The abandoned crumbling building; the dark quite hallway; the winding staircase leading to the basement; the creaking of the boards echoed with each step taken.

All of it adding to the cold and eerie atmosphere.

Silence hung in the air; weighing down on anyone who stepped into the room. 

This silence, however, was different. 

It wasn't due to the lack of people present there. It wasn't the calm silence one craved for. 

This was felt more like the lack of noise - noise, that all present in the room had flinched in expectation of. But the dark room lay silent. 

A nervous voice broke through the silence, "Things are going according to plan, sir."

"That's not what I heard," A deep voice challenged.

"T-there was a slight hiccup but things are back on t-track." 

"Slight hiccup? Do you think this is a joke?!" The voice boomed as a fist banged against the top of a table. Everyone present flinched a step back. 

No one dared to reply.

The dark figure stepped into the dim light. His face devoid of any emotion but his eyes held the storm that the silence in the room foreshadowed.

"All I ask is for you to do the bare minimum and attempt to keep your incompetence under control until the end of this and all I hear is about your 'slight hiccups'. A few more weeks and I will have no use for any of you," the man spat out in disgust. 

"One person. All I need is the fall of that one person. Then the group and the company will follow suit, just like dominoes. My investment of millions rendered worthless just because of one person and his seven dancing dolls!" Anger and hatred flashed in his eyes everytime he thought about how no-names from a no-name company were responsible for all this. 

"Let me remind you that this job might be only worth a couple of thousands of dollars for you but its worth millions to me. Mess this up and I will not hesitate to recover every single penny from every single one of you and then make sure that no one will hear from you ever again."

Silence was the only acknowledgement of the warning which had chilled everyone to their bones.  

Not one soul dared to even breathe until they heard his footsteps leave the building and then the room finally exhaled in relief. 

They had always heard rumours about him. Stories had been told of the man whose presence instilled instant fear in all people present- irrespective of whether they knew him or not.

But something was different today. He wasn't as cold and emotionless as he was often described. 

Beneath the surface was a bruised ego. He had heard it all; the people rejoicing over the rumours of his imminent downfall, the laughs that were shared over drinks, ridiculing him, and how eagerly the industry was awaiting his fall.

This wasn't just him planning the ruin of a person's career. 

He had bargained away the life of an idol, all over a mere investment. 

This wasn't just business anymore.

This was personal.

—