Chapter 44
Oliver POV
Despite the economic situation, the Plane Enterprise anniversary night was still a grand one, with guests coming from all over the country to celebrate the day. It was the fiftieth anniversary, the golden jubilee, and everyone knew what that meant.
Ivory wanted to make a statement, and since taking over the supervision of the day, she has kept to her word. This was it and more; no detail was left untouched. From the venue chosen to the decoration of the arena and the bands to play, it all screamed perfection. It also screamed money; we didn’t have the luxury to spend in excess, but I didn’t want to dabble into that now. Ivory would only assume I was overreacting and tell him Ela was on the path to returning Air Plane Enterprise to its formal glory. This, she also said, would help restore the image of the company in the eyes of partners and competitors. How she ran the company along with Robert and didn’t run it into the ground was still a mystery to me. We
will be in the news for weeks to come.
The event started three hours ago and would run through midnight. It would be a long night, but it was a good thing it was the weekend.
Sir Lockwood was one of the few faces that made the night a little better. He brought half his usual energy, though, because his closest buddy amongst our six cliques of troublemakers, Connor O’Brien, was out of the country. He made do with Maxwell Fitzgerald, who also honoured my invitation. Sir had kept him indulged in conversation ranging from sex to climate change. Max didn’t look like he could handle all the talk, but I wasn’t going in to help him.
Jayden White was also absent; he called earlier to inform me about a family emergency, and I told him it was fine. I told him to reach out if he needed anything, but knowing Jayden, I knew he would not, even though his world was on fire.
At least he got to escape the so–called party I’m having.
I was waiting for Cecil to return from where she went to say ‘hi‘ to her parents. She had told me to come along, but I wasn’t in the mood yet. The Reids had a habit of asking too many unwanted and awkward questions, and as much as I could, I avoided them. Cecil went anyway, and I didn’t stop her. She would take any opportunity to show off her 12–carat engagement ring, which cost over a hundred thousand dollars anyway.
I saw Ivory in the corner of the room, smiling with the Stiles, our biggest rivals yet while acting like they
were the best of friends.
“Snake,” I hissed under my breath, and I turned away from her.
“I’m the one whose girlfriend is currently in Madagascar, yet you’re the one looking like your world is
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Chapter 44
about to end,” Vivian said as he walked over to me with two glasses of wine.
Unlike most men here tonight, Vivian wore a white long–sleeve tucked into plain trousers. His curly hair appeared to be locking up, and he didn’t care. He looked casual, but at least his presence was welcomed,
I took the glass of wine from his hand and gulped it. I handed it back to him and took his, which was still full, and gulped it as well.
“I turn to my left and right, and all I see are the faces of partners who walked out on us when we needed their partnership the most, competitions that would do anything to see us fail, and others who can’t wait to laugh at our downfall. I have been fucked over by Ivory, but it wasn’t this bad. I wish I weren’t here, but somehow, it is my responsibility, even though Robb is the CEO.” I sighed.
A majority of the board members voted to reinstate Robb Plane a week after Ela presented her ideas to them. Robb told me he didn’t plan to make this decision public, so I would continue like nothing happened. He told me this was temporary, and I can only hope so.
“You need another glass of wine.” He raised his hand to signal to the nearby server, who approached us.
“I need a smoke.” I corrected.
His eyes narrowed as he said, “You’re supposed to be quitting, but you smoke now more than you have in
a while.”
“Because I am more on the edge now than I have been in a while.” I hated everything more than I used to.
“And it has nothing to do with Imela,” he asked, and his keen interest betrayed him.
I glared at him; I didn’t know what the correlation was between my wanting to smoke and Ela. “Sometimes, you are smart, and other times, not. Not everything about my life has to do with Ela.”
He shrugged. “I mean, you took up the habit after she disappeared, and now you are falling back into it following her return.”
Well, I didn’t look at it that way, and now that he made it obvious, I wondered if that was the case. Was I falling into my bad habit because of Ela’s return?
“Look who we have here! The CEO of Air Plane Enterprise, aka the crashing group of companies, Zion’s
annoying voice came through the back, and I tensed up, but not in a good way.
I knew Ivory invited the Reids, but for some reason, my mind wiped out the probability of Zion being
here. The night will not end well. I could already tell.
As usual, Zion wanted to get under my skin. This was his tactic, and I couldn’t let him win.
He came up to stand before us, and his three goons were behind him. How did those three get in?
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“Hello, Zion, I see your nose has healed,” I said, seeing the lingering scar thereon.
His teeth clenched, and he glared at Vivian, who stood beside me. “I see your mother moving around the room, smiling and forcing conversation with people who clearly do not want to be here, hoping she sways their loyalty to the ‘crashing enterprise‘ once again. It is a pathetic attempt at best, but it is the only thing fun about this sorry excuse of a party. If I were in your shoes, I would have used this money to save what’s left of this company.”
We could agree on the last part.
“This party has more life than Stiles and his partners put together,” I replied.
He laughed and took a step closer. Zion knew better than to come close to me now, but he always loved drama and the attention that came along with it. He knew here now that no matter what happened, I wouldn’t do anything to him. He was banking on that and getting on a dangerous line.
The bloody bastard.
“Maybe, but this much is true; the Planes Enterprise will be history before the year ends, so you can enjoy this joke for as long as it lasts. I will make you this offer; you’re welcome to come and work for me when this all crumbles.” He smirked and pulled out his card. “I know we have our differences, but I will pay and be gentle with you.”
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I took the card from his hand and flipped it around to look at it. “I’ll keep that in mind, Zion, but until then, get your ugly face away from my presence,” I said.
Without another word, he and his goons walked away, and I watched them go.
“I wasn’t the one he spoke to, but I wanted to smash his face into a wall. What did you take? Cause I need a little of it, Oliver.” Vivian spoke up from behind.
“Zion is a fool who believes getting a reaction from you means he’s won. The goal was not to give him any response–not tonight, not until we succeed in pulling the Plane Enterprise from the mud.” I turned to face him, Zion’s card still in my hand. “He’s right about one thing, though: this party is a joke,” I said and spat on the ground.
The words barely left my mouth when I caught sight of Imela walking into the hall in a red bodycon dress that held her together in all the right places and flaunted her curves. She always had the body, but now it
was hard not to notice. Her wavy hair was held in a ponytail to highlight the matching diamond necklace and earrings she had on. Her face had the right amount of make–up to keep her glowing, yet it was suited
for the night. Beauty with a whole lot of brains.
“She’s beautiful.” Vivian gushed from beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts and over to look at him.
She really was, but I couldn’t say it out loud. “Who’s that?” He asked, and his gaze narrowed.
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1 returned my gaze to Ela, and I saw a man beside her, looking to be in his mid–thirties. I would have said a friend or business partner, but he had his arms around her. It was gentle, not too possessive, but firm enough to send a message. The way she smiled up at him and whatever he spoke to her about further told the truth.
My stomach turned in a bad way. “He’s her boyfriend.”
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