CASA GRANDE HOTEL AND CASINO BUILDING 1, CARPARK AREA

"Men, positive. Move!" Althea shouted her orders as they prepared to enter the building for the raid. Their guns were drawn as they saw the plate numbers of the Korean Lotus Syndicate parked on the parking area, which confirmed that the suspects are inside the building.

"Got you at last, Lotus Group," she whispered while entering the building. Lotus Group is an organized crime group headed by Korean nationals. The group's victims are women around their early twenties, and their modus operandi is to entice women to gamble in casinos. Once the victims are in deep debt, then the group will make them as prostitutes as a form of payment.

"Second Floor, building 2!" she barked her orders as they enter the building. But just as they got inside, it has swiped clean and there's no one there - as if someone already knew that they were coming. No one was left - and even the prostitutes are already gone. Seething with rage, she walked to the reception desk with big and quick steps.

"I can't just let this one slip," she said to herself.

"Is there someone in charge that I can talk to?" she shouted at the receptionist at the counter. She can't believe that they were misled - and that happened right before her very eyes! Thinking that happened even if all was carefully planned and everything was in place infuriated her all the more. "Anyone from your management? Where's your boss?"

"Can you please tone down your voice, Sargeant? We can definitely understand what you're saying so you don't need to shout at us. Besides, isn't this a kind of police brutality?" the receptionist replied bravely.

"Our boss is in his way here, Sargeant Rivas," the other receptionist said.

"He'd better be,"

"Well, well. Look who turned up," she heard a familiar voice say. "If it ain't so lucky today, the best policewoman in El Grande Sargeant Althea Rivas graced us with her presence. What fierce wind has brought you here, Rivas?" his voice was full of sarcasm, obviously taunting her.

Sharply turning towards the familiar voice to see who it was, "I'm a person of authority so you'd better -" she halted when she came face to face yet again with the man she once fell in love with. Dumbfounded, she was only able to mutter his name. "Ralf?"

"Who else? Were you surprised?" he said, sarcasm dripping in every word while eyeing her from head-to-toe. Still surprised with this sudden turn of events, she stared at the man she once sent to jail two years ago.

"Apparently, Ralf - I mean Mr. Villavicer, the cars from the members of the syndicate parked here and entered the building. We would need to check the CCTV footages." Her voice was much softer now, and the aggression in her voice is gone, a complete opposite from her dragon-like reaction a few moments ago. She can also hear that the two receptionist she was shouting at earlier were talking about her - but she didn't give a damn.

"Alright, if it proves this by all means that we don't have anything to do about it," Ralf smirked. Though annoyed with how things had turned out and Ralf's ice-cold reception towards her, they all went to the CCTV room. Along with her team members, they reviewed the footage and clearly saw that the syndicate members had only parked their cars outside the building and apparently they left just a few minutes before they had arrived.

Impossible!

How the hell did this happen? She felt herself burn with rage again, when she heard Ralf's voice. "Now you can see that they parked and left after a few minutes before you guys arrived. That proves that we have no connection with the syndicate, and my buildings are definitely not their hideout."

His buildings? She just then realized that all of the buildings of the casino and hotel are bearing his initials. R.A.V - because those three letters stands for Ralf Adler Villavicer.

Oh, right. Damn it, I should have known, she cursed herself silently. If she was burning with rage a few moments ago, now she can feel anything but shame. Dumbstruck, she tried hard to regain her composure, because she doesn't want Ralf to see what she's feeling.

She now had only one thing in her mind - and that is only to concentrate on the case. She wanted to ask him things that may give them leads for the investigation, since their undercover agent had been deemed useless.

But I doubt if he would even help me - because I can see that he's angry at me for what happened two years ago. I'm sure that he would say no, so I'll just wait for another lead instead of asking for his help.

"Satisfied now, Sgt. Rivas?" Ralf said in a cold tone, breaking her reverie. He never took his eyes off her. "If you're not sure about your leads, then you might consider to be more careful next time. You're putting people's business into jeopardy because of false information."

She kept her head down and didn't say anything, while her emotions are at war. If she looked calm and collected from the outside, inside her was the exact opposite. It was a complete mess - her rage because of the botched operation, the wrong lead, failing to capture the syndicate members - and to top it all off, Ralf appearing in front of her and his cold-as-ice behavior towards her.

"If you don't have any questions for me, you can take your leave," he spat. "I have more important matters to attend to."

Ralf turned his back on her, and went back inside the building. Sighing, she can only look at his retreating form while hearing the loud beat of her heart, until he completely disappeared from her view.

Seeing him again after two years had only proved one thing - that even after time has passed, her feelings for him didn't change one bit.

He was, and still her one and only weakness.