"I'm on my way. Of course, I know where to meet you. Can you please stop nagging like I'm a kid?" I repeated to Anthony, who had been nagging me continually.

"No, I'm not letting black swans away from the house. And that's final.'' I hung up on him when he urged me to let black swans come with me. It was six in the morning and no pap would sit outside my office at this hour for god's sake.

Putting on a black full-neck t-shirt, I paired it with a grey check coat and pants, leaving my hair open. Feeling a little out of the weather because of the pain in my abdomen and thankfully nature had to play the best of me as the cycle kicked off one day today. The pain escalated.

"Beginning couldn't be any better." I laughed at myself in the mirror, putting on a simple nude lipstick. Spraying a little perfume, I walked out of the room wearing my not-so-flashy heels, as I was in no mood to do a ramp walk.

Slowly descending the stairs, I prayed I would wake Dima up. "Where do you think you are going?"

"Jesus!" I shrieked when suddenly I heard a voice.

"Dima, you scared me! Why are you awake so early?" I put my hand on my chest to control my frantic heart.

"Well, someone asked for help and I was not in the mood to turn down such a sweet gesture." She said, shrugging her shoulders. I found it suspicious. She pointed at the kitchen when I glared at her. I inhaled a sweet smell and walked towards the hallway.

"Not this one! The other one!" I heard Lilly's voice and sped up towards it. I looked dumbstruck at the scene in front of me.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed. The kitchen was a mess, and the culprits were, too. Lilly and Zearo were covered with flour from head to toe and the kitchen looked a complete mess.

They both looked at me at once and said, "Good morning, Princess." Making my heart swell. The next words that were on the tip of my tongue just went back inside as I found them both look so adorable.

"We were making you breakfast. We are almost done." Zearo said as he was plating all the stuff.

"Is it even edible?" I asked Dima carefully not to let them both hear it. She smiled and nodded at me. I looked at the clock and saw that I was ahead of time and the clock didn't strike six yet.

"I helped Angel make this for you. Don't forget to eat it on time." Lilly came rushing towards me and said.

"Of course, I will eat them all. Thank you." I thanked her. This tiny human was so considerate and so cute. How could I let her hard work go to waste?

"Anyway, aren't you sleepy? You woke up early for me." I said, pouting at her and she shook her head instead.

"Dima promised to take me to a place after we pack your food. I'm excited." She hopped around me and I looked at Dima worriedly.

"Don't worry, Nick is going to escort us and we are going to the orphanage." She smiled at me.

"Now, shall we?" I heard Zearo behind me as he wrapped his hand around my waist. I jumped at the sudden contact and he laughed.

"Didn't I say to get used to it?" He whispered into my ears and I looked at him as if he had gone mad.

"Where do you think you are going wearing these outfits?" I asked when I noticed he, for a change, wore a decent faded green shirt and formal pants along with a coat, which he carried in his hand that he changed in a flash until I was talking to Lilly.

"Well, I'm going to be by your side today." He said, and I stared at him as if he was joking.

"I'm not joking." He shook his head and kissed my cheeks. I heard a gasp from Lilly and saw her closing her eyes. I bit back my tongue and stopped myself from slapping him for being so cheery when I saw Dima looking at us so affectionately.

"Take him with you. I will be at peace if he is beside you." Dima urged, and I just sighed as I was getting late.

"Fine, whatever." I waved him off by removing his hand away from my waist. I would never get used to someone being so cheeky to me. It felt so weird.

"Bye!" Lilly waved at us and we both waved back. I walked toward the driver's seat of my car and waited for him to buckle up.

I took a deep breath and spoke. "I told you I would let you know when I speak to Aria. She is out of reach and we haven't gotten hold of her yet." I said, turning at him. He took his time adjusting his seatbelt and then stared at me for a good five minutes and said, "You threw it?"

"What?" I asked, surprised at his accusing tone, and then realized what he was talking about. I sighed and put my hand inside the collar and drew the chain out of it to show him I didn't.

"Ah, I'm glad.'' He smiled at me and I put it back inside.

"Well, to answer your suspicion, the sole reason I'm with you right now is that I want to stay by your side." He answered and I wondered whether I heard him right.

"You heard me. It has nothing to do with my mother." He explained as he drew his fingers through his hair, setting it properly.

"Do I look presentable enough to be by your side?" He asked, and I nodded, not knowing how to respond.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, considering everything he did from yesterday till now. I was not used to so much attention and this was giving me hope that I never wanted in my life.

"I've said this already and I don't have any issue repeating that I like you. And everything I'm doing is because I care for you." He whispered gently, holding my hand that was on the steering wheel. I blinked a few times as my heart beat so fast making it hard for me to breathe.

I chose to shut my mouth and drive towards SAMS, as I was sure my voice would have betrayed me.

"We are almost there, right?" He asked after we both were silent throughout the journey.

"Yes," I answered and dialed Anthony's number.

"What's taking you this long? There are a few of them and it's manageable. We are waiting for you." He spoke as soon as he picked up the call.

"I'm almost there," I said and took a swift turn when I found a suspicious car outside the building.

"We will have to run," I said to both of them. Anthony was silent, and so was Zearo.

"I see a car blocking my path," I informed Anthony and in a flash saw him walking towards the idle car.

"These men will never change." He cursed out loud and gave me a clear signal. I drove past the car and he said, ''The reporters slept in this car." I chuckled at how hardworking they were.

"Are you ready?" Both of them said yes when I asked. I stepped on the accelerator and my Lykan roared, igniting the lights. I drove past the paps who ran away from the path towards the parking lot.

"Hurry," Anthony said, and I saw him and his men struggling to close the gate. He came toward me and we saw as the paps started gathering at once. "Damn, they look so energetic so early in the morning," Zearo commented, and I laughed at him.

"Let's get you inside," Anthony said, and we rushed towards my elevator. "Lock this one and diffuse the lights once we reach the top." He ordered the watchman to stop anyone else to enter inside forcefully.

"After so much security, do you think they'd try to barge into her office?" Zearo questioned, and I looked at Anthony when he closed the door and started for the elevator.

"They are paparazzi for a reason. We will diffuse the employee's elevator towards her chamber as well. Only higher-ups will be allowed to enter inside her cabin." He explained, and I thought how big of a headache it must be for him.

"Damn," Zearo replied when we stepped out of the elevator towards my chamber.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed when he saw the room full of people walking inside the floor.

"They all pulled an all-nighter and have been working none stop," I explained.

"Oh." He said, and I stared at my people working so hard for me. They all greeted me as we walked past them and I felt the same rush of confidence as I felt the first day I walked inside my office.

"Still no news about Aria?" I asked dejectedly when I saw her empty seat. I heard no response from Anthony and saw him angrily glaring at the seat.

"Anthony." I placed my hand on his shoulder and he flinched.

"No." He answered curtly. I found it so weird that his behavior suddenly changed.

"Good morning, ma'am." Natalie greeted me as I entered my cabin.

"I'm so sorry to let you fill Aria's place." I apologized, but she shook her head.

"I'm not as competent as her, but I'm trying my best, ma'am." She replied and then I handed her over my coat and sat on my chair. The uproar outside the building started as a wildfire when they heard I was inside the building.

"Is everything ready?" I asked Anthony, and he nodded, clicking on the television. I saw Zearo taking his seat in front of me and Natalie brought a plate full of all the dishes Lilly said she packed for me.

"Here, you guys can also have it. Lilly made them," I said to Anthony, and he picked a slice of sandwich and munched on it.

"What are you planning to do?" Zearo asked as he saw I was not doing anything and just having my breakfast.

"Watch the news," I answered. That's all I was going to do until the meeting.

"Natalie, you can prepare for the board meetings we are going to attend." I urged her to care for the urgent matter and she left, excusing herself.

''Do you think that's going to work?" Anthony asked, and I shrugged my shoulders instead.

"I don't know, I hope Agnes's friend does it correctly," I replied and Zearo looked at us, confused. I smiled at him and he shook his head. Perhaps he knew I was up to something.

"This is David from the New York Times and we are currently live broadcasting from the Cheif's office." The news started, and I stood up, picked up a slice of sandwich and a glass of juice making my way towards the balcony.

"Mr. Logan Johns has surrendered himself and accepted that he was the mastermind behind human trafficking around Newyork. The shocking news is that this racket was being organized by him in Shimmers club for a year and after Ms. D'Waner took over, she found out about it and saved the kids." I didn't want to hear the news anymore, as I was less interested in it.

"Liara, what's this all about?" Zearo walked toward me and asked.

"Logan wanted to surrender and I just let him," I answered and saw that he wasn't buying it.

"He would never." He said and stopped mid-sentence.

"You didn't threaten him with his child, did you?' He asked. It surprised me he would even think that I would stoop so low.

"Think as much as you can," I said, removing my hand from his hold.

"Liara, you have to see this," Anthony yelled from inside and we both walked back in.

"I'm Faran, one of the victims of the racket." A boy said, and I stared at him in shock.

"Why is he showing this clip? Tell them to remove it in an instant!" I asked Anthony, but he stood there.

"He is not the only one." He said and then one by one I saw the videos of twenty kids who were saved from Shimmers.

"I'm Shiny. A victim of trafficking. I'm thankful to my guardian angel Ms. D'Waner, who saved me from the hellhole. It took a lot of courage for me to make this video, but when I saw she was being targeted for something she never did, I couldn't stop myself. She was the one who saved and took care of all of us. Her SAMs foundation has been taking care of us even after so many days of being out of the dungeon to check on our mental as well as physical health. They kidnapped my sister before me and Logan Johns was the one who sold her off to people overseas. We were his next target, but somehow thanks to our Angel Liara, we can breathe fresh air."

"This is wrong. Stop it!'' I angrily threw the glass on the floor, frustrated because I never wanted their identity to be leaked.

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