128.“What did you just say, mum?” Roland stood from where he sat and walked to where his mother stood. “You want me to meet Nadia's parents and pick them from the airport? As their errand boy or as what? Don't they have a chauffeur?” He asked.Mrs. D. Ville rubbed her forehead. “Come on, Roland, it's just a kind gesture. What's wrong with picking up your best friend's parents from the airport?” “Are you calling her my best friend now, mum?” He snickered. “I can't believe you. Why has she become my best friend all of a sudden? Weren't you referring to her as daughter-in-law before? Tell me, what happened?” Roland asked, knowing fully well that his mother didn't mean what she said about Nadia being his best friend.“You're overreacting unnecessarily, Roland. Just do as I asked of you, okay?” She wanted to touch him, but he moved away.“What if I refuse to do it?” He folded his hands.“Then you'd be disobeying me.” She frowned.“I want to disobey you.” He said and was about to walk awa
129.Roland brought Nadia to the office and made her sit down. Mrs. D. Ville had seen them walk into the elevator and followed them.Nadia was still crying when she walked in.“What happened to you?” She asked, rushing to where Nadia sat down.“Mum,” She called, pretending to choke on her tears.Mrs. D. Ville cupped her cheeks. “What's the matter, sweetie?” She asked.“I don't know what happened to Annabel and just wanted to calm her down. She slapped me in the process.” She answered, placing her palm on the side of her cheek.Roland sighed and left to get an ice pack from the store.“Annabel did what!” Mrs. D. Ville snapped.Roland returned with the ice pack and bent to help Nadia. He placed it on her cheek and she winced.Mrs. D. Ville faced Roland. “What did I just hear? Annabel raised her hand on Nadia and you did nothing?” She yelled at him but he said nothing and just focused on placing the ice pack on her cheek. He was also wondering why Annabel would do such a thing. He knew h
130.After Annabel walked away, Roland walked to his office, expecting to see her there, but she was nowhere to be found. What alarmed him was that her handbag which was on the table was no longer there.He went into the suite but couldn't find her there either.Wondering where she had gone, he tried calling her, but she wasn't taking his calls. He became worried and quickly rushed to Sasha's office, hoping to find her there.“Sir,” Sasha quickly stood up when he barged into her office.Roland looked around and was disappointed that Annabel wasn't there.“Are you okay?” Sasha asked.He sighed and walked to where she stood. He figured she was Annabel's best friend and should know where Annabel was.“Please, do you know where Annabel is? Did she tell you she was going anywhere?” He asked.Sasha was confused. “No. I haven't seen her since this morning. What's going on? Did something happen between the two of you?” She asked.Roland ruffled his hair. “I only asked why she slapped Nadia, s
131.The next day, Annabel walked into the office and Roland quickly rushed to her. He had searched for her the previous day, all to no avail and had come earlier than usual to work, so he would see when she'd come in.He stood in front of her and sighed as he watched her.Annabel wanted to walk away, but he held her hand.“I'm sorry.” He apologized, but she furrowed her eyebrows and acted like someone who was confused.“I don't understand what you're saying, Rolly.” She answered. Roland would have been glad that she called him “Rolly” but her tone dripped with sarcasm, and he knew she was only mocking him.“I want to apologize for not hearing your side of the story yesterday. I shouldn't have concluded without hearing you first, I'm sorry.”“Before I accept your apology, tell me the truth, do you really think I'd slap Nadia for no reason?” She asked.Roland sighed and lowered his head. “I don't think you'd do something like that, but I didn't have the time to think about anything. Al
132.Ashton blinked. “Are you for real? Do you even know what you're talking about?” He asked and Roland nodded, sure of what he was saying.“I love Annabel and I'm sick and tired of how she's being looked down on by my parents and everyone because she's a single mother. If I adopt Olivia as my daughter, she wouldn't be a single mother anymore and all these will stop.” He explained to Ashton but Ashton knew what the consequences would be.“And you think it's all just gonna end there? Roland, you haven't even proposed to her yet. You two aren't married so how can you adopt—”“Ashton,” Roland interrupted him. “It's not a must to marry her before I can adopt her daughter. I'll do that and then we can get married later. That way, it'd be easier. I don't want to be called her stepfather. I want to be her father before I marry her mother. Olivia is a cool kid. I love her so much and I wouldn't want anything that'd hurt her in the future. That's why I'm doing this. Please, understand me.”“I
133.“What? He wants to adopt her daughter?” Nadia scoffed the minute she returned home that evening. She threw her handbag on the couch and growled angrily.“What nonsense!” She yelled and walked to where the wine stand stood. She took a glass cup and gestured for Stanley to get her wine which he did.“You need to calm down.” He said to her as he poured her a glass.Nadia gulped down everything and wiped her lips. “How dare Annabel come to ruin everything for me? How dare her?” She ruffled her hair. “That girl has bewitched Roland. How can he think of adopting that child? He doesn't even know who the father is!” She exclaimed.“Love makes people do crazy things, Nadia.” Stanley replied but Nadia wasn't ready to listen to him.“He has gone mad, and I won't sit and watch him display that madness when I can stop it.” She stretched the glass cup out to him and he poured her a glass. she downed it.“What are you going to do?” He asked.Nadia smirked. “I'm going to do something very drastic
134.Her father, Mr. Durand, stood up, his eyes holding nothing but pure anger and disappointment at his daughter. He walked to where she stood and scrutinized her with his gaze.“What on earth have you been doing since you returned to this country, Nadia? What have you been doing?” He asked in annoyance.“It hasn't been long since I got here, dad.” She answered with an eyeroll.He scoffed. “What the heck are you saying? You've been here for more than two weeks. Why haven't you visited the company and put things in place? You didn't even come to visit us after we returned from Seattle. You've been causing trouble, right?”“Dad!” She exclaimed.“Honey,” Mrs. Durand called her husband to calm him down. She faced Nadia. “Your father is right, Nadia. We were relaxed in Seattle, thinking you were taking care of the company over here like you always did. We came back and saw that everything had gone haywire. The manager put in charge wasn't doing a good job and if you had checked, we know y
135.The day went by with neither of them talking to each other and when work hours were over, Annabel left the company before Roland would even have the chance to see her. He acted like he didn't care but he was hurt that she had left without even saying a word to him.Sasha finished what she was doing in her office and was arranging her desk when Ashton entered."Hey, Sasha." He waved with a smile and she turned to look at him.“Oh, hi, you didn't later get back to me.” She said with a smile and picked up her handbag.“Huh?” Ashton knew what she was talking about but he didn't know how to tell her that it was going to be just the two of them tonight.“About the restaurant you said you were taking us to? You said you were going to ask Roland and Anna if they were coming. Did you ask them?” She asked, facing him.Ashton cleared his throat and hesitated. Sasha gestured for him to speak. “I did but they said they had plans for tonight,”That moment, Sasha realized she was going to be alo