Difficult choices

That is when she came to a set of conclusions.

1. Noah simply wasn't tempted enough by Mr. Brooklyn's offer.

2. Adriana had overestimated the effect the brief scene with the 'hypnotists' had on Noah

Now that she thought about it, the hypnotists had his career completely ruined at Noah's hands. Yes, the man had not gone easy on him.

Anyway, right now he was under Sanders. Well, technically the hypnotist was hiding in a little corner of the world somewhere now that he knows who she is and why she's back, but that was irrelevant because Adriana wanted him to run and hide. She enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game once in a while when she had the time. Soon enough his real sentence would catch up to him and he would face the consequences of offending her.

3. Emotions.

That was all she had. As much as she wanted to ignore it involves the emotions in everything. Did she stir up some emotions in Noah? Was that the reason for his actions?

As embarrassing as it might be to admit it, she had willingly walked into her ex-husband's hotel room and spent the night crying in his arms. Yes, she had done that and there was no going back. She even had some sort of intimate contact with him, and it's something she wanted to erase from the equations — but she couldn't.

Why? It was important!

Was he attracted to her?

Adriana covered her face with her palms.

Answer? Obviously!

She was too.

"Explanations. Answers. Search for answers. Is Aria my daughter?" She whispered to herself, trying to put herself in Noah's shoes.

'I should sound like a b*tch who can't even give basic explanations, shouldn't he be resenting me right now? And what she sent Angel to tell, shouldn't he be distracted by the situation with the Brooklyn's? And even if he isn't wouldn't the investigator who is ratting out on him, report things to her?

Why was his side so quiet?

"So how am I going to force him to follow the script?" She asked herself.

"Huh?" Aria turned her head to her in confusion.

"Nothing princess." Adriana smiled.

'Should I just write a new one for him? Give him a brand new role or change the purpose of his role?'

Questions, many questions, theories, and conclusions. It was giving her a headache!

'There is something I'm missing. How is it possible for me not to understand someone's actions?' She pursed her lips, realizing how stupid she sounds.

Thinking everything will go her way just because she had everything planned out from the very beginning to the end, was a mistake.

She had to fix this mentality of her, otherwise, it would cause problems.

Checking the time, she took a deep breath in.

'Is this right? Isn't the timing too early? What if things go wrong?'

Something was bothering, but what bothered her more was the fact that she couldn't put her finger on it. This feeling, knowing there is something she doesn't know, was giving her a tremendous headache.

"Aria." She called out.

"Yes, mommy?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy." She replied.

"Come here." Adriana patted her lap, and Aria nodded, running to her side and hopping on it. She then closed her eyes to take a quick nap.

A few minutes later James arrived at the office. When he realized Aria was asleep, he quieted his movements.

"Mommy, we ran out of cookies." He whispered.

"Sit tight, I'll ask Natalie to bring some new ones in." She told him.

He had gone out to get some cookies for both him and Aria at the food bar. It was currently empty because employees were at work, but James came bearing news that there was no more.

…..

Adriana had the kids taken home after that since they had both fallen asleep.

One in her lap and the other on the couch.

Didn't they say they would wait for her until she got off work?

Pfft

She picked out her personal phone number, which had a picture of the twins as wallpaper, unlike her other mobiles. Dialing the number of an unsaved contact, she sighed.

"You're actually calling me from your personal phone number? Whoa, I feel so privileged now." Simon cheered from the other end.

"How are things going?" Adriana said, not bothering to deal with his unnecessary excitement. Actually, she ignored his dramatic ass most of the time. Simon was no simple person to deal with, but he was a useful pawn.

And there was a 43 percent chance he would betray her for Noah because of the past they shared. Yes, she and Simon weren't all chummy as it appeared. They had a reason to be hostile to each other but because of common purposes and his part in this revenge, those complicated matters had been put on hold.

Anyway, she made sure none of her pawns could betray her.

They knew the things she's capable of, would they really risk angering her?

Hah, if they did, she would love to see that!

"Everything is going perfectly. The agent you asked me to send has Mr. Brooklyn wrapped around a rope, we are just waiting for him to jump off the chair and uck." She could swear she heard him put his hand on his neck and pretend he was choking.

Rolling her eyes, she continued with her questions. "What about him?"

"Him? Him who?"

"Blue eyes, messy hair, business suit, billionaire, ring a bell?"

"Oh, HIM!" Simon laughed.

"Yeah, not much, he's not visiting his friends often. Not dating anyone, probably will stay single for the rest of his life, uh... what else? Earning more lately, business is running smooth and-"

"Simon."

"Right." He shut his lips tight before looking for something to answer. "Nothing really, rich guy is working from home these days though."

"That's not- That's none of my business, I need to know if things are going well regarding your job."

"Oh, yeah. Nope, he's nowhere near finding the truth. The coast is clear!"

"Goodbye."

"Wait-no wait!"

TUT TUT

"Someone needs to resign and sign up as a clown." Adriana humored herself.

Awesome!

Simon was insurance. He made sure things stayed in place regarding her information by getting on Noah's hands.

Now, Caroline.

Another headache she needed to resolve quickly. That hacker couldn't have gone far, so why did he disappear completely off her radar?

She knew Caroline was doing her best and was dealing with her own personal business, but Adriana couldn't help but be demanding sometimes. Too demanding.

Something she also needed to change a bit.

She sighed and walked towards her mini bar where she poured herself a glass of wine.

Honestly, she wanted beer right now, get drunk, and pass out. But that was her irresponsible side showing.

And here came another headache!

That fact that she needed her kids to meet their father was still pending.

Her current temptation was risky and careless. She groaned in frustration.

"Fuck it." She picked up the voice changer from her drawer and the phone she was using to contact Briana.

"Do you want to know who your mother attempted to kill? The rest of the accusations will be easy to erase but attempted murder?"

Done. It's done. She did it; she rushed into a part of her plan, which she needed more time for. She had done something reckless for the sake of her kids.

She needed this revenge to work faster.

Receiving Briana's response, Adriana's lips curled upwards, and she sipped her drink calmly.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, exhaled, and then opened them again. Things would fall into place, she assured herself.

They have to.

*****

Briana's investigations had not stopped. She had been wrapping her head around everything and pressuring her dad's lawyers that were doing squats to get her mother out.

Their reputation had hit the ground.

There were two options, clear her mother's name or play the victim card along with her father.

Which one would she choose?

After some investigations, she found out that someone had bribed some workers in the event to play the evidence of her mother's deeds without Olivia's knowledge. She had even talked with Olivia regarding this, but she seemed completely innocent. How could she anyway?

She took a deep breath as she finished hanging up.

This anonymous person was 'kind' and 'generous' so much that they agreed on giving her a second chance. She would have to sign away her ownership of land in France, hand over the money as before, and make a choice between two options.

The first was to find the person her mother tried to murder and convince this person to keep their mouth shut. If she succeeds in this, the anonymous person would help her clear her mother's name completely.

Obviously, there was a catch. If she chose the first option, her father's image would be buried deep, deep underneath. They would accuse him of framing his wife to gain all of her properties and shares while trying to assassinate an important person.

Yes, there was proof of her father conspiring against an important person in the country.

And that's where things got sticky.

That important person has business relations to Brooklyn and…. guess who?

The Preston's!

Would the Preston's even trust them once this was revealed?

She felt like this anonymous person was playing her instead of helping her! They always offered something that would cause her a certain loss.

It was like winning something with the price of something else, with the equivalent value.

She felt like she was being tested somehow. Did this person want to know what she would choose?

Did that even matter?

Her suspicion over Olivia vanished. She's too stupid for that!

So who? Who was doing this to her?

Names of enemies started crossing through her mind until a name caught her attention. She gripped onto her phone and shook her head "Not possible."

When she had Mrs. Porter file Adriana as her 'cousin' she made sure the woman wouldn't remember a thing. Adriana Price was definitely suffering from amnesia when she recovered her consciousness after the incident that was supposed to kill her.

And then the second incident that was supposed to kill her.

Apparently, the guy who she had hired to shoot a bullet through that wench's skull had faked everything and hung himself in fear.

How could someone like that fake all of that? There was obviously something fishy about it, which is why she had trusted people related to her aunt to dig up the past.

She took a deep breath as she thought of the second option.

She could get rid of both her parents and act like she had been deceived for years. There were an advantage and disadvantage to this scenario. She could gain sympathy from the Prestons and the public, but she would have to reveal the fact that her father had a family outside.

Not only that, but she would have to act like a 'kind' soul and let them into her home, give them a share, money, a title, and a place in high society.

She gritted her teeth.

That also meant her father's will would be revealed and she would share the inheritance with outsiders. She couldn't do that. She needed all family riches and connections to herself, she couldn't trust outsiders. At most, they'll be gold diggers.

She needed to protect the last bit she has left of the perfect family she had believed in all these years. She needed to have hope.

Finally, deciding, Briana waited as the anonymous person sent her the identity of whoever it is her mother tried to murder.

When she found out who it was, her phone slipped through her fingers and her face paled.

This was way worse.