Noah who had also received the news got worried for Adriana.
The sudden fire surprised him, but it also scared him. If the situation got too serious, she might return to Paris, and then she might run away from him again.
He just hoped this morning meant something to her, and it was enough to at least keep contact with him.
He was about to walk out of his office to check up on things when his phone started ringing.
It surprised him to see Aria's school principal calling him. Since he cares for her, he asked them to contact him in case something serious happened.
Still, why did they call him? They promised to only call him if the mother can't get through. After all, he didn't want Adriana to get angry at him, so he added his number just in case and secretly.
"Her phone is probably blowing up right now." He mumbled, realizing why they haven't reached Adriana yet.
If she were here, what would she want him to do?
Go after her and tell her about Aria, despite her being busy handling the situation or check up on her daughter?
He groaned, knowing she would want to know of Aria as soon as possible. He didn't have it in him so he decided to check up on Aria himself and leave her be since she must be really busy handling the current situation.
If this is the way he can help her then he would do it.
****
Adriana walked out of LABELS with a big smile on her face.
Oh, it still disappointed her that she couldn't continue with the meeting, but seeing everyone's excitement to continue the discussion, even if it were without her, made her thrilled.
'These people really love their job.' She thought as she covered her head with her palms and ran inside the car, Ralf was waiting inside and it was pouring!
She loved her team back home too, and she had a few of them here too, but these people just had a spark she had never seen before.
'Noah, you are great at picking your people.' She thought.
Earlier she had asked Natalie about who had decided to employ them, she said that Noah had done their interviews and selected them.
She wanted to ask Noah what they said in their interview, and why he chose them. It made her very curious.
...
She tried to get that unfinished meeting off her mind and concentrate on the task at hand.
"Did you get it?" She asked Ralf. In response, he handed her a yellow envelope.
She took it from his hand and sighed.
"Take me to the penthouse." She ordered and started opening the envelope.
A golden card fell out, including a small bottle with clear liquid on it.
"Didn't he say the poison would arrive in 5 weeks?" She asked as she turned off her phone, the notifications had her personal and work phones blowing up.
"That's not the poison, they told me is a 'gift' for you," Ralf told her.
"A 'gift' huh. I'm telling you, he pisses me off so much." Adriana immediately opened the bottle and dropped it in her hand. She then picked up some wipes from her purse and wiped her hands with them.
"It's just water, don't worry Ralf." She dismissed his worried expression. "He's trying to piss me off on purpose.
She looked out of the window, trying to not let that person ruin her good mood.
Unfortunately, she didn't get to see Noah and Briana's broken trust for herself. She had to come to her own conclusion based on rumors and Briana's mood today.
And also Ralf's interesting discoveries.
Another thing that assured her was Noah's character. He would definitely have his guards up from now on.
Anyway, she had plans for today!
After her errand, she would go pick Aria up, have dinner, and watch tons of movies before they take their flight to Paris.
"How's everything?" She asked Ralf after some silence.
"The news is everywhere. I painted it as if you're trying to handle the situation from here. After that, the news will make it seem as if the situation is so serious that you have to take an emergency flight to Paris." He explained with a smile.
It was all a success!
Wait, you didn't think she would actually leave like that, right? Of course, she will place a ticking time bomb before leaving!
"Has my 'very thoughtful gift' been delivered?" She asked.
"It's on its way." Ralf chuckled.
*****
Aria washed her face and looked at herself in the mirror. A few tears fell down her eyes when she looked at her pretty face with a bruise on it.
"Dang it! My cuteness....." She cried and wiped her tears away.
Of course, this was all a front of hers. The real reason (which she refuses to admit) why she's crying is because they bullied her.
Yes, you read that correctly.
This morning she got to school like usual and she was especially happy because she had uncle Bryan, her brother, uncle Noah, aunt Caroline, and her mommy all together in one place.
Also, the kids are her school treated her with kindness, but that was until they saw her Uncle Bryan.
They all assumed that was her daddy, but when she denied it, their expressions changed. She told them she had never met her daddy because she trusted the stupid brats. She considered them her friends because they were the first to not comment on her character or her missing daddy.
When they started making fun of her mommy, she snapped and pulled one of the girl's hair and she got circled by all the kids. She ended up bruised right when the teacher came.
She had never felt so betrayed and angry in her life. Now, she was scared to see her mother's disappointed expression.
After washing her face, she walked back to the Nurse's office where they treated her injury. Despite the questions, she stayed silent.
She waited there for long minutes, but they told her that her mommy wouldn't answer the phone. She was worried because this was the first time a school had called her mother for such a situation.
She felt super guilty too!
She only fidgeted with her fingers and waited... waited... waited.. and waited.
Still no sign of her mommy anywhere.
Just when she was about to lose hope, her Uncle Noah dashed inside.
As soon as she saw him, she burst into tears.
Dang, it!
'I saved those for Mommy.'
She had held it in because she knew the only person who she could safely cry to was her mother.
Anyway, when she saw Noah she ran towards him and when he carried her, she cried even louder.
"Daddy!" Whoa, that came out of nowhere.
She saw her uncle Bryan also coming by the door but unlike other times she didn't run to his arms to ask about her mommy and instead her body moved towards Noah.
She had not called her uncle Noah like that since Mommy found out she had escaped to New York.
The feeling of being comforted by her uncle Noah was warm, and it made her want to cry even more. This was the closest thing she had to a father figure.
Uncle Bryan and the rest were just uncles. This kind of warmth differed from even her mother's!
"Did she just call you her dad?" Bryan angrily glared at Noah.
Noah ignored him and focused on comforting Aria and wondering why she was injured. Though he couldn't lie, that made him angry.
Bryan's appearance was not pleasing at all. He thought the man had disappeared after the incident seven years ago.
Or well he just didn't care about what happened to him so even if he had seen Bryan around a few times in a few social events, he didn't care at all. They never actually talked or got involved with each other.
Seeing Bryan's reaction and his appearance here confirmed his doubts.
He and Adriana still maintain a relationship, and he must have known she was alive all along.
Was he the only fool amongst everyone?
'Did Adriana tell him? Is she insane?' Bryan thought, watching the shocking scene before him.
He covered his mouth with his palm in disbelief.