Actually, David's work had been pretty idle in the past few years. He usually just sat in the headquarters while leaving most of the important decisions to Xavier who was abroad. He would spend his time doing what he really liked such as gardening or playing chess while enjoying some tea.
"I heard you're handling the opening ceremony for Imperial Sky Entertainment City."
It was a precious moment of David expressing his concern about a company event.
Arya nodded while pouring David a glass of water. She sat down and replied,
"Mmm, Director would be more familiar about it, but he's been transferred this year. The PR Department isn't very familiar with the whole process of it, so I'll just help out. Grandfather, are you coming with Grandmother on that day?"
David waved his hand and shook his head with a smile.
"We'll sit this one out. I'm not worried about leaving the company to Xavier and you at all. I've always wanted to retire after hustling all these years. As for your parents, I'm afraid they won't have time to attend as well. I guess you'd understand even if we don't say it out loud."
David's words stunned Arya slightly. She then replied,
"Mmm, I understand."
"Okay, go have your breakfast and just work on whatever you have to. Your grandmother is planning to revamp the land, so I'll go and take a look."
He then started to walk outside.
...
Arya drove straight to the company after having a light breakfast.
It was still the holidays, so most of the company was empty. Only the PR Department was busy with the opening ceremony. Hence, they had to give up their rest to work on this project.
It was near noon after she finished revising the plans with Manager. They locked down the details and established a general direction.
"Alright, we're set for now then. We can start decorating the place tomorrow. I've taken note of the details just now and most of them are done. We have three days, and I understand that it's a little rushed, but we have to do our best and make it as flawless as possible." Arya closed the folder and handed it to Manager.
...
"Noted, Director Johns. Don't worry. We're confident!" Manager and the others gave her a confident smile.
Arya nodded. "Thank you for everyone's hard work. Sorry for taking away your New Year's holiday. Chairman Knight asked me to bring everyone some gifts which I've left at the reception area on the first floor. Go and take them yourself later. It's pretty late now, so grab some food and let's meet at the plaza in Entertainment City tomorrow."
Their expressions brightened when they heard her words, and they quickly expressed their gratitude,
"Thank you, Chairman Knight and Director Johns. We'll surely work hard on this!"
After the meeting was dismissed, Arya packed her stuff up and was planning to go back to the Johnson Residence. Before she left, she made a call and realized that Robert had gone over to Maple Residence while Arianna had gone shopping at the New Era Plaza with a colleague.
After thinking about it, she went straight to the New Era Plaza to look for Arianna, intending to bring her over to Maple Residence for dinner.
It was rare for Arianna to go shopping, so Arya was surprised to hear that.
When Arya found her, she was trying on some clothes with a colleague.
"Mother!" She quickly went up to Arianna.
"You're here!" Arianna seemed to be in a jovial mood. A precious smile appeared on her face when she saw Arya.
"Is this your daughter? Oh my God, she looks just like you, Teacher Arianna! Both of you look like sisters!"
The woman beside Arianna was surprised when she saw the similarity between Arya and Arianna. She observed the mother-daughter pair as her eyes twinkled.
"Both of you are really beautiful! Teacher Arianna, I didn't expect your daughter to be this grown up already. If I hadn't seen your resume, I would've thought that you've only been married for a few years."
"Thank you, Teacher Leena. I'm already over fifty years old. Arya, this is Teacher Leena, the lecturer for the students doing their Masters in chemical engineering," Arianna introduced.
"Hi, Teacher Leena. I'm Arya," Arya greeted politely with a slight bow.
Teacher Leena was again surprised when she heard Arya's name. She gawked at her in doubt.
"Is your surname Johns as well? Teacher Arianna, the girl that came to look for you the other day, Victoria... She seems to be pretty popular. Is she a relative of your daughter's? Wait, but I remember she asked me for your phone number..."
Arianna's expression froze and Arya frowned slightly as well...
"Did I say something wrong?" Teacher Leena looked at them apologetically when she realized that something was not right.
After a while, Arianna calmed down and said to her colleague before leaving,
"It's nothing. I'm just thinking about something else. It's pretty late already, Teacher Leena. I have to go back first."
Her depressed and sad expression was detected by Arya whose heart sank a little. She turned around and told Teacher Leena,
"I'm sorry. My mother might be a little tired. We'll head back first."
She then caught up with her mother.
The Johns family and her father had always been a thorn in her heart, one that would hurt every time someone touched it.
On a long bench by the plaza, Arya opened a bottle of water and handed it to Arianna.
"Have some water."
She took a sip, raising her head and watching Arya calmly.
"Did your father call you?"
From what Arya remembered, Arianna hardly asked about her father. She nodded.
"On the first day of New Year, he called me while I was driving."
"What did he say?" Arianna asked quietly. However, Arya could see her grip onto the bottle tighten whilst her eyes seemed a little odd.
Arya started to feel a little doubtful inside.
To be honest, she could feel that her father still had feelings for her mother, and even though her mother seemed very cold on the outside, she could not forget about her father. Still, why would things turn out this way?
Anyway, she answered honestly since Arianna asked,
"Nothing much. Just New Year greetings and he asked me to keep you company."
Arianna suddenly went silent after she heard the reply. She just lowered her head and fell quiet and said nothing more...
She stopped talking, so Arya had no idea what to say either. Clueless as to what to do, she sat down beside her quietly.
After some time, Arianna took a deep breath and glanced up at the warm sunset.
"That's great then."
It was a short reply. Arya was confused. After hesitating for a moment, she said,
"Mother, Father actually..."
She wanted to say that her father was actually pretty concerned about her too.
However, she could not bring herself to say it. Her sentence just stopped midway. Just as she looked at Arianna and was about to say some comforting words, a cheerful ringtone played.
It was Arianna's phone.
Arianna took out her phone slowly and slid the receive call button across the screen.
"Hello?"
Her usual indifferent voice went through, yet the one who replied her was Layla!
"Hello? Arianna? It's Layla."
Arianna's cool expression froze up the moment she heard Layla's voice. Arya, who was beside her, could somewhat hear that it was Layla as well.
"Come and meet me. I'll wait for you at the coffee shop right across the New Era Plaza. I know you're nearby now. If you don't want things to get more complicated, then we need to talk."
Layla's tone was not very friendly and Arianna could sense the hostility, yet she just smiled coldly.
"I don't think I have anything to talk to you about."
...
"If you don't want Mother to look for you personally again, you'd better come right now. Plus, don't you want to know what happened to your daughter at Victoria and Ethan's engagement party? I believe Arya didn't tell you about it, did she?"
Layla hung up the call abruptly.
Arianna looked at her dimmed phone screen, her eyes seeming more depressed than before.
"Was that Layla?" Arya asked coldly before Arianna could say anything.
Arianna slid her phone back into her shirt pocket as she put away the bottle of water. Standing up, she announced,
"You should go back first, Arya. I'll go over for a bit."
Without waiting for Arya's reply, she walked towards the opposite of the plaza.
"Mother!"
Arya wanted to catch up with her, but Arianna walked swiftly through the crowd, vanishing from her vision in the blink of an eye.
...
In the café, Layla had already ordered a cup of coffee when Arianna arrived.
She had already predicted that she would meet Layla when Kristina and Victoria went to look for her back then, so she was not surprised at all when Layla gave her a call.
Arianna coldly sat down opposite Layla.
She wore a brown, flowery, long dress. Together with a little white coat, she appeared simple and elegant, the outfit gracefully bringing out her aura of being a prestigious lady.
Ever since many years ago, she had never been fierce and powerful, but things around her just turned monochromatic when she sat down.
Arianna's gracefulness was something Layla had always been envious of. She might have been jealous of her too. Despite her prestigious family background, or being the daughter of a high-ranking official, or even being the current wife of the mayor, no matter how much she dressed up, she felt like she could never be on par with the elegance of Arianna.
Sometimes, she would get really annoyed at the woman's cold expression.
She had known Arianna since high school. They became good friends, and eventually best friends. However, she felt that she would be left out wherever Arianna existed.
Arianna became the goddess of many. Armed with both excellent grades and beautiful looks, she had this cold and mysterious aura around her too. Even the quiet Benjamin was crazy for her. It took him a very long time to get Arianna to agree to become his girlfriend. Benjamin really loved her and they were an envied couple in their university. Everyone thought of them as the perfect couple.
Yet, Layla was always a little follower even though she was her family's treasure...
In the end, they became enemies.
"I thought you'd lack the courage to come!" Layla took a deep breath as she tried to suppress her emotions, forcing a smile.
"You're the one who shouldn't have the courage to face me. Why would I be a coward at a time like this?" Arianna put on a cold smile.
"Is it about the 20% shares again?"
"Since you understand, I'll be straightforward about it. Back then, you didn't want the shares too, so leaving the document with you was useless, wasn't it?"
Layla's expression did not look very pleasant. Although she genuinely wanted to have a decent conversation with Arianna, every time they met, she would feel the need to be superior as soon as she saw Arianna's face. Now, she was giving her all to suppress her emotions.
The smile on Arianna's face grew wider.
"I changed my mind. Benjamin gave it to me willingly, so why should I let it go? You can talk to Benjamin if you want these shares back. Get him to ask for it from me."
"Do you think he'd want to see you? Arianna, I don't owe you anything. I've told you long ago that I liked Benjamin before he got close to you. You disregarded our friendship and took him away from me. Now, my daughter has taken your daughter's fiancé away. It's karma." Layla felt smug as a barely hidden sharpness tinted her voice.
Arianna's expression darkened and her eyes turned cold.
"I'm being very kind by not unleashing my anger onto your daughter. I've never mistreated your daughter all these years too, but your daughter? She's one crazy woman. How dare she hurt Victoria? Victoria's body was frail even up until now all because she shielded her back then, and what did your daughter do to repay her? She beat Victoria up in public. Is this how you teach your daughter to treat others?"
Layla was really angry as she was reminded of how pathetic Victoria looked the other day. Layla had asked Arianna out for two reasons. One reason was for the 20% shares while the other was that she could not stand Arya's behaviour anymore.
"Are you sure you're treating Arya genuinely, and not just trying to get on the good side of Benjamin and the elder?" Arianna smiled as she asked quietly.
Layla's expression changed and her eyes grew even darker.
Calmly, Arianna took a sip from her coffee elegantly.
"Now that I think about it, you got close to me and became my good friend... So, it was all because of Benjamin... If I remember correctly, I'd already known Benjamin for three years by then..."
"So what? Didn't you always say self-righteously that it doesn't matter who comes first in love?" Layla put on a mocking smile, her eyes getting more and more threatening.
"Love? Are you sure Benjamin loves you?" In contrast to Layla's aggressiveness, Arianna was calm and indifferent. Even her tone of voice sounded like a cold wind blowing through a maple forest.
Layla seemed extremely upset and her hands had clenched into fists under the table.
"He doesn't love me? Don't forget that I'm now Benjamin's legal wife. As for you, Arianna, you're just his ex-wife." She could feel her energy welling up inside as she sat upright with her back straight and stared right into Arianna's eyes.
"I've never denied your position as the mayor's wife. I hope you don't drag my daughter in between our matters. I left and let you guys be because I wanted the war to stop. Didn't we live peacefully all these years? Why do you have to break the peace?"
A cold light lingered in Arianna's clear eyes as she looked back into Layla's eyes.
"I understand my daughter's personality well. She wouldn't have done anything if you guys didn't do anything that crossed the line. As for your daughter taking Ethan away, it doesn't matter to her anymore. I hope that these things can end. Otherwise, I don't mind talking to Benjamin personally."
"Look at how lightly you're taking this! On the day of Victoria and Ethan's engagement, your daughter came over and ruined their engagement party. She even injured Victoria. How should I deal with this? Moreover, she said that you handed the document to her. Is that true?" Layla's expression was turning furious.
Arianna put her cup down and looked at Layla like she was watching a clown performing.
"Arya is my only daughter. Whatever I own belongs to her, so what's wrong about that? You guys tried so hard to get back the 20% share. Isn't it meant to be Victoria's dowry? I don't know on what basis did you come to look for me. Even if Elder Madam Johns is here, I can only say that I'm sorry. I've sold the 20% shares off."
"Who did you sell it to?" Layla's expression froze as she clenched her fists even tighter the moment she heard Arianna's words.
"You'll find out soon enough. I've told you guys to not bother us again. I won't be this easy-going anymore if you leave me no choice!" A strong voice reached them before Arianna could reply. They looked over to the source of the voice, then they noticed Arya standing near their table.
She had a cold aura all around her as her eyes were focused on both of them. She went up and stayed beside Arianna.
"Why did you come?" Arianna frowned. Apparently, she did not want to involve Arya in their mess, but it seemed that things just would not go her way.
Arya looked at Arianna without saying anything. Then, she averted her cold gaze to Layla.
"You must be here because Victoria made stories up about me again several days back, didn't she?"
...
"Make stories up about you? What was that? Victoria and Ethan are in love with each other, and all the years, don't you think that Victoria has sacrificed a lot for you? Was there any time that she disobeyed your wishes? She misses you every time there's a festive season and she'd always prepare gifts for you. What about you? Do you really think that stabbing a knife into your shoulder could repay all these back?"
Layla was really concerned about her daughter. Of course, she would be upset when Arya badmouthed Victoria.
"If Victoria's matter made you unhappy, come to me. Why do you have to involve my mother? Moreover, that document is with me and I've already sold it to someone, so it's futile for you to talk to my mother about it. Come to me if you have any problems. It's about time to settle the grudges from all these years."
Arya was not exactly being calm now. She would get all defensive whenever she encountered matters like this. She suddenly took her phone out.
"I believe my father has no idea about you meeting my mother today, does he? Since the topic is out on the table now, I'm going to ask my father if it's his intention to take the shares back from my mother."
Arya scrolled through her contact list and dialled a number.
Layla's expression froze and turned odd. Hesitating to speak, she seemed like she wanted to stop her, but the call had already gone through.
"Hello? Arya?" Benjamin's quiet voice came through the phone swiftly.
Arya took a deep breath as she glanced at her mother Arianna. Her expression was normal as usual and her eyes were calm as the sea. However, Layla seemed anxious and uneasy.
"It's me," Arya replied quietly after a brief moment. She glanced at Layla who seemed to behave peculiarly now, then she continued into the phone,
"I'm at a café with Mother right now. Layla asked to meet Mother and she wants the 20% shares of Johns Media back from her. We want to know if that's your intention."
Benjamin went quiet for a while, then he replied,
"That's already your mother's. Pass the phone to her."
Of course, Arya understood who he meant by "her". She turned the loudspeaker on and placed the phone before Layla who hesitated as she stared at the phone. After a while, she then mumbled,
"Benjamin..."
"Don't forget what you promised me if you want to continue being the mayor's wife."
Benjamin's quiet voice sent shivers down Layla's spine. She quickly explained,
"Benjamin... Listen to me..."
Before she could finish, Benjamin had already hung up.