The final pawn

Laila had gotten her answer and after teasing her friend a bit, she returned home where she ran into Noah by the door. He playfully said, "Fancy meeting you here", before dipping her ever so slightly and planting a kiss on her lips. He then lifted her back up and showed her a cheeky smile, while Laila let out a chuckle in return. As the door was opened, Laila said with a laugh still hidden in her voice, "I swear, it is a good thing you weren't this smooth when we were younger, because you would have been far too popular and I wouldn't have been able to claim you as mine like I did."

Noah wasn't disappointed at that compliment at all and with cocky look on his face said, "As long as you know it, honey. As long as you know it. I saved all of this for you." He then made a very unbefitting dance move, as if he were Michael Jackson in one of his music videos. Laila tried to have an unimpressed look on her face, bordering on disgust. But the moment Noah made that silly attempt at a dance move out of his league, followed by him locking eyes with her, Laila's mask was broken and she burst out into laughter. Then she said, "Never mind. I take it back. If you followed it up with any of that, I am sure it would have sent them back running again." Noah responded with a "Hey!", as if he were offended by what Laila had said, but the trace of a chuckle in his voice, proved otherwise.

Once they were inside, they were informed that dinner was ready and could be served whenever they wanted to eat, before informing about how things were currently with Olivia and the man she was involved with. A lot of staff members felt quite guilty at how things had gone and blamed themselves for not being there to help Laila and Maria when that man came to attack them. Some of the staff had even given them the information that had pointed them in the right direction. So, they were as much involved in matters as anyone else. Noah gave them a short update and after a quick glance at Laila, told them that they would like to be served right away as they were both quite hungry.

At the dinner table Laila told him about today's events and Maria's answer to her proposal. When Noah heard the reason for her rejection, he was quite impressed with Maria's resolve. He knew it couldn't have been easy to say no to Laila and for her to have a dream like that, was something he hadn't quite expected. It confirmed for him that his friend had chosen well in who he wanted as his future spouse, although he would most likely never admit that to either of them.

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The day came and went and so did the next, during which both Max and Steve did their utmost to prevent anything from happening to Olivia during her bail hearing. Now the time had come and everyone was on high alert. Including Olivia herself who was convinced that she had wronged Harold somehow and that he would get back at her sooner rather than later.

With shivering hands she, along with her father, made their way to court to hear whether the prosecution had found enough evidence to deny them bail. Her mother would be meeting them at the courthouse. She had been an absolute wreck since all of this happened, which wasn't too big of a surprise considering her whole life had been turned upside down in a matter of days.

Guarded by four officers, Olivia and her father were escorted into the van that would be taking them to the courthouse. There, they would be met with two extra private guards, provided by I.E.. With six people protecting her, and the presence of press having been denied for fear that someone might abuse that authority to get close to Olivia, no one predicted that anything could happen to her. But Harold proved, that where there is a will, there is a way.

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After taking a deep breath, Olivia stepped out of the armored police van and walked towards the large building in front of her, where her fate would soon be sealed. With each step she took, she looked around her, to look if she saw anything or anyone suspicious. But in the eyes of someone fearing for their lives, everything and everyone seems suspect. Her heart was racing and she tried to increase her speed, to get to safety faster, but by looking around her, she wasn't paying as much attention in front of her as she should. Because although press had been forbidden from gathering in front of the courthouse, they couldn't be banned in the area surrounding the courthouse, nor the street across from it.

While the eyes of some of the officers were directed at the group of journalists and news casters, and Olivia was looking anywhere and everywhere, a group of passersby walked towards her. They were to be playing and goofing around. Then they pretended to get into a fight, turning the eyes of two more of her guards in a different direction than where Olivia was walking. In that moment, in a split second, another person came out of nowhere it seemed and suddenly pulled out a knife on Olivia. The two remaining guards jumped on the guy.

Thinking they had caught whoever was posing danger, all the guards rushed to apprehend the group that had created the diversion and the man with the knife. With the guards distracted, and while Olivia was standing still, startled from what had just almost happened, the final pawn in this play had free reign. He made use of the chaos and approached Olivia from the other side...