?


    As Aron''s jet was carrying Rina on its final approach to LaGuardia airport, she was looking out of the window, not tired of the view at all.


    Although the Rothschilds could afford such a massive ne, they wouldn''t use it as a personal jet; the upkeep needed to have it continuously flight ready was massive. And for a family that already had more than ten private nes and could afford to charter any aircraft from any airline in America at a moment''s notice, it didn''t make sense to buy them.


    Thending was as smooth as it was in Eden, and the unloading proceeded apace. Rina disembarked the ne, got in one of the cars, and left without wasting too much time. She even bypassed the security screening again, having already handled it at the immigration checkpoint at the airport in Eden.


    No Rothschild would ever have to stand in the long lines at immigration like normal people.


    As the convoy was driving back to her house, she passed the location where the previous attack had taken ce. Although everything had been taken away for the investigation, traces of yellow crime scene tape remained. Some people had even put flowers up at a makeshift memorial for those who''d died there.


    Although it had been more than a month since the attack, the case was still ongoing. Every time they found a piece of evidence, it would disprove one or more of the investigators'' theories. At this point, they were almost ready to throw their hands in the air and im it was an alien attack just so the FBI agents could go home to their families for at least one night.


    As they passed through, Rina was watching the news when a story attracted her attention and, after watching it, she found herself smiling.


    "Moments ago, armed attackers, who were trying to rob what they thought was a secret bank, ended up assaulting a DARPA research facility. The attackers were apprehended by security after sessfully entering the building...."


    Rina immediately knew what the event they were talking about was without even having to watch the report any longer, so she turned off the satellite tv and returned to staring outside the window. She couldn''t wait for the board meeting; anticipation had her almost as twitchy as an ant on a hot frying pan.


    ...


    In the Rothschildpound, a board meeting was taking ce with one of the chairs in the room empty, as if someone was supposed to be sitting there.


    "I suggest we should invest in Eden, as, with the recent discovery of oil there, I suspect they''ll discover more of it. It''ll either be in Eden or Esparia, and I think it''ll be within the next five months. If we invest now, we should be able to steal a march on the Morgans, who seem to have already invested in Esparia. Even if we don''t count the military support they gave to that third world shithole during their yground spat, the Esparian government is still heavily indebted to them from the mary support that went along with the materiel support for that joke of a conflict.


    "By investing now, we''ll be flipping a middle finger to them, both financially and physically, and it would count as our first act of retaliation. Especially if we support Eden and help them discover as many resources in Esparia as possible within the remaining five months as stipted in their surrender ord. Doing so would put us in the position to benefit from the Morgans'' losses, while they''ll be unable to do anything of significance to stop us," said a board member, bringing up the topic of choosing when to invest in Eden and Esparia.


    "It should also be easy for us, since Miss Rina seems to have already formed connections with the higher-ups of Eden. She''ll be a suitable person to be responsible for our investments there, as she already has a foundation," said Hebel, inserting a plug for Rina, who wasn''t in attendance.


    "It seems like you people continue to forget your position, or has the quality of our branch families fallen so low?" Arieh entered the conversation when he saw the discussion turning in favor of Rina, who wasn''t even there! Besides, it wasing from one of the people he knew had betrayed him and chosen her side, though secretly. That was thest straw, and he decided to cut through and start with a disrespectful remark. He didn''t even care that the family head was in the room with them.


    "What do you mean by that?" Hebel asked. He wouldn''t take that insult without doing anything, so he asked for rification to see if Arieh would take back his statement or not. That in itself would count as a humiliation for him, and if he decided to double down, it would provoke a reaction from the family head.


    Arieh, knowing what Hebel meant by that question, didn''t care and continued, "We''re the fucking Rothschilds, and we get what we want no matter what! But we do it while maintaining our family''s dignity. So how disrespectful is it when someone from the board is heard proposing we cooperate with some third world shithole like they''re our equal? Are you that dumb, or is your self-esteem just that low? With countries of that level, we don''t cooperate—we demand! They have no choice in the matter!" Arieh stared Hebel down.


    "You''re right about that, but don''t you think you look like someone who just wants to unt his superiority when it isn''t needed?" Hebel said. He didn''t deny anything Arieh had said, as that would just make the meeting go off on a tangent and waste everyone''s time.


    "We need to create a first impression that won''t allow any disrespectful behavior in the future," Arieh said. He was adamant that they go there with their noses in the sky.


    "And how do you imagine that''ll happen?" Uria cut in and asked.


    "I think I''m more suitable than my dear sister. Especially with my position in the family... I need to do something to return the favor of the Morgans, no?" Arieh said, finally revealing his fangs.


    "I''m against it. Everyone knows that Miss Rina is already established there, unlike you, who only discovered its existence when the news showed her being there. By which point, may I remind you, she seemed to have already established her channels ofmunication. So I think we should make her the point of contact for the rtionship between Eden and us, as she discovered them first. I''m sure she already has an idea on how to approach them and build business rtionships," Uram said. He wanted to directly block Arieh from taking Rina''s ce and credit.


    When Arieh had heard about her spending a month there, he couldn''t help but smile. He knew that the month she had spent there wasn''t because she was building some bullshit ''business rtionship'' or anything, but because she was investigating the attack on her and was too afraid toe back.


    At least until she knew no more attempts would be made on her life, that is.


    He was positive that she wouldn''t call for help from the family, as that would be seen as a sign of weakness. It would also lower her value in the eyes of the board members. And as long as she didn''t have any evidence backing her usation of who her attacker was, no one would believe anything she said, let alone who she suspected, so she would be punished for using someone without evidence.


    Although he was curious and angered by the disrespect Terry showed him by ignoring his calls, all of that rage had disappeared earlier when he received the news that Terry and Katrina had been arrested while attempting to rob a DARPA research facility. It seemed absurd to him, but he didn''t care at all; he just called a few people to have them mit suicide in their cells", as he didn''t want the man to be brought back to thepound at all. That wouldn''t be a good thing for Arieh, no matter the circumstances of the man''s return.


    But now that that had been handled, he could be said to be the most happy man in thepound. With a huge smile on his face, he said, "Her being there for more than a month and not evening back for a meeting should be indication enough that she''s struggling to establish rtionships there. That''s another reason I nominated myself for that position, as she''s still inexperienced in the field of business." He was trying to paint Rina''s absence from the meeting as ipetence and disrespect, seeking small gains at the cost of big losses in thepetition between the siblings.


    "You don''t have to worry about that," came a cold voice as the door was opened and Rina entered the room. Her confidence gave Arieh a mild scare, as he had a hunch that things were about to go very, very wrong for him. But he didn''t understand how, as he was positive that he had cleaned up after himself very well.


    Rina walked around the table and took her seat while maintaining eye contact with her murderous brother.