Chapter 6

Vivian I stopped my car in front of a multi-story house that stood tall with prestige. Henry was not only a fashion designer, but he was also famous for his high glamour and interior design, so it was obvious he had such a beautiful house.

"Viv, I will stay here for a day," Harley blurted out as she had been waiting for ages to come here.

I unclasped my seat belt and gave her a stern glare. "And what about me? If you think you will leave me alone and have fun with your princess, then you are wrong. Because I will take you within an hour." Because of my small daughter, I also had to act like a child. No one could guess that I was the most hated person in this town. My cruelty isn't a word to describe my cruelty.

She quickly unclasped her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. "Viv, you promised me I could take as much time as I want."

I liked Harley spending her time with Alice. I ran my fingers through my hair and looked at my puppy daughter. "An hour is not enough for you?"

"No," she snapped.

"Hey." I heard a soft voice, and Alice walked out of the house, "Harley, baby." She didn't even consider my presence.

She sat on her knees approaching Harley's height, and now they both began their chatty talk.

Suddenly, my phone rang, and Leo's name appeared on the screen. Why the hell was he calling me? I immediately picked up the phone. "Yes," I said and waited for him.

"Boss, the girl you rescued last night. She woke up." I ran my finger through my hair because I didn't even remember her face, but I remembered the person who was following her, Eric Wilson.

"Leo, she was not dead, so her waking up is obvious." I glanced at Harley, looking at her smiling face. I couldn't deny how much she enjoyed Alice. "Ok, she is totally fine. Now I want you to find her home and family and send her back to her place." I did not want any people in my place, not even at my men's place. I didn't know her, but she really needed my help when Eric's men followed her. I couldn't ignore it when the thing came to women. My wife died because of an overdose of the drug, and I didn't want any woman to suffer this kind of death, so whenever I saw any woman in trouble, I was always there for them. That's how I met Alice and that's why she was an honest person to me.

"But boss, there is a problem," he stammered. "Her life is in danger, and she doesn't want to go home, and she is very concerned..." Before he could finish his sentence I cut him off.

"Have you always been like this?" Alice interrupted us.

"Leo, I'll call you later," I said and disconnected the call.

Her arms crossed over her chest, and she was quietly observing me. "You can't live without your work?"

"That's how I make my living," I said, walking towards Harley.

"How much do you want to earn? You are already a billionaire, Vivian," she said and followed behind me.

"As much as I could feed my sixth generation."

She rolled her eyes because she didn't like my answer. "If you have time, I want to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" I raised my brows. "I hope that would not be about your beautiful friend Pearl because I will not talk about it and you know it very well, Alice."

She sighed. "No, it's not about her."

"Ok." I pushed my hands into my pocket and followed behind her. Harley walked into the park with Joseph and Kevin. "Joseph, he has a great job."

"Yeah, he helps me a lot. I know nothing about babies. He is capable of handling everything about the boy. Even sometimes he feeds him. It's really cute, you know." Kevin was Alice's one-year-old child and Joseph was a family butler.

I nodded at her because I had nothing to say.

"What would you like to take?" she asked.

"I would go for wine." I sat on the black couch, rounded to the white tinted table.

"Wine? Ugh, it's not ten in the morning and you started drinking wine?" She handed me my glass and sat across from me.

I took a single sip before replying. "If you had to judge me, then why did you ask me?"

"Vivian, it is terrible for your health. You often consume alcohol and cigarettes. And it's terrible for you."

"You are talking like an old-fashioned wife."

She narrowed her eyes on me. "I'm not talking like an old-fashioned wife. I'm like a genuine friend. I genuinely care for you and care for Harley."

"If you were my friend, then you would cooperate with me. You also drank wine with me so that I didn't feel lonely. But now the situation is unfamiliar. Instead, you are lecturing me not to consume alcohol. Pretty good. That's how you treat your friend." I smirked.

"God, Vivian, leave this topic, otherwise I will forget what I had to talk about."

"Ok, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Um, I. I just." She cleared her throat and straightened herself. "Vivian, don't be angry, but it is very important to you and Harley."

I ran my fingers through my hair and met her hazel gaze. "Ok, I'm listening to you, Alice."

"You need to move on, Vivian." She dropped her gaze to her lap. "You need to be with someone."

I raised my eyebrows and didn't understand her statement.

She sighed, gathering her courage to speak to me. "You need to get married soon."

Now my temper was rising even faster than the sunlight. "Marriage? You are talking about my marriage?" I choked through my teeth. "And who the hell are you talking about this kind of shit?"

She quickly took hold of my hand, trying to calm me. "Friend. I'm your friend, Vivian. And as a friend, I can't see you and Harley like that."

I clenched my jaw; it was all I could do to remain in control of my temper. "What do you mean by that? Am I appearing weak and vulnerable? 'Am I such a fucking fool that you're pitying me?' I brushed away her hand and got up to leave because if I waited for a few more seconds, I might burst into her. "Just keep in mind, Alice, I accepted no one's sympathy, so it would be better if you stopped thinking about me? It's just a waste and nothing else."

I loved my wife so much. And no one could replace her. No fucking one could be my wife ever.

"You have your entire life, Vivian. Just think about it. "Every person needs someone to be there for him or her, every person needs love, care, and protection." Her voice was husky because she was controlling her emotions.

"I don't need anyone between me and my daughter." I stared at her. "And do you think I want love, care, and protection?"

"I'm talking about Harley. I'm talking about her. I will always want her to be happy. I want to see her radiant face every time and every single second, not just when she sees you and sees me. Do you know how much time you gave her? Only six hours out of twenty-four hours." She stood up, looking directly at me. "I never asked you to give up your wife. I'm only asking you for Harley's mother."

I gave her a cold, hard glare. "Don't talk about her." I didn't like to hear about my wife from anyone else, not even from Alice.

She stepped back. "I'm sorry. I..just..." before she could say one more word, I stepped towards the door because my mood had already become sore, and I didn't want to make it more so.

"I'll talk to you some other day, Alice," I said without glancing at her.

"Vivian, listen to me." She followed behind me. "Vivian, please stop. Vivian, Harley is in trouble, please," she exclaimed, and my legs stopped automatically.

I immediately looked at her and saw a few tears drop in her eyes and it meant something was wrong, something terrible. "What did you say?" I grasped her forearms and made her look at me. "What did you say, Alice?" My voice was calm, but under it, there was grief that I never wanted to show.

After a few seconds, she met my gaze. "Your daughter is in trouble."

"Make it clear, damn it." I demanded.

"I've never wanted to tell you, but if I do, then it will become a huge problem for me in the future. When I took a leave from school for a few days I heard some students bullying Harley." She swallowed the lump and continued. "They teased her because she was an orphan and disabled, and it hurt her deeply. Then she entered the school bathroom and locked herself in for three hours. My colleagues said she fainted because of suffocation when they found her."

I clenched my jaw and balled my fist, wanting to break something hard, something big that could ease my temper. "And why didn't they tell me?"

"They feared you."

"Now, they must fear me because I'm going to cancel the school license and then they will come to understand what they do."

"Vivian, spoiling people's careers does not make your daughter happy." She grasped my hand, dragging me to the patio where I could see Harley, Kevin, and Joseph playing together. Her smile and her eyes showed how happy she was. I had never seen her so joyful. My girl had been through a lot. I couldn't imagine she had locked herself in the bathroom alone. There was nothing I hated more than listening to her cry.

"Is my love, care, and protection not enough for her, Alice?"

"No, your love is not enough for her. She wants more, Vivian. She wants someone who makes her happy, someone who protects her, and someone who is always there for her. You need to find her mother, you need to move on, not for yourself but for her. Please, Vivian."

I didn't look at her because my eyes were glued to my daughter. She was my life. "Her mother is dead, Alice." I tried hard not to show her my weakness. My voice was steady, but my soul was broken.

She laid her hand along my shoulder. "I know." Her voice was barely audible. "I'm sorry."

"No, you don't need to be sorry." I sighed heavily. "If Harley wants a mother, then I'm ready for that." This was fucking painful. Married words made my tongue sore. "But if I am unable to find the true lady who deserves to be Harley's mother, then I won't try again."

"At least you are trying. It is enough for me and her."

"No...no I want a peach dress for my reception party, and I hope you have already designed my wedding dress." Sarah and Henry walked into the house. Henry was Alice's loving husband, and Sarah was Henry's loving cousin. Her wedding was going on next week and I guessed they were talking about that.

Henry loosened his tie. "You don't need to worry about your damn dresses. You will get your dress on time, so be assured. And you know my punctuality."

"Hey, guys, wow, Vivian," Sarah blurted out, coming to me and hugging me tightly. "After a long time," she said, and then she hugged Alice. "How are you, baby? And where is my Kelvin?"

"He is with Harley and Joseph." Alice smiled and walked over to Henry. "How was your day?"

He pulled out his jacket. "Boring without you," he said playfully and kissed her lips. "Meet me in our bedroom," he said and walked away.

Alice's cheeks were reddened due to blush. "Sarah, how are your wedding arrangements?" she asked quickly.

Sarah pretended to wipe away her artificial sweat. "Don't ask. I have been working as an engine for a few days and it has caused me to lose my glow."

"You still look beautiful."

Sarah grinned widely. "Thank you. Well, Vivian, you are invited to come to my wedding next week," Sarah said to me with a wide smile. I didn't like a damn wedding.

"Sarah, I'm busy and I just don't have time." I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Vivian, don't make excuses. And you are going to come to my wedding. It's final."

"Yes, Vivian will come to your wedding with his girlfriend," Alice said, exploding the heavy bomb.

"Girlfriend." I glared at her. "Who the hell is my girlfriend?"

Alice smiled awkwardly. "Yes, girlfriend, who you were talking about a minute ago." She came nearer to me. "If you want to find Harley's mother, then it would be better if you started searching today. I made the announcement so that you wouldn't back down from your promise," she whispered into my ear so that only I could hear her.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sarah asked suspiciously.

Alice cleared her throat. "Nothing, I'm just reminding his girlfriend."

"Wow, Vivian, you are about to bring your girlfriend. I'm so excited to meet her," Sarah said.

I adjusted my tie. "Yeah, I will try to bring her." I glared at Alice coldly.

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