Chapter 134

Chapter 5

"Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction."

― Criss Jami

Oliver's dark, piercing gaze glided over Mia like a warm, silken cloth, tickling her senses as his eyes moved from her head to toe, taking her all in at once. She felt an odd tingling sensation pass through the back of her neck, not entirely unpleasant. But the moment was short-lived as Adam Ryan's smooth drawl interrupted, breaking them both out of their reverie.

"Hello, brother," Adam said, his voice dripping with mock camaraderie.

The warmth in Oliver’s eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, hard stare. His demeanor shifted as his gaze flicked between Mia and Adam standing side by side. His eyes turned into icy stones, his wide, rigid shoulders stiffening, his jaw clenching as if preparing for a fight right there in the middle of the ballroom.

Mia felt a wave of unease wash over her. She hadn't expected this. She hadn't thought for a second that Adam would deliberately bring her to confront Oliver face-to-face after what had happened between them. She wasn’t prepared for this. She wasn’t ready to face Oliver, perhaps never would be.

Her heart thudded in her chest, and she bolted from the hall, not looking where she was going but blindly running through the throngs of people to get away. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She knew very well that Adam was the real danger here, a creep and slightly loose in the head. But she failed to understand how it was his sane-headed, brooding banker elder brother that made her a nervous wreck, her otherwise sharp mind turning blank, her limbs turning limp whenever she came anywhere near him.

After a frantic tour of the place, Mia finally found herself in front of the ladies' restroom. She threw herself into an empty stall, locked the door, and leaned on it, trying to catch her breath and collect her thoughts.

'It must be the shock!' she told herself. 'Shock of seeing him here—that's what had made her nervous like that.'

'It must be! It could be the only reason to explain her strange reaction on seeing him! Shock! That was all it was!'

She was acting out of character. Being in the media industry, the first requirement for her career was to say goodbye to nervousness and discomfort and never ever run away from a question or situation. But she had done all three of those in the last hour, thanks to Oliver Ryan and that bastard Adam. He really was a nasty piece of work.

Mia felt a bit bad for Oliver. It had been very clear from his earlier actions that Oliver was very protective of his family and was therefore guarding whatever secrets his family held. Mia, out of all people, understood and respected that, so she wasn't going after any stupid scandals just to take her revenge on him. But of course, their last conversation in that empty park had also made it very clear that he didn't believe anything she said and still suspected her of knowing his well-guarded secret.

'But it won't be such a well-guarded secret for much longer, anyway,' Mia grimaced. If Adam's enthusiasm 'to tell the whole story' to a relative stranger like her was anything to go by, it wouldn't take very long before he spilled his beans in front of someone else and set tongues wagging. It had been no Herculean task to figure out that Adam hated his elder brother Oliver, resented him for some reason, and was ready to go to any length to cause him pain and hurt if he could.

'What a weird family!' Mia thought as she washed her hands in the white, immaculate basin after finally getting out of her stall. It was then that she caught her own reflection in the mirrors hanging on the wall. Her face was white and pale, and no amount of makeup could hide the simple truth that she was highly distressed. She just wanted to go home, sleep this night off, and forget she had ever met the Ryan brothers. But it was all easier said than done because her pale reflection was no longer alone. A familiar dark pair of eyes glared at her from within the smooth surface of the mirror, and she gasped loudly.

Turning around, she saw Oliver Ryan in his pricey, well-tailored grey suit standing there like he owned the place.

"What the hell are you doing in the ladies' restroom?" she screeched, afraid that she was once again letting her nervousness show.

"We need to talk," came his short reply as he continued to tear her apart with his murderous glares.

Mia gulped. "What's there to talk about?"

"Many things, but not here!" He purposefully strode towards her, and the action reminded Mia of a tiger lurking in the shadows, waiting for its prey to show up.

"Look here!" Mia tried her best to look and sound as professional as she could. "Mr. Ryan, I didn't like what you did in that interview and how you insulted me on national television. For quite some time, I wanted revenge, but I've realized it's a futile attempt, and I no longer hold any grudges against you either, so...so." Her voice suddenly choked up, her words getting mixed up in her nerves as she glanced around helplessly under his scrutinizing gaze. "So, let's just end it here, shall we?" She stopped speaking, finally looking into those dark eyes, but alas, they hadn't softened one bit.

"I don't believe you, Miss White. You spent thousands of dollars to bail Adam out of jail and have been following him ever since to get any sort of story or scandal out of him to get back at me. And that's exactly why you are here with him. Aren't you? You little minx!" he seethed near her ear. "You have no idea what you are dealing with. I can and I will tear your whole career apart if so much as a whisper comes out about my family through that lying mouth of yours."

"I'm sorry to break the sad news to you, Oliver Ryan, but if any story about your family does come out in public, it would be coming from your crazy little brother's mouth, not mine, because I don't have a single clue about any scandal that involves your family," she screeched back, her own temper rising as she saw how little this man thought of her. "I am not some sort of crazy gossip monger who would go to any length to unearth some scandal for the fun of it."

"Oh really?" Oliver scoffed in mock amusement, but his eyes still held that murderous glint that pointed Mia guilty as charged. "Playing innocent now, are we?"

"You are one manipulative little bitch, lying all the time!" he suddenly thundered. "You are parading around with Adam at a high-society gala and no doubt giving him the time of his life in bed just to get the story out of him, aren't you?"

"Shut up!" She looked at the deep red finger marks of her hand across his right cheek. Yes, she had slapped him. Stumbling out of her momentary shock, she looked pointedly at him. "Don't ever dare..." But her words remained incomplete as they heard the telltale sound of clicking heels. Someone was coming their way!

"Quick, get out of here!" With a tight grip on her wrist, he steered her away and out of the ladies' restroom before they could get found out squabbling like bulls. But found out they were, because a beautiful dark-haired woman was right outside the door, who opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish out of water when she saw a man coming out of the ladies' restroom.

"Oliver, darling, what are you doing here?" The woman then curiously looked at Mia before her eyes flitted back to Oliver. "I had been looking for you all over the place!" She then clung to his left arm like a stupid little ape, smiling sweetly at him, while Mia gritted her teeth in annoyance.

And it looked like Mia wasn't the only one to get annoyed at her. Oliver frowned at the woman and slowly got his arm out of her twining grip. "Chloe, I am sorry, but I have a far more urgent matter to deal with right now."

"Wait! Wait! You are Chloe Wilson, the detective TV series actress?" Mia suddenly asked, curiously looking at the woman. Well, yes, she did look like that half Parisian and half Indian beauty whose TV series was at the top of the TRP for many weeks.

A tinkling, high-pitched laugh reached Mia, making her almost flinch, but she stood her ground. This was her chance to grab another interview if she could. For weeks, her channel had tried contacting Chloe Wilson to get her to give an interview, yet all they had received in reply was her manager telling them that 'she is currently busy!'

"Why yes, I am Chloe Wilson, but I am afraid I am not ready to sign autographs or take selfies with fans, darling." The haughtiness in her voice didn't surprise Mia; she knew most public celebrities were like this—self-centered and narcissistic.

"No, I am actually a reporter, ma'am." Mia slid her card out of her purse and handed it to the actress. "And it would be so lovely to get an interview before the launch of the second season of your detective series."

"Hmm...a reporter." The actress's eyes glanced at her again and her rather simple dress before she spoke again. "I guess it would be good to do an interview after all. No publicity is bad publicity, right?" She smiled, and Mia wanted to jump up and down in pure elation. She had got Chloe Wilson's interview, although all she said was, "Great then, please give me a call on that number and we can set a date for doing it."

"Sure, I will tell my manager to do it!" the actress nodded while pocketing

her card. Just then, Mia felt Oliver's grip on her wrist tightening again and looked up to find his distinctly hostile eyes, like that of a shark, upon her.

"Excuse us now, Chloe. We have an urgent business to deal with!" And with that curt reply, he once again started to drag Mia through the empty corridors, leading her towards the back door of the building.

"What are you doing? Stop!"

"Not until we talk!" he snapped as they came out of the back door into the silence of the night.

"What is there to talk about?" she cried, trying to get her wrist out of his strong grip.

"Why did you come here with Adam tonight?" His question was simple and straightforward, yet its answer was anything but.

"Adam asked me to dinner to say thank you because I bailed him out that night!" she replied, still thinking how much she should tell him about that bastard brother of his.

"Still playing innocent?" he snarled. "So, you will still pretend that you know nothing?"

"I am not pretending, for God's sake!" she hurled back. "I REALLY don't know anything!"

"Liar! Then what were you doing with Adam tonight? And don't pretend about any thank-you dinner because we both know very well that Adam, that lousy bastard, doesn't care about anything, and 'thank you' and 'sorry' are words that never come out of his mouth! He brought you here to flaunt it in my face that now, you know the secret! Isn't that true?" he snarled again, making Mia furious like never before.

This man was a large, arrogant ass who cared about nothing but himself, and no matter how many times she told him she didn't know anything about his family, he damn well wouldn't believe it. And Mia had had enough of this!

"Fine then!" she cried at last. "Believe what you want! I am not going to explain myself anymore."

Suddenly, her phone bleeped in her hand, indicating a new message, and she was glad for the distraction. She unlocked her phone; it was Tony Zacharia, her boss. "Well done, Mia. I heard what you just snagged up, girl. I would like to hear all about it in the morning," the message read. Taking a shaky breath, she looked up.

Something like hurt flashed in Oliver's angry eyes, and it became very clear that he had read Tony's message too and drew all the wrong conclusions from it. The next moment, he let her wrist go and started walking away into the darkness. Before Mia could decide if she should go after him and try to explain herself again, Oliver had already disappeared into the dark.