-

You sighed and sat up, getting straight to the point. "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 the idea started with me!" Connie said, taking credit, and Sasha just blinked at him in disbelief 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 their colleague 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, the man 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. Your foortprint. 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, voice oozing with confidence as it started to turn 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 tauntingly, 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.

-

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!