Chapter 9

• Rod
• Clarixto slammed his desk upon hearing the news from his men. "You idiots! It's impossible that you didn't find anything!" he shouted angrily. Several men standing in front of him exchanged glances.
• They reported that they didn't find anything unusual in the rooms they searched. They didn't find anything that could be related to the video circulating on the internet. Fortunately, they had control over the police in Samar, so nobody was currently investigating them.
• A video of the man captured by his nephew Rodrigo Navarro was now spreading. Clarixto himself saw that man because he shot him that night. He never expected that the man managed to record a video and had a hidden one. Clarixto was sure that whoever uploaded it was inside their university.
• "T-There really is nothing, sir. We checked all the rooms, but we found nothing. Boss Rod was with us earlier," one of their men explained hesitantly.
• Clarixto clenched his fist. They couldn't afford to find out who uploaded it. They needed to find them to silence them because they surely knew something.
• "Where is Rod? Why haven't I seen him since earlier?" he asked the men, but all of them just avoided eye contact.
• "I'm here, Uncle," Rod said with a smile as he walked into the room.
• Clarixto furrowed his brow when he saw the joyful face of his nephew. The brightness in his face was evident. Meanwhile, five of their men were in the hospital because Rod beat them up after watching James's video. "What's the problem?"
• "What's the problem? Are you really asking me what's the problem, Rod? Your name is at risk! Have you forgotten that you're the governor of this place?" Clarixto lectured his nephew. He was already thirty years old, but he still didn't take things seriously. Even though he acted as the governor of their place, he was still the one doing most of the work. He practically managed some of their businesses. Rod did nothing else but what he wanted. That wasn't a problem for Clarixto because he preferred Rod to live that way. His only concern was for Rod to still protect their name.
• "Relax, Uncle. You're just getting older. Don't worry." Rod sat on the sofa and looked at the men. "Call the man in the other room. I need his report now," he ordered.
• "Who's the man?"
• "We're in the world of the internet, Uncle. I hired some hackers to hack the accounts of the poster. We'll know who it is soon enough."
• Clarixto raised an eyebrow. "Good."
• "You're just too nervous."
• "Rod, I just care for you. You know that."
• Rod grinned and looked at Clarixto coldly. "Don't worry. Your money and power won't disappear, Uncle. I won't disappear," Rod said meaningfully.
• Clarixto swallowed and quickly looked away from his nephew. Even though he practically controlled all of his wealth, he knew he still couldn't control his nephew.
• "I'm just worried."
• "Don't be. Look, he's here now." Rod gestured toward a young man holding a laptop. He sat on a chair and placed the laptop on his lap. "Tell us what you saw," Rod commanded.
• The young man swallowed hard. He also studied at Rod's University. He was skilled in hacking internet accounts. Rod gave him a simple task, but the fear of the guns around him overshadowed everything. He knew that the Navarro family was not to be taken lightly. The young man cleared his throat.
• "W-We were able to hack the account of the uploader, Gov. We deleted the videos and blocked them on all social media," the young man said.
• Rod furrowed his brow. "And?"
• The young man looked at Rod in surprise. "T-That's it, sir."
• Rod took a deep breath. He stared into the young man's eyes, which immediately trembled upon their gaze. "That's it?"
• The frightened young man nodded vigorously. "T-That's it, Gov."
• "I need to know who the uploader is!" Rod suddenly shouted, startling the young man. Several of their men in the room exchanged glances. Clarixto, on the other hand, let out a sigh. Rod stood up and kneeled in front of the young man. "I fucking need to know who is the uploader! Don't give me shits!" he angrily said.
• The young man closed his eyes and started to sweat. "I-I'm sorry, Gov.! That's all we saw." His eyes widened when Rod punched him. He quickly raised his hand and covered his face. "But we got the IP address of the account owner!" the trembling young man said.
• Rod furrowed his brow. He loosened his grip on the young man's collar. "What does it mean?" he asked, releasing him.
• "I-It means that when the account owner goes online, we can detect their location. W-Who they are," the young man explained, still trembling.
• Rod stood up straight. "Very good. You can leave."
• The young man quickly stood up and practically ran out of the room. If only he knew this would happen, he wouldn't have accepted Rod's offer. But he was blinded by the money, so he had to find out who uploaded the video.
• Rod, on the other hand, walked towards the bar counter and poured himself a drink. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He had just indulged himself, but his anger flared up again. He often couldn't control himself when he got angry. In the eyes of his uncle, it was a big problem, which is why they tried to get him treated. But he believed it helped him. So when his uncle insisted on getting him treated, he beat up his doctor. Since then, no psychiatrist had dared to try to treat him. He knew he had a condition. But he didn't care as long as he could do whatever he wanted. He just needed to fix his problem and find his lost wealth. After that, his life would go smoothly again. With Jane Acosta by his side.
• Rod couldn't help but smile when he remembered Jane. He didn't know why he was so infatuated with her. But ever since he saw her, he couldn't forget her. He was even more obsessed with her now that he had tasted her.
• "It looks like you're deep in thought," Clarixto remarked. He shivered as he watched his nephew. He knew that when Rod acted like this, he was up to something that he wouldn't approve of. Since the death of Rod's parents, he had taken care of the young man. That's why he never got married and focused more on helping him, considering the number of businesses Rod's parents left him.
• "It's nothing. I need to go," Rod said and left the room.
• Clarixto sighed. It was more important now to find out who uploaded that video. He would never allow what he had to be lost. He had sacrificed too much for Rod. So he wouldn't easily let things fall apart like this.