The cab was almost arriving at Olivia's house and from the moment she was picked up, her gaze never left the window. She had hoped to spot Martha right where she had left her before, when Ethan had yelled at her.
When the cab had driven by the spot and it was empty, she had looked away with a heavy sigh and shook her head, as if to give up on Martha and not worry about her wellbeing any longer than she had already done. She had even whispered to herself that she might have cared too much about a woman she didn't know and it needed to come to an end.
As the decision to give up on Martha had been running through her mind, Ethan called her and they had an argument on how she needed to listen to him now that she was carrying his child. With no regard for the driver in the front seat, she yelled at Ethan through the phone whenever she felt the need, reminding him that she wasn't his property.
It was only when she thought Ethan abruptly ended the call that she sighed deeply, then looked in the rear view mirror and locked eyes with the driver, but he quickly looked away and cleared his throat. She noticed that he pressed his lips together as if not to say anything to her. After seeing his reaction, she apologized for being too loud and it would never happen again. She assured him that she wasn't that kind of person and lost her temper because of the situation.
As she said that to him, she stopped mid-sentence and realized she was upsetting herself by thinking about why she lost her temper in the first place. She placed her hand on her stomach and sighed, whispering to herself to take it easy for the innocent baby.
When the cab pulled over in front of Olivia's house, she saw someone standing by the door while facing it and couldn't tell who it was because of the hoodie and baggy pants they had on.
"Excuse me, can I help you with something?" asked Olivia as she approached her doorstep.
As soon as the person turned around, her eyes grew wide with excitement. "Beth!"
Beth playfully screamed Olivia's name to match the reaction, then spread out her arms while rapidly stomping her feet and they embraced each other. The two of them had attended the same schools and hadn't seen each other or stayed in touch for a year.
"Doesn't my hoodie smell great?" asked Beth as she ran her hands down her hoodie. "It's brand new!"
"That must be the reason you felt the need to wear it," said Olivia. "Just imagining myself in it makes me feel hot to the point where I could sweat."
"Hey...it's not that bad because winter's here."
"Yes, but it's not yet so cold that you need to wear a hoodie, hmm?"
"I guess you're right and to be honest, I'm hot! Did you catch the double meaning there? Hmm?" asked Beth as she poked Olivia.
Olivia invited Beth inside and before she could even sit down, she mentioned to Olivia that she was aware of all that had happened within the past few months and it took her so long to show up because she had a lot to deal with. She then offered her condolences regarding Mr Parker.
Olivia had been alone for so long and had no one to talk to that having Beth around, someone she considered a friend even if they hadn't stayed in touch, led her to speak to her about all that she felt, including Pete's love confessions and how she never told anyone about it.
To Olivia, there was no harm in opening up to Beth and she couldn't keep it all inside anymore. She felt comfortable enough to explain to Beth all that she could because she was attentive and supportive as their conversation unfolded.
She could still stand on her own, but having someone filled the lonely gap.
After spending a few hours together, Beth was ready to leave so she got in a cab and as it drove away, she brightly smiled at Olivia as she waved at her.
As soon as Olivia was out of sight, Beth's bright smile turned to one filled with malice as she leaned back in her seat.
Once she reached her destination, she took her phone and made a video call to some friends, who were also former classmates of Olivia.
"You should've been there to witness how pathetic Olivia looked," she said to them. "Not even an ounce of that billionaire status rubbed off on her. Poor girl! Looks like I'm paying for our next trip, right after I get some money out of Ms Hudson! There's no way she'll ignore what I have for her."
~
It was evening and Mr Philip had just walked into a fancy restaurant where Ms Hudson was waiting and he was there because of the news he heard from Natalie about how Ethan had treated her. He thought it was necessary to speak to Ms Hudson so he had demanded to meet her but never mentioned the reason for wanting to meet her.
She had agreed to meet him even if she needed to travel in a few hours. She only needed to wait for her private jet to be ready.
As he sat down with her, he leaned back in his seat and folded his arms as he expressed his disappointment in how things were with the pregnancy news.
Believing he had the upper hand, he reminded her of how important the partnership was to her since it was the only way she could have control over a wide region.
He threatened to put an end to their partnership if Natalie would experience further neglect from Ethan. He demanded that Ethan change his ways and make Natalie a priority because for his daughter, the wedding was something she looked forward to, as well as spending the rest of her days by Ethan's side.
The more he warned Ms Hudson, the more he pointed at her with an expression that only intensified every time he felt he was in control of the situation.
Ms Hudson had been silently listening to him with a poker face and once she had enough, she shook her head with a chuckle, then leaned back in her seat as she raised her chin to make her seem as if she was looking down at Mr Philip as she spoke to him.
She pointed out how bold it was of him to threaten her over such a situation, to which he replied with the demand of how Natalie needed to be treated right.
Ms Hudson then shut him up mid-sentence to remind him that between the two of them, she was the one in charge. She might have wanted to take full control of a whole region but it didn't mean he could order her around and threaten her. She then warned him that it should be the last time he would have the audacity to speak to her the way he did or she would change her mind and end the partnership herself.
The moment he heard that, he inched forward, rested his elbows on the table and brought his hands together as he begged her not to end the partnership because he needed it to be a success.
Not wanting to be there any longer or at least wait until he was done begging her, she took her handbag and walked past him but before leaving, looked over her shoulder and said, "Whenever you're in my presence, know your place."
~
A few days after Olivia and Ethan found out they were expecting a baby, they weren't in communication with each other. Olivia didn't feel the need to talk to him and assumed he was busy with the wedding preparations. She never got to ask when the wedding would take place so she always assumed it would happen any day. She had even thought that he had forgotten about her.
When she had first moved into her own house to enjoy her independence, it all seemed to start out perfectly because she had some money in her bank account, but along the way, it didn't get any easier since her money was running out at a faster rate than she imagined. Once her financial situation finally seemed to not get any better, she had stopped making efforts to clean up the way she did before.
One afternoon, her hair was still a mess and she hadn't brushed it for a week. It didn't make a difference to her whether it was tangled or not. All she did was eat and think about what she would do next to support herself financially.
On that same day, she heard the doorbell ring and didn't bother to get up, but when she thought it could be Beth, she changed her mind. Having some company would have made her think less of her worries.
When she opened the door, she rolled her as soon as she realized it was Ethan at the door.
A long silence was all they could both hear as they stared at each other. She particularly stared at his face and he looked at her from head to toe in a scornful way. She didn't even bother to ask what was going on in his mind so she turned around to walk back inside and he let himself in.
With his hands shoved in his pockets, he stood still for a moment to observe her and it was at that moment that she glared at him.
"There are so many things to stare at in this house apart from me," she said.
"First of all, there isn't much to look at and secondly, you stand out the most."
She shrugged, saying she didn't care what he thought of the way she looked.
He got closer to her as he fixed his neck tie and looked at her with a creased forehead.
"When you were still my wife, you made heads turn with everything you wore. Don't tell me the divorce took away the need to look that attractive."
"If you're here to mock me then you might as well leave."
"Now I'm thinking you're not even taking care of yourself in other aspects." He pointed a finger at her forehead and spoke with his head tilted. "If you don't want to take care of yourself, then don't, but that's after you give birth to my baby."
"You can't tell me what to do."
"As the one who's the father of that baby, I most definitely can. That's a billionaire baby and you'll never have another one. Let this be the last time I ever see you like this."
"I'm not your wife for you to talk to me like this. Take that attitude to your current wife."
"I don't have one."
"Oh... so the wedding hasn't yet taken place?" she asked in a soft tone.
"No."
"I see."
There was another long silence as they stared at each other until he stepped away from her, made himself comfortable on the sofa and crossed his legs as he told her that he didn't want her living in such a run down place. He even asked the last time she had cleaned up.
She looked around and shrugged as she replied that there was nothing rundown about her house and it was perfectly fine.
He then pointed out that the baby in her womb was a Hudson, a billionaire's baby and deserved the best, not the excuse of a house she called her home.
"You might see it that way but this is still my home!" she yelled as she folded her arms.
"I've decided that you're moving out of this place and into one of my apartments."
She scoffed as she approached him to stand in front of him and even giggled but when she noticed that he had been staring at her with a blank face, she realized he was serious about it.
"It's wrong of you to make such a decision on my behalf," she said. "I'm doing just fine."
"Take a good look at yourself and say that again," he said, raising the side of his lips.