Chapter 11 I have to

Rider's eyes scanned the photos spread out on his office desk with a gloomy expression. His assistant,stood opposite him, feeling a sense of loss.

"When was this taken" Rider growled, his voice low and menacing.

The assistant hesitated before answering. "It was the day we where supposed to meet miss Sofia for the meeting, sir." The assistant said attentively while looking down on his shoes.

Rider's gaze zeroed in on one particular photo. Sophia, the kids, her sister, and a nameless man, seeing their expression where full of smiles and they seemed to be laughing together. Rider's face darkened with anger.

He slammed his fist on the desk, making the assistant jump with flight."How dare she play me for a fool!!" Rider seethed.

The assistant took a step back, trying to calm him down. "Sir, maybe we should—"

Rider cut him off, his voice icy. "Get Sophia on the phone. Now."

The assistant quickly dialed Sophia's number and handed the phone to Rider. He snatched it from his hand, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Sophia," Rider spat into the phone. "I need to talk to you."

There was a pause before Sophia's voice cold voice came through the line. " Mr Rider, I'm busy right now. If this is not about business then it can wait "

Rider's anger boiled over. "Busy!! Hehehe Sofia how dare you have the guts to tell me that you're busy"

Sophia frowned on the other side making her tone even colder and impatient before answering. " Then I guess it's not business, Mr Rider have good day. " Then she directly hungs up the phone.

Seeing the disconnected phone call.

Rider's eyes where almost spilling fire"

The line went dead, and Rider's face twisted in rage. He slammed the phone down on the desk, making the poor assistant jump again in flight.

"Find out who that man is," Rider snarled at the assistant. "And get me everything you can on him."

" No! find him and drag him here,you have two hours."

" Now SRAM!!"

The assistant nodded hastily and scurried out of the office, leaving Rider to seethe in anger.

....

Melissa's eyes sparkled with excitement as she turned to Mia, Emily, and Andrew. "Wait, wait, I have an idea. Have you heard about that new car showroom that just opened up near the city center"

Mia raised an eyebrow. "The one that specializes in vintage cars?"

Melissa nodded enthusiastically. "That's the one! I've been dying to check it out. And I thought, why not make a day of it? We could all go together and take a look."

Emily's face lit up. "That sounds like so much fun! I'm in."

Seeing that everyone wants to go.

Andrew grinned slightly. "Then count me in too, maybe I can have a car to my collection."

The three girlfriends high-fived and started talking about what kind of cars of interestMelissa pulled out her phone to check the showroom's hours and availability.

.....

Meanwhile with the siblings.....

Aurora pulled Lucas and Ella aside, concern etched on her face. "what's wrong? You two look like you've lost your money through lottery."

Lucas and Ella exchanged a gloomy glance before Lucas spoke up. "It's just... we received an invitation from from Aunt Victoria and Uncle James."

Aurora's expression turned wary. "What did they want?"

Ella hesitated before answering. "They told us to tell you that... that you need to form a corporation and secure a project with Omnicorp Corporation."

Aurora's eyes narrowed. "And what's this supposed to do with me isn't this Charlotte job "

Lucas's voice was laced with bitterness. "They said that if you do this, you'll be promoted to general manager of the Russell Group."

Aurora's expression turned skeptical. "That's quite a promise. But I'm not buying it." Aurora expression turned cold" so this position is for their daughter,no."

Ella nodded in agreement. "We know, Aurora. We've seen this trick before. They've been using it on you for years, just taking advantage of us."

Lucas's voice was filled with frustration. "Even low-level employees have been promoted, but not you. It's like they're just stringing you along."

Aurora's eyes flashed with anger. "I know exactly what they're doing. And I'm not going to fall for it again."

Ella's voice was barely above a whisper. "Aurora, there's something else. Aunt Victoria and Uncle James said that if you don't agree to form the corporation and secure the project with Omnicorp, they could settle scores with mom about that dept we have with them..... within three days."

Aurora's eyes widened in alarm. "What?"

Lucas nodded in agreement. "Sister they said that if you don't comply, there will be consequences but sister I think we need to get away from them."

Aurora's face set in determination. "Fine. I'll go to Omnicorp and see what I can do but I'm not promising anything."

Aurora sighed, glancing out the window at the late afternoon sun. "I'd better get going. I don't want any entanglement after this."

Lucas frowned. "Sis it's such a hot day today are you sure you want to go now?"

Aurora nodded, already heading for the door. "I have to,you and Ella can go back to school. "