07: FERRARI

[PAST]

Wang Xiu slaps Li Jun's face as hard as she can. Her face flushes with anger over what Li Jun claims her to be. She breathes heavily and exhales forcefully the air that came into her nose. The short puffs make her heart rapidly beat like drums screaming for war. The loud sound of her heart is deafening and nauseating. Wang Xiu opens the door and starts walking on the street back to the mansion.

"Wang Xiu?? Where are you going???" Li Jun shouts at the woman hastily walking at the side of the road.

When Li Jun's Ferrari passes by, Wang Xiu immediately waves her hand to make the car stop. She knocks on the door hard and asks the driver to come out. Hesitating to open the door, the driver pulls the bulletproof window glass down to ask the woman about her cousin but Wang Xiu reaches for the car's door lock and opens it from the inside. When the door opens, she pulls the man's necktie to force him out of the car and gets inside fast.

Li Jun follows Wang Xiu and sees his Ferrari at the side of the road. He sees what Wang Xiu did to his bodyguard and starts to run to stop the woman but before he could reach the car, it begins to move fast almost hitting him on the side.

The dust that the car created is all that remains from what Li Jun can see. He's worried about what Wang Xiu will do after he made his cousin angry.

π - π - π

OLIVIA HART

There are only two hours of flight from Seoul to this city yet the tall blonde woman appears to be tired from her flight. The security entering the new country is exceedingly tight compared to other places the woman has been. She has to open all her baggage and take out her laptop into pieces. From the battery, electric cables, and Bluetooth gadgets. Then the hand-carry bags are examined. Her phones, money, coins, makeup, lipstick, and USB sticks, and wallet. They are thorough in everything and very efficient. The lines going to the immigration is long as the officers make sure the visa and passport are authentic. Although the woman hates all the waiting, she feels safe with the high security that the airport displays.

The city has one of the largest airports in the world and the woman would have loved to see more of the place but her ringing phone means the car that will pick her up is already waiting outside the terminal. The woman plops her expensive square-shaped oversized sunglasses on and walks towards the exit tugging her luggage with one hand and her expensive leather purse in the other.

At the gate, she sees a man in a black suit carrying a signboard that says "Olivia Hart". She approaches the man and shows her passport to prove she is the one they are waiting for. The man nods his head once he sees the name of the woman and helps carry the luggage into the car parked in front of the terminal. Before going inside the car, the woman breathes in the new air of the city. 

It's not her first time setting foot at this place. She lived here before when she was young and naive. Desperate to escape the poverty she experiences from her country and family, she chose to work here illegally with a not respectable work with easy money.

And here she is, back again in this country.

New people to meet and new lives to destroy because of money. What an unfortunate city this will be, Olivia thought.

She is called by her boss for another work and that means only one thing. The company he wants has a stubborn CEO that needs a lesson they will regret. Elric Exelon is not someone who will give up easily. When the man has a vision, he makes it real.

A phone call disrupts her thoughts. The name Mr. Exelon flashes on the screen of the phone. She immediately answers it with a single tap and quickly hears the voice of the man from the other side.

"Mischa, where are you now?" The man shortly asks without any greeting.

"I'm in the car on the way to a hotel." The woman answers. Only her boss, Elric Exelon calls her by her real name, Mischa, when no one is around but to everyone, her name is Olivia Hart. 

CEO of Heart Homes, Olivia Hart, is born and raised in America with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Financial Management at Harvard. She speaks five different languages, including Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, French, and Russian. Beautiful and intelligent, she has been one of the faces of female CEO in the world but unlike others who make a name at the top, she remained low profile for her boss for one good reason. All her money came from the deep pocket of Elric Exelon.

Olivia Hart is nothing without the man. For one, it's not her real name, but a made-up one after she adopted a new life under Elric Exelon's wings, who financed her college course and business. The man is like a mentor and an older brother to her. And she never says "no" to Elric's order.

Olivia became the unknown right hand of Elric even before college. She helps him spy on sons and daughters of CEOs that Elric's company has an eye on. Unethical yet strategic, that's what Elric has taught him. Reaching the top matters not the way you climb it.

"We need to meet. What time are you going to reach your hotel?" The man asks, his anxious voice is apparent by his urgent words.

"About two hours, I just got off the terminal and we haven't passed the Bird's Nest yet," Olivia replies looking at the road to check for the large arena that was specifically made for the Olympics competition that was held in the city.

"Okay. Meet me at the Bulgarian Hotel in three hours." Elric Exelon answers and drops the call without waiting for the woman's answer.

Olivia feels curious at the man's anxiousness. She knows the man exceedingly well and he's not the kind of person who gets intimidated easily by anyone, even the Macau incident did not stop her boss to find a way to make business inside.

The car passes by the Olympic size stadium. They call it the Bird's nest because of how it looks. An oval shape with an intricate design of little sticks coming out of it like little twigs of trees that birds gather for their nest. The city boasts of its magnificence and it's not her first time stepping into this city.

After an hour, Olivia reaches her hotel in the city. One of the good things about having money is the luxury it provides. From branded dresses, bags, and perfume to the luxury hotel's rooms she stays over whenever she has an assignment with her boss. 

Olivia stays at the Peninsular Hotel, after checking in her room she immediately went to get a shower and change her clothes. She only has another hour to meet Elric Exelon and the man always wants her to be presentable.

After putting on a black dress and her stiletto shoes, Olivia calls the reception to ask for a taxi to take her to the Bulgarian Hotel. She still has thirty minutes before the allotted time and she doesn't want to be late.

At the reception, Olivia waits for the taxi to come, the staff has informed her that they are having a hard time getting one. The city has evolved into a rented car system where an app can be used to get a ride anytime, anywhere and taxis are now beginning to be obsolete.

"Do you have service cars?" Olivia asks with a stern voice, she starts to feel irritated by the hotel's incapability to accommodate her.

"Where are you going?" A woman's voice asks her from across the reception's table. 

The woman has long black hair, shiny and straight, parted on the middle of her head, forming a widow's peak and giving the woman a noticeable heart-shaped face. Her eyebrows are thick, lined perfectly over her almond-shaped eyes. The woman exerts elegance standing tall at five feet and six inches plus heels leaning over the long slab at the receptionist table.

"I have a meeting in fifteen minutes," Olivia replies, not answering where she is going. The woman is a stranger in a hotel and she learns not to acquaint herself easily.

"I have a car just parked outside. If you want a ride, I can take you wherever you want." The woman offers, she gets her card from the reception and waits for Olivia to answer.

Olivia gazed at the woman, who smiles charmingly at her and offers to take her wherever she wants. The clock is ticking and she knows Elric doesn't like her being late. She took a deep breath and nodded her head to accept the woman's proposal.

"Where are you heading to?" The woman asks as they walk side by side at the lobby to reach the entrance of the hotel where the car awaits them outside. The woman handed the card to the valet to get her keys from the man waiting for them.

"Bulgarian Hotel." Olivia answers. She peers at the car in front of her. A blue Ferrari and it's the latest model.

Olivia walked to get to the other door but before she could get hold of the handle, the woman already opened the door for her.

"Thank you," Olivia mutters and quickly goes inside the passenger seat.

The woman paces back to the other door to get inside the driver's seat and quickly starts the engine. The fast acceleration of the car pulls Olivia back to her seat that surprised her and made her hand grasp for something to hold onto. Unknowingly she clasps on the woman's hand holding the gear and begins to flush her cheek when she realizes her sudden mistake.

"Sorry," Olivia says and quickly takes her hand away. The woman glances at her and smiles then goes back to focus on driving on the main road.

For ten minutes of driving, the time seems to move slowly between them. Olivia didn't turn to gaze at the driver who sent her to the hotel with still five minutes to spare.

"Thank you," Olivia says while she unfastened her seat belt.

"Your welcome." The woman replies gazing at her with a wide smile.

Olivia opens the door to the passenger side and hops out of the car, before she shuts the car door, she bows down to get the woman's attention.

"What's your name?" Olivia inquires peering down at the woman sitting on the driver seat of the car.

"Zhang… Zhang Wang Xiu." The woman answers and winks. Olivia replies with a smile and shut the door of the Ferrari.

The car's loud engine fills the entrance of the hotel but it's not the reason why Olivia looks stunned by the luxury car that brought her there.

Zhang Wang Xiu is her next victim and Elric Exelon has told her before leaving Seoul. The plan is to befriend the woman to gain her trust then sabotage the company so the man can take over.