For a brief mont, his fingers twitched against the desk, and he wondered if he should simply order her to leave.
Before he could act, Nina smiled, charming and effortless, as though nothing unpleasant had ever passed between them.
"It’s been a long ti since we last saw each other," she said lightly, her tone smooth and familiar.
Dante’s expression hardened, his eyes turning cold.
"I have no intention of interacting with you," he replied flatly. "It would be better if you left. Otherwise I will report it as harassnt."
Instead of retreating, Nina walked in without hesitation.
She sat down in the chair across from him, crossing her legs with ease.
Smiling as if she owned the place, she looked straight at him and said,
"Why call this harassnt?" Her gaze sharpened slightly. "There are a few things you need to clarify."
Nina chuckled softly. "General Dante you’re painfully naïve."
She tilted her head, eyes glinting.
"Do you really think anyone would believe you’re being harassed when a young woman like walks into General Dante’s office?"
Her smile deepened. "They’d assu the opposite. They’d think you were the one forcing ."
Dante remained silent, his fingers resting firmly against the cold surface of the desk.
Nina took his silence as encouragent and continued, her tone dropping just enough to sound dangerous.
"I’d hate to break the peace of the SiIvy base," she said smoothly.
"But if you don’t want Ivy dragged into this ss of yours, it would be wise to do exactly as I say."
Hearing her words, Dante slowly narrowed his eyes. "I’m not going to do anything for you," he replied evenly.
"It would be better for you to leave now."
His gaze sharpened, a trace of ruthless intent flickering through his calm exterior.
"Otherwise, I’ll be forced to use my own thods."
In that instant, the mask of innocence he usually wore slipped.
Dante was not naïve, nor was he gentle when cornered.
He was well-versed in power gas, and when given the chance, he could be rciless. ’She just doesn’t know it yet,’ he thought.
Nina burst into laughter, genuinely amused.
"From what I know," she said lightly, "even if you touch with those so-called thods, your reputation will be ruined."
She leaned forward, eyes gleaming with confidence.
Dante looked at her calmly. "What exactly do you an by that?"
Nina chuckled again. "As long as I don’t walk out of this office," she replied, "my people outside will create chaos. They’ll claim I ca in here and never ca out. They’ll say you murdered ."
She smiled coldly. "And if you ever think of laying a hand on , I’ll make sure rumors spread everywhere... that you tried to r*pe and wanted to silence ."
Dante stared at her for a long mont before speaking. "What do you want?"
Nina’s lips curved upward. "Now we’re talking." She leaned back lazily in the chair.
"I want a job in this base. A stable job. One that can support for the rest of my life." Her eyes locked onto his.
"Do that, and I’ll forget everything I planned to do against you. Refuse, and you can forget about peace in this base."
Dante nodded slowly. "If that’s the case," he replied, "then go ahead. Do everything you claid you would."
Nina froze, shock flickering across her face. She straightened abruptly. "You’re not worried?" she demanded.
"That I’ll call you a molester and let others beat you?"
Dante chuckled softly. "I forgot to ntion sothing."
He folded his hands calmly. "Every office in this base is equipped with a special gaphone. It can broadcast announcents across the entire base."
His eyes darkened slightly. "There’s also a system that allows conversations inside the office to be heard outside."
A chill ran down Nina’s spine. "What are you implying?" she asked stiffly.
Dante smiled faintly. "I pressed that button the mont you walked in."
Nina clenched her fists and shot to her feet. "You’re lying!" she shouted.
Dante only laughed.
"You’re free to believe that," he said calmly. "But the truth is far more bitter than you can imagine."
Refusing to believe him, Nina stord out of the office without hesitation.
The mont she stepped outside, she felt it, the way everyone staring at her had changed. Strange gazes followed her every movent, heavy with judgnt.
Her heart skipped when, out of nowhere, a tomato flew through the air and smashed against her face.
Red pulp and juice sared across her skin, dripping down her cheek.
She stood frozen, stunned.
The crowd erupted in fury, voices rising.
So even wanted to throw more tomatoes.
But they didn’t throw more tomatoes, not out of fear, but because they didn’t want to waste food.
So clenched stones in their hands, tempted, yet restrained themselves. The base laws were strict. Any revealed misconduct ant imdiate imprisonnt.
Instead, sharper weapons were used... words.
"A woman like her shouldn’t be allowed in our ho!" soone shouted.
Others nodded vigorously. "I’ve seen shaless people before, but never soone this shaless!"
"How can she stand there so confidently after trying to trap an innocent general?" another voice cried.
The accusations piled up, each one heavier than the last.
Nina clenched her fists tightly, nails biting into her palms.
’Frank told to step back if it failed,’ she thought bitterly.
’I believed him because I thought Dante was harmless.’
Without his son around, she had assud he would be easy to manipulate.
Now she understood the truth. ’He’s an old fox,’ she realized grimly. ’And he’s turned everyone against .’
She shook her head desperately. "This is a misunderstanding!" she tried to shout, but no one listened.
Instead, curses rained down on her.
So people muttered how foolish they would have been if not for the gaphone.
Others were triggered by their own mories of false accusations, their anger boiling over.
The noise grew louder, swelling into a protest so fierce that even Martha was forced to step out of her office.
After grasping the core of the matter, she imdiately inford Ivy of everything.
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