The change in the environment was subtle, so much so that it would have been unnoticeable to any random individual. But Noah was no ordinary person. As he rolled his car down the streets towards his target, it did not take him much to realize that there was a gradual decrease in the number of civilians in the area. That trend continued all the way to the massive hotel that stood out like a monarch among peasants. Noah looked around the building and his eyebrow twitched in frustration when he realized that something was feeling off about this place. For a hotel that large, there were no other vehicles parked anywhere around the entire compound. The whole thing was just as suspicious as it looked, which made Noah all the more vexed. Now it was clear to him that Damian had not wanted anyone, him least of all, to know that the former had come to the city. He brought the car to a stop just in front of the building and stepped out. Taking a moment to adjust his suit, he walked up to and t
The throbbing pain in her head was what served as Olivia's wake-up call, forcing her out of unconsciousness and back to reality. The bright rays of the sun slipped in between her eyelids, causing her to flinch a little. The sharp movement caused her to hiss lightly as sharp pain lanced through her limbs and her back. She opened her eyes and had to blink away the bleariness to properly get a look around her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was the lack of the acrid smell she had come to associate with the warehouse she had been kept in after she had gotten captured. The clean scented air around her was a very welcome change in her opinion, at least until her brain realized why the scent was so familiar. This was definitely Noah's house. Her eyes opened up fully and as she slowly made to sit up, her gaze shifted to the side and she finally noticed the person who had been seated by her bed, with his head resting beside her leg. Her movements ended up waking Noah from his sleep
Even though Olivia felt she was good enough to get back on her feet the next day, Noah insisted that she remained inside for another entire day. And as much as Olivia had wanted to protest, she had held herself back for the sake of the sense of gratitude she owed him for saving her. Not that it meant much in the long run, but she simply decided to humor him for now. Although with what she was seeing now, she was seriously starting to reconsider her decision. A couple of days after her rescue, Olivia woke up in the room she had been occupying during her stay at Noah's house and realized very quickly that something was wrong. Or right, in a bizarre twisted manner. For starters, she was woken up by her alarm clock, which made no sense since the device was supposed to be miles away at her own house. Then she sat up on the bed and her eyebrows were summarily introduced to her hairline as she stared bewildered at the state of the room. When she had first arrived here, the room had been ta
Noah stared at Olivia for a good minute, unsure if he should tell her the truth or not. She definitely deserved to know the people after her for security reasons, but at the same time, Noah couldn't see the use in answering that question. What good would it do her? She was already secure enough with him, and it wasn't as if she would be able to stand a chance against Damian on her own. On second thought, he decided it was probably best to let her know that it was Damian who wanted her out of the way. Even though Noah knew exactly what Damian's plans were, he was yet to discover his deal with Olivia. He knew from the information that Lisa had gathered for him that Olivia and Damian had some sort of deal going on. He hadn't been able to find what their relationship was based on, and he knew asking Olivia would be a waste of time, she wouldn't tell him the truth. After rescuing her, he had begun to wonder if all of this was a part of their plan. Had she intentionally gotten herself k
Hearing that Olivia had been found had Lisa spiraling with emotions, and not the happy kind. Although she had no idea who had kidnapped Olivia, she had wished that they had gotten rid of her for good. As long as Olivia was around, her chances with Noah were as good as zero. She had broken them apart once, and she planned on doing that again one way or another. Slipping into one of her gowns, she did a light make up before hurrying down to flag down a taxi. Even though she didn't want to do this, it was crucial that she still acted like Olivia's friend, at least until she was able to snatch Noah from her. And what type of friend would hear about their friend getting kidnapped, and not pay them a visit? At first, Lisa had thought about going over to Noah's place during the weekend to pay Olivia a visit and sympathize with her, but had decided against it. She wouldn't be able to deal with seeing Noah and Olivia act like a couple in front of her, and she definitely couldn't risk losin
When the elevator doors slid open, Michael glanced around the hallway quickly and exhaled a sigh of relief when he realized that Amelia had finally left. He supposed that it might have been the state of his mental and emotional situation at the time, but Michael still admonished himself for even entertaining the thought of accepting Amelia. Of course she had played a part in that as well, with her whole sincere and caring act that she had playing this whole time to get him to fall back into her arms again. But now that Michael was less troubled by the state of things between him and Olivia, he could see through her entire act. That woman had some serious problems when it came to her interpersonal relationships. That was part of the reasons why Michael had been glad when the engagement between them had taken a downturn. And yet here she was now trying to pull the same trick all over again. He would have to do something about her at some point before she got out of control. Michael re
Olivia stared pointedly at the dresses in front of her as she tried her best to decide which of the two to pack into the suitcase sitting on the bed in the room behind her. The first one was a simple black dress with beautiful white floral patterns that were designed to draw attention. She usually only wore this whenever she was being dragged by Lisa to some sort of dysfunctional family event that the latter did not really want to go to but had no choice but to attend. That way, most of the attention would be focused on Olivia herself and leaving Lisa out of her family's scrutiny. The memories made Olivia smile a little as she ran an examining hand down the second dress; a long flowing gown with long billowy sleeves that Lisa had once said made Olivia look like a ghost. This one was the one Olivia preferred on a personal level but with the way the weather was turning warm, it might be too warm to wear something like this considering where they would be going. The 'they' in her th
Just like Noah had said, an order soon arrived for Olivia, and as expected it was a full wardrobe change neatly arranged in suitcases, so that she didn't need to bother packing them anymore. Noah was definitely trying hard, and realizing that brought an uncanny smile to Olivia's lips. Now certain that all the things she needed were ready and in place, she got straight to readying herself for the journey. She genuinely had no idea how she was going to be received after all these years. The Grants never really cared for her, and she doubted she had any semblance of love for them either. They had seen her suffer abuse at Noah's hands throughout the duration of their marriage ten years ago and had done absolutely nothing. She had no idea what she had expected from them back then, it had been clear from her courtship days with Noah that the Grants didn't care for anything that didn't add more money to their pockets. Olivia chose a simple black dress from the wardrobe, the fabric soft and
Olivia made sure to inform Michael and Damian about Noah's intent to announce her pregnancy to his family. They were set to travel later that day, and she had already gotten her things packed. After learning of the plan, Damian had immediately gotten prepared and set off for home. To make sure that Noah didn't get suspicious of him and Olivia, he knew he still had to pretend to be the villain. It was crucial that they didn't get caught, especially when the final hearing was barely two weeks away. Two hours after his arrival, Noah and Olivia's car pulled into the driveway. Noah was the first to step out, a steady and warm smile spread across his face as he opened the door for Olivia. "Thank you." She whispered before locking arms with Noah. Just like the man beside her, Olivia was forced to put on a bright smile. She hated being here, she hated anything that had ties with the Grant family, and their family home was the epitome of everything she despised. Regardless, she kept her tru
The past week had been nothing short of hell for Olivia. The mere fact that she had to sleep and wake up beside the man who she knew for certain had killed her friend was already enough to ruin her entire day, now the police didn't seem to be taking Lisa's case seriously anymore. To them this was just a simple robbery gone wrong, and since they had no lead on who the culprit might be, there was little they could do. Olivia fought back the urge she had to scream out her lungs. She just couldn't believe what was happening, life was just unfair, and the evil ones always seemed to be winning. She was tired of it, but she knew that she couldn't let her rage get to her. The last thing she wanted was for her to tip Noah off especially now that she was so close to achieving her plan. Noah on the other hand couldn't care any less about Lisa's death. His wounds had healed considerably, and now that he didn't have to wear bandages anymore, he wanted to take things to the next level with Olivia
Noah immediately drove to see his doctor the moment he finished with Lisa. But before he left, he had instructed his men to make sure no evidence of him entering the apartment was found. They had cleaned Lisa's body well, making sure that Noah's DNA would not be found anywhere on her body, as well as cleared any security footage. Afterwards, his men had staged a robbery and had made sure that they were witnesses who would claim that Lisa had indeed died at the hands of a robber. As Noah drove back home, he prepared himself for the torrent of questions that he would definitely receive from Olivia. He would have to explain the bandages wrapped around his head, and he would also have to explain where he had been all this while. He knew for sure that she would have already received news of Lisa's death by now. And judging by the time, Noah already expected her to be home by now. After more than half an hour of driving, Noah finally arrived home. As he had expected, Olivia was home, her
Olivia felt her blood run cold the moment the police officer announced to her that Lisa was dead. At first she thought it was all some sort of prank, but the sound of ambulances in the background was enough to convince her that this might not be a joke. "W..what are you talking about? What are you saying?!" Olivia stammered as she forced her body to stop trembling. How on earth did this happen? Why? How?"I understand that you're in shock, but I'll need you to calm down ma'am. Right now we don't have the full details of the story, and we'll need your help if we're going to get to the bottom of it." The officer on the other side calmed Olivia. They had gone through Lisa's phone, and from the data collected from her device, they had enough material that suggested Olivia was her closest friend. So far it looked like a murder, and some witnesses had reported seeing a hooded man enter her apartment minutes before they heard a gunshot. The shattered glass and scattered living room suggest
Noah had thought that after his warning, Lisa would finally learn her place and stop interfering in his plans. But after receiving a call from his henchmen, informing him that Damian had recently gone to visit Lisa, Noah had finally come to the conclusion that he could no longer let Lisa stay around any longer. He had warned her more than enough times, but she had simply refused to listen to his words. Slipping a pistol and a silencer into his pocket, Noah made his way towards his car. He needed to pay Lisa a visit, and this visit was necessary in order to shut her up for good. Lisa had made it clear that she wouldn't stop being a burden to his plans, and Noah was simply sick and tired of tolerating her acts of insolence and defiance. Noah's mind wandered as he drove towards Lisa's apartment. He wondered how Olivia was going to react to the news of hearing that Lisa was dead, and if it was going to affect her pregnancy in any way. The last thing he wanted was to jeopardize her heal
Damian made it to Olivia's office after thirty minutes of being on the road. Lisa's words had given him a little bit of hope, now all that was left was for him to confirm things with Olivia. If they happened to be true, he would do all that he could to help her out. Lisa was right, he was the one gaining the most from all of this, and because of that he needed to show efforts in taking Noah down. Getting down from his car, he rushed into the main building, hoping and praying that Olivia had come to work today. He had barely finished with the receptionist when he was approached by a figure he wasn't quite familiar with. However, Michael knew exactly who Damian was, and he had recognized him the moment he laid eyes on him. "Is there something you want, Damian Grant?" Michael asked with raised brows and mild hostility. He didn't want to judge Damian because of Noah, but it had become impossible to think about the Grants without immediately assuming that they were up to something bad.
Damian could feel his anxiety growing as the days passed. His final court hearing with Noah was approaching soon, and so far he was on the losing end of the game. There was barely a month left before they got down to the final stages of the succession crisis. He had run out of ideas on what to do, and it seemed like Olivia wasn't making much progress with her plans.He got down from his bed, confused and feeling miserable. There wasn't much he could do anymore, and he hated that more than anything. If he lost, Noah was going to take everything and leave him with nothing, and he simply just couldn't sit still and let that happen. He needed to speak with Olivia, to know exactly where she was headed to with this plan of hers. Getting down from the bed, Damian entered the bathroom and immediately freshened up. He had been in town ever since Noah and Olivia got attacked, but hadn't made his presence known to anybody. He had been watching Noah and Olivia from the shadows, and the things he
Noah was the last person Olivia had expected to come to her office, and quite frankly she didn't know how she didn't see it coming. She should have expected it, Noah was never going to let her go without trying to know everything that she was up to. She was grateful for her secretary, if it weren't for her, Noah would have caught her in Michael's office, being intimate with the man."There was no need for you to come here, Noah." Olivia argued as she lifted her head up from the system that she was barely using. "I was worried, pregnant women shouldn't be in the office, Liv. You should be at home, resting—""I am fine, Noah! How many times do I need to tell you that?!" Olivia interjected sharply, annoyed and angry that Noah wouldn't just let her live her life in peace. What was up with him anyway?! "You should go back home, you're distracting me from work, and there isn't really anything for you to do here." Noah sat still, contemplating on whether or not he should confront Olivia ab
Although Noah had a feeling that Olivia was not going to work, he hadn't expected that she would be heading for Lisa's home. He had paid some of his henchmen to keep an eye on Lisa ever since the day she told him that she was pregnant. And today, they had called to tell him that Olivia just pulled up to Lisa's apartment, and had spent more than half an hour inside with Lisa as well. He had immediately prepared himself and had driven straight to Lisa's. Olivia was already gone by the time he arrived, but that didn't stop him from entering the complex, and heading straight for Lisa's home. He wanted to know what they had discussed, and he needed to know why Olivia had come here. Without knocking, he stormed in and entered the room to find Lisa on the couch, holding a half glass of champagne and watching television."You son of a bitch—" Lisa's words were drowned out by the shock of seeing Noah in her living room. Her surprise soon turned to rage, and she hurled the glass in her hand