Chapter 3

"Congratulations, Mrs Collins. You got the job."

"I did"

"Yes, my secretary will give you the document containing details of our contract which you will sign. You are to report at the house this evening. Your duties begin tomorrow, you will live in the house and supervise other workers. Sunday is your day off unless stated otherwise. Do you understand?"

"I do sir"

"Good! A maid, Miss Gluck will receive you and give you a basic rundown of everything. My secretary will meet you outside my office. Don't give me a reason to regret hiring you"

"I won't sir"

"You're dismissed" she stood and left his office. He sighed in relief, he had finally gotten a housekeeper replacement. His parents had gotten one last week. It seemed this week was off to a good start. His phone rang, it was his lawyer, maybe he spoke too soon.

"Mr Milbourne, it appears we have an issue regarding one of the properties" Curtis, his lawyer stated.

"Which property?"

"The merger involving your ex-wife" Oliver sat up. "In the merger contract, a certain 'Auxton Oaks' was transferred to the Milbourne name. The termination clause clearly lists out which properties would be returned to the Jacksons and which would be retained by the Milbourne but this Auxton Oaks is nowhere to be found in the clause."

"Have you discussed this with her lawyer?"

"I did. He has informed her."

"I would like to speak to her personally" Oliver quipped. The gears in his mind were turning.

"I would speak to her lawyer to arrange a meeting."

"I want this meeting as informal as possible. We were married afterall." Oliver ended the call.

Finally, the opportunity he had been waiting for was served to him on a platter. The nagging voices in his head would be at ease. He would see Claire, ask about her welfare, they discuss about the property and that would be the end of it. He would never see her again. He wondered if he should support her in anyway, they didn't have a child together, so there was no need for settlement. Their contract made room for child support following a divorce but support for her was not included. He knew that cos he had read it until he knew most of it by heart.

He had never spent a night with her, he had never kissed her. He has always been loyal to Ayana but deep down, he wondered what she tasted like. She had wonderful pair of lips, they formed a certain shape whenever she frowned. She frowned whenever she made dinner and he didn't eat it. She didn't like wasting food. He wondered how she would look like without her clothes, how she would feel in his arms. He looked at the engagement ring on his finger. He was getting married to Ayana, he should not be fantasizing about his ex-wife.

He would simply have a meeting with her and that would be the end. Ayana didn't have to know about this meeting, afterall she was busy planning a wedding.

"Move the table a little more to the left. No!your other left."

"Don't use that shade of blue there. Use the lighter shade" Claire groaned in exasperation. She was organizing the decoration of the hall for the launch. She could have simply hired an event planner for this which she did. But her planner fell sick and she didn't have time to find another one on short notice.

"Hey beautiful" Hunter kissed her cheek handing her a bottle of water.

"I don't feel beautiful at this moment. I'm sweating and fatigued" she gulped some water before handing the bottle back to him.

"True but who hasn't been there" she glanced at him. He was calm but he's always been calm about everything.Despite all the planning they were doing together, he looked better than her in appearance. With his height of 6'2, broad shoulders and fitted Armani suit, he was exuding total confidence.

She on the other hand was sweating in her white shirt and sneakers despite the conditioning due to activity she was engaged in. Hunter looked more like the C.E.O than she did.

She appreciated his help in running her company while she organized the launch. He had always been a good friend to her back in high school till now as business partners. They went to different 

college but they were still in contact with each other. He wasn't happy when she got married but he kept the secret to himself. He was her only friend who knew about her marriage though he didn't know the full details. 

"Okay, we will have a catalogue of our current products included in the brochure. There will be stands here, here and....Hunter you're not listening" she said noticing his eyes were elsewhere.

"I'm sorry but....who is that man?" She followed his eyes and gasped in shock.

"I believe that man is my ex-husband." It seemed time was frozen for a moment as their eyes met.

"What?" Hunter spat. The moment was gone.

**

She looked beautiful. Standing there in a plain white tee, jeans and sneakers, her ponytail bouncing with every movement she made. She gave orders and they were carried out. He was impressed. He was so busy admiring her he didn't notice the obnoxious man standing beside her until the man caught him staring. He seemed to notice Oliver at first glance cos he said something to Claire which caused her to turn in his direction. For a moment, he felt a connection between them. That was until the obnoxious man said something causing her to look away. Oliver didn't like him.

He seized the opportunity and strode towards them.

"Good day" Where did that come from? He groaned mentally.

"Hi"

"I would like to speak with you" she glanced at the other man. "In private"

"I'll be right back" she said before leading Oliver outside to a corner which was quite empty. 

"What did you want to see me about?" Oliver realized he didn't think this far about their conversation.

"I heard you're the C.E.O of your own company now" he said 

"I heard you're getting married" she shot back. This wasn't how he planned this conversation to go. He didn't even plan it.

"My lawyer" he began "my lawyer told me about Auxton Oaks not being listed in the termination clause. What are we going to do about that?"

"My lawyer spoke to me about it the other day. I'm yet to discuss it with him. But you can retain it, I have no interest in that property" she really wanted to end the conversation. She felt awkward. This was their very first conversation. Years ago, she would have been thrilled to talk to him. Now she just wanted to leave.

"We need to get that in writing" Oliver knew she didn't want to continue the conversation and he had no idea what to say.

"Get your lawyer to prepare the document and send it to my lawyer so I can sign it." It was obvious she didn't want anything to do with him anymore and that stung his heart.

"Okay! Claire...."

"Claire, your phone is ringing" Hunter came out with a phone in his hand.

"Excuse me" Oliver watched as she took her phone, answered the call and went back inside. The obnoxious man narrowed his eyes at him before he went inside. Oliver refused to be intimidated. He didn't who that man was but he didn't like him around Claire.

In his car, Oliver relived the conversation. He wanted to speak with her some more, it seems she was doing well on her own. But he knew she would turn him down and evade any form of interaction with him. He picked up his phone and called Curtis, his lawyer.

"Get me everything I need to know about Auxton Oaks and...Hola Sips"

**

The day had started just fine with a clear weather but now it was raining cats and dogs. The automatic gates gave way as Claire drove in. She parked her car in front of the house. She had not gotten over Oliver's sudden visit yesterday. She never expected their paths to cross. She never thought they could have a conversation but he was actually talking to her.

Hunter was not pleased by his presence and insisted on knowing what they talked about. She told him it was property settlement following the divorce-which was the truth-but he felt there was a bigger motive behind his visit. She didn't know how true that was.

A valet stood beside her car with a big, black I umbrella. He shielded her from the rain as they walked to the front door.

"Thank you Joseph. Where is my dad?"

"He is upstairs in his study"

"Thank you" the valet bowed his head before leaving.

Of course her father would be in his study, that was his favourite room in the entire house. She had come to personally invite him to the launch, not that he would actually come. There relationship had been rocky ever since the divorce. She knew he felt bad about forcing her into marriage but he was also keeping his distance. She sighed before she knocked. She didn't wait for a response before entering. No one ever bothered her dad while he was in his study except her.

He was at the table reading some papers when she came in. He looked as she entered.

"Hello father"

"Claire? Claire how are you? Have a seat" he dropped the papers. "I didn't know you were coming here today. How was the drive, its raining heavily out there."

"I started before the rain began. I'm here to invite you to my Company's launch. Hola Sips is launching a new line of products and I would love it if you'd be there."

"Okay"

An awkward silence ensued.

"Oliver came to see me yesterday" she finally said.

"What did he want?" he asked in a gruff voice, he wasn't happy hearing that name.

"It seemed Auxton Oaks was listed in the merger but it wasn't specified what will happen to it following the divorce. I told him he can retain it."

"Auxton Oaks? I would very much like to have that property back."

"You do?"

"Yes that property matters a lot to me. I will talk to Claire about it."

"If you value that property so much, then why did you hand it over to them in the first place?"

"That property is worth a lot, I had to hand it over, I had plans of redeeming that property."

"You care so much about that property but you don't care about me. You never asked about my welfare, you never bothered to ask how I coped after the divorce" she clenched her fists in her laps.

"I do care about you but you were the one who created this distance between us. You stopped picking my calls, I had no idea."

"You never asked about me father, you never did"

"You never told me" he shot back. "I was not aware that you and Oliver had problems."

"If you knew, you would have encouraged me to make it work. I didn't plan to be married but I tried now look where it got all of us." With those words she stormed out of his study and left the house.

She was already crying when she got to her car. Why didn't he understand. She loved her father but she hoped he come to realize her worth and appreciate her instead of treating her the way he did. She cleaned her eyes and drove off. She had work to do.