"Yes, Mommy...I can take care of myself" the little one nodded.
Helena dropped both Isabella and the little girl at a small company building before driving to her own office.
Isabella walked to the reception of the company with the child on her side.
"How can I help you, Miss?" the lady at the reception asked looking straight at Isabella.
"I'm here for an interview"
Isabella took out her mobile and showed the receptionist and said plainly.
'What's wrong with this woman? Doesn't she even know the basics? Look at that attire..Who wears jeans and a t-shirt to an interview' the receptionist thought and looked at Isabella like looking at a fool.
Isabella succeeded in noticing the change in the expression of the receptionist. But she didn't heed much and she simply waved the mobile before the lady's face. The receptionist gazed at Isabella with annoyance before looking at the mobile screen.
"Allow her in..." the screen showed a few words attached with the picture of a handsome man in a blue suit.
'Boss...' the receptionist was stunned looking at her boss's face on the mobile screen.
She was sure it wasn't a picture on the internet. The picture was from the same day because she saw her boss an hour ago entering the building in the same blue suit. Being a true admirer of her handsome boss she can identify even the simplest of the details. She identified the background of the picture. It was the very same painting from her boss's office.
'Who's this woman? Should she call a casual meeting an interview? Boss was so close to her. Of course, I have to show her some respect' the receptionist immediately smiled at Isabella and said her the floor number and also contacted the boss's secretary to receive the guest.
Isabella took her child's arm and followed the receptionist from behind.
Only then did the receptionist notice the little girl.
'Oh my god.....such a cute girl..' the receptionist thought before sending the guests to the president's office.
The President's secretary soon received the guests.
Isabella asked her child before entering the president's room "Baby...can you stay in the waiting room for a few minutes? I'll be back soon. Okay"
"Okay...." the little one nodded before sending her mother into the office and took a chair in the waiting room on her own.
In the President's Office,
"Hey...Bella. Long time no see." the man seated on his work chair said on seeing Isabella at his room's door
"Hello Mr. Bernard, It's been a long really" Isabella smiled at the man.
"Come have a seat" the man in the blue suit said with a cheerful smile while walking towards the sofa in his room.
"Mr. Bernard...Am I disturbing you early in the morning? You must be busy, Right?" Isabella asked before sitting next to the man.
"What disturbing? You know me... How can you say that? You're always welcome to meet me" Mr. Bernard said without hesitation.
"Haha... that's good to hear. It seems I can finally feel free around you now unlike in the past" Isabella laughed.
"Ah... don't talk about the past. You know why I was mad at you back then. It's all your fault for angering me" Mr. Bernard said looking straight at Isabella's face.
"Ya..ya... It's my fault. But it wasn't my true intention back then. You just don't know the real reason how my collection ended up in other people's hands" Isabella said with a meaningful look.
"What reason? Isn't that because of your fiancée that you gave that precious collection to the Romano family's company?" Mr. Bernard said half the truth.
"Yeah... you're right. It's because of him. But I didn't give them the collection voluntarily. They just grabbed everything that's in my possession before dumping me" Isabella said the other half of the truth.
"What...?!! What do you mean?" Mr. Bernard gaped at Isabella.
"Don't say you don't know that I canceled my wedding with Romano's family? It was because they openly stole my collection by tricking me and threw me onto the streets" Isabella spoke the truth while shaking her head.
She once felt embarrassed to let the world the reason for her cancellation of the grand wedding. She didn't want the world to know the deepest secrets of her life.
But now she's no longer was scared of the people and their weird looks and thoughts about her. She has to reveal the truths if she wanted to find some trustworthy allies to fight with her enemies.
"That happened? I didn't know about that? I just thought you canceled the wedding because of personal conflicts" Mr. Bernard was left speechless.
"They robbed of me and my 'beloved' aunt took their aid in destroying my parents and took control of my family's business...hahaha....sounds like a tragic story...right?" Isabella laughed at her old self for being stupid to believe those wolves back then.
"..." Mr. Bernard couldn't digest all the truths that are continuously popping out of Isabella's mouth.
He is a businessman, always encouraged talented people, and had fancy towards Isabella's works. He always thought of getting his hands on her works but gave her time to choose between him and others.
He stayed calm and silent without fighting with Isabella because he still had rationality and humanity. He always thought Isabella was purely being delusional because of love and handed her works to the Romano family out of loyalty towards her fiance's family.
He never in his dreams thought that the company that's almost on the verge of bankruptcy walked back into the market by such cheap methods.
He never thought Isabella's aunt would bite her neck from behind. He truly misunderstood this lady all these years and gave her no notice where's she's been and how's she's doing until the moment he received her mails last night.
"Alright... that must have been tough on you. Then why are you telling me all these matters after five years? You should have fought with them back then?" He didn't understand why this intelligent girl actually got tricked and also why she stayed silent even after knowing how they played with her.
"Because of my child..." Isabella opened her mobile and showed him his daughter's picture.
"What....child?!!" Mr. Bernard saw the picture and instantly a sudden thought flashed in his almost blank mind.
'These eyes.... I've seen them before....'