CHAPTER 120: – FIX IT –

[I’ve recruited about three now, Boss. When can you look at them and hold an interview]

"Ah, tomorrow," Viviana said, hurrying on her feet towards her apartment. She held heavy stacks of documents while dragging her bag along. "I’ll have time tomorrow. Oh yes, I have one more person in mind to get. Though I don’t think she’s ever done any model things before. Then again, I’ll have to see what she has to say."

[Alright, boss]

The call ended, and Viviana pressed her palm against the door. The light buzzed as it recognized her, the lock clicking open. She stepped inside, only to frown as she felt something amiss.

Some of her things...were missing.

Wait, what?

’Did someone break into my apartment?’

The documents slipped off her hands and she hurried over to her bedroom to the drawer. Yanking it open, and skipped though the saved documents, sighing in relief when she saw that they were complete and perfectly fine.

"Oh for heaven’s sake." She stormed over to her walk-in closet, stopping when she saw that not even a piece of her clothes were in there. "What the..."

Her gaze dragged over to the bed. There was a little note lying there. She picked it up.

"Nikolas!"

— My lady, I know you must be freaking out. Relax, the culprit was me, Nikolas. And it’s not that I broke in, alright. Some of your maids came around, I spoke to them and they let me in. Told them I was your handsome husband, showed them proof too, a bit of our freaky messages from this morning, and they let me in. Wonderful isn’t it? By now, I know your face must be twitching because you’re pissed off, but that’s okay. Just know your things are up here in the king’s ensuite. I decided to save you the hassle,

Sincerely,

Your handsome Huband—

Viviana’s mouth twitched and she slowly turned, marching out of the door to head to the elevator. She went straight to the hundredth floor and before she could even ring the door bell, the door system read her frame, before pushing open, letting her in.

She cocked a brow.

Huh? She’d never added herself to this door. Why did it just read her print—

"Nikolas..."

She took a deep breath and stepped inside, making her way towards the living room where she stopped to yell his name. "Nikolas! Get out here right now..." The rests of her words died in her throat as her gaze landed on the big pair of blue eyes staring up at her.

"Aunty, what did uncle Niko do?"

"Hi..." Her face curled in an awkward smile. "He uh...he did nothing."

"Really? But that’s how my mommy calls my daddy when he’s in trouble." Lucia giggled, shaking her head as she walked over to the sofa on her barefoot, her teddy bear clutched tight against her chest.

Viviana blinked. The girl was so adorable.

She approached her and squatted in front of her. "What is your name again?"

"I won’t tell you."

"Why?"

"You broke your promise," Lucia said, blinking her eyes.

Viviana was a bit stunned for a moment. ’Promise? What promise?’ But then it clicked in. Oh, she never had the tea party she’d promised this child two months ago. Her face immediately grew apologetic. "I’m sorry."

Lucia pursed her lips.

"Won’t you forgive me."

No response.

"Does this perhaps mean I’m cursed now?"

Lucia finally shook her head. "No. I told the witch not to curse you. I like you. And uncle Niko likes you too."

"You... You like me?"

"Uh huh."

Viviana’s face melted. "You’re so cute. I like you too."

Lucia’s face finally grew into a smile. "Then, will you not break our promise this time?"

"I promise. I must have a tea party with you and it shall be my top priority."

She giggled softly, before leaning in to whisper, "Are you looking for uncle Niko?"

"Yes. Where is he?"

"Inside. He told me he was having a meeting. Work."

"Ah, I see. Well, give me a second. I’ll be back."

"Okay!"

Arriving at the bedroom, Viviana pushed the door open, coming to a stop at Nikolas who was seated at the table, in a simple pair of white knitted sweater and a loose pant.

A large screen monitor was right in front of him, mounted on the wall and it looked like a zoom meeting. There were many workers in the conference room, including one she recognized.

Wasn’t that...

’Sabrina’

[Sir—]

Nikolas’s eyes narrowed at the screen. "Walk me through this bullshit again. How is it that after two weeks, the numbers still don’t align with the projections I gave you?"

One of them cleared her throat. "We—uh, we tried adjusting the budget allocation, but the vendors pushed back, so—"

"So, you let the vendors dictate the project?" he cut in, staring directly at the finance manager. "Tell me when have we ever done things like that? You didn’t even tell me about it before you decided to go ahead with it. What were you thinking?"

Silence.

Elio was the one who spoke this time around. "Sir, we thought if we stalled a bit, it would buy us time to negotiate a better deal."

Nikolas leaned forward, voice dropping lower. "And instead you’ve stalled the entire project. Do you realize what that costs us? What that costs me? Every delay pushes back, and every pushback loses us clients.

They all shifted uncomfortably on the screen. Nikolas wasn’t the type who easily got pissed. But this time around, they knew they fucked up. And none of them could look him in the eyes. Heaven help them keep their job.

"Fix it," Nikolas said firmly. "Restructure the budget, finalize the vendors, and get this back on track. No more excuses, and I want a full update on my desk tomorrow, Elio."

"Yes, sir." Elio nodded, rapidly.

He ended the call, his jaw tight with frustration. He tossed the fountain pen on the desk, turning, only to notice Viviana who stood with folded arms against the door, watching him.