His Devious Rule

Due to turbulence, the plane shuddered, jerking Anya awake from her good sleep. Before she could be clear-headed, Alvin's voice rang next to her, "Rough air currents." He deadpanned. He was amused that she wasn't scared but ready to go out on a war.

Anya looked at the man next to her. He was busy studying some details of an artifact on his laptop, meanwhile, he was making some key points. Curious, her eyes shifted to the picture of the artifact. It looked like a broken big stone slab. She glanced at his serious face and looked at the screen again.

She had thought collecting artifacts was his hobby. Now she doubted it. So she asked in a groggy voice, "What do you do for a living?"

Alvin finally turned to her. She looked so innocent and adorable like a little kitten who woke from sleep. Should he be happy she finally showed a little interest in his life? Anyway, he teased her, "I breathe."

Anya tilted her head at his words. Then she realized she was holding her breath from the time she woke up. Embarrassed, she breathed while trying to hide the silly pout of her lips.

Alvin looked back at the laptop screen as he responded, "An antique dealer." He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and saw her amazed, curious, and admiration flashed in her eyes.

"And?" That came as a surprise to him.

"I own a few museums,"

"How much is a few?" She kept her head tilted to look at his face and her voice soft on his ears.

Alvin hid his lips from curling up. His Little Donut's questions never stop if he answers in vague or in limited words. He enjoyed hearing her questions so he continued answering to the point, "Thirteen."

Her lips gaped a little in exclaim but she hid it immediately. How could it be a few? Thirteen are a lot. She was curious how he was able to start from nothing and made it so big, nevertheless, she held back from asking anything. If she hears anything sad or heartbreaking, she will melt like butter on the heated pan.

Was he still her weakness? She didn't want to think about it.

A weird silence fell over for a few seconds. Looking at him waiting for her to say something, she thought to keep her mind busy with something other than such disturbing thoughts. So she chose to ask about his job.

She pointed to the screen, "How do you collect these? Do you buy and resell them?"

His Little Donut was still smart, "I have three excavation teams. And yes, sometimes I do buy and resell rare antiques."

Anya nodded and another question popped into her mind, "Is this your new excavated item?"

Alvin opened a picture of the stone and pushed the laptop on the flip table closer to her so that both could see it, "It's named as<strong> Soulstone</strong> of Kopotos. Kopotos is an ancient Egyptian city. The stone is approximately 2,200 years old. The inscription is written in the ancient Egyptian language. A philologist decoded the engraving last week and found some issues written in the historical books…"

Anya attentively heard him which slowly turned into a discussion comparing the history written in books and the same story on the stone. She also learned a lot of things about his work and how he will handle such situations. Their time passed smoothly just like how they used to spend time in the past. The difference this time was he took care of her needs like food, water, and comfort.

The jet staff often peeked at them when they were hearing her or his laughter at each other or little argument in their opinions. It was the first time they heard Alvin speak so much and be so casual with somebody. This side made him look more approachable and less intimidating.

—-

On the first day of three days adventure,

After about fifteen hours of fly time, the plane finally reached its destination point. "Woah…" Though Anya had an idea how they might be reaching the ship, she couldn't help but exclaim when she was standing at the door of the jet while getting off the flight. It was a bright sunny morning.

They were on a small island surrounded by blue seawater. The island airport was so small that even half of the runway was built on the water. The weather was like summer and the sky was clear cobalt blue. Anya, who hadn't left her country, had seen such a view and colors only in the pictures.

Her faint, barely audible murmur reached Alvin's ear who was leading her way out. He turned behind and saw her eyes glow at the view, yet she behaved as if it was nothing out of ordinary. He had seen far breathtaking views and places so this was no special to him. However, He was pleased to bring her out, which left her stunned at the simple view.

He sounded uninterested while he asked, "Have you ever taken a break from work?" He knew the response yet hoped for a different response.

Anya responded as she got off the last step, "Never." She was busy with her studies. When she could afford a vacation, she had Zain. Catering to his and her needs, she doesn't even remember what she wanted to do after graduation. She smiled to herself looking at the glistening water. She never regretted giving up on anything for her son.

'Probably I will go on vacation with my baby.' She thought.

Once everything ends and her life gets back to normal, she thought to take a break and bring her son out. Now he was a big boy who could be a great partner in crime. She smiled to herself. Having a baby early has its advantages too and she will enjoy it with her son.

She suddenly felt a palm at the back of her head. She didn't flip the man to the ground, knowing it could be nobody but Alvin. "I will take you around the globe. Now let's get to work." His voice was commanding.

'Around the globe.' She didn't take his words seriously. Though he could take her, how could she go with him? They were nobody for each other, entangled in a mess. They had their own lives which are better in different paths.

Silently, she nodded to the latter part and got into the car that had reached them.

Alvin: "..."

He wasn't kidding. Even working on the plane with her by his side was fun, so he meant his words. Only one woman could ignore him and that was her. Unfortunately, he couldn't get angry at her even if he wanted to.

"Señor Matthews." Alvin turned around hearing the greeting of a middle-aged man who continued with a friendly smile on his face, "Nos complace tenerte aquí."

Alvin was speaking to some men outside the car and she didn't understand their language. So she focused on instructing the ship about new guests. While doing so, she needed to speak like a male operator from Harper's communication center. She flustered, having no voice-changing software. She had forgotten the crucial point of the plan and there was no time to build software.

Suddenly recalling she wasn't alone, "Alvin…" She called him out in a hurry as she had no time and the connection would be established in mere seconds.

Her loud voice alerted Alvin. He ignored the men he was speaking with and opened the car door, "What's wrong?" Though he managed to hide his concern from his tone, his eyes failed to hide his emotions. Anyway, Anya had no time to notice it.

She shoved a small microphone to his hand and pointed to the screen of her laptop desperately showing in actions to speak what she had typed. She forgot she could just say it as the microphone was still off.

Alvin was quick to understand and nodded as he took a seat beside her and closed the car door. Anya clicked on the button and he read the words in his deep tone without any emotions or hurriedness.

"<strong>P-S-R</strong>, P-S-R, P-S-R this is Johnson shore communication center, over." Saying it, he saw Anya immediately relax. So he knows he is doing a good job.

Anya rolled her fingers indicating him to read it again. So he repeated the same words after five seconds. "P-S-R, P-S-R, P-S-R this is Johnson shore communication center, over."

The response came quickly this time, [Officer, Captain of P-S-R here, over.]

"P-S-R, change to channel 1 2 7, over." Alvin could only guess it as channel frequency for clear communication between shore and the ship.

There was a slight disturbance in the line before the line connected and the voice came. [The channel is changed to 1 2 7, over.] Meanwhile, Anya was swiftly typing the next commands.

"P-S-R, what is your callsign? Over." Alvin asked and looked at her without understanding what it was. Anya cued him to keep his calm and continue.

[My callsign is Delta Sierra. Over.]

Alvin understood it was like a secret passcode. He read the next words on the laptop screen to speak those words and his lips twitched uncontrollably. He couldn't believe this woman at all.

'Is she real?' He narrowed his eyes at her, clenching his teeth.

Anya nudged him to continue as they shouldn't leave the channel free. Alvin gritted his teeth and changed the commands, "P-S-R, the two new VIP guests are boarding the ship. I repeat, the two new VIP guests are boarding the ship. Over."

Confused, Anya looked at the screen to confirm she hadn't written those instructions. Then she turned to grumpy Alvin. He ignored her questioning look and focused on the call.

[Officer, how are the guests arriving? Over.]

"P-S-R, a seaplane A I- 9 8 6 will arrive in  30 minutes. Over."

Anya pinched his arm hard when he skipped a few commands and added his own. Alvin shrugged her hand away and completed the call in the format she had written.

Anya questioned immediately, "Alvin Matthews, why didn't you tell the room requirement?" She had chosen two rooms in each row of the cruise ship which had a secret passage, perfect for sneaking around.

The ship staff would listen to the communication center and give them the rooms. Whereas if they ask after boarding the ship, the staff wouldn't give them the room as their demand. If the communication center says it later, it will raise suspicion on how the center got to know.

Alvin snapped at her instantly, "Who the hell wants to be your brother?" He had read her instructions as two siblings needed adjacent rooms. He didn't care why she mentioned the room details, his focus was on the siblings.

Anya wanted to smack his head. They are going there as members of a family. What else would they call each other being just a two years difference? And they were going to fake their identity anyway.

"You dumb-headed idiot, that's not the point." She scolded him for changing her plan.

Then why did she mention them as siblings?

"Crazy woman." He growled at her.

Both looked away angrily, craving to choke each other to death.

### Doesn't affect the coin value of the chapter ###

Soulstone artifact is named after the top fan of this novel Soulful.

P-S-R, the cruise ship code is named after the second top fan PayalSinghRajput.

I thought it would be fun to use the names of readers who have a high contribution. In the future, I will use readers' names again so don't forget to comment, review, and use coins to increase your contribution to the novel.