Chapter 65: All Of Them

“Ding dong!” The doorbell in Natalia’s house sounded and Leah ran towards the door even before Celine could get there.

“Leah, don’t run, you might fall!” Celine called cautiously but the little girl waited eagerly by the door with her eyes bright.

“Are you expecting a guest Mommy?” She asked expectantly.

What if their Mommy had changed her mind, what if she had finally called their father.

Leah looked towards the door hopefully, her round blue eyes shining with anticipation but when the doors opened, the person she saw made that anticipation slowly vanish.

That wasn’t right, this is not the person she saw on Leo’s ipad last night.

The man standing outside the door had large round glasses on, and he was dressed in a yellow and black uniform.

By the time Celine turned to see if Leah was still next to her, she realized the spot by her side was empty. Sighing, she shook her head wondering what Leah might have run after her for.

“Hello, here’s a delivery for Miss Jacobs.” The deliveryman said politely.

Celine received the package on Natalia’s behalf, thanked the deliveryman and took in Natalia’s package.

Her appointment was in less than thirty minutes, so Celine couldn’t stay much longer. She left the kids in Natalia’s care and went out sometime later.

Driving through the familiar roads of Neville reminded her of the past, the familiarity of being home was certainly a fresh air to breathe.

It took her less than twenty minutes to arrive at the parking space of Veridian, a branch in a popular multi-chain restaurant in Neville.

Nestled at the apex of Aurora Towers, Veridian lived up to it’s name. Celine stepped into the glass elevator that immediately took her to the highest floors of Aurora Towers, the doors of the elevator opened to the beautiful entrance of Veridian.

The entire restaurant was curated in beautiful shades of green and gold, from the lush velvet moss walls to the gilded ornaments on the incredibly high glass ceilings that looked like a long vault.

The tables looked like islands of white linens and crystals, spaced for privacy, the air humming with the sweet scents of lavender and luxury, there was a soft tune playing in the background, giving the restaurant a very relaxed feel.

Celine sat at the corner table with her back to the panoramic views and immediately the person she was supposed to meet arrived just a few seconds later. It was good that she had been on time.

“Crystal? I’m Gregory Vance.” The man who sat across from her looked friendly and warm, his smile was professional and awed at the same time. His gaze lingering on her until he realized it was a bit rude to stare.

“Please, call me Celine.” She extended a hand forward for a shake and Gregory took her hand in his enthusiastically.

“I must say, I’m very honored to be sitting here with you right now.” The man gushed.

Celine gave a quiet polite smile, “If you don’t mind, can you please keep my identity as Crystal quiet? Over here I’m only known as Celine Roberts.”

Gregory looked stunned slightly.

The name Crystal wasn’t just respected in Westwood, it was adored. It was a name that had covered up the sullied name Celine Roberts, but Celine hadn’t adopted that identity to throw away her own.

“Why? If people knew you were Crystal, this entire restaurant would be flooded not just by the media but every aristocrat in this city, you’re well sought out worldwide Miss Roberts.” Gregory couldn’t understand why she would want to keep her identity hidden, most people would flaunt it, use it to stand at the very top of the world.

“I have my reasons.” Celine said softly.

It was just that…she wanted to clean the name Celine Roberts, and for that she would have to face a hidden past adversary who had targeted and ruined her image. There was no use baring all her cards to the enemy.

Gregory nodded, not wanting to overstep. “As you wish Miss Roberts.”

As he said that, he brought out a bunch of files he had prepared beforehand.

Celine’s eyes drifted off to a large screen displayed in the middle of the city, a billboard that showed slides of a familiar face.

The face was that of a beautiful woman, each smile, each glance at the camera effectively practiced and alluring.

“Long time no see.” It was a quiet whisper as Gregory went on and on about the number of properties she’d requested but Celine’s eyes remained fixed on the billboard.

-Lilian Roberts, the face of Evergreen.-

The billboard displayed these words along with Lilian’s pictures.

’…I will make sure to surpass you in every way…’ Celine recalled that vow Lilian had made right to her face five years ago and she shook her head as if she’d heard a joke then turned to focus her attention to Gregory.

“This is property number five, it’s located in Southside, this Is also one of the most valuable properties owned by Silverline Realty. As for what you specially requested, I can’t exactly pick out which is the most valued property for Silverline, all five of these bring in millions in revenue for the company and Silverline would never ever risk losing any one of these. But I would strongly recommend property number one, it’s your best bet.”

“Mr Vance.” Celine began.

“Please, call me Greg.” He quickly corrected. Right now he was sitting across from the popular Crystal, how could he have her continue speaking formally to him?

“Greg, I don’t know if Natalia told you, but I have a very high vision.”

Gregory narrowed his eyes subtly. He knew the purpose of why he was here with Celine today.

Natalia had clearly told him, they wanted Silverline Realty’s top most valuable properties, the ones they held in great importance and would never want to lose. As a real estate company, their properties were their greatest priorities, so Gregory knew tampering with things like their properties, and their most valued ones at that was a destructive move, but as a trusted friend of Natalia’s and someone with a very strong foothold in the real estate field, the moment he’d heard he would be working with Crystal, Gregory had gone all in.

“How big is this vision of yours miss Roberts?” Gregory asked out of curiosity. He couldn’t have anticipated that the smirk which lifted Celine’s luscious lips meant anything as remotely shocking as what she said next.

“I want all five of them.”

It took Gregory several seconds before he recovered from his shock, his eyes blinking twice before he exclaimed. “All of them?”

“All of them.” Celine confirmed.

It was high time she said a little hello to her family, she had walked away five years ago but she most certainly never forgave them.

Gregory stuttered a few times before he began listing the costs of Celine’s plans and how difficult it was going to be to snatch all five properties out of Silverline Realty’s grasp.

Celine’s gaze suddenly snagged to the elevators which suddenly opened up with a sharp urgency. Countless men dressed in black uniforms filed into Veridian forming two straight lines protectively. It made Celine wonder if the president himself were here to have such exaggerated protection, but her eyes soon widened a second later when she sighted the sharp profile of a regal looking man being protected by all these guards.

The man’s charcoal black suit felt like a sharp blade against the soft greens of the room, his stoic expression was one of detached focus. With eyes like a storm, a familiar golden hazel that she saw everyday in her son, and hair as black as onyx a familiar shade she saw whenever she ran a brush through her daughter’s hair.

Celine’s breath suddenly hitched, a tiny involuntary catch in her throat.

Five years hadn’t left a single mark on the man, instead it seemed five years made him even more formidable, even more handsome, even more cold.

It was him… Tristan Grayson!

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