The air was intense, yet, Mr. Hakim sat calm as ever. Of course this was irritating Anisa and she didn't even want to look at him. The sooner she got over this interrogation, the sooner she'd hand him off to the authorities where he'd serve his time.

"Why Mr. Hakim? How could you betray me of all people?" Anisa asked him.

"I never betrayed you Anisa," he looked up at her. Then, he turned to look at Tahir which caught him off guard.

Tahir frowned as soon as he met his gaze. He was confused as to what he was trying to imply. He was clearly trying to send message through his eyes.

"What do you mean? Betraying my father is no different than betraying me. Apparently, you've been sending confidential files to an unknown user. Did you really think he wouldn't notice?" Anisa questioned as she circles around him.

"I sent those files with good intent. The files I sent only regarded the security of the palace. No others were touched," Mr. Hakim explained.

"Why? Why would you send them?"

Mr. Hakim paused and looked at Tahir again, but, he still didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "Can I speak with this man alone."

Anisa looked up at Tahir. He turned to give her a look in which he was clueless, reciprocating her confusion.

She gave into his request, only because of the remaining respect she had left for Mr. Hakim. Otherwise, she'd have no mercy on terms of requests.

"You have eight minutes,"

With that, they both watched Anisa leave through the door with other security guards that were in the room.

Tahir looked back at Mr. Hakim. Instantly, he asked him, "What do you want?"

Mr. Hakim sighed before he said, "I have been in the palace, serving the king for 12 years. The princess was the one who took me in after she saw that I encountered injustice."

"What are you talking about?" Tahir furrowed his brows

"I staged an incident in which I lost my family in front of Anisa. They weren't my family. They were only setups," he admitted, "She took me in afterwards and helped me recover. Really, I only did it to make my way into the palace."

"Why would you stage something like that?"

Tahir leaned against the wall

"Because I was sent by a private agency to investigate. You see, I'm a spy. I have been undercover for all these years trying to give every evidence possible to solve the mystery of Anisa's mother's death. Little did I know that I'd get to experience the lat King's death."

Tahir slightly widened his eyes in response to Mr. Hakim's confession. He was just like him. Except, they both had different missions.

Eventually, he cleared his throat and asked, "Why are you telling me this? You realize I can easily go and explain this to Anisa, right"

"But you won't," Mr. Hakim replied. "Because you're a spy yourself. You, Saif, and Nadia. How do all these bodyguards just show up right after Mr. Amin's death? Did you think that despite my old age, I wouldn't be wise enough to tell why you're here?"

Tahir paused and his expression went cold.

"Why the surprised look? I'm also sure that you know there's only one private agency who tries to regulate the Royals in hopes of balancing the power of the government." Mr. Hakim referred to JSS.

They were both from the same agency. But, it was natural that Tahir didn't know he was a spy since Mr. Hakim was undercover all these years.

"Don't worry, I didn't want to be the one telling Anisa that we're not who she thinks we are. It's why I asked to speak with you alone," Mr. Hakim reassured him.

But, it only made Tahir feel more guilt. He hated the thought of telling her. Everyday, he wished that they had met under different circumstances.

"Who else on the king's list is a spy besides you?" Tahir asked.

"Just me. At that time, one was enough. Otherwise, my mission would be public. The rest of the 20 on that list are true traitors. I've seen the document myself and I was the one who prepared the king's dying wish to have it beside him before he spoke to you." He responded.

Just then, the door opened and Anisa walked in. She seemed to have calmed herself down. But fear and worry was spread all over her face despite her efforts to hide them.

"I think our interrogation with him is done. He wasn't a part of the king's death. He only sent files so a secure party would be informed in case of an emergency the palace couldn't handle," Tahir simply said.

Then, he walked past Anisa and left the room. She was utterly confused as she watched him disappear. But, then she looked back at Mr. Hakim and asked,

"What did you tell him?"

"Anisa...some things are told when the time comes. He'll tell you when he's ready. Don't pressure him," he told her

"I'm not going to listen to you. Not when you're a potential threat," she growled

"Oh, I'm a threat? If I were a threat, I wouldn't have briefed you on every happening in the palace upon your return. I wouldn't have granted your father's last command before his passing. And, I certainly would not have waited this long to carry out plans if I had any in the first place," he explained.

Anisa sighed in frustration before turning around aggressively and walking out of the room.

She looked around from where she stood for Tahir only to be surprised that he was leaning on the wall behind her. He seemed to be in deep thought so she walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Is everything fine?" She asked with worry written all over her expression.

Tahir looked up to meet her eyes and sighed before he slowly placed his hands on the sides of her waist.

"Yeah. I just should've paid more attention when all of this was happening."

"Don't say that. You've done nothing but protect me. If anything, I should've been more attentive" she said.

Suddenly, they were both interrupted by Nadia walking towards them. She realized how close they were and saw the way he was holding Anisa which sparked a small fire inside her.

Tahir subtly let go of Anisa as she removed her hands from his shoulders upon seeing Nadia.

"Sir, the royals have requested you to be in the main hall," Nadia said.

"I'll be there soon," he stood up from his leaning position on the wall as Nadia nodded and gave Anisa one last look before disappearing into the hallway.

"You should go. I've got work to do," Anisa told him while turning to walk away.

He stopped her by grabbing her wrist, causing her to turn around. She gave him a questioning look.

"You're not going anywhere without me," he said.

"You realize that I've got priorities? I don't have time to meddle with issues here. I already removed 20 people today. I can't sit and watch them complain," she frowned

Tahir was trying to analyze her expression. He could tell that she was irritated but she also seemed to be in a rush. There was something she wasn't telling him.

"I'm calling Saif. At least take him," he ushered.

She simply nodded and walked off into the hallway. Tahir sighed and called Saif through his earpiece before he walked to the main hall.

"I don't mean to be rude and ask, but, why are we here?" Saif looked around the building.

Him and Anisa had arrived at the royal hotel and waited for the elevator to open.

"Mr. Amin had left something in my safe. No wonder I wasn't able to find anything with the documents at home," she replied.

"He knew the code to your safe?" Saif asked.

"Not that I knew of until recently," she walked out of the elevator as soon as the doors slid open.

They stopped in front of her office door until she twisted the handle and paused after seeing the back of a familiar person.

She slowly walked in and Saif stood behind her with his hand ready to reach for his gun.

"Looking for this?" The man turned around with a paper in his hands and Anisa was filled with sudden shock.

"Abbas..." Her voice trailed off from disbelief, "What are you doing here..."

Abbas scoffed as he said, "Poor Anisa. So innocent as ever. You didn't even expect it was me."

That's when Saif quickly pulled his gun out and pointed it towards him with a glare on his face.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Abbas said motioning towards the two corners of the room.

Other men appeared with guns pointed towards Anisa and Saif. That's when they both realized they were helpless.

"I should've brought backup," he cursed under his breath through gritted teeth.

"Abbas, you dare to point guns at your princess!" Anisa growled.

"You never used your royal status for anything. Why's it different when it comes to this situation?" He asked.

"This can be handled in a different manner," she began.

"Your bodyguard held his gun first. I simply knew this would turn out this way. You don't think I'd have expected this?" He began walking around her desk.

To Anisa, it seemed as though he was stalling for time, but for what? More than she worried about herself, Saif was her main concern. She didn't want him getting hurt in this situation so she told him, "Saif, you can go. It's alright."

"My orders were strictly to protect you. How's anything alright with guns pointed at you?" He angrily replied.

"I appreciate the concern -" she was cut off by Said making a move and shooting the guards down. He took one in his arms and used him as a shield while the other shot their guns at him.

Abbas took this opportunity while Saif was distracted and rushed to grab Anisa with force, wrapping an arm around her shoulders while he held a gun with his other arm, pointing it to the side of her head.

Anisa struggled to get out of his grip and tried to move as much as she could, "Let me go!"

"Unless you want to die in your own hotel, I suggest you stay put and come with me!" He threatened.

Immediately, Abbas took Anisa while Saif was focused on taking out his men. It gave him enough time to take Anisa down the elevator and out of the hotel.

Once he took the last man out, he spoke into his earpiece and alerted the rest of security.

"I have a code red. The princess is gone and the royal hotel has now become a threat area."

Saif was breathless from the fighting. Luckily, there wasn't a scratch on his face. These men were strong, but they weren't trained the same way he had in combat.

Just a few seconds later, his phone rang and Tahir was calling.

"Where's Anisa?!" He yelled from the other line.

Saif cursed under his breath and replied, "Abbas took her. I was trying to fight off his men and he took the opportunity."

He heard glass shattering on the other line. It was obvious that Tahir's rage led him to throw something across the room.

"Meet at JSS headquarters, NOW!"

With that, he hung up and Saif ran to the elevator. He quickly started the car after taking his seat and sped through the highway.

As much as he blamed himself for not taking backup, he knew that Tahir wasn't going to take this matter lightly.

Luckily, his speeding resulted in arriving at the facility in just enough time to rush inside and catch Mr. Latif.

"Sir, we're on code red. The Royal hotel has been infiltrated and is now a threat. The princess has been kidnapped," he quickly explained.

Mr. Latif froze and asked him, "Don't tell me it was Abbas..."

A/N:

I don't know why it took a while to write this chapter but I hope it was worth it 🙃

Don't forget to show this book some love by hitting that star button and commenting wherever you'd like ☺️

Thank you~