On the other side of the call

"Hello-" She stopped herself from greeting the other person.

She furrowed her eyebrows when she heard Briana's voice.

'If you are going to call me don't do it when she's around' She was ready to angrily hang up until she heard what they were saying, more clearly.

"Helping me? How does manipulating my memories without my consent help me? I never allowed you to decide in my life. You crossed the line and have no right to influence my life anymore. So please leave before I call security."

Oh, so her plan did work…..and perfectly that is.

"For the sake of our friendship, could you at least do me a favor? I know forgiveness is too much to ask, but you know how my mother's health has been. You yourself went to visit her a few weeks ago! My contract with her can't last two years. If it does when she goes back to Paris, I will have to follow her! I need to stay here and take care of my sick mother."

'Oh, no honey. Your 'sick' mother is busy f*cking my sister's husband.' Adriana hopped out of her bed and walked back downstairs to pour herself a drink.

This was too entertaining!

After pouring herself a new drink she laid down on the couch and drank it, loving the taste on her tongue. The drink somehow tasted way better at this moment.

"Noah!"

"Lower your voice!"

"Noah, I'm asking this because I really can't leave the country."

'Ugh, I'm so jealous of you Noah. Why do you get to see her face and not me?'

"Fine, what exactly do you want me to do?"

'Excuse Me?' Adriana rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, it's simple. I just want to break the contract off but for that, we would need to hold a meeting with everyone involved."

"If you can't be responsible enough to fulfill all the things written in the contract then why sing it in the first place!"

"Briana, this is not the first time you do this. Read the damn contracts before you sing them! You wanted this, and since your father is a shareholder, I had no choice but to allow this contract to happen. And now you think I can just cancel it? This is business, it's not about our personal relationships but business! Just how reckless can you get? Do you know how many other candidates there were? You aren't the only person who needed Adriana's promotion."

Adriana continued listening and she shrugged, 'He's not wrong.'

"I will hold the meeting for the sake of your mother, if you manage to convince her then okay. If not I can't help you. I will not allow myself to suffer any losses just because of your recklessness. This is the business world, not a playground. If you want to fool around at least make sure your designs stand out, they are all mediocre."

Adriana choked on her drink when he heard his last sentence.

"Well, someone had to tell her."

She then placed her hand over her mouth when she realized that she had said her thought out loud.

She heard a chuckle and she cleared her throat.

"You called?"

"Did you listen to all of that?" He asked, and picked up the phone.

It seemed he had actually called her and she had picked up this time

"Would it comfort you if I said I didn't?" She asked.

"Forget it. This makes things easier anyway, would you like to hold the meeting?" He asked others.

"Well, I'm a bit offended but if that's what she wants."

"No, it's not about what she wants. Do you want this?"

"As you said, it's business. I'll handle it as such. I know that you cared about her but it's insulting to cancel a contract like this. Are you afraid that I might go against your company?"

"Not at all. I wouldn't blame you. After we basically begged for this contract it's embarrassing to break it ourselves."

"You are right about that." Adriana shrugged.

"Schedule the meeting for tomorrow. Make sure it lasts less than 30 minutes. The little tantrum of hers is a waste of my time and as you might already know I have other important matters at hand."

Noah couldn't deny his surprise at her words. Briana and Adriana were friends in the past but in the present Adriana didn't seem to be fond of Briana.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. I've never had an employee disappoint any of my business partners like this so I'll make sure to compensate you."

"I assume that's after you pay the fee for breaking the contract right?"

'I suffer no loss here, I just get more money.' She thought.

"Yes."

"Great. I'll trust you will handle the procedure accordingly." She was about to hang up when he stopped her.

"Wait, you should come to my office."

"..."

"I got a call from Aria's school."

Adriana sipped her drink and then froze.

"What?"

"They couldn't reach you so they called me. The kids got into a fight. Aria refused to speak about it and after treating her injury she fell asleep in my office."

"She's in your office right now?"

"Yes."

Adriana hung up and the glass in her hand shattered. She looked at the tiny pieces of glass that had penetrated her skin, without flinching a bit. She cleaned up her hand with a napkin and picked up her purse.

She then rushed towards LABELS.

.....

When she hung up Noah furrowed his eyebrows. He was calling her when Briana entered his office but he didn't remember her picking up.

He had honestly not realized she had answered his call before he got to press the hang-up button. And since Briana had waltzed in asking for favors he never looked back at his phone, besides she was quiet and never spoke so he hadn't even realized until she finally spoke.

He was relieved though, she had finally answered. He had hoped she would come and get Aria before she woke up because she looked like she really wanted to speak with her mother.