94. The next day was finally the day they were to go for the picnic. Annabel took Olivia outside the house and Roland drove them to the amusement park. When they got there, Olivia couldn't help but run around Roland happily. “Mr. Roland, I'm happy you finally fulfilled your promise of playing with me.” She smiled and he winked at her. “I'm happy to spend some time with you too. Where's the picnic blanket?” He asked and Olivia pointed at Annabel, who stood at one end lost in thoughts. She was wondering how Roland's reaction would be when she finally told him that Olivia was his daughter. She knew he was going to be beyond shocked but what else can she do? She had to tell him. She felt someone tap her and gasped. “Are you alright?” Roland asked and she nodded. “Yes, I was just admiring the scenery. I haven't been to the amusement park before. I went as a kid but I think it was only once.” “Jeez! Why?” Roland asked and she gave him a small smile. “We couldn't afford it.” “Oops
95. Annabel returned home, looking gloomy. She made sure Olivia took her bath and sent her to take a nap, since she had been playing all day. She sat down and switched on the television, in an attempt to take her mind away from what's bothering her but that didn't work out for her. She switched it off and walked to the kitchen where she took a bottle of water from the fridge and gulped the content down. She wondered what might have happened that had to disrupt her confession. Was it that serious? She heard the doorbell, and knowing it was Sasha, she quickly rushed to open the door. Sasha came in with a bag of groceries in her hand and hugged Annabel. “You look exhausted. What's up?” She asked as she took the stuff to the kitchen with Annabel tagging behind her. “I'm sad.” Annabel answered as she helped Sasha bring down the foodstuff she bought from the grocery store. “It didn't go well with Roland?” Sasha asked. “It was actually going well. I was about to tell him when a call
96.That night, Roland couldn't sleep. Carson's threats kept echoing in his head. He didn't want things to go too far between them, and he couldn't let go of Annabel either.He wondered if he should report to the police, but he needed to know what Carson had up his sleeves first.He stood from the bed, picked up a bottle of wine and poured in a glass. He sat and took a sip as he thought of what to do.He suddenly remembered that Annabel was about to tell him something before he got that urgent call and tried calling her, but her number didn't go through. After several failed attempts, he dropped the phone and made a mental note to see her the next day.The next day, Roland walked into the company and was greeted by the employees. To their surprise, he didn't respond to their greetings and just walked into his elevator. They exchanged looks and shrugged before taking their seats.They knew him to be cold and domineering, but at least, he answers their greetings. Why was today different
97.“I think we should stop bringing in fabrics for now, Roland. Carson might still be lurking around.” Ashton told Roland after bringing Roland to his office. He didn't want to talk about it in front of Annabel, since Carson was Annabel's friend.“Carson doesn't have a problem with my company or anything pertaining to it. He might be jealous that I'm more successful than him, but I doubt that's his main focus for now.” Roland ran his hands through his hair.“Then why is he doing all these? Why is he causing trouble?” Ashton couldn't comprehend why Carson wouldn't just mind his business and focus on his company instead. If he wasn't callous, then why was he trying to run them down by burning down the fabrics they ordered?“He's doing all these because of Annabel. He wants me to leave Annabel and is using my company against me.” Roland scoffed.“That's low.” Ashton frowned.“I know, right? When I went to meet him, he told me I had two days to leave Annabel, else he would cause more tro
98.The time for Roland to have a meeting with the employees came, and he asked Ashton to pass an announcement, giving them 30 minutes to round up whatever they were doing and report to the meeting room immediately.After the announcement, Annabel turned to him. “Is there any emergency? Why is there a meeting suddenly?” She was worried about him.“No, it's nothing serious. I just want to pass a few announcements to them.” He smiled at her.Annabel heaved a sigh of relief. She wished there was something she could do to lighten up his mood before the meeting. He looked gloomy, and she wouldn't want the employees to see him that way.Something clicked in her head. She smiled and hurriedly finished what she was typing. She took a clean sheet and with all seriousness started writing some things down. Roland wondered what she was doing that made her look so serious. He thought she looked funny in that position, and he smiled.When Annabel was done, it was already 5 minutes to the meeting ti
99.“Why did you make me leader of the committee?” Annabel asked Roland immediately she returned to the office.Roland looked up at her from his computer and rested his jaw on his palm. “Why? Aren't you happy with it?” He asked.Annabel sighed, running her hands through her hair. “It's going to make me feel pressured and all eyes are going to be on me.” She answered.“Isn't that a good thing? Everyone would expect the best from you because they look up to you, and they know you wouldn't fail them. At the end of the day, you'll succeed, and they'll realize they were right to have trusted you all along.” He smiled at her.Annabel sighed. “It seems you still don't understand what I'm talking about. Look, I don't like getting people's attention at all. You're right when you say people will look up to me, but I don't want that. I don't want people to look up to me, and then I end up disappointing them.” Roland smiled at her. “What if I say I believe in you and I know you can do it?” Anna
100.Two days later…Roland sat in his father's office, going through the files the man had called him to come take a look at. He couldn't understand why his father didn't just handle it by himself and had to call him to look at it.It was a business proposal sent to the main company by Mr. Sinclair, Carson's father. He was working on a project and wanted to collaborate with the D. Ville's.Roland wasn't quite pleased, but he kept it hidden and looked up at his father, who was waiting for what he had to say about the proposal.“I've checked the files, dad, and I still don't know why you have called me to check them.” He ran his hands through his hair.“I called you to check them because I'm not going to be the president of this company forever. You're going to take over soon, and I need your opinion on that because it will be a long-term project.” Mr. D. Ville stood from where he sat and went to the wine stand in his office. He took a wine glass and pured himself a glass before return
101.BACK AT THE COMPANYAnnabel was busy with the committee. They had supervised some employees and saw that they were doing an impressive job.Lucinda wasn't happy that Annabel got to give orders and tell them what to do, but she couldn't do anything to stop it, and she decided to give herself a rest. And by doing that, she realized that Annabel was really a nice person and she started to enjoy working with her... at least for now.They had finished the day's work and went to the cafeteria to have a drink. “Anna, you have to look away from those papers for a while. You aren't a robot, you know?” Brian collected the papers from her and gave her a drink.“Just let me finish checking the last person's—”“Hey!” Lucinda snapped at her, and she turned to look at the girl. “I'll pour you a glass, so bury the thought of checking those papers today.” She took a bottle, much to the surprise of everyone, and poured Annabel a glass.“Huh?” Annabel was stunned.When Lucinda was done and looked