Oliver
I rolled my eyes as four nosy family members of min asked the same question. Dad and Gran looked genuinely curious, Alhan had a teasing smirk already and Jada looked a bit annoyed.
“She's just a friend.” I explained quickly.
I knew everyone would've dropped the topic if Israel hadn't let out a disbelieving hum. “Is that why you went to go see her in a hotel yesterday?”
“Hotel?”
“Ooh, what are you up to bro?”
“Explain.”
Everyone started bombarding me with questions but Mom stayed quiet, staring at her phone as if the conversation didn't bother her at all. I knew for a fact it did, her frown said it all.
“Israel, you know I only went to see her to make sure she was okay after the incident. We are just friends.” If I can even call her that.
“You still haven't answered my question, how is she?” Sam interjected.
“She's good, just staying away from her house for a while.” Sam nodded at my reply and every other person decided to let it go and not ask about her anymore.
Dinner was amazing
It felt just like when I was younger, there was always laughter and someone teasing another. The food was great and dessert was even better. Erik had made an amazing chocolate cake that I couldn't help but think Lianne would love.
Jada, Eran and I help Mom clear the table. There were still maids who helped clean the house but the least we could do was clear the table.
While Jada and Eran returned to the living room where everyone else was, I stayed in the kitchen with Mom sensing she wanted to talk to me. Ever since Sam brought Lianne up, she'd been awfully quiet, even during dinner she wasn't talking as she usually would.
“Oliver, I want you to tell me the truth, I promise I won't judge.” She started. “Who really is Lianne?”
I sighed knowing that that was exactly what was on her mind. “Mom, she is just a friend, nothing more.”
She obviously didn't believe me. “Then why are you going to see her in a hotel?”
“That was where she was staying, something happened to her and she had to get away from her home.”
“So you were the only one who could see her? What exactly happened?” She crossed her arms over her chest with an annoyed look.
“It really is not in my place to say but her ex-fiancé attacked her and Israel, Sam and I were the ones who helped. She looked so freaked out after and I just wanted to make sure she was okay.” I explained.
“I really want to believe you, Olly, but you have a...”
I cut her off. “Reputation, yes, I know.”
She sighed. “Your dad told me what you said. I'm really happy you want to settle down but the way you went about it was so wrong, I don't want the press to have any more reasons to call you a playboy.”
I went to sit at a bar stool and she took another. “Then what do you suggest I do?”
She shrugged slowly. “Wait. That's the only thing you can do. I know it sounds silly but you can't go around looking for love, it finds you. I'm sure if you're patient enough, the perfect girl would come your way.”
But how long would I have to wait? “Okay, then.”
She finally smiled and pulled me into a comforting hug. “Don't look so down, Olly, the wait might not even be that long.”
“Okay.” I grumbled, burying my face in the crook of her neck.
She pushed me away, her face lighting up with excitement. “Now come on, I want to beat your dad in a game of charades before you guys leave.”
I laughed but followed her to the living room eager to spent time with my family and forget about my love life for a while.
**********
Lianne
Once again someone decided to call me early in the morning and that person was none other than Natalia.
“What do you want?” I demanded irritably.
“Calm down, jeez, I just want to talk, where can we meet?” She replied with an attitude.
“How about nowhere, because I'm not leaving the comfort of my home to talk to your whoring ass.”
“You know what, I don't care, I just wanted to have a civilized conversation with you...”
I interrupted her, ready to end this conversation. “Lord know that nothing about you is civilized and neither are the conversations you have so you can take that 'civilized conversation' shit and shove it up that loose thing you call a pussy. Never call me this early in the morning ever again, goodbye.”
I hung up without letting her say anything and yanked my covers over my head before falling asleep again.
Two hours later, I was awake, well rested and ready to start my day. I ordered some food, showered and got dressed for a meeting with the head of my PR team. She'd called me yesterday to ask for a meeting, I could only wonder what it was about.
The restaurant she proposed we meet at was a nice one and private. I really did like attention but not all the time, sometimes it was just exasperating. There were very few places I could go that I wouldn't be followed by the paparazzi.
I dressed professionally in a fitted gray dress with a black belt and heels. My hair was styled down and my makeup carefully done.
My arrival was ten minutes after the time we had agreed on but I knew the woman wouldn't mind and even if she did, she wouldn't say anything, I was her boss after all.
Miranda Jackson looked fairly annoyed but her expression changed when she noticed me walking towards the private booth. She was a stickler for keeping to times and hated the fact that I often did not.
“Lianne, it's nice to see you again.” She said politely, shaking my hand.
“You too, Miranda.” We took our seats. “So, what's this about? You barely call meetings like this.”
That was a lie. Meetings like this were a normal thing with she and I because I'd always do something that, according to her, could damage my reputation.
“Well, Lianne, it's about the video you posted yesterday. Have you looked at the comments?”
I rolled my eyes slightly, knowing in the back of my mind that she was going to bring it up. “Yes, I have. What exactly is the problem?”
“'What exactly is the problem?' It is so obviously that you did not read the comments or you wouldn't be acting like this.” She nearly yelled.
“You haven't answered my question.”
“People are calling you loose, saying that you can't keep a man long because you're a slut, why didn't you consult me before you did this anyway? You know I'm supposed to be aware of all your actions.” She told me.
I took a calming breath, trying to forget the fact she thought she had control over me. “Firstly, I'm not a child and you are not my mother, therefore you cannot expect me to run everything by you everyday. I did what was right and explained my breakup, I don't see how that makes me a slut.”
She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Yes, under normal circumstances it wouldn't but seeing as you've been with a lot of guys before and have been the one to break up with them, I don't quite blame the public.”
I leaned back into my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “I had good reason for breaking up with those men, just like I did with Nolan.”
“What is the reason exactly?”
I knew if I told her she'd want to to go to the media immediately or do it herself, my best bet was to keep quiet about it if I wanted to drag this on as long as I wanted. “It was a personal reasons.”
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Of course it was. You keep telling me that then later, you go to the press and tell them the real reason.”
I maintained emotionless expression bit inside I was planning a murder. “It that is all you want to say to me then I'll be leaving now. Goodbye.”
I stood up abruptly and walked out of the restaurant before she could say anything. I hate when people nagged me especially about my decisions. There was nothing wrong with telling people Nolan and I broke up when they were asking questions. It's not something I'd need to consult anyone about.
Miranda is just fussing over nothing.
I intentionally took the long way home to just relax and think about what I was going to have for lunch. My thoughts however, drifted to Oliver.
It's been a few day since I've seen him or heard from him. After the day at the hotel, I concentrated on getting back into my home and upping the security around it. I also got a new bodyguard, he'll start tomorrow.
Oliver was still on my mind when I got home and put the TV on mostly because he was being featured on a show. He had been named this months hottest bachelor which I wasn't surprised by, he is very good looking.
It was also said that he was spotted yesterday on a date with yet another woman after being seen with a different one three days ago. I scowled, hearing the reporter say how they could just be more notches on his belt and how he wasn't serious with either of them.
And he says he's not a player. I thought distastefully.
It was a good thing I was not planning on getting romantically involved with him, it was apparent to me that he wouldn't be faithful. All I needed to do was convince him to partner with Dad and I could cut him out of my life forever.
I can do that as his friend.
I decided against calling him, seeing that I had no reason to. I watched some TV for a little while longer before getting some food.
When I picked my phone up to order some chicken, I noticed it was acting weird. The screen kept freezing and it wouldn't respond when I tried to use it or even turn it off. It kept me frustrated for a good hour till a notification popped up.
Virus detected, clearing all files.
My hear pounded as I searched for a way to cancel but there was not button or option. My eyes misted with tears as I continued tapping it, yelling for it to stop.
I had a lot of information on my phone, it was like a second brain to me, if I lose everything on it, it'd be like I lost half my life. I wracked my brain for a solution or someone who could help me.
It took a few minutes but I realized that the only person I know with enough knowledge of computers is Oliver. I mean, he owns a tech company, right? He must know some way of fixing it or maybe someone at his company could help.
Silently praying, I darted to my bedroom to grab my emergency phone. It was much smaller than the other one and only had my contacts and a few reminders. Thankfully, I had copied Oliver number into it.
“Come on, pick up.” I muttered to myself as it rang.
He didn't answer the first time so I called again.
“Hello? Who is this?” I heard him ask.
With I sigh of relief, I began explaining my situation. “Hi, Oliver, it's Lianne, I really need your help, it's urgent. Are you free?”
“Lianne? Sure, I have time, what it you need.” He questioned worriedly.
“You were the only one I could call, my phone is doing something. Everything on it is just…” It trailed off, trying to find the right word. “getting erased. It's telling there's a virus and I don't know how to stop it. I know it's kind of silly but please help me, I have a lot of important documents on my phone.”
“Okay, bring it to my office right now. How fast is it going?”
I checked to see what had been erased, forgetting that I couldn't do anything on it. “I don't know, it's not responding.”
“Okay, just bring it over. I think I can help.”
I hurriedly hung up and got my car keys and drove to his Graham Innovations. It was an easy place to find, constantly talked about and I often passed by going to other places.
I got past security pretty swiftly thanks to Oliver and his secretary told him I was there before I was even let up to his floor.
He was waiting for me just outside the elevator and greeted me with a half smile. “Hi.”
“Hey, thanks for letting me come.”
He shugged slightly. “It was no problem, let's go to my office, let me see what I can do.”
I followed him to his large office space totally in awe of how modern everything looked. The theme of the room was black and a very polished white. The floor was covered in a white carpet and the walls were pristine. The desk was a shiny black that nearly looked like opaque glass and the rest of his furniture were in all difference shades and textures of black.
He didn't have that all glass wall you'd see in most executive offices, instead he had a nice wide window overlooking the city.
He led me to a sort of lounge area and offered me a seat while he got his laptop and other things he might need. The phone was out of my hands in minutes and hooked up to his laptop, ready to be fixed.
I hovered around Oliver as he typed away, saying things under his breath. I didn't bother looking at the screen, I knew it would just be some computer gibberish that would give me a headache if I tried to understand it.
“Just as I suspected.” He said after a few more minutes.
“What? What did you suspect?” I inquired with interest.
“Nothing is wrong with your phone.”
“But…”
He put a hand up. “Hold on.” He pressed a few more keys and his screen lit up. “There is no virus on your phone, you're being hacked.”
“Hacked?!” I exclaimed.
“Yes. That whole ‘virus’ thing was just a front put up by the hacker to distract you from what was actually going on.” Seeing the confusion on my face, he continued. “When this happens, it usually means someone has hired the hacker to maybe find something like a document and either delete it from your device or send it to theirs. It doesn't do any harm to your device whatsoever, only makes you worry.”
“Oh.” I drawled in understanding. “So nothing was wrong?”
He shrugged. “Nothing at all. We just need to stop the person doing this before they achieve their goal.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Look,” He gestured to his laptop screen. “this is what the hacker is seeing.” It looked like my gallery. “They are looking for a picture of video maybe.”
The picture of Natalia and Nolan. They're behind this. I thought in realization.
He clicked a few times. “And this is the hacker's computer.” It was quite generic with a dark wallpaper and a few files. “This is a professional so there is no record of who hired them but I can drop a virus of our own which would completely crash their computer.”
“You have a virus?” I couldn't help but ask.
“Yes, we use it to destroy phones reported stolen or in cases like these, teach lowlifes a lesson. Do you want me to send it?”
Like the vengeful person I am, I said. “Yeah, definitely.”
He chuckled, setting it up. “Would you like to do the honors?”
“Absolutely.” I said with a bit too much enthusiasm and pressed the key he pointed to.
I was pleased to see the hacker's device lag and mine return to normal. Oliver quickly disconnected from the offender shut his laptop down.
I held my phone tightly, like sort of saying ‘It's okay baby, I'm here’. I might be obsessed with my phone but don't care.
“Thank you for helping me.” I told him sincerely, watching as he organized his things.
“It was nothing. I'm happy to help a friend.” He smiled infectiously.
“I owe you one though.”
“Really?” He said with a laugh. “I'll remember that.”
“I guess I should be going now.” I picked up my purse. “Thanks again.”
“Let me see you down.”
“There's no need, don't bother.”
“No, it's okay, I insist.” He opened the door for me and followed me out to the car park, getting my car door as well.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.” He added. “I also fortified your firewall and upgraded your antivirus, you shouldn't have any more problems with hackers.”
“Okay, thank you.” I repeated.
He stepped away from the car as I pulled out of the lot, waving goodbye. I returned the wave with a grateful smile before finally driving away.
Instead of driving straight home, I took a turn toward my sister's house. She's going to regret messing with my phone.
Author's Note:
Hi guys, sorry for the wait. I know it's been almost a month since I updated and I'm sorry. Thanks for being so patient though.
Questions (Please answer 🙏):
1. Was the chapter worth the wait?
2. Did you like it?
3. Do you think Alyssa's being too hasty in judging her son?
4. Is Lianne too harsh?
5. What do you think she's gonna do to her sister?
6. What do you want to see next? Drama or filler?
Okay, that's about it. Lianne and Oliver POV in the next chapter. Chapter Eight coming at 20 votes and 50 comments.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
-E