'Get rid of the person who annoyed me so much, done!' Vivianne grinned to herself as she continued sorting through the documents earlier.
She felt like she could breathe easier now that Joan was gone from the warehouse. It was as if she had lost the scrutinizing eyes on her, and she could do whatever she wanted from now on.
Of course, that wasn't true. She knew that almost everyone in the warehouse was loyal to Alfred. Nonetheless, she still felt a different kind of irritation towards Joan. It's like her blood boiled every time she saw her.
"I hope she learns her lesson," she whispered again while sorting through the documents.
Since Joan was in charge of most of the illegal activities of the mafia here at the main branch, Vivianne had to take on the other tasks that the woman left behind.
She had Jill helping her, while Alfred took the sensitive tasks that he still couldn't entrust to Vivianne.
Instead of getting annoyed, Vivianne felt more satisfied with that arrangement. She never really liked illegal activities.
However, she didn't expect Alfred to summon her to his office.
“Jill may be talented, but the fact that she’s still a newbie in this field doesn’t sit right with me. I’m also busy dealing with other things. So, I’ll assign you this one.” Alfred slid a red folder on the table toward Vivianne.
A red folder meant missions that were highly prioritized and urgent, something that surprised Vivianne. Usually, she wasn't trusted by Alfred with these kinds of tasks no matter what.
“I'm definitely better than you!”
Suddenly, Vivianne heard Joan's words echoing in her mind. She remembered that these kinds of tasks often ended up with Joan, and now, she knew it wasn't because Alfred was paying Joan so she made the most out of her orders here.
Joan is talented and intelligent… and it is a bitter truth for Vivianne.
‘Stop, Viv. Are you really going to be insecure now?’ Vivianne scolded herself before opening the contents of the folder.
Her brow furrowed when she saw what mission her father had assigned her.
"That is the list of all the people who had debts from us. There are only five of them, but don't underestimate them. Even Joan had a hard time tracking them all down," Alfred explained. "But I know you can do it. You’re my daughter. You should have inherited intelligence from me."
Vivianne's vision darkened before she furrowed her brow. She wanted to throw the folder against the wall and leave Alfred's office, but she knew it wouldn't bring anything good if she did.
“I don’t want to,” Vivianne returned the folder to the table. “Even if not Jill, you can assign someone else to do it. I know you have a few more men who are better than Joan or just as good as her.”
“No. You should be the one to do it,” Alfred replied, his tone firm.
“But this is a dangerous job! Loan shark debtors are merciless. I could be in danger there even though I'm ready. Do you have no conscience?!” Vivianne couldn't help but shout in anger and surprise.
She couldn't believe what her father was saying. Dealing with loan sharks is a tough job, especially when they're being collected from. They're ready to kill for money.
The same as Alfred. The difference is, he just gives orders.
“Is that really your reason, or can you just not bring yourself to collect?” Vivianne didn't immediately answer Alfred's question. Because her father was right. When she needs to collect from kind-hearted people, she struggles.
Once, Alfred also gave her this kind of task, and she needed to collect from an old man who owed Alfred. In the end, she didn't collect from the old man and paid off the debt using her own savings.
Because of that, she was scolded and punished by Alfred.
“This is the problem with you. You always let your heart win against your brain.” Alfred stood up and handed the document back to Vivianne. “This will be a part of your training. Make everyone pay, and prove your worth to me,” he added. “You may go.”
Vivianne wanted to respond, but when she saw Alfred's disapproving look, she had no choice but to leave while biting her lower lip in frustration.
She went back to her room. There, she looked again at who needed to be collected from and researched about them.
"Thank goodness. They're all bad people." She breathed a sigh of relief because they were all gang leaders that they needed to collect from.
Vivianne felt more capable of doing the job because the people on the list had ruined the lives of others... from then until now.
She wanted to finish things as soon as possible, especially since she had other appointments coming up as a freelance dress stylist. She gathered a team to accompany her in collecting, and she also grabbed a gun and a few knives.
Vivianne hoped that fate would be on their side during their collection later, but it wouldn't hurt to prepare. She picked up her phone and typed a message to Beckett. She didn't know why, but she felt like she should update her husband.
[I’ll be working overnight. Just saying.]
After clicking the 'sent' button, she continued with her preparations.
It was nine-thirty in the evening, and Vivianne was done taking care of the first three debtors. As expected, they resisted, but they didn't succeed.
Vivianne was already prepared, so before the opponents could even attack them, they cornered them immediately. They had no choice but to pay.
"That's how it should be. If you were this cooperative from the start, maybe you wouldn't get hurt," Vivianne said before smacking the leader of the fourth group with an envelope. "Tsk. You fight before paying."
The leader didn't speak. Instead, he bowed even lower while kneeling. Regret and shame were evident in his expression.
Vivianne was wearing a mask so no one could recognize her.
"Let’s go, so we can finish and go home," said Vivianne to her companions, and they followed her.
They went to a secluded place. According to one of her men, that's where the hideout of the last group they needed to collect from was.
Her informant said that the group was cunning and ruthless, so Vivianne was vigilant, especially since the area around them was dense and wide.
"Be attentive, everyone," Vivianne ordered as they slowly walked and assessed their surroundings.
She led the way as the leader, and she didn't like what she felt. She felt that something was wrong with the place because it was eerily quiet.
It was as if there were eyes watching them and hiding around...
"Everyone, retreat!" Vivianne shouted, but it was too late.
They were ambushed by enemies hiding behind the trees. They moved quickly and were strong. And because they didn't expect the attack, they were quickly defeated by them.
Vivianne’s group which was strong before… suddenly became weak. They were outnumbered, and they quickly surrounded the woman.
"Get V out of here!" Bryle, the team leader, ordered his companions. V is Vivianne’s codename, so they didn't mention their real names.
"No! I won't leave you here!" Vivianne replied. She was determined to fight alongside her group.
Riz, another one of her people, shook her head. "You're their target here, and we're sure of that because they're focused on you."
Vivianne looked around, and Riz was right. The attention of their enemies was on her as if they knew her true identity.