Chapter 5 I Got The Damapol Project!

“Wait for me while I freshen up,” Derek exhaled as they walked inside the hotel.

Alicia nodded and took her seat. About three minutes later, the loud clacking of heels filled her ears.

“Alicia? What are you doing here? Who’s that man you were just with? Did you see me coming and ask him to run?”

That brash tone.

She had only known it for three months, but Alicia could never mistake it.

She tilted her head toward the voice, straightening when she saw Olivia walking toward her, her arm hooked around a man’s.

“Cousin Olivia.”

As she spoke, her eyes shifted to the man with her, her brows narrowing slightly.

Olivia had mentioned she was going out with Dimitri Scavo for the Damapol project. This had to be him.

As she connected the dots, Olivia noticed her gaze lingering on Dimitri and felt smug.

Right.

Her boyfriend was a good-looking man, and with the family he came from, Alicia had to be thinking of how much better her life would be if she had someone like him instead of Marcus.

Clearing her throat, she tugged Dimitri’s arm and introduced Alicia to him proudly, “Babe, this is Alicia—my cousin from the countryside.”

Dimitri didn’t spare Alicia a glance and simply sighed.

He was still eating when Olivia insisted they come down to the lounge for some reason.

Seeing the bored look on his face, Olivia laughed, not hiding her happiness that Alicia was snubbed.

“Oh, don’t take it to heart, cousin. Dimitri only acknowledges people worth knowing. You’ll be returning to the countryside soon, so it’s only natural he isn’t bothering.”

“Grandmother promised to return my inheritance if I bring in a top company’s project,” Alicia retorted calmly, frowning slightly.

Olivia hissed.

“Alicia, are you daft or just stupid? Dimitri is part of the Scavo family, and he’s already assured me his uncle loved my proposal.”

She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice with pride.

“His uncle doesn’t want it to look rigged, so he’ll delay the announcement for a few months before officially awarding it to the Hodge family.”

She then straightened, her nose high up in the air again.

“So I’m advising you now—pack your things and prepare to go back to the countryside because I’ll be the first to bring in a top company.”

“Dimitri really said all that?” A voice suddenly questioned from behind them.

It wasn’t familiar to Olivia, but Dimitri stiffened instantly, the hairs on the back of his neck rising.

Don Scavo stepped forward, coming to stand beside Alicia. His gaze drifted lazily over his nephew and the woman clinging to him.

Olivia scoffed, her eyes widening with both excitement and repulsion at the realization that he knew Olivia.

“Ha! You shameless skank. I knew you were with a man, but two? You sure like to have a lot of fun. Who is he? Did he promise you a project if you kissed his bald head?”

The next second…

SLAP.

The sound echoed.

Olivia’s head snapped to the side, her eyes widening as pain bloomed across her cheek.

“Dimitri…?”

“Shut up!” he snapped. “You’re embarrassing me!”

Alicia blinked, stunned.

“What did I do?” Olivia snapped back, clutching her cheek. “My cousin is sleeping with an old man, how is that embarrassing you? If anything, it’s an embarrassment to the Hodge fam…”

Dimitri didn’t let her finish and grabbed her by the collar.

“I said stop embarrassing me!”

Olivia froze.

Years with this man and this was the first time he had ever hit her.

Why was he reacting like this all of a sudden?

“If it’s embarrassing to me, then it’s embarrassing to you too! You should be slapping her, not me!”

But Dimitri didn’t even dare to look at Alicia as he feared his eyes would land on Don.

So he lowered his head stiffly, muttered a hurried apology, and backed away.

The Scavo family wasn’t one to court media attention, so most people didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes.

But he did.

His father was caught embezzling company funds and was stepping down.

Thus, one of his uncles was taking over.

And that uncle was Don. The same person who was overseeing the Damapol project.

If word got out in the Scavo family that he had been making reckless promises to his girlfriend using his name…

Just the thought of what would happen to him made his chest tighten.

Without another word, he shoved Olivia to the ground.

“This is over.”

He turned and walked away.

Sprawled on the floor, Olivia stared after him in disbelief before her gaze snapped toward Alicia and Don.

Rage then flooded her face.

“You bastard! What did you do to him? I’ll tear you apart!”

She charged forward, but security was faster.

They grabbed her before she could get close and dragged her out of the hotel as she screamed.

The moment she disappeared, the elevator behind Alicia opened.

Derek stepped out in a clean burgundy suit, his shirt slightly undone, looking just as composed as the day they registered their marriage.

“Husband, I have to go,” Alicia said quickly. “No one listened to me today, so I’ll try again tomorrow. Since it doesn’t seem like Olivia has secured the Damapol project, it’s a good thing I also submitted a résumé and business plan at Scavo Corp earlier today.”

Don choked on his own saliva.

“The… Damapol project? You want to project, ma’am?”

Alicia thought he was just being polite and chuckled. “Don, who doesn’t?”

It was just a casual remark from her, but the mark began sweating profusely under the cold lounge air.

As she began to walk away from them, Derek slipped a hand into his pocket and waved at her lazily.

“Bye, wife. See you tomorrow.”

As she left, Don Scavo took out his phone to make a call.

“Go through the footage from today, I’m looking for a woman who dropped off a résumé. Be quick.”

…

When Alicia got home, the entire family was gathered in the living room, fussing over Olivia’s swollen face.

“I can’t believe that animal got away with this.”

“Next time, memorize his plate number so your cousins can deal with him.”

“Because of that man, you couldn’t meet Dimitri today. And now he’s not even answering your calls—he must be furious.”

Andrea’s voice carried the most concern, not because she was worried about Olivia, but because what happened would bring delay to the Damapol project being awarded to them.

“It’s fine, grandmother,” Olivia said, faking a weak groan. “I’ll go see him tomorrow and explain everything.”

Thirty seconds after the room fell into silence, Marcus raised his eyes and noticed a family face standing beside a pillar.

“Olivia was almost run over, so why does it look like you’re standing there trying hard not to smile? Is this funny to you?”

What happened was extremely grievous for everyone, so when they heard him, their eyes shot toward the direction he was looking.

Indeed, Alicia’s lips were curved slightly as she peered into Olivia’s face intently, looking very amused.

Olivia’s eyes flickered and she quickly spoke up.

“Marcus, stop. Alicia spent the entire day pitching to top companies. She probably didn’t even realize she was smiling.”

Marcus scoffed.

“Oh, Olivia, you’re too kind. I know her. She’d smile at a funeral if something amused her. If she’s smiling now, it’s because she’s happy this happened to you.”

Olivia shifted in her seat, her unease growing.

The Hodge family only valued her because of Dimitri.

If there was even a hint that things had gone wrong…

“Shut up!” she snapped suddenly. “Unlike you, who’s done nothing but leech off this family, Alicia is actually doing something useful!”

Her chiding came as a surprise to everyone, but before she could say anything else, Alicia felt the phone in her pocket buzz and took it out to see a very surprising email.

“I got it? I got the Damapol Project!”