Charles Cole's hard back turned to his office space as he stared out his window frustrated, his hands raised the glass of whiskey and downed it in one go.
The stinging burn in his throat felt pleasing compared to the unspeakable numbness in his heart.
"I thought you said you didn't care about her." Richard Smith, a well-known casanova, Charles' best friend and business ally, asked adding invisible air quotes to his words.
Charles frowned, his tone indifferent. "I don't and I never will."
His long legs walked in the direction of the little in-room bar, pulling out more bottles but his eyebrows creased into a frown realizing there was nothing left in each bottle.
He tossed the empty bottle into the bin and proceeded to search for more but stumbled upon 5 to 6 bottles of bourbon he had downed out of self-pity.
Richard stood from the reclining chair and joined him in the bar, worry etched on his face. "Man, you need to stop drinking. You should take a look at yourself in the mirror."
Charles turned to face the mirror and a tight knot formed in between his eyes from the view, his dark brown hair was disheveled from running his hand through it countless times.
His oval eyes had bags underneath from the pressing insomnia he had been experiencing and his tie drooped below his chest, he looked like he was going through a midlife crisis.
"I don't know what's going on but you have to get it together."
"I know, I'm just doing this for the old man."
"Speaking of which, Old Man Cole invited you to his birthday dinner." Richard paused, weighing his next words. "He instructed to bring her along."
Charles squinted and rubbed his temple in irritation, his grandfather always favored Ariana over anyone else, even Sarah who did anything to please him.
He had also made better use of his fair share of excuses to avoid taking Ariana to functions, even the most ridiculous ones from her having a cold to a throat infection but this time the Old man seemed serious.
"And if I don't?"
Richard shrugged lazily "You know the drill, you lose 50% of the company shares to Ariana."
He scoffed lightly under his breath,remembering how his grandfather had tactfully trapped him in an arranged marriage with the same threat.
His hands fumbled with his pockets for a while before he pulled out his phone, clicking on a number he had avoided over the years.
********
Ariana sat out on the terrace, reveling in the sunny calm weather and the melodious chirping of the birds, the sun's bright glare emphasizing her flawless fair skin and beautiful smile.
She admired the beauty of the home she had worked hard on maintaining over the years in hopes of winning a man's empathy and her heart ached painfully.
Her cell phone pinged and her eyebrows creased into a frown catching a glimpse of the caller ID.
Old Man Connor is having a birthday dinner by 9, Be early I'll send a driver, get a gift with the black platinum card in the safe and be on your best behavior.
--Charles Cole
She raised her brow in annoyance. 'How dare this shameless man talk about being on my best behavior?'
Her vexation lightened thinking about the old man, Grandpa Arthur, when she had begun her pursuit of the one-sided love, he supported her.
He always stood up against Charles' mother and sent Sarah June out on countless occasions unprovoked to please her.
Thinking of the past, her mind trailed off to the bittersweet memory from 5 years ago.
[5 years ago.]
Ariana's mouth widened in surprise at the view before her, she had run away from home to visit the circus and she planned to try every ride.
As she lifted her feet to take another step, she was shoved to the ground by a group of guys, scraping her fair knee in the process.
A young man from the crowd, stepped forward pulling out a handkerchief to wipe off the blood off her scraped knee.He said calmly, "Little lady, you should be more careful and watch your steps next time."
Ariana looked up at him and his eyes were knitted together into a tight knot, his full concentration on tying the handkerchief over her bloodied knees, his thin lips turned down in a scowl.
His dark brown hair was slicked back into a neat bun and his thick full eyebrows had slits, the leather coat he had on added to his dangerous aura and he gave off literal warning like the bad boy next door your mom told you to stay away from.
Her fragile heart softened when he rose to his feet flashing her a genuine smile with his hand stretched out to help her up to her feet.
The minute she held his soft hands, an electrifying feeling ran through her spine and she knew this was it, the chic notebook love she had always wanted, just like the one her parents had.
Now that he wasn't bent over, he was tall and very good looking, with a cold face that made him seem like someone difficult to get along with but his actions just now speak otherwise.
She tried to talk to him but stood speechless in shock, watching his retreating back till he got mixed with the crowd, her heart pounded heavily against her ribcage and she vowed there and then to find him.
She found out who he was and even though she knew he had a lover, she selfishly forced him into a marriage and now this was her ole sweet karma.
Present.
Ariana leaned her hand on the table pondering on the message Charles sent and plotted a petty revenge.
He had willingly offered his card and even though she didn't want to spend a dime from his money, she could spend it on a parting gift for grandfather.
She remembered the man's fondness for antique vases and decided to exploit it to her interest.
Ariana flickered the switch by her wheelchair to call for Dalia's attention and the rosy woman came after a few minutes.
"We're going shopping for grandfather."
***
An expensive car parked outside the best antique store and a wheelchair was pushed out, Dalia helped her into the wheelchair.
Dalia pushed Ariana's wheelchair into the antique store and most of the staff couldn't hide the contemptuous looks on their face upon recognizing the woman.
Ariana began looking around the store for a vase befitting the old man, she scoured around for a while and couldn't find one to her taste.
"Good day." Ariana greeted the female staff at the counter politely. "Can I have a look at your most expensive antique vase?"
The young lady at the counter scrutinized Ariana coldly and almost unceremoniously scoffed at the frail woman. She had heard rumors that the president was planning to divorce Ariana to get married to Sarah June.
So what respect could she have for a conniving shameless flirt?
Where could she possibly get the money to purchase the most expensive antique vase?
Her lips curled up into a sarcastic smile. "Of course right away."
She brought out a rectangular shaped box with dragon carving around it and gently opened up the artifact revealing the popular Qing dynasty vase.
"This is our most expensive vase and it costs 30 million dollars ma.Can I get your card for payment?"