Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Enver took care of the complaints in his shop while I went to a friend who owns a detective agency. And to be honest, I am not sure if I can convince that one to help me since I know that he is also mad at me.

“Ahm, Miss…” I called the receptionist as soon as I reached the floor where my friend’s office was.

She looked at me and smiled. “Hi, ma’am. How may I help you?”

“Ahm…” I cleared my throat. “I don’t have an appointment but I was wondering if I may speak with Mister Lainz. Just tell him my name.” I put my business card in front of her and she immediately took it.

“He doesn’t have anything to do as of this moment but I am not sure if he will entertain you,” she said. “He told me earlier not to disturb him. But I will try.” She took the phone and called the office. And after some time, she looked at me while still in the line. “Ma’am, Mister Lainz said he doesn’t know anyone named Milan Escuero.”

I sighed. I am not sure if he is teasing me or if he just doesn't want to face me.

I took out an old business card and handed it to the receptionist. “Please tell him this name.”

“Oh.” She turned her attention to the phone again. “Sir, it is Milan Escuero-Andrius.” Her eyes widened and just looked at the phone in her hand. “Ma’am, I don’t think he wants to talk to you.”

“He dropped the call?”

She nodded. “As soon as I said your whole name. I am sorry.”

I sighed again. “No, it is okay. Thank you.” I took back the card that I gave to her.

Well, I expected this to happen since I understand why that man doesn’t want to talk to me. He is never really a fan of leaving someone behind without even saying goodbye.

He really hates that.

So I am not surprised if he is still mad at me. At least, I tried to go here and tell him that I am finally back.

I was about to go to the elevator when Lainze suddenly appeared in front of me.

He was covered in sweat, and breathing hard as if he ran his way here as soon as possible. “It is really you.”

“Ahm, yeah,” I said. “I gave my business card to your receptionist so you will know that I am here, right?”

“It is really you, Andrius!”

I frowned when he called me that but I didn’t stop him from hugging me. “Yeah, Lainz. Long time no see.”

“Where the hell have you been?” He let go of the hug.

“As if you don’t know.” I rolled my eyes at him but he just chuckled.

He is a detective after all, so I know that he is updated on everything that has happened in my life even though I did everything just to stay hidden.

“Anyway, let’s go to my office.” He turned to his receptionist. “Mina…”

“Sir?” Mina immediately stood up.

“Cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day,” he said. “And please, make sure that Nieve will not enter my office, okay?”

“Copy, sir.”

Lainz pulled me towards his office.

“Nieve still not leave you alone until now?” I said when he mentioned the name of a woman who courted him for almost a decade now.

“I don’t know what to do to that woman anymore,” he said. “You know that I will not like a woman who keeps chasing a guy. I already told her that and warned her to stop doing everything because I will never like her. But that woman is a hard-headed one.”

Nieve is one of Ferry’s cousins that I know. We often see each other at Ferry’s house whenever I visited there before but we are not close. Just a simple hi and nod.

And I know that she is head-over-heels to this man.

“I still don’t understand why she loves you that much.” I chuckled. “It has been a decade, huh.”

We reached his office and that is when he let go of my hand.

“So?” He looked at me. “What are you doing here?”

I smiled and tapped his shoulder. “This is nothing new, Lainz. You know that there is only one reason why I come here to your office.”

He stared at me and shook his head. He then sat in his swivel chair. “So? You are really working under your husband’s company.”

“Ex-husband!” I corrected him. “And yes, I am working at Raiden but it is just temporary. Now, I am here to ask for a favor.” I took out the paper that contains the names of the people that Enver pointed to earlier. “Please look for some information about these people?”

He took the paper and read it. “Anything in particular?”

“Their connection to Enver’s father,” I said. “Or their connection to other car companies or dealers around the country.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “That is an easy job.” He kept the paper and looked at me. “I will send you the result tomorrow.”

I was stunned. I didn’t expect that he would take the job that easily. I thought he would make me beg for forgiveness first before he took this job.

“What?” He raised his eyebrows at me. “I am not like Rew and the others who act like children and pretend to be mad at you just because you didn’t say goodbye when you left. So, don’t be surprised just because I accepted it immediately.”

I scratched my head. “Am I that obvious?”

He didn’t answer me and just shook his head. “Let’s change the topic and have a little catch-up with your life,” he said. “When are you going to introduce us to your kid?”

I am not surprised that he knew about Millie. He is a detective, after all.

Lainz was once a detective who serves the public. He handles big cases together with the police force but I don’t know his reason for quitting the job and building his own agency.

But even in this agency, he chooses what cases he will accept. He only handles small cases and he is more active when it comes to information gathering.

He is also Rew’s friend but ever since he quit public service, he also stopped hanging out with the others even though they keep inviting them.

“Not yet, Lainz,” I said. “I don’t want to put my daughter into a situation that will surely crush her heart. Especially Enver doesn’t even have any idea about her.”

“And you have a plan on introducing them to each other, right?”

“Of course!” I immediately answered. “I just want to make sure that they will not take my daughter away from me when they learn about her.”

“You know the law, right?” he said. “They cannot take your daughter from you, especially when she is still below ten years old.”

“Yes, they can,” I said. “If they do it using their money and influence.”

“Which do you also have,” he insisted.

I shook my head. “I only have influence but it is not that big compared to what they have,” I said. “And I also don’t have money.”

He frowned. “What do you mean? I am sure—”

I am saving that money to ensure Millie’s future,” I said before he could even finish his sentence. “I still have another option to make sure that they will not be able to take her away from me so I can’t just spend that money.”

In our country’s law, when a married couple files for divorce and they have a child less than ten years old, the custody of the child is automatically granted to the mother’s side.

Well, not unless the father will file a case and prove that the mother can’t support the needs of the child. That is when the court will grant custody to the father.

And how can I fight someone who has his own company and they are already famous in their choice of the industry? I am only a small business owner.

It has good income but it cannot compare to the income that the company owned by Andrius can generate in just one day.

He sighed and threw an envelope at me. “You shouldn’t overthink all the things around you, Milan. Have some fun once in a while.”

I took out the contents of the envelope and saw a ticket to a famous amusement park in the city. “Are you giving this for free?”

He nodded. “It was just a present from one of my clients. I don’t have time for that so you can use that together with your daughter.”

“Are you serious?”

This ticket is not that easy to obtain from that amusement park because they only allowed a limited guest inside the facility. And they are doing this to avoid creating such a crowd in the place and to make sure that everyone will enjoy their rides without getting in a long line.

“That is not my kind of thing, Milan,” he said. “Just take it. And give me a precise schedule for when I can visit your place so that I can introduce your daughter to my nieces.”

It might not look at him but he really likes kids. He is the eldest of eight siblings and he took care of them when they were still young. And when his siblings wanted to have some time with their spouse alone, they left their kids with him.

So, all of his nieces and nephews are too close to him.

And he kinda treats me like a sister so he must meet my daughter too.

“Then, I will just text you when you can visit my place.” I put the envelope in my bag and stood up. “And send the bill to Raiden. Enver is the one who will pay for your service and not me, okay?”

“Before you go…” He spoke again right after I opened the door, which made me turn to him again. “...Are you really sure that you are not Mrs. Andrius anymore?”

I didn’t hesitate to nod. “Ferry finalized the papers when I filed them so I am no longer Mrs. Milan Andrius. I am just Miss Milan Escuero.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “I am just making sure since Castiel didn't write anything about Enver being a divorcee.”

I didn’t say anything and just left his office. I still have to go to Raiden’s shop to see what is happening there.