Claire sighed, her eyes falling on the man seated next to her in the backseat of the car, cradling her daughter who was sleeping. She had no choice but to let Oliver take them home since Thalia had dozed off while in his office. The car's interior was quiet and it was moving slowly despite there not being any traffic due to Oliver asking the driver to drive carefully and not make any noise. He didn't want to wake Thalia up. Claire's heart was filled with warmth at the scene. Despite her hatred and anger towards Oliver, she loved how he treated Thalia well. Suddenly, the weight of what she had discovered in the files she was going through made her heart thump with guilt- guilt of keeping the information to herself instead of reporting it. Guilt of being glad that the Fords were being betrayed by someone they trusted. Her father had trusted them too, but they stabbed him in the back when he was least expecting... After hours of investigating, Claire discovered a discrepancy

“Are you hungry?” Oliver asked Claire the moment he keyed in his pincode at the door to his penthouse. Claire frowned, still trying to recover from having spent a good thirty minutes in the backseat of the car with Oliver as his driver and assistant drove them to the Ford complex apartment building. She was forced to sit next to him since Thomas decided to be in the passenger's seat. The ride was uncomfortable for her and the space felt too small. Oliver’s musky cologne overwhelmed her senses, and she was very aware of his eyes that never left her frame from the time they started off from the company. A spark of confusion coursed through her, she couldn't understand why she was affected by Oliver's presence. She had moved on, right? Hearing his question, Claire thought it was a bad idea to sit and eat with him in his house as if they were on a dinner date. She shook her head and replied, “No, I’m not hungry. I’m here to work, not eat.” “Well, I’m hungry and I can’t focus on

Silence fell upon them after Thalia’s question. After a few seconds, Claire cleared her throat and scolded, “Thalia, don’t ask Mr Ford such things.” “I don’t mind… if Thalia wants me to be her father, it means she’s seen something likeable about me,” Oliver smirked. “Didn’t you sleep at Uncle Oliver’s house, Mommy?” Thalia asked, looking at her mother. “My friend's parents sleep together, so Uncle Oliver is now my Daddy if you slept together.” Thomas who was listening to the conversation choked on his saliva and coughed really hard, drawing the attention of the little girl. “Do you have a cold? Too bad, you should go to the clinic,” Thalia said, forgetting about what she had been saying. “Thank you for your concern, Young miss…” Thomas replied and then trailed when he felt a cold chill run down his spine. He could feel his boss’ glare on the back of his head. ‘Oh no… did I mess up?’ He mused. Meanwhile, Oliver glared at his assistant coldly because he interrupted Thalia’

"Do you hate me that much?" Oliver asked in a low voice, looking at her with so many emotions swirling in his eyes. Her words cut him, the pain making the lump in his throat painful to swallow. It was always one step ahead and two steps back with her... he thought she was finally warming up to him and ready to give him a second chance. "Isn't it obvious, Mr Ford? I can't stand being close to you... your presence reminds me of the pain you made me go through, so yes, I hate you," Claire replied, her words cutting through Oliver like a knife cuts through better. Oliver ignored Claire's harsh words. He took in a deep breath and asked gently, "Will you give me a second chance, Claire? I'll prove to you that I'm the man you need. Someone you can rely on... I'll protect you with my life. I promise I'll never hurt you again... Claire, I lo-" "Please stop... I'm not in the mood to hear your speech right now. Leave my office, Mr Ford," Claire hissed, her heart pounding at the words Olive

Claire couldn't fathom the stinging pain in her heart. Her dinner date with Wesley went well. His jokes and flirting made her forget her problems for a moment. For once, it felt good to not think about revenge or how she was still affected by Oliver's presence. She had wanted to introduce Wesley to Thalia but, unfortunately, she had already fallen asleep by the time she returned home. It was in the morning when Katherine woke Claire up with an urgency to her tone. "Claire, Claire, wake up. You have to see this!" "What is it, Mom? Is the world ending?" Claire groaned, her eyes feeling heavy as she tried to squint them open. "I wish it was... that man you seem to fail to move on from is just playing you. Look, he was with his real lover last night." Claire's stomach plummeted at those words. She sat up straight and reached for her mother's phone, the loud pounding of her heart deafening to her ears. A sharp sting of pain shot through her heart and her eyes blurred with tear