At that mont, upon seeing Lisa’s ssage, Oliver’s lips curved slightly into a small, unreadable smile. Deep down in his heart, he felt a quiet satisfaction. ’Yes... that’s exactly what I wanted,’ he thought.
Before they had even stepped into that building earlier, he had already sent a coded ssage to Lisa.
He knew it was too risky to tell Cora. At least, not yet. She didn’t need to know the extent of what he was capable of. Not now. Not with everything else already spinning around them. But at the sa ti, he couldn’t just sit back and allow people to co at them like that not without consequences.
So even if Cora didn’t know, Lisa was already handling it on his behalf. And now, with that ssage, she had confird everything he needed to hear.
That was all Oliver needed. By the ti they returned from their trip, he would have answers.
Who sent her, who she was working for, what their motives were, all of it. No more guessing.
Just as he was still staring at his phone screen, reading the ssage over once more, that was when Cora turned to him, her brow slightly raised. She had been watching him in silence, but now, her curiosity got the best of her.
"Oliver," she said gently, "you’ve been staring at your phone like sothing just happened. What’s going on? Is it a ssage... does it have anything to do with what happened back there?"
At that mont, upon hearing what Cora just said, Oliver let out a faint smile. He didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, he calmly slipped his phone into the inner pocket of his blazer and leaned back a little before glancing over at her with that sa relaxed look.
"Well," he said in a cool voice, "it’s nothing important. Just a business ssage. Sothing I was supposed to handle earlier, but it can wait. It’s not that serious."
Cora raised an eyebrow but didn’t push it. She simply nodded, her eyes still on him, sensing that there was more behind his words, but she let it go for now.
Imdiately, Oliver turned the key in the ignition, and the engine ca to life with a smooth purr. He shifted into gear, and they began moving. The silence between them wasn’t awkward. It was peaceful... calm... maybe even thoughtful. The city passed by quickly, and before long, they were already approaching the airport gates.
As they pulled into the airport parking area, Oliver casually adjusted the collar of his jacket, checked his reflection in the rearview mirror, and ran his fingers through his hair, straightening out every strand. His face looked calm, unbothered, and neat there wasn’t even a trace of the fight he had just co out of earlier. It was almost like he had just co from a high-level board eting, not a dangerous confrontation.
However Cora stood beside him, dusting her blouse lightly and fixing her small bag on her shoulder. She also made sure her hair was in place as they waited near the pickup area for her father’s arrival. The breeze outside was soft, brushing past them gently as the crowd moved in and out of the terminal. Nothing looked out of place until Oliver suddenly reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled sothing out.
It was a small, black box.
Cora’s eyes widened imdiately. "Wait..." she blinked, staring at it like she was seeing things. "Where did you bring that from?"
She leaned closer, squinting slightly in disbelief. "That wasn’t with you earlier. I swear it wasn’t. So... where did you even get that from? And what is inside?"
At that mont, upon hearing what Cora just said, Oliver looked down at the small box in his hands. A soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he lifted his gaze back to her. With a calm and steady voice, he simply said, "Well... it’s a secret."
Imdiately Cora squinted a little, tilting her head in mock suspicion. "A secret?"
"Yes," Oliver nodded, gently slipping the box back into the inner pocket of his jacket. "It’s sothing I don’t want to tell you just yet. But don’t worry when the ti is right, you’ll definitely see what’s inside."
Cora narrowed her eyes, clearly not satisfied with that answer. She crossed her arms, trying her best to appear serious, even though the curiosity written all over her face betrayed her playful side. "So you’re just going to stand there and act mysterious? Really?"
Oliver gave her a light shrug. "Absolutely. So surprises are better kept... until the right mont."
Cora scoffed lightly, but she couldn’t hide the amused grin that was forming on her lips. She stared at his jacket for another second or two before sighing in defeat. "Fine. But at least tell one thing was that a gift for my dad?"
Oliver paused for a brief second. Then, he nodded slowly. "Yes... it’s a gift."
The mont he said that, Cora burst into laughter.
"Wait, wait, wait... you’re giving my dad a gift?" she repeated in disbelief, still laughing. "You’re serious?"
Oliver raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by her reaction.
"Why? What’s so funny about that?"
Cora tried to catch her breath, but the more she thought about it, the more she laughed. "Oliver... my dad? You can’t just give him a gift. He’s not that kind of person."
Oliver looked intrigued. "Not that kind of person? What do you an?"
Cora leaned in a little, lowering her voice as if telling him a secret. "He’s picky. Very, very picky. And I an, super strange. He doesn’t like people gifting him things because his standards are ridiculously high. I’ve seen him return half a million dollar Rolex before because he said the leather strap wasn’t ’worthy of his wrist.’ Can you imagine?"
Oliver chuckled under his breath. "Well, that sounds like a challenge."
"No, it’s more than that," Cora said, still half-laughing. "He won’t even let anyone buy him birthday presents. One ti, I tried to gift him a vintage tie that literally cost a fortune. He said it was ’uninspired.’ Uninspired, Oliver!"
Oliver shook his head, laughing softly now. "Uninspired...? Wow."
"So," Cora continued, folding her arms again and raising her brow, "good luck trying to impress that man. It’s almost impossible."
But to her surprise, Oliver simply smiled confidently, this ti.
"Well then," he said slowly, adjusting his jacket and patting the hidden box inside, "it seems like my gift is going to be the very first one your father will actually like... and appreciate."
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