Chapter 9: Freaking Creep

Lulu's POV.

I'd barely been here for three hours but I was already feeling like I was on top of the world.

Cameras followed me everywhere and reporters were forcing their way to shove their microphone in my face.

Enzo had just announced that I was part of the Armani family and that I was also the CEO and that seemed to make me become the next viral topic!

In my own life, I always wondered what it felt like to be important, rich and popular. And now that I was living that wish, I found it a little amusing.

The attention was crazy and the questions were bizarre and a little provoking.

“Hi, CEO Ivelle, how does it feel being the heir to such a huge conglomerate without Jasver in your life?”

I stared at the reporter with a disgusting look on my face.

“Ivelle, do you think the situation surrounding your divorce would have changed if Jasver knew you were wealthy?”

That questioned made me smirk, of course he would. Hell, I was sure that wherever he was right now, he'd have heard the news and would be unable to take it.

Enzo must have noticed that I was getting tired of the questions so he ordered his bodyguards to create a space between me and the reporters.

“Thank you all for coming in today but I have a lot of things to handle right now. Good day,” I dismissed them with a smile as I turned into the passageway that led to my office.

Pride filled my insides as I walked, my mind still replaying the scenes over and over again.

The moment I got to my office, I slammed the door behind me, heaving a sigh of relief. Gosh, being in front of so many people could be fucking exhausting.

Enzo was still outside and I was guessing he was issuing out instructions to the workers to make things easy for me.

Just then, my phone started vibrating, buzz after buzz, drawing my attention. I lifted the device to my eye level and my eyes widened when I stared at the notification.

Jasver Chadwick's supposedly dependent ex–wife transforms into the CEO of the Armani Conglomerates, now overseeing a number of companies.

Attached to the post was a picture from when I was in the hall, watching Enzo announce me as the CEO.

Comments were flooding the post in numbers. I barely got to finish reading one before the next one appeared.

A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips, I loved how Ivelle no longer identified as a dependent woman.

She was now self sufficient.

I lowered my phone but it continued vibrating. I thought to ignore it because I still needed to understand the way chain if companies worked. So far, I was at the most profitable company which was the Armani Tech company for gadgets.

I hadn't been to the food processing company or the cloth making company.

Gosh, there was just so much to do.

As I got busy with reading through the files for each company, my phone started ringing with chirpy noises.

My brows twitched, that only happened when I was getting messages.

I picked the phone and the messages in my dm kept increasing by the second.

Ivelle, you're such a pretty lady. You need someone who's strong and hot to be by your side.

I always knew you had it in your sweetie, I'm here for you whenever you need.

Would you like to go on a date? All expenses covered. I could buy out the whole restaurant if you want.

Having such a beautiful face and managing such a huge business? Hats off to you queen. I just had to drop this here.

I'd really love it if you can make it to my hotel opening. It'd be nice to have a successful woman congratulating me.

The compliments and invitations kept on increasing and that made my insides flutter with curiosity.

Was there a chance that one of these men was the one who'd sent me the gifts yesterday? I mean, they would have texted me by now.

The thought of that made me stare at my screen a little longer and as more compliments flooded my screen, none seemed to give a hint about the gift.

What if Jasver was really the sender?

I brushed that off immediately, realising that it was Jasver Chadwick I was talking about. The man barely knew how to make Ivelle feel appreciated when they were married, he wouldn't suddenly become so thoughtful after the divorce.

I scrolled through my messages, hoping to find the mysterious admirer identifying himself, or taking credit for the gift.

But I didn't find anything.

“Why am I even bothered? He would text me himself whenever he's ready,” I muttered, losing the desire to chase him.

After all, I had other things to attend to other than playing miss detective over a random gift basket. With that, I returned my gaze to my laptop.

I was just about to start typing when the system hovered above me, flickering red.

CRITICAL PLOT DEVIATION DETECTED.

UNWRITTEN STORYLINE DETECTED.

Unexpected plot direction: Host is exposed to fame and new threats may arise.

It kept flickering red while I stared with so much confusion.

It seemed to me like this system was just against good stuff happening to me because what the hell?

How was my exposure to fame a problem?

“Open system menu!” I demanded in a harsh tone.

“Opening system menu..” a mechanical voice beamed from the blue screen.

“Host's recent actions have triggered an unauthorized deviation from the original storyline,” the mechanical voice explained.

“Oh my goodness. What's that supposed to cause now? An earthquake? Cause every damn time I do something–”

“By stepping into a powerful public position and building an independent identity, host has moved further away from the storyline which is designed to punish Jasver Chadwick.” The robotic voice cut me off with its explanation.

“Are you kidding me? This is even an opportunity for me to punish him even more!” I fired back but the system just switched back to flickering red.

“I haven't even done anything wrong. Unlike your robotic ass, I'm making smarter decisions here!” I snapped, already feeling irritated.

“Deviation from the storyline attracts consequences and when host's rebellion points get to zero, host will be eliminated.”

My heart skipped a beat the moment I heard that. As much as I wanted the power and fame, I didn't want to be eliminated just yet.

“What consequences are we talking about?”

“Deviation from the storyline attracts consequences and when host's rebellion points get to zero, host will be eliminated,” the system reiterated.

“Damnit,” I cussed under my breath, slamming a palm down my face.

“Okay breathe. You've got this,” I said to myself as I tried to calm my nerves.

“System, what am I supposed to do now?”

The system turned blue.

Initiating New Rebellion Task.

Confrontation With Main Characters: Jasver Chadwick and Liora.

That was all that appeared on the blue screen before it disappeared.

My jaws ticked as I recalled my last alteration with Jasver. How did that not count?

I had so many things to attend to and now I had to figure out how to confront the main characters together with it?

Damnit.

I swallowed hard as confusion overwhelmed me. On the one hand, I wanted to ignore the system and just move on with my life. But at the same time, I couldn't afford my rebellion points going lower than they already were.

I was just going to find a way to obey the system while making sure it didn't control every single decision I made.

With that, I returned my focus to my work and then my phone resumed its vibration. I'd planned to ignore it but I picked it up, I needed something to get my mind off the system’s warnings.

Just then, a text popped up from an unknown number.

I hoped you received my gift. I knew it'd be something you'd like.

I blinked back, immediately realising that the texter must be the one who sent the gift. My fingers swiftly moved over my screen.

“Who are you? And why did you send me the gift?”

The message ticked twice. But the anonymous texted didn't respond.

Curiosity stirred strong in me and I just laid back on my executive chair, staring at my screen as if that would make his reply appear.

I had a lot of questions for him. First, how did he know the things Ivelle liked? Secondly, how did he know my address?

Thirdly, why had he chosen to stay anonymous despite gifting me something so thoughtful and nice?

The more I stared at the screen, the more questions popped in my mind. When I couldn't take it any longer, I dropped the phone on the desk.

There was no need wanting answers to all my questions right now.

I would still find out eventually.

For now, I had a chain of companies to worry about and a system threatening my life. I still had to find a balance between my decisions and the system's orders.