Miller

In a private dining restaurant sat two men and a woman facing each other. They paid little attention to the enormous amount of food in front of them as they chose to scrutinize each other's body language. They remained still; nobody wanted to be the one to break the painful stillness.

The creaking sound from the sliding door compelled them to focus their attention on the direction of the sound. A waiter emerged carrying a plate filled with dishes of a different cuisine than what had been served previously. The waiter's heart almost jumped and ran from its place as the three pairs of eyes fixed on him.

The waiter set the food prettily on the table without saying a word, feeling extremely afraid at the attention he was getting. "Enjoy your food, Sir, Madam." He stated with a shaky voice. A drop of sweat rolled down from his neck onto the center of his chest.

After getting the nod from a woman with ginger hair, the waiter understood it was his cue to leave the room. So, he swung around and fled like his butt was burning.

"You scared the poor man, Ford." A man with blonde hair and blue eyes said with a hint of amusement in his voice. His hand reached for a glass of water and sipped before putting it in its previous place.

Arthur shunned the man's comment. Instead, he passed the man a flash drive to him. "That trash is yours, right?"

The man furrowed his brows thoughtfully as he examined the flash drive in his hands. There was no logo or sign that it belonged to him, so he shifted his attention back to Arthur. "Not mine. There is no Miller's logo in it."

"Are you stupid, Adrian? Check the program on that flash drive."

The man, Adrian Miller, scoffed at Arthur's impatient remark. Arthur was not fun to play with; he was too serious for his taste. "Mia, your laptop."

Without uttering a word, the woman with ginger hair slid her white laptop underneath the table and positioned it in front of Adrian.

After that, Adrian ran the software, and he was immediately stunned. His eyes raised to meet Arthur's intense gaze. Adrian could sense from the way Arthur looked at him that he was pissed beyond words.

Adrian gulped, "How did you get my program?"

"God sent it to me personally," Arthur said with a deadpan tone. "Don't play with me, Adrian. I know you are dumb, but no need to be dumber." As he leaned in, Arthur added, in a voice that was noticeably lower than before.

Adrian had a strong desire to choke Arthur so badly that the man begged to be released. But he knew there was not a single chance for him to realize it, as Arthur would kill him first before he even acted on his desire.

"It's mine, but how did you get a hold of it?" Adrian was genuinely asking but judging from Arthur's tense reaction; it seemed that the grumpy man did not like his question at all.

"My employee got it from a package and used it." Arthur could see there was excitement dancing in Adrian's blue eyes after what he said. "So, answer me, why did you send him your trash?"

"Did it affect your system, Ford?" Adrian barely bothered to conceal the exhilaration in his voice. "Answer my question, Arthur," he continued with a voice that rose higher than before, indicating that his excitement had increased.

Adrian cocked his head to the side to look at Mia. He stretched out, took her hands in his, and stared straight into Mia with crocodile tears glistening in his eyes, "I did it, Mia." He spoke as though he had just been awarded an Olympic medal.

Arthur could not stand Adrian's annoying antic, so he slammed the table hard, making his glass drop to the ground, and shatter into shards.

"Are you desperate to beat me?" Arthur snapped, "Your pathetic attempt to beat me led someone into the door of death."

Arthur's last sentence utterly tore Adrian's happiness in two. His eyes widened in confusion as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Someone is dead because you are playing with me, Adrian. You killed someone." While saying that, Arthur studied Adrian's reaction carefully. He saw that there was a genuine shock on the man's face. Adrian did not fake his response, which only meant he did not know anything. "Did you really send the package?"

"I did not." Adrian's reply came fast. He, too, was perplexed at how Arthur had gotten his precious program.

Initially, Adrian developed the program to infiltrate Arthur's system during the annual competition between security companies. But he did not know someone actually stole his masterpiece. To think he was so close to being the number one, yet the chance was robbed. And no one knew when he would get another opportunity like this one.

"Your stupidity never fails to surprise me, Ian." Arthur massaged his face vigorously with the palm of his hand.

"If I am stupid, then what are you? Your system is breaking down because of me, Arthur."

While the two-man attacked each other, Mia was busy sipping her tea calmly like she was at a tea party. She had been accustomed to the two behaving in such a manner, especially her boss. Adrian had an obsession with beating Arthur.

The reason for that heavy feeling was petty, and even Mia could not believe it when Adrian revealed it to her. It was simply because Arthur did not accept him in FSS. Therefore, Adrian decided to establish his own security company in order to compete with Arthur.

Childish behavior, Mia knew it. However, that trivial reason was strong enough to be Adrian's driving force to work hard and make his name known for the past ten years. Well, of course, up until now, FSS had remained in the first while Miller Security Co stayed loyal in number two.

"Anyway, who is the victim, Mr. Ford?" Mia questioned as she set the teacup down after drinking from it.

"Marcella Williams."

The name instantly caught both Adrian's and Mia's full attention. "The movie star?" Both said at the same time.

After Arthur gave him the affirmative response, Adrian let out a hearty laugh until he felt his stomach hurt. His laugh echoed in the room and dominated Arthur's sense of hearing.

"Your beloved FSS is doomed, Arthur." Adrian brushed away the tears gathering at the edge of his eyes before continuing, "Your client will run to me in no time, hahaha." He couldn't stop laughing, and Mia had to pat him on the back to calm him.

At times like this, Mia felt like giving Adrian a good whack to the head with a vase to get his brain to function properly.

Adrian was busy laughing, completely ignoring the menacing look on Arthur's face.

Mia was fully aware of the gravity of their situation. However, her crazy boss was over the moon, celebrating the downfall of his self-claimed rival company.

"I don't understand why you are staying with someone stupid like him. You should have worked with me, Miss. Craig." Arthur's smile bloomed that lit up his entire face when he caught Adrian's face turned ugly. He knew exactly where to push Adrian's button. Mia was Adrian's bottom line.

"You should start thinking about your company instead of flirting with someone else's girlfriend." Adrian's demeanor turned serious. He detested it when people kept asking Mia to leave his company, especially if the person was Arthur.

"You should also start thinking about your company, Miller. I won't hesitate to drag you into the mud if I fall. After all, it was your program. I can say to the detective in charge that you are an accomplice in the murderer." After making that statement, Arthur proceeds to eat in a nonchalant manner.

"What exactly do you mean when you say murderer" A deep frown was evident on Adrian's temple.

"Miss. Craig, I would appreciate it if you could explain to your boss since his tiny brain cannot comprehend the situation." He looked across at Mia and signaled for her to explain freely in front of him.

Mia let out an exhalation; irritation was visible on her face. She pinched Adrian's arm and forced him to lower his head so she could whisper to him. "Someone else using your precious program to plan a murder." Their eyes locked each other, then Mia continued, "You better use your small brain, Adrian. You are embarrassing me." The last sentence was said in a shallow tone so Arthur could not hear her scolding Adrian.

Adrian gave Mia a friendly smile before giving her hand a gentle squeeze under the table and said, "Okay."

"So, what do you want, Ford?"

"Find the mole in your company and give me the details."

"That's it? You don't want me to find the killer?"

"I don't have a high hope for you, Miller." Arthur tore his gaze into Mia, "I need your help to check your client record. One of them might be a killer."

"Understood, Mr. Ford," Mia noted his instruction. After this, she had to spend her time reading all the reports to search for an anomaly in them.

"Do your part, Miller. Keep in mind that if I fall, so will you." he rose to his feet and moved away from the table, leaving Adrian and Mia behind.

After Arthur was nowhere in sight, Adrian's position changed to face Mia. His face was so stiff, in contrast to how it had been before, which was filled with a playful expression.

"Give me all the report about Xander Lowe. I want everything and what he has been up to for the past few months." He said while caressing Mia's head tenderly.

"Okay, boss." Mia gave her best smile, the one that Adrian loved the most. She cupped her hand around his face and gave him a little peck on the corner of his lips, "Don't be hard on yourself. You did not know someone would use your program like that."

"Hmm, let me hug you for a while, then after that, we can start working again," Adrian said, then he pulled her into his arm and embraced her tightly for a solid five minutes.

After that, they pulled apart from the hug.

"Let's go back."

"Yes, Mr. Miller."