It was cold. Too cold.

Brett slowly opened his eyes, feeling warm drops of water dripping from his head. When Brett looked down, he realized it was not water. It was a thin stream of blood trickling from his head and to the wooden floor.

Brett panicked, shooting upright. He was laying down on a floor of a stranger's house. He felt a long chain binding his arms and legs, restraining his movement.

Where was he? Why was he here?

The sudden movement made Brett dizzy and he kneeled down again, panting from a terrible headache. The world span under his eyes, like a mad circus.

"Finally, you're awake."

Brett took a glimpse of a pair of shiny leather shoes walking to him. He didn't have to look up to see who he was from the voice -

"Anthony..." Brett groaned through his clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry for our previous... barbaric actions. I hope you understand."

Anthony crouched down to meet Brett's eyes, smiling slyly.

"What do you want?" Brett glared at Anthony.

"You see, Mr. Yang. I had a bit of a problem...with your father."

Anthony sighed, lighting up his cigarette.

"You want one?"

Anthony handed a cigarette to Brett. Brett shook his head, no.

"We found a gold mine in Collenka. He promised me 50% of the share. He didn't keep the promise."

Brett's mind raced. He immediately thought of the cargo ship #2204 from Collenka that disappeared - the ship that John was looking for the other day.

"The ship #2204..?"

"Now we're talking!"

Anthony laughed and slapped Brett on the back. Brett coughed, shuddering from an intense headache again.

"And I have used up all the money to find that treasure so you probably have some idea how pissed I was."

Brett murmured softly, thinking back to that document.

"I read the contract a few weeks ago. It was because you bailed your investment a few months before the expedition......."

Anthony put his index finger on Brett's lips.

"Shhh, son. This is an adult talking. We - your father and I - had a promise."

Brett recoiled back, disgusted. He didn't like Anthony touching him in any way.

"So everything was going according to plan as I took care of your.... father..."

The drugs.

Brett bit his lips in anger.

"...and managed to re-route the ship on its way to Candra. And this is my baby here that was on that ship."

Anthony walked next to Brett where a massive iron safe stood.

"This safe contains net worth of gold that can buy an entire city in Handorr. The problem is, I asked different professionals around the country but the safe cannot be opened or be destroyed ...without the right key."

Anthony blew the smoke into Brett's face.

"Turns out the key is your father's ring - the Yang family symbol. You should know it very well."

Brett inhaled a sharp breath.

The ring he gave to Eddy.

Anthony smashed the cigarette under his shoes.

"Now where is your father's ring, Mr. Yang? I know that he passed it to you."

Brett couldn't help but chuckle a little at how absurd everything was. The ring was not his anymore and he would never tell Anthony that it belongs to Eddy now.

Brett smiled playfully through a bloody trail from his head.

"I don't have it anymore."

Anthony smiled back and crouched next to Brett again.

"Now we can do this in an easy way or a hard way."

"You really think you can scare me like that?" Brett muttered.

After all, Brett grew up in the best businessman household. He has seen his father and his brothers make a deal, get threatened, or bribe others during their work. And one thing that Brett learned over the shoulder was that the person who is more desperate is always on the losing side.

"Where is the ring?" Anthony growled, roughly grabbing Brett's hair that was plastered with blood.

"I do not have it."

Brett felt a strong kick to his chest. Brett doubled over, coughing up blood.

"Tell me where it is, now."

Brett laughed at Anthony's desperation through his continued coughing. His eyes twinkling like a mad man.

"Sorry, you will have to hear it from me the hard way."

.

.

Meanwhile, Eddy was pacing back and forth at the lobby of the concert hall, waiting for Brett. It was nearly time to start the concert - where was Brett? They were supposed to meet in the lobby once they were all prepared.

Maybe he was still in the backstage room...?

The thought that Brett might be panicking again went through Eddy. Eddy ran to Brett's room and knocked.

There was only silence.

"Brett, are you alright?"

Eddy leaned to the door but the room sounded empty.

"I'm going in."

Eddy slowly opened the door. Brett's violin case was there, open. His violin was on the floor, broken at the side. So Brett was already here - but where could he be? And what the hell happened here?

Then Eddy noticed - a smudge of blood on the floor.

Eddy stared at the blood marks, confused. He noticed a paper sticking out from the violin bag. Eddy read it and realized that it was a catalog of his father's pharmaceutical company.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Eddy ran back outside and caught the cleaning boy mopping the floor.

"Hey, have you seen ... a boy with black hair, glasses...?"

The cleaner boy leaned to his mop, thinking.

"Yeah, he just arrived a few hours ago. He went into that room."

The boy pointed to Brett's backstage room.

"Did you see where he go? Or somebody entering that room beside him?"

"Probably his family..? There were some guys with suits who went inside the room."

Eddy inhaled sharply.

"Tell me what they looked like."

"I wasn't really paying attention. But one of the guys was tall, slim, oh and with gold round glasses -"

Anthony was here.

"Alright, cleaner boy," Eddy took out his wallet and gave the boy all the coins he got.

"Run to the police station and tell them that the youngest son of the Yang family is missing. Tell them to check Anthony Chen's household first."

The cleaner boy gulped, taking the coins.

"And tell all the nobles out there that the concert is canceled. Brett is missing."

Eddy ran outside of the concert hall after that, catching a carriage to Port Kaiim.

He was going to the house he could never forget. The place he ran away from ten years ago.

Soon, the carriage stopped at the port and Eddy ran up the hill, to the ominous mansion standing at the cliff. The house hasn't changed from what he remembered so many years ago and that gave Eddy chills.

Eddy stopped in front of the gate, panting. He slowly turned the door handle.

"I'm home father," Eddy whispered.

Brett, please be safe.

.

.

Eddy carefully walked to the living room. His shoes made a hollow sound in the corridor, echoing endlessly.

The sound reminded Brett of his lonely times here in the mansion.

"Who is it..?"

Eddy heard a rough voice from the room. The voice he remembered so well.

"It's me, father."

Eddy turned the corner to enter the main room.

Brett was tied and lying on the floor, half- unconscious. Eddy saw blood. Too much blood.

Anthony looked back to face Eddy.

"Not very good timing. You really shouldn't have come here, son," Anthony pulled Brett's hair up to show his beaten face.

Eddy winced, looking at Brett. Brett's face was all covered with bruises.

"...don't hurt him," Eddy managed to whisper.

"If you leave right now in silence, I'll spare your life. I'm apparently busy because I have a business I need to talk through with your friend," Anthony stared at Eddy with disgust.

Brett slowly opened his eyes. Brett's eyes widened as he saw Eddy.

"...Eddy...no..."

Eddy clenched his fist tight when he listened to Brett's voice shrouded in pain.

"I don't know why you're doing this risky moves to the Yang family...but I've already called the police. You should better stop hurting him to avoid further charges."

Eddy's voice rang in the hall as Anthony's eyes flickered dangerously, with anger.

"How dare you, filthy commoner-"

The sun was setting. Through the sunlight coming from the window, Eddy's ring shined momentarily. Anthony's eyes moved straight to Eddy's finger, and to the ring.

"...son, what is that ring?"

"No, Eddy - run-" Brett's voice was weak.

"Catch him," Anthony called to the men standing next to him. Before Eddy could even protest, the men grabbed Eddy by the shoulder and forced him to kneel down.

Anthony walked slowly to Eddy.

"Give me the ring, Eddy."

"No..!"

Anthony punched Eddy in the cheek, hard.

"Give me the damn ring, son."

"This is mine. You can't take it away from me," Eddy spat blood on Anthony's shoes.

"I do not have time for this," Anthony sighed, taking his pocket knife out.

Anthony grabbed Eddy's hand and slammed it on the table next to them.

Everything was going too fast for Brett but the next thing he saw, there was blood.

With one swift motion of his knife, Anthony has cut off Eddy's thumb, with the ring on.