Taya raised her brows and looked at him, "Stress? Not anything I can't handle. Anyway, you were right. There was indeed a mole in my close circle. But before I could find out anything about who was behind him, he got taken care of by those who were behind him."
"Was that mole planted right from the start?" Viktor asked with knitted brows.
Taya shook her head as she said with a thoughtful expression, "No, I don't think so. Sean was just a normal guy and not someone trained to deceive someone for so many years. He must have been blackmailed or something only recently. He has a family as well with two kids and I had dinner with his wife and kids a lot of times before. They are very nice and simple people but now they wouldn't even know the true reason for his death."
"Unfortunate for them, but I would have killed him if he ended up in my hands. After all, I won't forgive anyone who lays a hand on you."
Hearing him openly say these words made Taya feel a prickle behind her eyes and pressed her lips together, trying her best to contain her inner emotions.
"He should have thought about his family before venturing out for this. But the fact that he didn't lose character or break down showed that he was in it for the benefits and didn't feel guilty at all about what he was doing. He was just another greedy bastard," Viktor said in a cold tone.
Taya glanced at him, feeling that he was right and that she still had more to learn from him about reading people, especially the ones that were close to her since those are the ones she subconsciously least suspected....at least till now.
Since she was never really exposed to betrayals and maintained a tight circle, she wasn't used to looking behind her shoulder constantly. Only when she was up against strangers or people she wasn't familiar with would she be very cautious and put up her guard.
It had only been a little over ten years since she started her hospital, and only after a few years did she slowly began to take up the reigns of the Snow Group and then finally become the Madam of the Snow Family.
And it was her close circle of friends that supported her for all these years to build up her hospital and also to become the head of the Snow Group. So since then, she considered them as friends and didn't expect one of them to try and backstab her suddenly.
She knew that if Sean wasn't killed, Viktor would have personally taken action and killed Sean before extracting information from him.
"I think maybe this is all too much for you to take on, especially when you just realized you couldn't even trust your friends properly. This is how life is, Taya. The more powerful you become, the more dangerous enemies you make and fewer people you could trust," Viktor felt that Taya might be feeling upset and disappointed after knowing that she could no longer trust her friends even if the others never meant her any harm.
She knew that in her position, it was better to be careful rather than take unnecessary risks, lest she regrets like now.
He could see that Taya valued her friends all along, even if she wasn't completely open to them like she was with Eva and Umilia. Still, one of her workplace friends, out of the other few, turned out to be someone who planned to put her in danger. And this incident became like an eye-opener for her.
Taya took in Viktor's words deeply since she knew Viktor was well ahead in the understanding of the world and people.
Taya said with a glazed expression, "After you left, the only people I could completely trust are Umi and Eva since, with my heart, I could tell that they would never hurt me. As for my friends, I didn't get that sort of feeling, but still, in my work life, they were my only friends, and all along, without their support, I might not have been able to handle everything."
She then looked at him and continued with a soft smile, "You once told me how people in powerful positions could never truly have friends, and sometimes even their own family might work against them. I wish I had taken your advice more seriously all those years ago. But, of course, in my case, my family is my strength and everything."
Viktor sighed and caressed her head as he said in a gentle tone, "Don't beat yourself about it too much. Only when you make mistakes would you learn, and trust me, it's hard to take in someone's advice without experiencing it yourself. Even I have made worse mistakes than you. A long, long time ago, I blindly trusted someone only to end up getting stabbed in the heart."
Taya raised her brows and looked at him as she asked, "Who was it?"
"My ex-wife...well, it was complicated anyway. Do you want to know the whole story?" Viktor asked with a playful smile.
"Hmph, why would I want to listen to a story about you and some sinistrous woman?" Taya said with a huff even though she was inwardly very curious about what really happened. But she stifled her curiosity, deciding to ask it later.
Still, she couldn't help but feel sad for him while being angry at this long-dead woman who supposedly stabbed him in the heart. She couldn't help but think how things would have been if Viktor wasn't immortal and never lived long enough to enter her life.
"Anyways, what I wanted to say is we make mistakes and that's how we become stronger. It's also not impossible for people like us to make friends whom we can trust, but they are as rare as a unicorn. But no matter what, you can always trust this handsome immortal who has a soft spot for beauties like you," Viktor teased as his hand slowly slid over her waist.
Taya almost smiled because of his cheeky words and feeling better from his comforting words, but stifled it as she slapped his hand away, making Viktor softly laugh.
"Tell me, do you want me to personally look into this?" Viktor asked as he looked at her with a narrowed gaze.
"No, if they know that someone like you is involved. They might take desperate measures which could take us by surprise. Besides, Tia's college is starting soon, and I don't want to distract you. You can't be there for everyone at the same time."
Viktor sighed, knowing how stubborn she was, "Fine. But you better tell me when things get too much for you."
Taya silently nodded, knowing that she anyway wouldn't be able to hide anything big before him, nor would she risk it.
But for now, she felt that she still had things under control, especially when she decided to be warier before others.
She then knitted her brows and asked, "By the way, was Eva the one who told you about why I got drunk yesterday?"
Viktor shrugged, "Well, can you blame her? She carried you all the way here. I bet she must have tried to stop you."
Taya sighed, "Haa...that girl. She rarely talks much, but why did she have to tell all this nonsense to you."
Viktor softly laughed, "Come on. She barely said anything other than you just got too many things on your plate. Oh, and actually, I might have gone too far with her yesterday when you two came in."
Taya looked at Viktor and asked with pinched lips, "Don't tell me you bullied her again."
Viktor awkwardly smiled as he said with a long sigh, "Well...you know how I easily get irritated during the night, and when I saw you in such a wasted state, I asked her to hand her over to me. But she just doesn't trust me enough to hand you over to me for some strange reason. Anyways, I might have just scared her a little bit...you know, to make her hand you over to me."
"Scared her a little?" Taya skeptically asked and continued in a serious tone, "Don't tell me you used Mind Break on her??"
Viktor silently looked at her, which was confirmation enough for Taya, who grabbed his hand and asked worriedly, "Did you—"
"Relax...It was barely for just a second, and I wasn't trying to break her mind, you know. Anyways, I admit that I might have intimidated her too much than I expected. But you know how hard it is to control these sudden impulses if I get pissed off in a certain way. Even after all these years, this is something I still find hard to take control of."
Taya closed her eyes as she let out a sigh, "I know...But is she alright? She must have gotten really terrified. After all, those eyes of yours during the night are the best weapon to make one succumb to fear."
"Don't worry. She is a strong girl with a strong mind. She is alright but...she probably hates my guts now," Viktor said with a slight head shake.
"Well, what do you expect? She was just looking out for me, and she doesn't know you. And she doesn't trust anyone unless other than our family, except you, of course. That is why she doesn't have any friends other than me, Umi, and the two girls for her to talk with."
Viktor rolled his eyes, "But still, you told her about me, right? I mean, I am the last person in the world who would hurt you. So she should at least trust your words."
"You know it's not that she was worried about," Taya said with pinched lips and continued, "The impression you gave her the first time she met you was seeing you having sex with a random girl in a pig house. What do you think she would have thought of you?"
"Look, she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time," Viktor shrugged guilelessly.
But Taya continued to stare at him in a menacing way, especially when she angrily stressed the fact that he was having fun with some girl in that village.
"Okay, okay. I will make it up to her somehow and be the bigger man. Any tips for me?"
"Hmph, you would know better than me, right. After all, you are the expert," Taya said with a scoff.
Viktor softly laughed as he slightly shook his head, but Taya's next words stifled his smile.
"Now, tell me the truth...did you sleep with Umi?"