Olivia saw her stepfather entering the restaurant with some of his partners, all trying to get into his good books. Since she'd gotten married, she hadn't heard anything from her so-called family, including her stepfather — the only person her mother had left her in the care of before she died.
They hadn't even called to check whether she was still alive. Now she watched him walk into a restaurant with other bootlickers. Though the Romans family couldn't be compared to the Bradfords in terms of social class, ever since her marriage, the Romans family had been enjoying a lot of new business privileges, which had made their family name skyrocket — and a lot of people were now trying to make use of that advantage to get close to them.
Olivia still remembered she wasn't even meant to be the one marrying the second Bradford. That was supposed to be her stepsister, until her stepsister threw a tantrum about committing suicide if she were forced to marry "an imbecile." And, being the doting mother she was, Olivia's stepmother had pushed the marriage onto Olivia instead — and her greedy stepfather had gladly agreed.
Not wanting to keep dwelling on the past, Olivia headed toward the private room Tommie had directed her to over the phone. On her way, she noticed someone beside her stepfather whispering something in his ear. Ignoring them, she kept walking — until she heard the man's voice.
"Olivia, stop right there," her stepfather, August Romans, shouted.
Turning around, Olivia stared at the man who'd abandoned her for wealth and felt nothing. If not for the promise she'd made to her mother, she would have long since disowned him and sought revenge, even if it cost her her life.
"Why are you glaring at me like that? Everything I did was for your own good. Aren't you living in wealth now?" August said.
"Well, I should thank you, then — for selling your daughter and not even checking up on her after the sale," Olivia said sarcastically.
"Is that how you talk to your father?" August exclaimed angrily.
"Stepfather, I'm so sorry if that sounded rude, but I was just being honest. I'd love to thank you for the exchange — at least I'm living in wealth now," Olivia sneered. The man should be grateful to her mother; otherwise, he wouldn't have a shred of dignity left to show.
After finishing her statement, Olivia continued walking toward the private room.
It looked as though August might spit blood at any moment, he was so angry. He'd helped that girl climb into the upper echelons of society, and she was this ungrateful toward him. He'd even agreed to let her marry into the Bradford family instead of her younger sister, and she was still ungrateful. If he'd known this would happen, he would've forced his younger daughter into the marriage instead.
With a cold expression, August headed to his own private room, ignoring those trying to fawn over him.
As soon as Olivia entered the room, her friends could tell something was off, from the look on her face.
"You good, Oli?" Tommie asked, as soon as Olivia took her seat.
"I'm good. I just had an encounter with someone I didn't want to meet," Olivia responded, picking up a glass of water.
"Who was that?" Issa asked.
"My stepfather," she replied shortly, staring out the window.
"Don't let your mood get ruined over someone like that. He isn't worth it," Sophia said, patting Olivia's shoulder, trying to console her.
"I know… what are we having for dinner?" Olivia picked up the menu and checked what was available that evening.
"Issa already ordered a large plate of crab and some other seafood, but you can check if you want to add anything," Tommie said.
"Since Issa already ordered, I don't need to add anything else — she's a glutton and always knows the best thing to order," Sophia said, smiling, which made everyone laugh except Isabelle, who pouted cutely, feigning anger.
Not long after, the dishes they'd ordered were served, along with two bottles of wine they'd requested minutes earlier.
They immediately dug in once the food was placed on the table. This restaurant deserved an award for its seafood, all of them agreed as they ate to their satisfaction. Even though the food was expensive, it was definitely worth the price.
After the meal, the girls opened the wine and began filling their glasses, one after another.
"Cheers to Olivia getting married," Sophia said, downing a glass in one gulp, which the others followed.
"Cheers to us reaching our final year and almost finishing it," Issa said, leading the second round of toasts.
"Cheers to Tommie's mother getting better," Olivia said, leading the third.
"Cheers to Olivia finally seeing her mysterious husband," Tommie said. At this point, all the girls were already tipsy, except Tommie, who stayed sober. She was surprised they'd ordered alcoholic wine, even though they all knew none of them could handle more than two glasses.
The girls kept finding things to toast to until they'd finished both bottles of wine. They wanted to order more, but Tommie stopped them, already feeling a slight headache coming on.
Leaving the restaurant with three tipsy friends in tow, Tommie looked helpless. The other two were heading back to college, but Olivia wasn't. Tommie helped her book a private car back to the Bradford mansion, since no random taxi would be allowed anywhere near the Bradfords' residential area.
Once the car arrived, Tommie helped Olivia inside and waited until it pulled away before turning to the other two girls, gathering them into her arms.
Olivia felt like she was floating on clouds after the wine. She loved the feeling — a surge of adrenaline rushing through her. As soon as the car reached the Bradford mansion, Olivia climbed out sloppily and excitedly, heading toward the house. But if she'd known what she was about to face, she would never have gotten out of that car. She would have begged Tommie to take her back to college instead.