"Hey, was that April Williams's lawyer?" As she stormed into Noah's office, a tall woman appeared in awe and posed the question. She pushed herself onto the black couch against the wall, and Noah rolled his eyes as she approached.
Noah peered up and narrowed his eyes at her during the brief moment she was lying on the couch with her feet on it and her shoes still on. "She can't even afford to pay her rent upfront. How on earth could she possibly afford a lawyer?" He laughed out loud before turning his attention to his laptop screen and continuing to type.
"Especially one as fancy as her, right?" The woman spoke in a dreamlike manner, causing Noah to roll his eyes, a habit he had whenever she was around.
"She is not her lawyer; she is her sister," Noah said, prompting the woman to move her feet off the couch, stand up, approach his desk, and settle into the chair across from him.
"I didn't know April had a sister." With a frown covering her otherwise stunningly gorgeous face, she spoke. She was a young woman of considerable height and slender build, with long black hair and dark eyes. She wore a summer dress that reached her knees and showcased her long legs, leaving her black hair loose. She also wore a cropped white jacket with half sleeves and short white heels.
Noah whispered, "Well, it would appear that she does." "Her name is Livvy Williams." His friend leaned forward with an apparent interest in what he had to say, and he said it with dislike.
"What did she do?" She asked.
"It turns out that she is the woman who humiliated me last night," Noah remarked as he leaned back against his chair and partially closed his laptop. "It was a rude and embarrassing experience." He sighed and scratched his temples, clearly exhausted from gazing at the computer for a long period.
"Oh, I saw the article Scarlett wrote on her website," she said. Before a look of excitement appeared, the woman murmured with a distasteful expression. "She looks filthy rich! I am so excited!" she said, referring to Olivia wearing a nice suit and carrying a purse.
"Take Amira, the woman who sells vegetables down the street, give her a makeover, and buy her fancy clothes, and everyone will think that she is my loving, filthy, rich mother," Noah responded with a sarcastic remark. "The woman is overconfident and acts like she runs this place. Wait till I've finished dealing with her." He said this with an air of calculated precision.
"Oh, my word!" her voice screamed. You are planning on using her to get rid of April Williams for good," she said, looking at him in disbelief.
Noah mocked, "How observant of you!" She was the second person who knew him well, after his best friend.
"I am going to get my things. Meet me downstairs at five, as you are taking me out for lunch." She said this as she rose and pushed her chair back.
"It's not even lunchtime yet, and it's only been two hours since work started," Noah said with a disgruntled expression on his face.
With a gleaming smile on her face, she leaned over his desk. "But you are the boss." She then turned off his computer.
In a show of irritation, Noah clenched his teeth. "Zara." The only thing she did was give him a cheeky smile, take his phone and car keys from the desk, and then jump back before he could catch her. He called her name, but she simply smiled at him.
"Meet me downstairs in five." Just as Noah was about to stand up from his chair, she made her statement and hurriedly left the office.
The sound of her loud laughter reverberated outside of Noah's office, and he groaned. "Zara Moore, you are going to be the death of me." As he left his office, he muttered something and flung his suit jacket over his shoulder.
****
"Miss Miller?" While Aiden was looking over at his boss through the rearview mirror, he yelled out to him. "Where to?" He inquired about it.
Her dark brown eyes rested on her driver, who was wearing a worried expression on his face. Her head shot up, and her eyes landed on his.
They had been driving around the city for over two hours without any sense of direction. After their incident, Aiden was aware that his boss was unhappy, and he doubted whether she would want to return to April's apartment.
Olivia did not give him directions, so he drove around the city to help her organize her thoughts. However, she did not even notice that he was doing this. Throughout the ride, she maintained her silence as she watched the city slowly fade away before her eyes.
Olivia shook her head and cleared her throat, which helped her to organize her thoughts better. Since leaving Noah Jones's office, her thoughts had been consumed by him. She found herself unable to control her thoughts as they drifted to their troubled past, realizing that she was on the verge of an emotionally taxing and gloomy confrontation. "You have no idea how badly my fingers twitched, wanting to reach for the gun in my bag and blow both their heads off." The words came out of her mouth threateningly, and she shook her head as if she could not believe that today had occurred.
"We have been driving around the city for two hours," Aiden told her as he glanced back at her through the rearview mirror. When Olivia heard his remarks, she was taken aback. She rummaged in her handbag and pulled out her phone to check the time. She discovered that it was noon. Had her thoughts been racing for such a long time? "Are you OK?" When Aiden inquired, he did so with a grimace on his face. Olivia lifted her eyebrows at him, attempting to recall the thoughts going through her head. "You look pale," Aiden said.
"Stop asking stupid questions and just drive." She grated her teeth.
The only thing Aiden did was nod and look straight ahead. "So, where to, ma'am?" He inquired, tapping his hand on the steering wheel.
Olivia continued staring out the window while folding her arms in front of her. A few minutes later, she was able to give him a location.
The setting reminded Aiden of several things. It was not at all what he had anticipated. The neighborhood was filled with filth, strewn across the walls of the tall buildings surrounding it. The eerie silence convinced him that it was a desolate city and appeared to be an abandoned metropolis.
This was an ideal location for those living in poverty, particularly those who were homeless and children living on the streets. It was like one of those cities in movies where goons hung around, waiting for big shots like Olivia Miller to stand in the middle of the street and lean against their excellent cars. It was like that.
"Mr. Miller called while you were still in that office. He says he's been calling you since this Friday, but you are not answering," Aiden stated, breaking the silence that prevailed. While he leaned against the car and stared at the building before him, Olivia sighed.
Aiden heaved a breath and remained silent. He had a joyful spirit and an upbeat disposition. His love for people was unwavering, and he never discriminated against anyone. Despite enjoying the company of others, he was experiencing some discomfort as he stood next to the one and only Olivia Miller. It took him some time to adjust to her new persona, as he had grown accustomed to her cold-hearted personality.
When Olivia asked him to call her by her name for the first time three years ago, after he had been working for her for five years, it had come as such a shock that he thought she had grown two heads. It was the sole explanation for the change in her attitude towards him. She no longer regarded him as merely her driver but rather as a friend, as she had done in the past. Even if he was content, it was not an easy assignment, as changing her attitude toward him or any other person did not completely transform who she was. In every way, she remained the same person. Olivia Miller, a billionaire known for her icy, callous, and ruthless nature, is a notorious figure.
"The last time I was here was over seven years ago." Finally, Olivia raised her voice and let out a loud sigh. Aiden gave her a fleeting glance before returning to the building she had been referring to. The tower appeared twice as large as the nation's parliament and was enormous and ruined. "I used to come here every day after school, and I would just stand here and look at it, imagining myself owning something as big as it was in the future." As she reminisced about the past, she paused momentarily.
Without her brother's knowledge, she would skip school and leave without him. She smiled sad and distantly at the thought.
It came as a surprise to Aiden that she would talk to him. She had never talked to him more than ten words, yet at this very moment, it felt as if she was physically opening her diary for him, reading all those dumb sentiments she had written down when she was twelve.
Olivia could recall everything. David worked as an accounting tutor at her school. He was putting money aside so that they could continue their education. There was a sense of irony in the fact that they were raised in a mansion called a "White House," yet their father was never around; the only thing he ever did was send them money at the end of each month. In the past, he would send the money to the caretaker, but she would spend it most of the time and give them only cents instead. After some time, the caretaker decided to leave because the money had stopped coming in.
Olivia was in the seventh grade then, and David was in his first year. Because he was attending school, he began working part-time at a local supermarket. However, the supermarket only allowed him to work five hours a day and paid him in earnings. Although the amount of money was small, it was preferable to have nothing at all. At that time, being a Miller meant that people would go to great lengths for you, and David could take advantage of this opportunity.
While Olivia was in the eighth grade at the time, David began working as a tutor at their school after he graduated from high school.
Not only was he her brother, but he was also the only parent that Olivia had ever known. He put his life on hold for Olivia, and she wanted to do the same for him. Given that he was the only father Olivia had ever known, she felt compelled to live for him. While reflecting on her life and all her challenges, she realized that this building provided her with hope.
Aiden was aware that she was struggling with her thoughts, and he was aware that this place was unlike anything she had experienced before. However, he was aware that it was none of his business. Moreover, the time was rapidly approaching sunset. "Olivia, aren't you hungry?" Before he could stop himself, he asked the question.
Her eyes furrowed in concentration as she looked at him, and Olivia's head snapped in his direction. She smirked and moved to the back of the car, but not before commenting in a somewhat amused voice, "It took you long enough." She made this comment after observing that he appeared unperturbed by the circumstances.
Although she had only said it once, she had subtly encouraged him to call her by name. Aiden could not miss the double meaning in her reply; he had driven her all about the town without even considering the possibility that they would get something to eat, and she had been softly coaxing him to call her by her name. "Where to, Olivia?" It was a free inquiry.
"Anywhere you are comfortable with."