Chapter 86

Aldo quietly walked up to her and crouched down. He lifted her chin with his hands and stroked her hair carefully, arranging them with his palms.

"This might be a test from Chester. We cannot relent and go back on our plans. You will get married to Chester, I can't assure you when but one thing......"

"No, give me your words, Aldo. I must get married to Chester. More than anyone in the world, you know how much I waited for this day."

"Yes, I do, I really do and I'm sorry this suddenly happened. I should have waited till after the wedding before taking her away. I didn't expect him to react this way"

"We were close, Aldo, so close" she cried out, leaning her forehead on his chest.

He patted her back gently. "We can't lose on both sides. You will get married to Chester I assure you, Adriana will never show her face here, I can promise you that and of course Olivia, you will never get to cross paths" he assured.

********

"We're taking a walk around the city" Olivia announced to one of Aldo's men who stood by the gate.

"But you do not know your way around the city. Chairman Aldo said you're new to the city" he responded.

She sighed. "So what? Are you coming with me or not?"

He turned to the man standing behind them, signaling him to take over his position.

He nodded at Olivia, signaling her to go on first and then he followed behind.

"It is a beautiful city" she admired, spurring a conversation.

He cleared his throat instead and ignored her.

"Doesn't this city look boring?" Adrian asked.

"No, it reminds me of the Cinderella story. I'm sure it was as beautiful as this. The people here look so kind and nice" Adriana disagreed as they walked down the street.

Aryan scoffed. "Adriana, I can't believe you conclude on people's attitudes based on their smiles. You can't say they are nice because they are all smiling. I think their smiles should scare you more"

"Do you think you're a nice person because you do not smile?" She turned and asked.

"I'm human"

Both Adrian and Adriana roared in laughter.

Olivia paused the moment the man walking behind her scurried away to take a call. From his reaction, she could tell something was wrong.

"Boys, stop!" She commanded, staring at him.

They all obeyed and hung around her, enjoying their conversation on what it means to be nice and how it differs from being human.

He wore a smile as soon as he dropped the call, walking up to them but Olivia was not a child, it was evident something was wrong.

"Who will like some ice cream? Or candy? What's your preferred snack?" He questioned the kids with a bright smile.

A few minutes ago he was acting so professional and tough. Why the sudden change in character? She wondered.

"Chocolates. I love chocolates" Adriana responded.

"How much does an ice cream cost?" Aryan asked.

"Uh... about 5 to 10 dollars, why?"

"Really? I need some money to subscribe to a premium plan. The money for the ice cream will go a long way in helping me foot that bill"

"Woah! You sound like a mature man in the body of a child" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. I hear that a lot of times. What are you saying? Are you offering me the money?"

"Yeah, yeah, I will"

"I will take chocolates too" Adrian responded.

When they got to the mall, he gave them a chance to pick their favorite snacks.

Olivia held his wrist, stopping him as he followed the children around. "What's going on?"

He chuckled. "Nothing"

"I'm not a child. Your biggest mistake was suddenly becoming nice to us"

"Aryan said smiling is not a considerable factor that one his nice"

She released her grip from his wrist in surprise. "You know their names?"

"Yes, we do."

"Don't push me into finding out myself. For the last time, what is the problem?"

"It's President Chester...."

Olivia moved closer to him. "What about him?"

"You have to leave the city tonight. This is more risky than we thought but you have to leave soon"

******

"Found the footage?"

Gerald shut his office door behind him and scurried to his table. "I found the footage"

"Any other thing?"

"We had a lot of guests that day so it was kinda tough to tell who was the criminal or not but I think you can find out through the footage"

Chester took the flash drive from him and inserted it into his laptop.

"Let's start from the mansion" Chester whispered, navigating the cursor using the mouse. "Shit! Did we have these great numbers at my house or some of these people are fake"

Gerald stifled his laughter.

"Let's see the gate. I think that was around 7 pm, yeah"

"You saw her leaving?"

"Olivia said she was going to put Adriana to bed because she was tired. Why is there no footage around that time?"

"Do you think it was deleted?"

"Nah. Olivia might be audacious but she doesn't have the ability to do that. Do you know what it takes to delete a footage from Chester's CCTV?"

"Over there, sir!" Gerald exclaimed, pointing at the screen.

Chester tapped on the footage. "A black van?"

"None of our guests drove in with a van. This must be the kidnappers"

"Why is there a footage of the van leaving and no footage of who they came to see or do?"

"Someone is toying with us"

"They must be smarter and more powerful than I am to do this"

"I have this hunch that Olivia and Adriana were kidnapped"

"And her kids? What will you say about them? They are nowhere to be found either. Not even Gemma is aware!"

"What if the kids were used to lure them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Adriana is always around Olivia and that night, she held on to Olivia tightly. Olivia's kids are her biggest weakness and strength. They must have used them to lure her"

"That kinda makes sense" he adjusted himself while staring at the screen. "I think I know where they went to. Prepare, we're going to the seaport"