "You think this is blackmail?" You laughed, confusing Karina even more, because this clearly was. you wanted revenge for what she did to your company and this was part of it.

You leaned closer to her and sent her a soft smile. "This isn't even the beginning," You whispered to her, making her face drop. What could you possibly be planning that was worse than ruining her reputation, her relationship with her son, and social standing? How much worse could it get? What else will you do?

Karina remained frozen on the spot, not being able to get words to come out of her mouth as a rebuttal to everything you were saying to her. She couldn't fight back, she had nothing in her defense, and she could do nothing but watch you in shocked. You were so calm and collected while telling her all of this, making Karina feel even more out of sorts. The ball was in your court now.

You turned away from Karina, feeling a slight vibration on the couch that was coming from purse, and you had your phone in there. You were getting a call. For a moment, still feeling Karina's eyes on you, you grabbed your purse, put it on your lap, opened it, and pulled out your phone. You looked down at your screen but your eyebrows furrowed when you realized that it was an unknown number.

After a couple moments of deciding whether to answer or not, without thinking about it further, you decided to press the answer button and raised your phone up to your ear. You looked at Karina for a moment and saw that she was no longer looking at you, but she was looking down at the pictures with a blank and lost look on her face. A satisfied look crossed your face as you looked away from her. There was no way that this wouldn't work now.

You turned your attention back to the call and decided to say something first. "Hello? Who is this?" You asked, wondering who it was that could be calling you all of a sudden and hoped this wasn't like that call the day before that was just beyond suspicious with all that the man on the phone told you about Grisha and his company. Though, you didn't have to wonder for much longer who was on the other side of that call when you heard their voice, or rather his voice.

"Where are you? We need to talk," The voice that you recognized as belonging to none other than Levi's was heard on the other line. Your eyebrows raised and your eyes widened. Why was he calling you all of a sudden? Did he already want to talk about what he was saying back at the hospital? He did say that the issue about the tattoo was far from over and that he would contact you again eventually.

"Levi?" You said, in genuine surprise, as you straightened up on your seat and your eyebrows pinched together. You already knew it was him on the other line, but it just felt like saying his name out loud confirmed it. "Can we meet somewhere?" He asked, and you tilted your head to the side slightly. He wanted to see you already? You knew that he wanted to resolve the whole issue with the tattoo already, but it's only been a couple hours. Was it that urgent?

"Is it urgent? I'm kind of in the middle of something," You said, but not too loudly, not wanting Karina to hear you too much. Though, you knew she was already preoccupied with her own distress to worry about who you were talking to. "Yes, it's urgent. I haven't been feeling the best after the accident if I'm being honest," He said and your eye instinctively narrowed as you fell back on the couch.

"Really? But you seemed just fine earlier today," You said with suspicion in your voice wondering how all of a sudden he feels so unwell that he's calling you, and saying that he wants to meet up. Is not having his tattoo and you having it instead, as strange that was to think about, affecting him that much? You were still having a hard time understanding what he meant by that in the first place. Though, you could understand if what he meant by feeling unwell after the accident is him saying that the effects of what happened are finally catching up to him.

"Well, you can believe me or not. But, you can just see for yourself," Levi said on the other line. you pressed your tongue on the inside of your cheek for a moment as you debated whether or not you should agree to meet up with him again. It seems that trouble follows everywhere he goes and nothing ever goes well when you're around him, and you already have enough to think about right now to risk the possibility of another incident. You weren't sure what to do.

Though, you were thinking that maybe if you said yes, you could meet up with him and this could be the opportunity for you give him some sort of compensation for the whole incident with his meal at the restaurant and hopefully make up for the whole thing. That was the only thing that seemed to have convinced you enough to agree, and wanting to see if he was really being truthful or not. "Alright, I'll text you later where we can meet up. I don't have much time, so I won't wait long," You said, earning a hum of confirmation from him on his end.

You just said those last few words because in reality, you didn't want to stay out too late today by yourself. Despite how strong and capable you wanted to be, that psycho was still out there and you didn't want to be out and about for too long. you wanted to remain cautious, especially at night. You pulled your phone away from your ear and hung up. You put your phone back in your purse and realized that Karina was standing up from her place in the couch.

The moment you hung up Levi sighed and leaned his elbow on car door as he continue to drive, leaning his head against his hand. He had been on the road when he called you, and the moment you hung up, he was left to mull over your words in the silence of his car. You didn't have much time? He's the one that's actively running out of time. This needed to work, or else, he didn't know what else he could possibly do to fix this situation.

Levi's hand tightened around the steering wheel, as he was driving with one hand, and his entire body tensed. He was meeting up with you later that night, and he was betting everything on this so every muscle in his body tensed and was feeling the effects of his stress. He huffed and shook his head, quickly change lanes and wait for your text as to where the two of you were going to meet up.

As for you, just as Karina stood up and you noticed that she was clearly trying to leave, you spoke up and your words made her halt in place, keeping her back to you. "I'm sorry about that. Had to talk to someone," You said, pushing yourself off the couch and making your way over to her. You couldn't possibly let her leave. There was still a lot more to this and she wasn't getting away that easily.

You stopped walking and stood right behind her. You'd brought your purse with you as you stood up, because after what you were going to say to her, you were leaving this building but not before you made your intentions clear with her. She had her back to you and wasn't look at you, but you knew her ears worked just fine. You were going to be quick and clear about this, no playing around.

"Okay, Karina. This is how this is going to work, I have places to be. And here comes the blackmail, by the way," You said, not helping but letting out a chuckle. That alone made Karina turn around to face you, looking indignant. You looked at her dead in the eye and your face remained impassive. "Listen. I assure you, that when I make sure that this information gets publicized, the brand image of Eldia Apparel will hit rock bottom, and you with it" You threatened, watching as the woman in front of you quite literally choke on the words she was trying to hit back with. But she was just in so much shock she couldn't get anything out.

"And you know it won't end there either. Not only will your own son find out about what you've been doing behind his back with his competitor, but Grisha's going to blow his top at what you're doing to his company and his grandson. What you're doing, not only affects you, but the rest of the family too," You continued and a smile tugged at your lips, knowing you had her cornered. You were far closer to Grisha than she has ever been, and you could easily pick up your phone and make that call. But you were going to give her a chance to make this right.

"You wouldn't dare say a word to them. You'll regret it if you do" Karina breathed out as her words and breathing became labored at the fact that you were holding her entire life in your hands and you could do whatever you want with what you know. She knows you would do it without question if she doesn't agree to whatever it is that you're here for. "Well it's too bad that there's no secrets between me and Grisha. Reiner will find out one way or another too. I'll make sure of it. I care about him too much to keep this from him," You said as you took on a sickly-sweet tone that made Karina's blood continue to boil further.

You looked down and saw that her her hands were clenched into fists and that you were having the exact effect you hoped you had on her. She had to agree to do it now. You crossed your arms and decided this was the time for you to bring up what you really wanted out of this, that is if she hadn't pieced it together yet.

"So, how about this?" You started, taking a couple steps closer to her, preparing to say these next few words right in her face. "You clean up the mess you made, take down that article, and i'll keep what you're hiding a secret. It wouldn't matter if I didn't say anything, because in today's day and age, if I don't spill your secret, someone else will," You stated clearly what you wanted, noticing the way that her breaths came out labored and shaky as she realized what you were really here to do. She should've known that you wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Aren't some things better left unsaid after all? I have a little piece of advice for you. Do not waste your energy on me. Focus on yourself, you're a grown woman, so act like it," You continued, looking her dead in the eye. By the look in her eye, you know that she's aware that she lost and even if the damage was done, she knew that you had the power to just destroy her life with a simple phone call.

"I'm going to say all of this once and one time only. If you want a war, go to Zeke instead. It was his and Yelena's idea to publish that article anyway. You're just their little puppet, aren't you?" You finished, and at the end of your words, you sent a smile her way that only seemed to have angered her more. Your smile grew even more, knowing that you got her right where you wanted her. "Are we clear?" You asked, with your smile continuing to tug at the corner of your lips.

Her words were stuck in her throat and she couldn't get them out. She was struggling to submit and realized that you had all the power and that her little plan to take you down didn't work. She would be admitting defeat and that alone sent a reaction throughout her entire body that made her visibly tense and struggle to get anything out. But after fighting her inner turmoil, you finally had your answer. "Yes," She muttered, but it was still loud enough for you to hear.

Your entire body grew with content and fulfillment. Your eyes didn't part with her as your smile grew and suddenly turned into a taunting, toothless smile. "Great. Glad we're on the same page," You beamed happily, raising your arm and patting her lightly on the shoulder before you decided that it was time to take your leave. Without another word, you started walking and moved past her, heading straight towards the exit, leaving Karina dumfounded, not knowing what to do next.

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Hi! I posted this chapter a day late, and I'm really sorry about that. Some things came up over the weekend and It kinda pushed back my writing schedule, but the next update and beyond will return to being on Sunday's! I only have about two or three weeks left of uni before I go off to winter break so please bear with me until then! :,)

I don't have a lot to say except that my life has been kind of hectic because of final semester submissions so Im trying bear it all at once the best I can lol shsj <3

So, anyway, I'll see you guys next Sunday (hopefully lmao) with the next chapter! Love you all so much! Thank you for everything!
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