CHAPTER 88: – A MESS –

Viviana stared at the girl who seemed to be in her early twenties. She was all smiles, dark skinned with curly hairs that were left in a cute bun.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Rosetta," the girl responded, brown eyes twinkling.

"Rosetta..." Viviana repeated the name. She wasn’t sure why she’d just thought of her mother. She smiled at the girl. "May I ask your age?"

"Twenty one."

"Mhm, I see." Viviana nodded, jotting down on the book she held. She asked, "Have you modeled for any company before?"

The girl’s face fell, and she slowly shook her head. "Not really." She added before Viviana could say a word, balling her fists on the table. "I know how this looks and you probably think I’m inexperienced , but I promise, I’m good...I mean, I think I am. If you’ll...give me the chance to show you."

Viviana blinked at her. "Is that so?"

Rosetta rapidly nodded.

"Then show me."

She quickly pulled away with a smile, heading backwards until she was way over across the office at the door. Viviana watched her intently with crossed arms, and so did Dawn who stood next to her.

She’d been the one to recruit the girl, because she looked perfect. And her walk... She grinned over to Viviana, knowing she hadn’t made a mistake bringing the girl.

Viviana watched quietly—at the girl, at her work, and the first work that she could think of was... Perfect. Just exactly as Dawn had thought.

Rosetta swallowed after, blinking her large eyes at them. "W-what do you think?"

Vivaian smiled. "Put down your contact. We’ll call you."

Rosetta was optimistic. They said they would call, it wasn’t rejection. She just had to be patient and wait.

Having put down her contact, she left with a wide smile, closing the door behind her.

Viviana rested back against her chair, her eyes drifting over to Dawn who was grinning at her. "What?"

"She’s perfect isn’t she?"

She didn’t disagree, nodding.

"We’re hiring her, right?" Dawn asked.

"Why wouldn’t we? She was almost flawless. I’ll leave it to you to contact her later and—"

The phone on her desk vibrated and she picked it up. Looking at the screen she saw it was Sabrina calling.

"Dawn, contact her later when you can. She’s hired," Viviana said, rising to her feet. She approached the floor length window of her office to stare out, the phone brought close to her ear.

"Sabrina?" She tossed off the little thread on her blue striped suit, answering.

[We need to talk] Sabrina spoke hurriedly on the other side of the phone.

Viviana raised a brow. "I’m at work, Sabri—"

[It’s almost Six p.m already, Viviana, shouldn’t you already be getting out of work by now?]

"Well yes, but today is rather—"

[Viviana, this is important]

"Important?"

[Yes, it concerns your husband Nikolas Bastiani. I’ve found out what you wanted to know, and no, it is not something we can talk about on the phone. So come here, and let’s talk]

Vivaian’s heart skipped a beat. She felt a bit nauseated, but swallowed down the lump in her throat, asking, "Where are you?"

...

Nikolas walked out of the meeting room, his board members separating into their respective offices.

"Boss."

He turned his head.

Elio, who’d walked out, handed a tablet to him. "The CCTV footage you requested."

Nikolas took it, and as he walked to his office, he played the video. A woman was patrolling outside. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. It was rather the fact that this woman looked familiar.

Where had he seen her before?

The memory was vague, but he was sure that he’d met her before.

Nikolas shut the door of his office. The woman had run off to hide when his car pulled up into the parking lot of his company. She’d taken out a camera and she was...taking pictures of him.

His brows wrinkled into a frown.

Who was this woman?

The way she’d already been there before he arrived, it was as if she’d expected him.

Does she know him? And if she does, why...

WAIT!

Nikolas tossed the tablet onto the sofa.

This woman. His mind travelled back to that day at the wedding. The person—the ring bearer for Viviana. It was this woman. What was her name...?

"Sabrina," he muttered.

This woman was a friend to Viviana. And clearly from this footage, she knew who he was. That meant...Viviana was surely to find out soon.

Nikolas’s pupils shrunk to pin size.

There was no avoiding this. He knew, and he’d wanted to find the perfect time to tell her himself. To think...

He pinched between his brows, lowering his face in defeat.

No, he had to tell Viviana himself. He has to let her know himself, before she does. If not...

"Fuck! Fuck!" Nikolas snatched his coat, wearing it as he rushed out of his office, hurrying out to leave the company. "This is a mess. Dammit!"

----

Viviana stared at the pastry shop in front of her. She took a deep breath, pushing the glass door open to step inside.

Sabrina was already at one of the seats with a sliced cake in her plate and a cup of hot chocolate. She approached her, raising a brow.

"You might develop a sweet tooth, Sabrina," she said with a smile as she sat down.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. She’d always been the one who loved sweet stuff between the both of them. Although as surprising as it seemed, Viviana was the foodie.

"You looked happy," Viviana commented.

"Hell, yes. I’ve got sweet stuff for you."

"Tell me then. And it better be important. You made me cancel an appointment I had."

Sabrina smirked at her. "Trust me, this is worth it." She dropped the desert spoon and fished into her bag for a stack of photos. Dropping them on the table, she urged with a nod.

Viviana reluctantly picked up a single picture and lowered her gaze to the content. Her lashes flickered.