Chapter 1

"Yes, dear viewers, we now continue our bulletin with a very important piece of news. As you know, recently a wave of rumors has spread across the country that the Glory family, one of America's most prestigious families, will collaborate with the Korkmaz family, who are just as prestigious in Turkey.

Until now, this family, which has never included any foreign institutions in its structure and has always said 'we are enough for ourselves,' seemed unlikely to collaborate with an external company, let alone one from Turkey—until a few days ago, when the elder of the Glory family, or in his own words, the ruler of the Glorys, gave an interview to a foreign news anchor. Now, dear viewers, let's all watch together Henry Glory’s response to the rumors about this partnership."

"Mr. Glory, you must have heard the rumors circulating recently about your business life, sir. It is being said that you have abandoned your 'we are enough for ourselves' motto, which has become almost your slogan throughout your career, and that you are planning to take your first step away from this by making a business agreement with a company from Turkey. Can you respond to these rumors and clarify the situation?"

"My dear sir, first of all, I would like you to know with all my heart that I would have preferred you to hear such big news and this process not from gossip but directly from me. However, the media moved faster than we did—and apparently faster than our attention—and spread this news to you. Therefore, there is no point in hiding this any longer. The news about our company entering a partnership is true, but in this partnership, it is not our company that was joined, but we became a partner in the Korkmaz family's company."

"So you still haven’t abandoned your principle of singularity within your company, Mr. Glory."

"I think it was better for the first time to proceed this way so that principle could undergo some change."

"And so, dear viewers, with the footage we’ve just broadcasted, we’ve learned that the information circulating is not merely a rumor. We hope this partnership, to be made for our country, will be beneficial and now move on to the next news..."

"Yes, my uncle got what he wanted, we're in all the headlines now," I said, turning off the television and looking at Variant.

"You're right, Angel, your uncle got what he wanted. Leaking it slowly to the media rather than announcing it all at once attracted much more attention. However..."

"However what?" I asked, eagerly waiting for the rest of his sentence.

"However, my uncle’s split-second change in facial expression after saying 'I think it was better for the first time to proceed this way so that principle could undergo some change,' was even better than the anchor’s words."

With Variant's words, that scene reappeared in my mind.

"I think it was better for the first time to proceed this way so that principle could undergo some change."

"Hearing such words from a man like you is quite interesting. It may sound a bit rude, Mr. Glory, but I would have expected you to deny the whole affair or say that, if you did enter the business sector in Turkey, that part is true and the rest about the second party is false."

"As a famous philosopher once said, sir, 'The only constant is change.'"

"So you have no plans to later buy the company or become the sole shareholder?"

With these words from the anchor, both Variant and I sharply turned our eyes toward him, and my uncle was also briefly silent.

Just as my uncle was about to speak again, a man suddenly collapsed loudly and fainted. It looked like he was having a seizure. He was twitching and muttering on the ground where he had fallen. Everyone's attention shifted from my uncle to the man. My uncle ran over to him from where he was.

He tried to help him up with a few maneuvers, and Variant and I joined to assist. My uncle and Variant carried the man, and we said our car was better suited to take him to the hospital(!), so we got in the car. At that moment, the people around us had completely forgotten our actual purpose for being there. In their eyes, we had become the heroes of the day.

Once in the car, we just let the man be and settled into the back. The man was one of our undercover security guards. If something went wrong, his mission was to take one of the temporary consciousness-altering pills my uncle gave him to shift the attention onto himself. Now that I think about it, he had completed his mission successfully—the journalists only found out whether such a partnership existed. They didn’t learn why specifically Turkey, or whether two people would always manage that company.

This fake collapse tactic was one of my uncle's oldest tricks... If things started to turn in a direction he didn’t want, he would immediately redirect the focus to something else. That way, he would regain control again.

I shook my head and laughed, snapping out of the memory.

"You're right. For once in their lives, the journalists actually pointed out the correct thing—and of course, it was my uncle they found. Thank God the guard got the signal just in time."

"I wonder what happened to the guy."

"I don’t know, Variant. Last I saw, he was with you. I guess once the pill’s effect wore off, he went back to his job."

"Do you think your uncle kept him on duty? He must’ve figured out at least partially what the pills do."

"Maybe he forgets he took the pill once he loses consciousness."

"Yeah, but he takes it before he loses consciousness. Maybe the pill slowly kills, and your uncle tells us it just causes a blackout."

"Given that it’s my uncle, yes, he has the potential to do something like that. But if that were the case, why give so many pills? He’d just give one strong dose and finish the job."

"Maybe he wants us to think that. Maybe one of the pills is already lethal. And maybe we just don’t know that, like that bodyguard didn’t."

"The guard doesn’t know what the pill actually does, and we don’t know the dosage. Plus, I stopped taking the pills my uncle gave me a long time ago, so even if I did find out, it wouldn’t change anything—I still wouldn’t take them."

"Yeah," Variant chuckled. "You really were good at pretending to take them. You fooled both me and your uncle. If you hadn’t told me, I’d still believe you were taking them, you know?"

"The only thing I managed to escape out of all the things my uncle made me do or wanted me to do was not taking those pills." I leaned my head back.

"God, they made me feel awful. I’m so glad I quit those damned things. Though you know, even though it’s been a while, sometimes I feel like they still affect me a little. Not as much as before, just a little. I think the effects are just now starting to wear off."

"You took them for years—it’s normal to still feel something now and then."

"You're right, that’s what I tell myself. Anyway, I’m going to bed. We’ve got our first face-to-face meeting tomorrow, and I need to recharge."

I headed for the stairs and started climbing slowly toward my room. I heard Variant’s voice and turned to him.

"Don’t fall asleep until I bring your honeyed milk. We’re doing so much for you—it better be worth it."

A faint smile appeared on my face. When I was eleven, he made me honeyed milk out of nowhere, and after that, he never stopped making it. He wouldn’t leave my side until he saw me finish it.

"Alright, I’m not allowed to sleep until you see me finish it, sir."

"Exactly. And if you start to feel like you’re taking pills again, promise me you’ll tell me, okay?"

"Okay, I will, Vari. And I’ll tell only you first." I said, then headed back toward my room.

Unaware that Variant had picked up his phone the moment I turned my back…