Chapter 297: What’s the Worst That Can Happen?
The Saudi King gathered the attention of his guests by clanging his spoon against a glass of wine. This was a very cliche scene, one that Alex expected was part of the manga he was living in, and not an actual Saudi custom for several obvious reasons.
Nevertheless, Alex shifted his attention over to the man in charge. Who began to speak once everyone had properly silenced themselves so that they may hear his words.
“Thank you all for attending my beloved daughter’s eighteenth birthday. There is some news I would like to announce to you all. But first… Where is my daughter? Where is my beloved Aisha?”
Immediately Aisha’s attention was shifted from Alex who she was standing beside, having previously been enjoying her time with the man whose life was something straight out of a movie as far as she was concerned. And instead her focus set upon her father, as the guests instinctively cleared out of the way to allow the Suadi King to see his daughter.
Aisha had no idea what was happening, as this was not part of the schedule that she was given in advance of the party. She pointed at herself, confused by everything that was going on, and her father chuckled before confirming he was indeed talking about her.
“Yes you, who else would I be speaking of, you silly girl? Come here. I have an important announcement to make…”
Aisha gave Alex a longing glance as she begrudgingly left his side and walked over to her father. Once she had done so, she gazed upon the crowd, where she saw the Heir to Oman wearing a smug smirk.
Something she did not quite understand. But nevertheless, she waited for her father to speak his thoughts, which he did while placing his hand on her shoulder.
As witnesses to this engagement, I hereby extend an invitation to all of you present so that you may experience my beloved daughter’s wedding day first hand!”
The entire audience broke out into applause. That is, of course, with the exception of one man, who stared at the Crown Prince of Oman from behind with a look of bitter hatred on his face. Alex quickly drank the contents of his glass and set it down, making a silent escape as he did so.
He knew well enough that making a scene here and no would make his attempts to undermine this engagement all the more vain. And because of this, he decided to make a tactical withdrawal so that he could reorganize his assets to make a decisive counterattack in this game of love.
Alex left so quickly that he did not even witness the scene that followed. Aisha was so stunned by this news that it took her several seconds to realize what had just been announced, and when she did finally understand that she had been sold away to the Prince of Oman in exchange for his father’s armies. The glass in her hand completely slipped. Causing quite the scene.
Her first instinct was to look where Alex was standing, in a desperate attempt to rush towards the man and try to convince him that she had no idea this was happening, nor did she approve of it. After all, her affection had risen enough with Alex from their brief time together that she had grown quite attached to him.
From 0/100, to 15/100, and finally when they began openly flirting after returning from the walk, to 25/100. Alex had, in one night, achieved a quarter of his goals with the Saudi Princess. But it was all for nought, as she was handed off to another man, at least formally, before he could make any more progress.
And when Aisha saw that Alex was gone, having already made his escape when she was trying to comprehend her father’s sudden declaration, her heart sank. Though she did not blame Alex, they had just met, and she understood that there was no reason for him to fight for her.
Because of that her affection for the man did not decrease, but she did silently accept her fate, believing that there was no alternative, she stood by her father’s side, her shoulders slumped in a clear sign of depression, as Prince Ali stepped forward to introduce himself to his future bride.
“Princess Aisha, your beauty is truly breathtaking. I have long since been a secret admirer of yours, and it appears as if Allah has granted my most heartfelt wish. I look forward to getting to know you over the coming months.
I can see you are a bit surprised by this sudden announcement, as you should be. So I will take my leave for the time being. Please enjoy the rest of your birthday celebration. I am sure we will be spending quite a bit of time together in the coming days.”
The man spoke with the utmost eloquence, truly befitting a genuine prince. He, of course, had the attractive appearance to match. In many ways resembling an arabic version of Alex. However, it was that charming princely demeanor that was a turnoff to Aisha, as she had met many suitors in the past with the same persona.
But Alex was gone, and thus she could only silently nod her head in agreement. Misunderstanding that Alex didn’t abandon her here to her fate, unwilling to fight for her hand. But rather, withdrew for strategic purposes.
Thus, while Aisha spent the night sulking, doing her best to entertain her guests as were her responsibilities as princess. Alex had gone back to his hotel, fully intent on waging a silent war against the Prince of Oman. And he would do this by contacting a man who, just a few days ago, had him arrested and deported from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
—
How exactly did Alex got his hands on the personal number of Jasmine’s father? The man had no idea. But he woke up in the middle of the night from repeated calls originated from an unknown number. Alex was, of course, using a burner phone as he contacted the General of the IRGC and when the middle-aged man finally answered the phone, he was obviously quite agitated.
“Who the hell fucking calls someone in the middle of the fucking night? I should have your head for this!”
Alex was standing some place remote within the city of Riyadh, sitting on a fountain while smoking and gazing up at the stars. After leaving the Saudi Palace unannounced, he went back to his hotel where he searched the room for potential monitoring devices.
He indeed found such things, and thus went on a walk out in the city, where he eventually stumbled upon his current location. Nobody was around to hear him, and there were no nearby cameras or other devices to detect his presence or voice.
And after thinking things through for some time in silence, Alex realized he needed intelligence, intelligence the Zetas could not provide. He had already made an enemy of the United States Federal Government, and his only mole in its three letter agencies was Carmen in the DEA. Which he could not make use of here in Saudi Arabia.
Thus, Alex called the one person he knew who would indeed have intelligence about his current enemy. After taking several seconds to exhale his smoke, Alex finally spoke up.
“Hey old man, it’s me… I have an offer for you that you can’t refuse…”
To be called an old man by a total stranger was deeply infuriating. And Jasmine’s father was just about to curse the caller out, and then hang up when he recognized the voice. I mean, how could he not? Alex had left a deep imprint on this man’s memory. After all, the filthy American had dared to try to fuck his daughter.
Thus there was outrage in his tone as he spoke to Alex, trying his best not to scream his lungs out, and wake up his wife in the process.
“Listen you little motherfucker, I don’t know how you got this number, but I’m warning you… Contact me again, and I will have your head. Do you understand me!?!”
Alex did not fear the long arm of the IRGC, and instead scoffed as he spoke to its leading general with a smug tone in his voice.
“That would be a huge mistake. Because without me, your proxies in Yemen are going to get fucked on hard by the Saudis and their new allies…”
This statement immediately caught the IRGC General’s attention, and because of this, he immediately shifted his tune. The man bit down on the urge to curse Alex out and immediately played along.
“I’m listening….”
Alex then spent a significant amount of time telling the IRGC General exactly what was happening, and why he wanted to disrupt the alliance between Saudi Arabia and Oman. In the end, the Iranian General just broke out into a fit of laughter. It was simply an absurd story.
“So let me get this straight… After getting caught trying to fuck my daughter and deported from my country, you go to Saudi Arabia and try to shack up with their princess instead? You have more balls than I thought, kid…
So for the sake of getting some royal pussy, you are quite literally going to walk into the line of fire, making yourself an enemy of the Saudis and Oman? I’m questioning whether you’re the boldest man I have ever had the misfortune of meeting, or the dumbest.”
Alex was impatient, and rightfully so. Thus, he addressed the Iranian General with a sharp tongue as he demanded an answer.
“Cut the shit. Are you in or out?”
A wicked smile appeared on the old man’s face as he spoke into his phone and agreed to give Alex all the help he could provide.
“Sure kid, if you can really pull this off, then it won’t just be the Iranians who owe you a debt, but the Houthis as well. I’ll have my people provide you with everything we know about who you are dealing with. But breaking this engagement, and by extension this alliance, that’s going to be up to you. I hope you know what you are getting yourself into.”
Alex stamped out his cigarette and began walking back to the hotel as he said one last thing before hanging up on the old man.
“What’s the worst that can happen?”
