I didn't like how we were in just a couple of minutes. The emptiness sickened me. All the playfulness she had on her face was gone, and her poker face was on. My mood also kind of went off after our discussion.

To anyone else, it would look like a silent car ride, but for me, every passing second stung. She didn't bother to look at me as she drove past all the cars in front of her. If I was not wrong, her brain would be in some other place.

I looked out of the window at the cars running beside us and felt a vibration on the phone. Furrowing my brows, I looked at the unknown caller and ignored them. After some time, it vibrated again and when I took a glance; it was again the same number. When I was about to put the phone back inside my pocket, a message flashed on it, making me stop dead in my tracks.

"Fuck." I cursed unknowingly louder.

"What happened?" I heard Liara's voice and shook my head, apologizing.

Slowly, I lifted my phone to my eye level and read the message that took my breath away.

"What is it? You are worrying me." I heard Liara again.

"Yeah? No...no... Nothing." I stuttered. Perhaps she didn't believe me, but thankfully ignored my dumb behavior and pulled over towards the Anderson building.

"I hate coming here. It creeps me out." She whispered for the first time after our awkward conversation.

"Ditto," I said when I saw the large family portrait in the main reception area. Anyone could say that they were fake. My eyes caught the face of the girl beside Suzzane, who looked like a complete carbon copy of her. I felt like I'd seen her somewhere but couldn't remember where.

"I don't want any mistakes here." I heard Liara speak to Anthony, Aria, and Natalie.

"Do you want to come with us or you'd prefer to stroll in the corridor?" I heard Liara's voice from the elevator.

"I'm coming," I said because I came to be by her side and I was going to. No matter what.

"Look who chose to finally show up." We heard a man speak as soon as we entered a room full of people again. It was as if everywhere she went, the room had this kind of atmosphere like they were waiting to pounce on her. It was as if we entered a lion's den. I was seriously getting a headache after I saw how they treat her and she had to prove herself every fucking single time.

I was about to snap at that old man to give her time to breathe, but she spoke, "I apologize for the delay. I had other meetings to be taken care of before someone abruptly pushed this into my schedule without proper notice.'' And bam, they went silent.

"We are sorry to cause you such an inconvenience." One woman, who must be in her mid-fifties, spoke with an apologetic look on her face.

"It's completely alright, Miss Meham." And we all were seated after she introduced each one of us.

"So, today's agenda is?" Liara began, and I stared at all the people who snickered at me.

"Why are they looking at me like they want to just bite my head off?" I asked Natalie, who sat beside me on the other side because asking Liara would probably interrupt her.

"Sir, I am not sure, but as per the rumors, they were the potential matches for ma'am as per the business world and they used to send gifts and flowers every alternate day." She answered as she looked at me and then at the crowd.

"Of course, that was before you came through. We now dispose of the gifts and the flowers in the bin or give them to employees. And by the look of it, they won't dare to send it again." She said, and I kind of felt a sense of relief. Straightening my jacket, I drawled a little closer to Liara, who had her focus on Aria, who kept ongoing about the meeting that was to demote her. The same story repeats.

"How can we let her manage the affairs of the business after she did such horrible work?" Agh, there goes my ears. Perhaps my ears would bleed by the end of the day. We had back-to-back meetings and my stomach growled due to hunger.

"Yes, you are right. I never imagined you'd be connected to such a thing, Ms. D'Waner." Another old man beside her spoke.

"What did I tell you? Since the beginning, I was against this. I never believed her. I don't even feel like I should breathe the same air as her." The old man, who was perhaps Jonathan Anderson, spoke. Natalie kept on introducing everyone and, by the look of it, I was certain that he was her grandfather.

"Enough!." I flinched and so did Natalie. Liara silenced the entire room as she rose from her seat. Their cruel words stung me and I bet she was hurt, too.

"Did you watch the news? Do you call yourself a business executive when you don't dare to keep up with the updates?" She asked. She was angry. I could say as her hands had again fisted her pen. She was controlling herself. I sighed as I felt so helpless.

"Watch your tongue." Suzanne barked again.

"She asked a question. Did you watch the news or not? Just say yes or no." I asked nonchalantly. They were just stretching a simple matter.

"We were dealing with the aftermath of what our so-called CEO did," Suzanne said.

"So you didn't watch the news," I concluded and slumped back into my seat. My hand involuntarily made its way toward her, but because of the thick tension in the air, I did not dare to touch her.

"Anthony, can you please switch on the Newyork times?" Liara asked, and so he did. The entire room was in pin-drop silence when the news flashed in front of them. Some gasped, and some stayed silent. I just felt like this was just a waste of time.

"Do you think I don't have any other business to take care of? Am I free to attend your meaningless meetings and explain to you something I never did?" She asked, and no one talked. I slowly looked at her father, who kept staring at her without speaking a single word.

"Your name getting attached to that matter is more than enough to ruin our company's reputation." Johnathon was fuming, and so was Suzzanne.

"They are fuming because this is their other unsuccessful attempt to dispose of ma'am," Natalie whispered to me and I had the same thought.

"Cut the chase and speak what you want to. I don't entertain bullshit. And this would be the last time I am called to such an irrational meeting where you'd start your court case and put me in the criminal corner." Liara spoke. I wanted to give her a standing ovation, but I knew how hurt and tired she was.

"Little money thrown at the kids and they'd speak well about anyone." Suzanne scoffed. I got up from my seat to put some sense into her shitty brain, but Liara held my hand.

"Well, that worked for me then. Prove it I was the culprit and I will get down the position, leaving my investment behind." Liara openly challenged every single one of them present in the room.

"Liara dear, it's not like this." One of them spoke.

"Cut it Sim. I have had enough of them. I'm working my ass off to pull this company back to the line. If you can't support me, then don't drag me down with you." She said, throwing her hands in the air.

"Who are you implying? How can you say that?" Some of them murmured and Johnathon stood up, fuming again, making me scoff.

"Better not let me start it. And if you think I would withdraw my share just because you pulled this.." She gestured at them and continued, "this meeting, then you are wrong. I didn't invest in this company to take back my money with no profit. I'm going to charge twenty percent interest on every single penny I put here, plus my time and effort." She said, and I stared at her. Twenty percent was a huge amount.

"If you have that much money, give it to me and I would gladly leave you to fend for yourself." She spoke with a smirk on her face. It was as if a battle between her and the Andersons. The rest of the people were mere audiences, like me.

"Don't be ridiculous. Twenty percent is no joke." Suzanne said.

"Well, you didn't question it when the former CEO signed the agreement." She said and every single person stared at her father, who still had his eyes on his daughter without uttering a single word.

"George!" Suzanne exclaimed. He just nodded, as he knew all about it, and still kept quiet.

"We needed the money." He spoke. Perhaps it would be the first time I heard his voice.

"Great!" Suzanne glared at him and there Liara scored one and Anderson zero.

"So, next time, keep the money ready before calling this kind of meeting." She said, pointing at the notepad and simply walking out of the room.

"Wait for me," I exclaimed when all her minions rushed behind her but stopped dead on the track because as soon as I closed the door, I heard a hard slap landing on someone's face. Slowly opening the door, I saw George helplessly looking at Johnathan, who stood in front of him. And perhaps he slapped her father. Slowly closing the door, I went silently toward where Liara was standing.

"Shall we grab something on our way home? I'm starving." I asked, and she looked at me for a second and then looked at her watch.

"Okay." She agreed, and we made our way out to the floor.

"I will be back. I need to use the washroom." I excused myself and went in search of a washroom.

"Ah man, why don't they just design a washroom somewhere in the middle?" I cursed as I saw the washroom was at the farthest end of the floor.

After finishing my business, I looked at myself in the mirror and washed my hands. "What a busy day," I whispered.

"Indeed, a busy day."

"Jesus! The hell!" I cursed when I heard a bold voice. Different from the one I heard inside the meeting room.

"Mr. George?" I asked foolishly. He nodded and walked toward me.

"Why aren't you picking up my call?" He asked. I stood there unmoving and stared at the man who looked so powerful in front of me and I doubted he was the same person I saw back in the room. His spotless face had a light red mark, and he looked so good in the tailormade suit. The dark brown color of the suit suited him well. He put his hands in his pants pocket and stood in front of me with a small smile plastered on his face.

"I'm the same George you met in the meeting, son." He said as he laughed at me. Perhaps my doubt was written all over my face.

"Why... Why did you call me?" I cleared my throat and asked him. He kept on glancing at the door repeatedly, making me suspicious.

"I needed your help. I know who you are and was in search of you since long back. "He continued.

"Listen, I don't have much time right now, but let's meet somewhere and I will explain everything to you. For now, just listen to what I have to say." He spoke fastly as if he was running out of time. A few lines formed on his forehead and I saw him tense now and then.

"Uh, okay.'' I was skeptical because when he said he searched for me and knew who I was, I wanted to just get away from there, but he was Liara's father and I couldn't just avoid him.

"Samantha is alive. Don't believe Keryl. Keep Liara away from her." He spoke these three sentences with a poker face and walked out of the washroom without looking at me or allowing me to ask him anything.

I stood there completely morphed by what I just heard. Of course, Charles told me she was alive but couldn't find any trails. But this man out of blue slapped me with such big news and I seriously couldn't figure out how to handle this.

"Zearo? What's taking you so long?" I heard Liara's voice behind the door and walked out of it, still in a daze about what just happened.

**†***†***†***†***†***†***†**

❤️Vote, Comment, and Share❤️