Chapter 20 encounter

She drove into the estate as she stopped in front of the large mansion, more like a castle but larger. She stepped out examining the place. She had arrived. She was home. 'It had never changed its welcoming aura'. Zhavia thought.

Sofia came out of the car as she stood beside zhavia. 

  "Are we going in?" Sofia asked calling zhavia from drowning in her thoughts. Maids lined up as they welcomed the lady of the house. They had waited for years, expecting her to return but she never came. They wore their best outfits to welcome her home. They were all in white as their heads were bowed.

Zhavia walked into the center of the large room as old memories cloaked her like shadows. She was lost in it. Swept by the memories. Wrapped in the pain. 'no mum, just dad' she thought. It had always been just dad. "Just dad". She muttered.

 "Is there something you need". Sofia asked as she heard zhavia murmur words. Not realizing she had just said something, zhavia stopped right in front of the large spiral staircase just beside the elevator. "No, I need to be left alone".

She said as she started walking up the stairs drowning deeper and deeper into her dark, dark past that doesn't seem to stop hurting.

Sofia watched her go higher. 'how could she even think of taking the stairs of an eight-story building, when the elevator is just here'. She thought as she got into the elevator.

Zhavia tried to keep it in. She tried to forget her pain but she couldn't. Time hadn't changed anything at all, she just hurts more and more. 

She introduced him to her father, Dylan. He made her feel special, he proposed to her, they explored, he made promises, they all made promises and he shattered her. He broke her. 

And then there was Ethan.  He would make her feel like the only woman on the planet, he was hardworking, and he had dreams, but she wasn't in his dreams. He shattered her again. 

They never stayed, it had always been the case. Every one of them came and took a piece of her shattered heart.

Timothee, Hayden, Wilson. They all emptied her one after the other till there was nothing to feel. She was hurt, she was empty, she felt like a loophole that sucked happiness until he came along.

The last piece of her shattered heart. He was lively, he hoped, he was peaceful, he was beautiful, they were in love, he was too good to be true. That was it. Too good to be true. He died.

She walked tirelessly up the stairs, she couldn't feel anything else because the pain she felt had eaten through her senses. She could only feel her cheeks dripping wet from tears 

They used to go to the library together, Philip. They could stay there all day without realizing it. He would cuddle her and they would talk about the future together. He loved her flaws. He would tell her how beautiful she was, they went places. They were going to get married. They talked about kids. He was her life, her everything and then he just died.

Her favorite place turned into a nightmare. Her heart vanished. She didn't even realize she had a heart until her encounter with Nicholas Alviero Ross.

For years, she had tried to kill her past and had never felt anything. She had accepted her fate. She had lived for herself. After all, she had always been alone since she was a child. 

On her birthdays she received thousands of gifts and a video call from her father. He was never there. On Christmas Eve, he was never home. She made all her choices and decisions on her own. She wasn't guided, she wasn't cared for by her only parent and she was just fine. 

She didn't realize that the stairs were gone. She was now walking in the wide hallway that led to a large door just at the end of the hallway. She walked in.

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The black car moved at a moderate speed. Nicholas looked out the window. Tiger that sat directly beside him looked at him. He knew that something bothered his boss. He broke the silence, nobody knows what Nicholas thinks in his head, it could be dangerous. 

   "The press will be there". He said as he looked at Nicholas. If there's anything he loves, it's his privacy, but he had been deprived of that since his childhood. The dark man's expression didn't change at all. He thought of something else. 

She was on his mind. He hasn't gotten her off his mind. She has taken over his thoughts. She has distracted him, she has taken his focus. Desire drained him. Every other thing was meaningless.

"Let the press do their jobs, Tiger". Nicholas spoke nonchalantly. Tiger knew it was deeper than that. There was something else in his mind. It was a woman. Unbelievable.

~~~~

They arrived at the company. As usual, the press had already taken their place, waiting for the dark man to step out as black cars patrolled around the car that held the man of power.

Convoys took their place as the proud man stepped out. Everyone acknowledged him. They arranged themselves from the car to the entrance of the building, armed. Creating enough space for the dark man. The press didn't even have the chance to carry out their jobs.

As usual, he surveyed his environment. Tiger stepped out standing directly behind Nicholas. The dark man arranged his suit as he started walking with four bodyguards directly behind them. 

Pictures were barely taken. He walked into the building as everyone froze. That was a Nicholas Ross effect. He rendered everyone breathless. Heads were bent to the floor. Everything was on pause.

He walked to the elevator and ascended the last floor where the meeting of the boards was held.

Nicholas expected this. He knew that immediately he was announced as the heir, he was announced to carry out the affairs of the Ross empire. It was what he had always done, but this time, in the open. 

He had always been in charge. As a matter of fact, he is Nicholas Alviero Ross.