"You kidnapped someone, sir?" Zayn had never been one to limit his words, and he had been Oriaga's confidant for a long time. The man came to the mansion at midnight after taking care of the CCTV at the hotel, as Oriaga had ordered earlier.
Oriaga thought for a moment, then shook his head. He wanted to deny it. "I don't think so, but you have other duties."
"Tell me."
Oriaga threw away the cigarette butt and stepped on it, and they were standing in the courtyard of the mansion or right next to the man's car. He held out a car key to Zayn.
"What do you mean?"
"Bring that woman's car here. I don't know where she parked it. You can do it yourself, or if you find it difficult, then take Dean with you."
Zayn nodded, and he accepted the car keys. "You cleared the name, and I had seen the CCTV footage, so I asked about kidnapping."
"I've known her for a long time."
"Ah, alright. I'm leaving now, sir." Zayn hurriedly entered his vehicle before leaving the place, while Oriaga chose to sit on the hood of his car and opened Amanda's cell phone after taking it from the back seat.
The screen was locked using a fingerprint, but Oriaga quickly did it when Amanda was still asleep. He stuck the woman's forefinger there, then briefly changed the screen lock pattern because he had another purpose for Amanda's phone.
Oriaga found some incoming chats about two hours ago, even a missed call.
"Mom, sorry. I was drunk and had trouble driving my car, so I chose to stay at my friend's house. Don't worry, I'm fine." Oriaga spoke while typing a message to a number named 'My Mom.' The man acted like an expert without wanting to give an opening.
(Amanda, call back when you get to your house. I'm apprehensive.)
"Who is this guy named Jeff? What's her boyfriend?" Oriaga grinned, but he ignored the chat and then dialed his number. "This is too easy, Amanda."
***
"You're too harsh on her. Treat your women more gently. Are you so obsessed?" Doctor Elma commented if it weren't for one Oriaga Niel, that woman wouldn't want to drive her car alone in the middle of the night like this to check on someone's health.
"I know."
"Good, take good care of your woman. Don't forget to let me know when you get married." Doctor Elma winked, teasing the man, but Oriaga didn't respond and looked away. "I'm going home now. Remember what I said. See you later."
"Hm, yes."
A maid escorted Doctor Elma to the main door. Oriaga just watched her behind the railing of the mansion's third floor.
The man's cell phone rang.
"Sorry for calling you in the middle of the night, sir. I just wanted to remind you about the morning flight to Paris."
"Yes, thank you."
Oriaga put the phone back away. He had quite a daily schedule, and flying from one country to another in one day was not an unusual situation.
Now, Oriaga had to return home and prepare more energy for tomorrow. The mansion was just a stopover or one of the many luxurious properties the man owned.
He briefly glanced at Amanda as he grabbed his maroon coat from the sofa by the curtained window. She was still asleep in bed, her gray pajamas wrapped around her body.
***
Amanda was disturbed when the sunlight touched her face this morning and a maid opened the curtains from right to left, and a sea view greeted the room's occupants.
Amanda sat up, and she still felt weak and sore in several parts of her body, including the pain in the intimate area due to Oriaga's actions.
"Good morning, Miss Amanda." The waitress in her black and white uniform greeted Amanda with a warm smile. "Mr. Oriaga asked me to take care of you. Do you need anything?"
Amanda looked at her flatly. "Oriaga? Where is that bastard?"
The maid gasped; she had never heard anyone swear at her employer, but the woman in bed had a lot of nerve.
"Mr. Oriaga said if he goes to Paris today, you can order me anything."
Amanda shook her head. "No, thank you. I want to go home."
"Your car is in the yard."
"My car? Who's–" Amanda stopped. She was almost surprised, but it didn't seem necessary. "Okay." She looked in the drawer and reached for her bag.
As she got up, Amanda staggered and sat back on the bed.
"Let me help you, Miss." The maid wrapped Amanda's arm around her shoulder, and they walked out together. Amanda's sex organ was getting sore as her body moved, so her lips kept whimpering and making the maid feel sorry for her. "Last night, Doctor Elma came here and checked on you, but Mr. Oriaga didn't leave me any message besides the car in the yard."
"I don't want to talk about it."
They entered the glass elevator, shortening Amanda's time to leave the mansion quickly.
Several servants passed by the woman. They still greeted and smiled politely.
"Thank you for getting me here." Amanda stood beside her car, and she took the keys out of her bag. The woman's face was quite pale.
"Are you going to drive it yourself?" the waiter asked.
"Yes. I don't have a personal driver."
"Please drive carefully, Miss. See you later."
Amanda smiled. At least there was still the friendliness of someone greeting her morning after last night's brutal torture. She didn't even think that today, she would still be living and breathing as a human being.
She honked her horn before driving the car away from the yard.
Meanwhile, the servant immediately dialed Oriaga's number.
"Sir, Miss Amanda has left the mansion."
"She said something?"
"No, just seemed angry at you."
There was no more of Oriaga's voice after ending it like that.
"That bastard did something bad to me, and he harassed me. Should have reported Oriaga to the police station, right?" Amanda's consciousness had returned. "Or, go to the hospital to have a post-mortem done as proof of the abuse he did to me?"
Amanda went to the hospital for a post-mortem. She parked her car in the basement, and just as she was about to get out, her cell phone rang.
An anonymous foreign number was calling her.
"Who's there?"
"What are you doing at the hospital, huh?"
The voice made Amanda pause and swallow, and she seemed to recognize it.
"Answer. What were you doing in the hospital? You should have gone home."
"What's your business? Why find out?" Amanda got out of the car and looked around, and she was beginning to fear that anyone might be stalking Oriaga.
"I installed a tracking device in your car, Ms. Griscouv."
"You're crazy, Oriaga!" Amanda was even more shocked. How could Oriaga go that far? "What do you want from me to be like this, huh!"
"Hurry up and go back to your house, or do you want to see me do something else?"
Amanda's hand became trembling as she gripped her cell phone. "You're such an asshole. You're watching me. Stop doing it!"
"Go home now. We can talk about it after I get back from Paris."
"If I don't follow your wishes?"
"If you don't follow my orders, everyone will see last night's party. A party between you and me at the mansion, isn't that enough?"
Amanda's eyes began to glaze over, and she swallowed again.
"Hurry up and go home. I'm watching you from afar, and I can place spies around your house. Are you happy?"
The woman pushed the phone away from her ear. She cried and trembled, then slammed the phone without hesitation.
"You are an asshole, Oriaga."
***
"Ah, so the family business went downhill seven years ago. A karma that is hard to avoid." Oriaga smiled wryly, and he sat on the sofa and raised a pair of legs on the table, a laptop on his lap.He had ordered someone to look up the details of Amanda Claire Griscouv, a brunette with bluish irises in her eyes.Oriaga was still in Paris after attending a Fashion Week as the CEO of the fashion and jewelry brand 'Gregorious,' a brand Oriaga co-owned with her grandmother that went global four years ago, competing with other big brands."She wanted to be a clothing designer but instead worked as a secretary in a medium-sized company. Can't her parents afford to pay for their daughter's education to become a designer?" Oriaga chuckled. She was busy, assuming.Amanda was no stranger to Oriaga's life, and they had been close friends while studying at the same university in London. However, Amanda's family's attitude towards Oriaga was quite painful. The man received too many insults and press
"Thank you for accepting me as a guest at your place. Sorry for disturbing your rest, Mr. Oriaga." Elia left after observing Oriaga for a while. The man was silent primarily and turned his attention to the laptop screen.Oriaga felt grateful for having a laptop beside him, and he was tired of responding to the model for discussing something less attractive."No problem, my time is tight." Oriaga escorted Elia to the main door."Ah, yes. I have a contract with a fashion magazine in Amsterdam. It would be great to visit there, and you can accept an invitation to dinner with me.""Really? When are you coming to Amsterdam?""In two months." Elia smiled. She walked out after Oriaga opened the door. "I'll go now." She looked at the left side and found someone installing a camera at the end of the hallway, then looked back at Oriaga. "Eum, I wanted to say goodbye beforehand.""What does that mean?"Suddenly, Elia pulled Oriaga's hand and hugged him. The camera managed to get a picture of the
"Amanda. I heard from Samantha that you tried to sell your car on a trading site. Is that true?" Jeff suddenly appeared in front of Amanda's desk, surprising the woman. She blinked before erasing the tension in her."It is.""Why do you want to sell it?" Jeff was curious.Amanda was still working; she had several reports to complete to the CEO, and Jeff's appearance at this hour was disturbing.However, of course, Amanda couldn't do anything more. She was dealing with the company's owner, so even though Jeff acted out of line, Amanda tried to keep her attitude.The woman got up and looked around. Everyone was busy behind their cubicles, while Jeff seemed to disregard the situation. The CEO's office was right across from Amanda's cubicle."Because I want to sell it." She sat back down with a flat expression."You need money?""Everyone needs money. Am I wrong?" Amanda was starting to get fed up with Jeff's questions."No, I mean, you need it because of an emergency?""We can talk about
"How about it, Amanda? Would you allow me to buy your car?" Jeff was still curious and kept pressing Amanda, and he came back to her after his work was done.Amanda was silent as she looked down, exhaling as she glanced at the car beside her. It was still a handy vehicle, but Amanda's family's economic hardship was getting increasingly urgent, so giving up something when she had earned it with her sweat—would be pretty tricky."How?" Jeff asked again.Amanda looked at him. "I'll think about it some more, Jeff. Maybe tomorrow I'll give you a decision. Now I have to go home.""Alright, I'm waiting for your answer."The woman nodded, and she quickly disappeared behind the car door. She had time to wave before driving the car from the office basement.***Oriaga had just arrived home after visiting one of the 'Gregorious' boutiques in the corner of the city to check on the progress of the launch of several new dresses since last month. He always wanted to be the first to see the progress
"Did you manage to sell your car, Amanda?" Pamela looked towards the courtyard, and she still found her youngest daughter's car there. "What is it?"Amanda smiled wryly. She had hoped that when she got home from work, her mother would greet her and ask how the day was going, but she got a question that made her take a deep breath every time she was at home—Amanda's patience was always being played with."I'm still using it, Mom." She passed Pamela in the doorway and went to the kitchen, cold water being something Amanda wanted to consume. The summer weather tickled her throat."So, when are you going to sell it? Nadine gave the debt collector one week." Pamela followed her daughter into the kitchen."Soon, Mom. In less than a week, my car will be sold. Stay calm.""Are you sure?" She doubted it.Amanda nodded. "I'll change my clothes first before cooking dinner.""Do it."After changing her clothes, Amanda tied her hair up high and put on her apron. The tiredness after work was no big
In the end, Amanda agreed to Jeff's request to buy her car after discussing it with Nadine last night, more precisely when her sister came home around ten o'clock, and Amanda had not been able to fall asleep then. As a result, they exchanged ideas and decided to sell it to Jeff.This morning, Jeff went to Amanda's house as she had requested in the chat her had sent him last night, and he found out that the reason Amanda was selling her car was that she had to pay off the house payment that had been delayed for a long time."I'll add the money," Jeff said as he punched in a few digits more than Amanda's price on his cell phone, sending the money through his account."No, Jeff. Don't do that. Just keep buying at the price we agreed on." Amanda felt awkward. If only Pamela hadn't interfered with the situation this morning, Jeff wouldn't have known anything about her problem.Amanda felt very guilty. She should have asked Jeff to meet her outside. She even forgot that her mother had wante
Amanda got through her first day commuting to work without her car, and all was well. She didn't arrive late despite using the public bus. Amanda just needed to take into account the early departure time of the bus every morning.The woman sat behind her cubicle as she occasionally looked at the door of the CEO's room. She kept wondering why Mr. Wendell and the men were in the CEO's room for more than an hour. If they were having an important meeting, why not just stay in the boardroom?"I seem to be overthinking," Amanda muttered.She was surprised and quickly got up when the door to the CEO's room opened, and Mr. Wendell and the men came out.Mr. Wendell stopped to say something that made Amanda gulp when she heard it."I don't care, Eddie. Sign the transfer documents as soon as possible because if you don't, I can't guarantee that your family will be okay. Didn't I give in to you for too long, huh!"CEO Eddie was still inside, so Amanda could not see him. Mr. Wendell left, and CEO
Zayn was an hour early to Amanda's workplace as per Oriaga's request. He sat on a couch in the lobby and caught the attention of a few people who didn't recognize him. Zayn's appearance was a bit conspicuous, with the black hat on his head.When the receptionist asked, Zayn explained that he had come to pick up Amanda, so they were not suspicious of the young man.Amanda had just gotten out of the elevator with Louisa and a few other colleagues, and she didn't take it seriously that Oriaga would send someone to pick her up. When suddenly, Zayn got up and called her name. Amanda was confused."Do you know her, Amanda?" asked Louisa.The woman paused momentarily, but luckily, she quickly remembered something. "Yes, you can go home now. Be careful on the road, Louisa.""Alright, see you tomorrow." They parted ways in the lobby.Amanda quickly approached Zayn, who had gotten up from the sofa."Who are you? Why did you mention my name?"Zayn had time to smile. "Mr. Oriaga asked me to pick