Do you know who I am?
"Hello, good morning! How may I help you?" Smiling, Nicole greeted the newcomer.
Even though Rita already knew that the woman in front of her is someone else, she was still surprised to personally see her. It was as if she had seen a ghost, so she could not speak immediately.
Nicole wanted to look happy, but sadness prevailed as she stared at Rita. She was no longer the child who was scared and crying. She gave a bold impression like Steven.
"Do you know who I am?" Rita asked arrogantly when she recovered. She didn’t like the way she looked at her as if she knew something about her past.
"I'm sorry, I just suddenly remembered my best friend who was with me on an island when we were little." Nicole inadvertently said what was on her mind.
Rita's forehead furrowed and she looked at Nicole doubtfully. "Is it some kind of a coincidence?" she whispered to herself.
"By the way, sorry, but I don't know you. May I introduce myself to you?" Nicole asked with friendliness.
"No need because I already know you." Rita rolled her eyes. She felt insulted because the latter did not know her.
"I'm really sorry, Miss, I don't even know any of this country's celebrities that well." Nicole's voice remained calm.
Somehow, the irritation Rita felt was reduced. If only Danica hadn't told her that she liked her brother, she definitely would have been nice to her. She looked kind and she felt that she was not being fake. She also liked the aura in her personality and how she communicated with her.
Rita looked straight into the woman's eyes when their eyes met. "Steven is my brother. As a woman, I know you have other motives than your partnership with our company. I just want you to know that my brother is about to get married."
Nicole scratched her forehead even though it wasn't itchy. She smiled at the woman before answering. "I just found out that he is getting married. Honestly, I was surprised and I don't want to have any problems at work because of this. For me, business is business. Were all the women your brother had business deals with have been harassed like this?"
Rita could not immediately answer the woman's question. She felt that she lacked morality because she rushed in without enough evidence. She easily accused her even though she had only just met the woman. And worst, the woman has a high position in their company and is educated.
"I'm sorry, but because of you and your friend, I have less admiration for your brother. I now doubt if I should really give him our land and continue with this partnership. I don't want trouble and I'm accused of something I don't do. If you don't think I'm not good to be in your company, I can talk to your brother and…"
"No need!" Steven's voice was hard and his jaws clenched with anger.
Rita's body stiffened and she could not turn to look at her brother. In the tone of his voice, she knew that he was holding back his anger. In her whole life, she had only now felt that way about her brother for the first time and she knew she was at fault.
"Mr. Scout, there you are." Nicole greeted the young man with a smile even though she knew he had been there and heard everything she said.
"I'm sorry for the way my sister acted," Steven said in a cold voice.
"Oh, I like your sister's attitude. She's straightforward and I understand her, so, please don't be mad at her."
Rita stared intently at the front. She sees that she is serious. She was forced to face her brother. She was immediately greeted by his eyes that were apparently ordering that she should apologize to the woman.
"Brother, I'm sorry brother if I interfered with…"
"You should apologize to her and not to me." Steven interrupted what his sister wanted to say.
Rita wanted to cry and was deeply hurt by her brother's coldness to her today.
"There's no need because I think she's just being overprotective for her friend. Your fiance is very blessed and she has a friend like your sister." A forced smile flashed on her lips and showed the two that the one to blame was Danica.
Instead of feeling at ease, Steven became even angrier. He did not ask what Danica had said to Nicole. His sister has done enough to guess what Danica did wrong.
"The paperwork for you to sign is ready. But I think you need to rethink it because of what happened. I'll wait for you later in my office for your decision." Steven said formally before saying goodbye and leaving with Rita.
Nicole grinned as she watched the siblings leave. She knew what she had said earlier would offend Steven. She could imagine Danica's pale face when the young man confronted her.
Nicole arranged her belongings and decided to leave. She called her assistant to let Steven know of her absence. She would delay signing the agreement for now to give the two women a lesson.
Danica was shocked when the door of her office suddenly opened and Steven was there. Instead of being glad for his visit, she was nervous. Steven's face reflected intense anger and Rita followed, looking like a docile little lamb.
"Ho-Honey, is there a problem?" She stuttered and stood up nervously.
"What did you tell my sister for her to be rude to Ms. Twartz?"
Danica's heart began to beat twice as fast and she looked at the siblings. The way the young man reacted, he was blaming her why his sister caused trouble to his new female acquaintance.
"Brother, Danica has nothing to do with why you caught me at Ms. Twartz's office." Rita's voice was weak and she tried to cover Danica.
"And who do you think called you? I'm not the only one you two humiliate in front of Ms. Twartz but also yourselves!" Steven's voice echoed in the four corners of Danica's office.
Rita trembled with fear and hurried over to Danica.
"I never thought you two would ruin my reputation in a business I'm just starting!" Steven's voice grew louder and the veins in his neck were more visible.
"Brother, don't blame Danica. It's all my fault and I was impulsive with my actions. I didn't think about the company because I was afraid that your marriage with Danica might be cancelled because of that woman."
Steven glared at his sister. Sometimes he no longer likes her overprotectiveness of Danica's feelings. He could not tolerate her meddling in their relationship.
Danica's mouth remained shut and didn't know what to say. She didn't want to be caught in the fire because the angry Steven looked like a dragon.
"Hope that her family will still continue to sell the land!"
The two women could not move from where they stand and their mouths were shut. They only managed to breathe a sigh of relief when the young man came out of the door.
"What happened?" Danica immediately asked her friend.
Rita told everything to her. She hadn't contemplated first before rushing. She got carried away by her feelings and concern for Danica. And she did not think that the company could be affected.
Danica cussed herself, she didn't want to speak badly to Rita, so she just kept her mouth shut.
Steven threw away the folder he was holding when his assistant told that Nicole had left the company.
"She said she didn't want to have a problem not related to work, so she gave you time to think again." Grey continued to report.
Steven quickly called Nicole. He will not allow his business to go to nothing.
"Is the business really the only reason you want to clean up the mess your sister created?" a part of Steven's mind asked himself.
Grey just silently watched the young man's every move. He is often the one who fixes the mess, especially this sort of issue. But now Steven is doing it himself, which confused him. He quickly averted his eyes when he knit his brows and stopped dialing the number on his cell phone. That’s another one he wondered about, he was using his personal mobile on a number of a woman.
Annoyed, Steven put the phone back in his pocket when he realized his strange behavior. Just because of a woman, he is distracted and unable to think straight. When he turned his gaze to Grey, he knew even he was amazed by his actions. But this time, he didn't want him to fix the mess for him.
"You may go." Steven dismissed him.
Grey quietly left the office after bowing his head. He started to imagine a big change happening in the young man's family. It looks like a bigger mess is going to happen now than the news when it was revealed about his daughter and the child’s mother was not identified.
When Grey was gone, Steven pulled his phone out of his pocket again. He continued with his plan.
Nicole smiled as she recognized the caller. She hoped that the situation would favor her, but she did not expect that he would call her himself. She let few seconds past before answering the call.
"Hello?"
"Can we talk?" said Steven from the other line.
Nicole smiled and imagined the young man's face. She could imagine that he was frowning and his Adam's apple was moving. His voice was baritone and authoritative. If she was still the same Nicole, she would not dare to make a deal with him.
"I'm going to eat lunch at my friend's restaurant and this is my only free time." She answered Steven formally, but one corner of her lip was slightly raised. A strange smile formed there.
Steven immediately agreed and asked for the restaurant’s address. He knew that hotel where one of the high class restaurants was. He ate there once and he also has a VIP card.
Nicole deliberately went inside the hotel first so as her plan would not be obvious. The owner of the restaurant was a real friend of her. He used to be her friend in Canada even though they had only been together for a short time. It was her first year in Canada and Joseph, the owner of the restaurant, was a famous chef there.
"I'm glad you came back!" Joseph was happy to see Nicole. He was referring to her return to the Philippines.
Nicole smiled at him in return. He's in his late 30s, but he still looks young. And until now he is still single because he could not choose a woman. They did not lose communication even when she was still in Canada. And she often told him that she was not yet ready to return to this country. He knew her past and understood her.
"Thank you and sorry for the sudden visit. Am I bothering you?"
"No, no, no!" Joseph answered quickly while shaking his head. "I'm happy and we meet again. How's Sean? Where is he?"
Nicole smiled at Joseph. She explained everything to him, even who she would eat with, except for the fact that he was Sean’s real father. Joseph has not seen Sean for years, so she knew he won’t easily notice the similarity between the two.












