Chapter 33

Third person P.O.V The short needle of the clock ticks to three, the sun shines through open balcony door at the living room. Aiden seated on the couch with her hands clasped in front further from her spread knees, Riley beside her seated with his legs crossed, their eyes fixed on Blake who is seated on the single sofa working with the laptop, Lisa sitting on the inside arm of the couch. 'Here it is," Blake moves the laptop screen to the opposite direction, the photo of Aiden and an image of Riley's edited photo on the list of guest who are invited for the shareholder party. Aiden visited Chloe few days back for a reason, one to challenge him and two, to leave the button recorder. She attached it underneath Chloe's large table. Every word spoken in that room are heard by the two partners. The shareholder meeting was over successfully, the plan of expanding the business, construction of his dream building and launching the new production which will have a high profit is supported by the shareholders. 'What's the plan?," Blake asks placing the laptop on the short table and looks at Aiden and Riley. 'Aiden and I will arrive at the venue before Chloe," Riley moves forward, his hands working on movement along with his mouth 'The guest invitation which you hacked is Mr and Mrs. Edison, they will hail a taxi to travel so you be the driver and take them somewhere, we will change the pen drive of the presentation of Chloe," 'And?," Blake asks. 'And when they switch on the projector the video of Chloe's deeds will play," he claps and moves further forward 'The best part is Aiden has informed the reporters to be there," he stands and looks at Aiden 'Lets crush down our enemy," he lifts his arm to the center 'Come on," he announces. Blake and Lisa jumps forward, they place their hands over Riley's, Aiden gets up from the couch and keeps her hand on the top. 'We are the best," Riley shouts and drops his hand. 'Is that slogan suitable for the situation?," Aiden rolls her eyes and sits back. 'Of course," Lisa says 'Whatever he says it's correct," she grins wide. 'Is it appropriate to tell that in front of your boyfriend?," Blake raises his brows at her in amusement. Aiden wanders to the balcony while Riley enjoys the scene. 'Why not?," she crosses her arms over her chest and looks up at Blake 'Riley is always the best," she commands. 'I thought you love me," Blake pouts. 'I do," 'Then do you love him?," he points at Riley. 'I love him too," she steps forward closer to Blake and snakes her thin arms around his waist 'But you're unrivaled " she utters in a low voice looking up at him, her chin rested on his chest. A loud dramatic sigh leaves Riley's lips which is ignored by the lovey-dovey couple, he lets out a another loud sigh and walks to the balcony. 'Something on your mind?," His voice comes out low, he stands behind Aiden and slips his hands around her, hugging her backwards. Aiden's body freezes her grip on the railing tightens, the upper lid of her eyes makes a subtle move upwards, a gentle smile forms when he places his chin on her shoulder, his touch makes her heart race. 'What are you thinking?," Riley asks again after a wait of silence. 'Nothing," she exhales 'I still cannot believe it's Chloe," she says, her heart unresisting the thought of him as an enemy 'He was a complete different person in my view, even after knowing that he is behind the death of Mr. Mintz and others one part of me is anticipating for his repentance, I feel ashamed" 'Hey," he removes his arms off her body and steps next to her, Aiden turns to her right facing him ' You don't have to be ashamed," he puts his left arm on her shoulders 'I'm hesitant to tell this but you know..," he rubs the back of his neck 'Your friendship was indeed pure," he looks straight at the scorching sky 'Maybe only you are aware of his other side and maybe that side is not fake," he remains silent for a moment and continues 'If you don't want to do this to Chloe, you can step aside" 'No!" she exhales 'Even though he was my friend, what he did is wrong," she presses her mouth to a flat line 'He should be punished… He killed your dad and many other people for his business, he is the reason why dad is behind bars" she turns to her right 'You are reliable sometimes," she hits the railings of the balcony 'You are very good at words ' 'Isn't is great?" Riley chuckles 'I'm good at words and you are not," he jumps, he literally jumps and spins around enthusiastically like a kid 'We are match made in heaven," he clasps his hands and flutters his eyelids, like butterfly 'We are meant to be together, it's destiny," he looks up at the bright sky and closes his eyes, Aiden rolls her eyes when he continues to speak in a poetic way 'We are destined, you are my half and I'm yours, we are the best couple in this world, No! In this universe," 'Don't we look unmatched together?," Aiden scoffs. Riley opens his eyes and looks down at her 'No, we don't ," he shakes his head 'Didn't you say that we should not mind what others object," he says. She licks her upper lip and nods, her eyes fixed on him, lifting her arm she shows him a thumbs up, she clicks her tongue and winks. The hailed taxi stops by the hotel, Blake looks around, wearing a black cap he walks to the car and knocks on the closed tinted window by the driver's seat. He clears his throat when the shutter rolls down. Blake bends and asks 'Are you waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Edison?" 'Yes," the driver answers 'Why?," 'Actually… Um," he stands straight and pinches the bridge of his nose looking around, he takes some money from his pocket and puts his hand in the car 'They aren't coming, so you can leave," he steps behind when the driver takes the cash 'Sorry for the inconvenience caused," he apologizes, staying in position till the car leaves. Automatic sliding doors part, the middle aged couple, Mr. and Mrs. Edison exits the hotel and wait by the pillared entrance. Blake's car drives in the scene, he gets out the car and opens the door for them to get in. His task was simpler than what he expected. Two men in tuxedo stands at the either side of the wooden door, banner of Aim's group hung at the wall. Aiden pulls the edge if her brown blazer, the cappuccino brown suit matching well with the three piece suit worn by Riley. 'We got this!," Riley lifts his hand, he shows a thumbs up squeezing his left eye, the left corner of his lips dragged up, he clicks his tongue and wears a medical mask as he doubts that the guards will know his face therefore the image of him in the guest list is an edited photo of him with his only original eyes. They walk to the main hall. Aiden holds her phone forward in mid air, the screen displays the duplicate invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Edison, the two men exchange glances, one of them nods and the other begin to check the guest list, he gazes at Aiden from top to bottom. 'Sir, may you please remove your mask?," The man requests Riley sniffs and fakes a cough he continuously coughs making it sound real, perhaps he is a drama king. Aiden turns her to the left, she watches Riley with raised brows and slightly parted lips 'Oh honey," he utters as he places his hand on Aiden's left shoulder 'I need to sit," he says suffocated, She clears her throat and faces the man 'I'm sorry, he is having a flu am the doctor told that it's contagious," she says, her tone dry as usual like reading a dialogue from a script. 'Very contagious," Riley nods, he coughs, coughs and coughs 'If you are fine with it the I can remove it," he touches the top layer of his mask. 'No!," the man orders, he passes a glance at the other man and nods 'you can wait in," he lets them in. The gigantic rich hall is arranged with white clothed circular tables and chairs. One table with four chairs around, one dearness bottle of wine on every table, the stadium straight from the door, the podium at the left and large white wall in display for the projector to flash video. Riley and Aiden take their seat on the front row table, they wait casually till the doors are closed. Shut! Aiden stands the very next second, she hurries to the table by the podium and unplugs the pen drive from the open laptop, she replaces it with the one in her hand, both identical. Aiden scurries back to her seat when the door creeks open, she casually faces Riley and begins a conversation out of nowhere. The empty seats remained in the hall fills, as the guests wait till the event starts, the two odd ones in the room anxious. 'Come on," Aiden whispers and stands. Every pair of eyes present looks at them as the event will start in five minutes and they are the only people who stood. Riley touches the edge of his mask biting his lips nervously, Aiden grasps his wrist and they turn around. The pair of brown eyes widens in horror, the pair of black eyes make no movement when the door opens. Chloe in purple suit enters followed by Kevin, everyone stands. Riley's feet roots on the spot, his mind producing the noise of a heart rate machine. Chloe walks in, the pair of ice orbs looking around every corner, in a fraction of second before the blue eyes fall on the front table Aiden spins around and drags Riley, hiding themselves behind every person who are standing they make their way to the exit successfully. After a talk of thirty minutes, Chloe turns to his left and blinks at Kevin who is standing by the table where the laptop is placed. Kevin plays the video, the presentation made by Chloe. Fancy bulbs switch off when the projector light travels straight to the large wall. The video begins. The room fills with gasps and some of them off their seats with enlarged eyes. Chloe furrows his brows and turns around, his body freezes, his eyes widens in horror when he is welcomed by the surprise. An image of news regarding the strange death if Millan's family, the cctv record video of the house burning plays, the case reports of the murders he committed revealing his criminality. He stands still, everything around him mutes as only the sound of his heart beat echoes in his ears, droplet of sweat beads rising on his forehead, his eyes red. His jaw clenches when Catherine in Russia, Chloe's younger sister speaks about her parents and him, big tears roll down her fair cheeks as she spills out everything about him and how he killed her parents. Catherine knew that he was evil but she never uttered a word to the police because she was afraid of him back then, moreover they were not very close. He shuts his eyes for a minute and lets out the breath which was holding in within his realization, he opens his eyes and turns to his right, veins throb on his neck as he keeps a wide stance. Slam! Before he keeps another step ahead the door slammed open, the group of people rushing to the stadium with cameras and mics. 'Reporters?," a mere whisper leaves his lips in astonishment.