Checking things off her list

Weeks after Adriana's hospitalization had passed.

But the first thing she had done after her discharge was to check things off her list...

…..

1. Scold her children and ground them, for their reckless actions ✓

"Aria, I understand you felt thankful and attached to your Uncle Noah, but that doesn't mean you can just let him take you to New York without my permission. He was a stranger! Do you realize how dangerous that is? You can't trust everyone that shows you a bit of kindness. And neither can you lie about not having a family."

"I'm sorry, mommy." Aria lowered her head, just like James did.

They were both sitting down on the couch, quietly listening to her scolding.

"And James…. I did not expect this from you. You put yourself in danger because you were worried for me and that I understand, but a simple call would have done the job. The responsible thing to have done was telling your aunt and uncle about the situation and not lying to them to bringing you to New York."

"From now on, you will stay in your room and catch up with all the school work you missed. All your devices will be locked away until I see fit. Your free time will be spent doing chores, and when day camp starts I will register you in it!"

"Mommy!" They both said, lifting their heads in the complaint.

"No whining or complaining, you will go to day camp and you will accept your punishment. I also want you to understand how dangerous your decisions were and how much they hurt me. You made me worry, and you were inconsiderate towards me. I had everyone looking for you Aria. For days! And James, you did not bother to inform me earlier. Your sister could have been in danger!"

"Our trip to LA will also be canceled this year, I think you've traveled enough. And lastly, the kitten we would adopt, will be given to a more RESPONSIBLE family."

"What?"

"Wait, no!"

"Mommy, please!"

"You can't be responsible even with your own safety and you want me to trust a cat in your hands?" Adriana asked harshly, making them quiet down instantly.

It was harsh, but necessary.

She could have spanked them but she wanted them to truly learn their lesson, and understand how dangerous the situation was.

…..

2. Welcome the designers from LABELS to Paris and encourage them to work harder ✓

"Albert Beggar was known for his amazing fashion shows. He always gave his audience a performance of a lifetime. He would work with popular singers on his fashion shows. They added this idea into other brands for their fashion shows, but we will do things a little differently." Adriana began her explanation.

"Instead of the artists performing while all the models display our designs, we will have the models themselves giving a little performance. My vision for this show is to bring clothing to life. Our theme is leather, a fashionable outfit that feels cool against your skin for this hot summer."

"I want the models to give the clothing attitude and surprise the audience with confidence and beauty."

"Now, arrange everything as I ordered and prepare yourselves because the day in which our hard work will pay off, is coming closer and closer!" Adriana smiled when the team applauded.

The designers she had brought from Paris had been working passionately, and things turned out incredibly. Adriana could say this would count as her most enjoyable project.

She had it all planned out perfectly, had models selected, and the best planner by her side.

Thankfully, all the artists she invited to accepted the invitations and got to work with her staff. Everything needed only a few more rehearsals to be prepared for the grand event.

"Justine, is your speech ready?" Melissa Hart walked up to her and asked.

It surprised Adriana when the planner they sent was none other than her ex-roommate. It was a pure coincidence, but it was hard working with her when all she did was get indifferent responses.

"What speech?"

"You insisted instead of your usual presentation at the beginning of all your previous shows, you would like to shock the audience with an unexpected start. Therefore, we scheduled you to give a speech along with the President of LABELS to bring the show to a conclusion and wrap everything up." She explained.

"Oh…"

'I have to see him again?' Adriana thought.

"So is your speech ready?"

"No, I didn't get informed."

"Weird, they should have sent someone to inform you two weeks ago. Then please prepare it ASAP!" Melissa then turned around and continued organizing the staff around and instructing everyone where each decoration needed to be placed.

After the quick inspection around the hall and making sure things were running smoothly, Adriana went back to the office to work on other important details.

She attended meetings, presentations, and had lunch with all her team leaders.

After an exhausting day, she went back home.

"Where are twins?" She asked, walking into the house and removing her heels to put on her slippers.

Removing her light jacket and handing it to the butler, she waited for his answer.

"Ma'am you sent them away for day camp, remember?"

"Oh, right, I did. Wait, why did I do that?"

The butler chuckled, "You punished them their reckless actions."

"Uh... thank you. I have a poor memory these days." She shook her head and walked towards her study room.

"Oh, don't prepare dinner I will go out tonight, tell Ralf to be in an hour." She ordered as she entered her study room.

She would go to a fancy restaurant an dtreat herself. After working consistently after discharging from the hospital, she felt she needed to treat herself. Others might think she's careless with her health and overwork herself an that might be true but when Adriana starts to reach her limit she always takes her free time.

A weekend at a hotel with hot springs was her usual choice to relax but she had too much to worry about, so she decided to treat herself with amazing food this time around.

Sitting down on her desk, she cleaned up.

It was a mess, and she couldn't lie about how lonely she felt.

She had sat them down and had a serious conversation with them about their mistakes.

She had never seen a punishment more effective than this one, but she herself felt like she was being punished.

After all, she was lonely at home and the only time she would get to see them was late in the afternoon for dinner, bedtime, and only to send them off again.

...

Relieve her stress by playing games with Briana ✓

When Briana had received the package that day, with Angel's perfect timing, she was shocked at her discovery.

Not only was it a copy of her mother's deeds, documents of properties being transferred to her mother's lover.

It was a relief that she found this before her father did.

Briana was extremely heartbroken for him.

She put the box away and buried her face in her palms. She tried to calm down before she could make her next move.

She could not believe this! This information had to be fake!

But how could it be fake when her mother admitted to it?

Clearly, the sender was not answering her calls on purpose. It was obvious they wanted to keep her on her toes, but she was glad that box did not reach her father, or else he would have the evidence to divorce her mother and her happy family would come crumbling down.

It would have been great if someone had told her that this was just some warm-up for Adriana. Her actual intentions were far greater.

Anyway, the second day Adriana called Briana back.

Using a voice changer, she greeted her.

"Ms. Brooklyn, you were quite persistent with your calls. I had no choice but to answer you." She smiled.

Briana anxiously bit her lip and took a deep breath in.

"What exactly do you want? What's your purpose for fabricating these things?"

"Did I? If it's fabricated, then let me realize it to the public. I'm sure everyone will understand someone is trying to frame your mother." Adriana laughed, sitting in her office.

She twirled her chair and glanced outside her window.

This was too much fun!

"I can always find evidence to prove it's false. So release it, once I find you I will make sure you go where you belong—a prison."

"How bold of you to confuse me for your mother! I think you're mistaken, she's the one who belongs in prison. Child grooming is quite serious, you know."

Briana pursed her lips. "What do you want?"

Ignoring her question, Adriana continues taunting her, "Ms. Brooklyn I will give in okay? I don't have to turn your mother in. We can even pretend this never happened, but your mother's loan shark will come to stop by to collect your home and properties. Did you know she gambled her entire life away?"

"And even-"

"Stop! Just tell me what you want. We can solve this. How much?"

"How much?" Adriana raised an eyebrow.

"Seeing how much money your mother tossed away, do you even have enough?"

"I work separately, my money is mine alone and enough to satisfy you."

"Hmm, is it? Fine, since you're so confident, 20 million... dollars."

Briana clenched her hand on her dress, ruining its perfect state and crumbling it like paper.

"20 million it is."

"No." Adriana shook her head.

'Where does she plan to get 20 million from?' Adriana wondered.

'Unless….' A chuckle escaped Adriana's lips.

"I want to see how much you want this deal," Adriana told her.

"What is that supposed to mean? Just give me a place and time, I will give you 20million in cash."

"How do you intend to do that?"

"Connections, I have enough of them. All I need is a week once I deliver the money in person, all evidence should be erased from the phase of this planet." Briana demanded.

"Do you think you're able to demand things from me? If you're more generous next time, I might change my mind." Adriana smirked and hung up.

Briana's patience exploded.

She clenched onto the phone tightly and did her best to not toss it across the room. She looked at her ugly expressions in the mirror and her lips twitched.

Who was daring enough to treat her like this? If the person weren't so careful with sending the packages, she could have them dead right now.

She swallowed her anger forcefully and dialed a number she had not touched in a while.

"Aunt… there's something I need from you."

...

4. Make sure Caroline is feeling better, and she's not trying to involve herself in thrilling dangerous situations to celebrate her successful divorce by keeping her occupied ✓

Finishing the call, Adriana dialed Caroline's number.

"Who is she contacting?"

"Her aunt," Caroline replied.

"keep her in check."

"Should I report this to my superior? They have been looking for Briana's aunt for a while now. The last time they investigated the matter, they confirmed Briana and her family are completely separated, which means she would not go to them to help her escape. Now, that she contacted her aunt we have evidence that they are still involved with her." Caroline reminded her.

"I know. I was leading the search during that time." Adriana replied.

"You were? No one informed me of that!"

"Don't worry about it, Caroline. And please don't get too involved all I need is your eyes and ears in the intelligence agency." She twirled her chair back around to focus on the files she was looking over.

"Fine, fine~ By the way, I'm going to jump off a mountain!" Caroline said excitedly.

Adriana's face paled. "What?!"

"I'll be attached to ropes, but it sounds so thrilling so I had-"

"Go ahead and the next time I see you will be at your funeral" Adriana threatened.

"Nothing will happen to me, I'll be fine!" Caroline pouted.

"Right, because your other experiences went so well. Celebrate in other ways Caroline, if I hear any of this I'll give you a piece of my mind."

"Humph! Fine..." Caroline gave in, understanding how badly ziplining worked for her.

She has a terrible fear of heights, but when she accomplishes something she always tried to overcome her fear by doing such dumb things. Only to get traumatized.

From the time she went ziplining, she could not look at anything related to it without thinking of the traumatic experience. It was a habit Adriana was determined to fix.

And if it meant putting Caroline to work, in her secret job that not even her parents know about, then so be it!

When Oliva had introduced her to Caroline, there was no way they would have found out they were really sisters, if the intelligence agency had not already recruited Carolien. Simon and Olivia's forces combined were enough to help her trace things to her birth.

And that's how Adriana got involved in government agencies, the military, and eventually, she had worked for them, or Sanders her chief by completing missions for their protection.

That was something she did not enjoy debuting, it was necessary. From then on she secured connections and made sure all information about her and the twins would be under severe restrictions.

She had completed many important missions for the government, it would be unfair if they did not comply with a few of her requests.

She had even dirtied her hands by entering the underworld and capturing a few dons here and there.

All of this while, she had overlooked all construction projects and plans for her brand.

She would finish business trips and complete her missions.

Her best-known ability was how fast she got things done she had no time to waste. She was also a new mother during that time.

All of this built discipline, skills, and strength.

Now she had retired from these little missions and would not comply with their requests unless it was convenient for her.

Continuation of her checklist, on next chapter ------->