"Feelings were only for the weak," She said with a face of a mannequin, devoid of any expressions. "I wanted to know about the matter so that I know where to stand on it,"

"Alright, if that's what you say," Franco retorted but his eyes were scrutinizing his niece's green eyes as if telling her that he was not convinced at all. "But I say to you Sam, I am not behind those things that were happening with the Montreal boy. He posed no threat to us, so why would I care about his ambitious research?"

"He posed a threat to us," Sam corrected as if trying to give way with the fact that she knew something about matter Franco don't want her to know "The Montreal's rank third consistently in the business industry after the Montarini's mining explosion,"

Franco's mouth twitched at Sam's words. Her words only tell how she matured as a member of their syndicate. Sam was becoming more seeking, more careful and most of all, more skilled in the syndicate ways that Franco already considered her as an a.s.set. However, Sam was still his niece, and no matter what, her safety comes first than anything else that was why despite her skills and abilities, Franco kept her in jobs that comes not a threat to her safety, like being Ziggy's bodyguard.

"That's true," Franco admitted, "But they were away too behind from L Empire and CGC, so they don't mean nothing,"

"But there way too far from where they previously had been and judging from how they had remained consistently going up, sooner, the gap between them and L empire will be as thin as a hairline," Sam continued, challenging her uncle to reason further.

"Even so, I already told you I am not behind it all. Ziggorioh Montreal's research doesn't concern me at all. But if ever he will become a threat as you have predicted, then you don't mind me destroying the boy, don't you?" It was Franco who was challenging Sam's intentions right then. Franco felt that something was going on with Sam and Ziggy but that he wasn't sure of it yet, so he chose not to judge prematurely.

"I don't," Sam said but she knew within her it was a lie and to make her lie a little convincing, she lied further "Ziggorioh Montreal doesn't concern me at all,"

"Good," Franco said straight to her face as he took another sip of his cigar and blew the smoke in the air, "Feelings don't do anything good Sweetie. Hear it from me and take it to heart,"

Sam nodded politely and wondered whether her uncle had been honest with her. However, she sees no reason why Franco would lie about it at all and he was right, as of the meantime, Ziggy poses no threat to L Empire so why would they come for his research and sabotage it?

But who was behind every sabotage that was breaking Ziggorioh Montreal pieces to pieces?

Sam wanted to agree but their conversation was disturbed when another of their team came in and rush immediately to whisper something to Franco.

"What? Are you certain?" Franco's face turned into a real mess with whatever his subordinate told him.

"It's all over the news Mr. F," His subordinate hesitantly answered.

 "Who made that happened?" Franco shouted all throughout the room. "Who the h.e.l.l dared to mess up with L Empire?

The subordinate shook his head, embarra.s.sed with the fact that he had no answer for his master's second question. Sam's who was watching the two formed lines on her head with how her uncle's expression turned sour and dim.

"Go and find out the person who made this right away! I promised I'm going to pluck out his eyes out of their socket for doing this!" Franco let go of an angry moan as he instructed his subordinate, "I want to know who did this! The elders will surely blame my brother for this!"

"Uncle?" Sam who became more curios when her father was mentioned, called for his uncle's attention, seeking the information that was recently relayed. "What is it? What is it about Father?"

"Sam. Your father is in a big mess," Franco told her immediately "Someone leaked the information of our struggle in strawberries trade in the South! d.a.m.n! I thought your father had made necessary precautions to have this contained. Turns out he messed up again!"

"What?" Sam was bewildered with the news. She took her phone from her pocket and searched the controversy and headlines about L Empire being defeated by a local farmer was on every site's front news. "How could that be? Didn't L Empire have this in control, why was this information everywhere?"

"Someone was behind this," Franco concluded right away wiping the sweats from his mouth frustratedly with his hands, "I'm sure the one behind this wanted to see L Empire suffer the humiliation. It could be one of our business opponents,"

Panic immediately surged into Sam. The first worry that came to Sam at the time wasn't her father but the Richmond Ranch's strawberry field that supports Ziggy's research. Worst comes to worst, something bad might happened to the Dugmoch's and Ziggy's research will lose its funding. If that will happen then Ziggy will be affected. The constant sabotage had almost drained all his savings and losing an additional support will surely make more inconveniences for him.

Now that the strawberries in the South was known, L Empire will surely make all the possible ways they could to hit back at their business opponent and thus the Dugmoch household was sure in doomed.