Chapter 832: They wanted more

"... I don’t feel safe."

This was what Allen meant when he said Atlas was easily misunderstood. For Atlas, saying this bluntly had no other intention but to honestly express his thoughts. However, it might come off as rude and insensitive, which Atlas didn’t care about.

Under normal circumstances, Stephen would’ve easily taken that as an insult. However, Stephen wasn’t in the mood, nor did he have the energy to deal with such insensitivity at the moment.

"Atlas, do you think someone is watching us?" Stephen asked, looking at the CCTV camera in the corner of the ceiling of the elevator. "Can those watching hear what we’re talking about?"

"They do." Atlas arched a brow, glancing at Stephen nonchalantly. He was just glad that Stephen didn’t nitpick on him today. "Uncle, are you sure you’re okay? You still seem off and you’ve been acting strangely."

Stephen peeled his eyes from the CCTV camera and looked at Atlas. "Atlas, do you trust the people in security?"

"Why wouldn’t I?"

"Just—just answer me," Stephen breathed out, finding himself already panting, even though he hadn’t done or said anything just yet. "Please."

Atlas frowned, furrowing his brows. "Of course. The people in the CCTV room are Penny’s people. She started replacing some of the staff in charge of security after what happened with Sven."

"Ahh..."

"So, it’s safe," Atlas remarked. "Penny reassured me that her people were trained to ignore anything they hear—whatever it is."

"Is that so?" Stephen rocked his head, still not calm. He glanced at the CCTV again before clearing his throat and settling his eyes on Atlas.

The elevator wasn’t a bad place to talk. No one was listening, and no one could just pull the trigger on him, right?

"Atlas, I have to tell you something," he started, only to receive an indifferent response from Atlas.

"Did you finally remember what you forgot to tell me, Uncle?"

Stephen’s face twitched slightly, admittedly annoyed at Atlas. But then again, he had promised Slater. Breaking promises was something Stephen had done countless times in his life. Therefore, he wouldn’t mind breaking his promise to Slater... if not for the fact that Slater was a cop, and Stephen was already desperate.

"I didn’t forget about it," Stephen said, taking a deep breath and exhaling through his mouth. "I was just... scared."

"Scared?" This time, Atlas’s interest was piqued. "What are you scared of, Uncle?"

Stephen pressed his lips together, looking straight into Atlas’s eyes. This time, his eyes glinted with determination before he spoke.

Atlas immediately narrowed his eyes the second he heard the first remark that escaped his uncle’s mouth. But the more he listened, the darker his expression became. By the time they reached his floor, Atlas raised a hand.

"Stop now," Atlas commanded, facing the elevator door with the same plain look on his face. "If that’s the case, then we cannot stay in the same place any longer. I’ll contact you again, and we’ll continue this conversation another time."

Atlas kept his finger pressed on the closed button, glancing over his shoulder. "For now, if they catch wind of you coming to me, tell them you were scared but chose the smart way."

"..." Stephen couldn’t even say another word when Atlas released the closed button, standing upright as the door in front of them opened again.

Atlas didn’t wait a second, stepping out of the elevator as casually as ever. He acted as though he hadn’t heard anything from Stephen.

As for Stephen, he stared at the open elevator door in a daze before it closed again. The door opened and closed a few times before Stephen snapped out of his momentary trance. He had barely told Atlas about the people who wanted the chairman dead, but Atlas had already left, as if he wasn’t interested at all.

’But he said he’ll contact me again,’ he told himself, pressing the button for his floor while gazing down at his feet. ’What’s going on now?’

Stephen was only doing what Slater had told him to do. Although Slater assured him that Atlas wouldn’t call the cops on him, Atlas’s reaction left him confused.

DING!

Stephen flinched, his thoughts halting at the sound of the elevator chime. He snapped his eyes at the door, carefully checking to the left and right to make sure no one was around. Once he was certain no one was there to kill him, he stepped out and headed back to his office.

---

Meanwhile, in Atlas’s office...

"Still, that’s not a nice thing to say!" Charles exclaimed in dismay. "Haines, how could you be so cruel to me? Aren’t we like brothers?"

Haines looked at the dramatic Charles, and opened his mouth, only to change his mind and shut it again. Instead of arguing, he just huffed.

"I’m sorry," he whispered. "That I have to answer a question that only prolonged this discussion I didn’t want to begin with."

Hearing Haines’s blunt and unremorseful remark, Charles gasped in disbelief. "You’re not the cousin I used to know!"

"And you’re still the same cousin I remember."

"Demon, begone—!" Charles almost bit his tongue when the door suddenly flew open. He turned his head, only to jolt a little when Atlas kicked the door behind him, causing it to slam shut. "Huh?"

Even Haines furrowed his brows, catching the strange look on Atlas’s otherwise stoic face. "Atlas, did something bad happen? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?"

It wasn’t that Atlas looked pale or sickly, but he seemed incredibly rattled. Had something happened in the meeting?

Haines and Charles exchanged a glance, silently calling a truce to whatever argument they had been having. When they set their eyes back on Atlas, they narrowed their eyes as he slowly looked back at them.

"Son, what’s wrong?" Charles asked sternly. "Say the bad news now... while Haines and I are here."

Atlas drew a deep breath, but instead of answering immediately, he joined the two men in his life whom he respected the most. After sitting down, Atlas rested his arms over his leg and lifted his eyes to them.

"I need your opinion on how to deal with the people who were after Dad and Penny," he revealed in a low voice. "Because those people didn’t seem like they just wanted Dad to suffer through Penny’s death. They wanted... this very place; they wanted more."