Beneath the Billionaire’s Mask

Just now, Olivia had returned home after spending time with Aiden, seeing the city, and tasting various cuisines. Her driver and bodyguard helped her maintain her composure more than before.

She was exhausted when she got to the apartment and only wanted to sleep. However, all that changed when she recalled the boy she had met the previous evening. Seth. She pondered whether he had found the jersey and the money she had left for him. She had completely lost track of him and prayed that Mr. Brown had not seen him sleeping in the storage this morning.

After removing her high heels, she changed into baggy sweatpants and a short-sleeved oversize T-shirt. After that, she pulled her hair back into a messy bun. She exited the apartment and went to the storage area, where she ran into Mr. Brown, who was locking the door. "Mr. Brown." Ms. Olivia greeted him in a commanding tone.

"Oh, Missy! What would a young lady like you be doing up here by yourself tonight?" The older man with gray hair inquired, looking bewildered in his face as he evaluated Olivia. Mr. Brown in his sixties and lived with his wife and grandchildren. He had been a building resident for over forty years, and the building owners decided to hire him as the caretaker because he was the only person who understood the location better than anybody else. He was very familiar with everyone who lived in the area and constantly patrolled the building to look for intruders. There was no need to be surprised that he did not recognize Olivia, even though she had visited the facility multiple times.

"I would ask the same question about you: What is an old man like you doing alone this night?" Olivia said. The elderly gentleman laughed in response to Olivia's mocking question.

"Oh my! Everyone is aware that I am not a typical elderly person. My name is Mr. Brown, and I am a highly regarded man within the community." "I am proud of that," Mr. Brown added, and Olivia laughed.

"Jesus, I must be blind!" With a stern smile, Olivia addressed the older man.

"I must say, you are one clever young girl! My wife informed me that she had seen someone leave the storage this morning, prompting me to conduct some patrolling. Anyway, I was doing some investigating. After some time had passed, I went to check on the storeroom, and to my surprise, the door was already open. I had supposed that it was one of her items." Mr. Brown continued his explanation, and Olivia narrowed her eyes at him.

"That does not mean there was someone in here; you could have forgotten to close the door," Olivia added, arching an eyebrow at him.

"No." The man shook his head. "Well, I forgot to lock the door last night, and I thought that perhaps it was age getting to my wife." He sighed, his features displaying signs of fatigue. "That was until I found this picture in here." In response, he handed her a small, rather ancient photograph. While he was frowning, Olivia snatched the photograph away from him. While she studied the photograph, Mr. Brown continued to remark, "These filthy kids are trouble; they run away from their homes, live in the streets, and bother other people, stealing everything they earned hard instead of going back to school."

This caused Olivia's head to shoot up, and she peered at the older man with penetrating eyes. "You are an old and grumpy man!" He could go without meals for several days because he was just a young lad. She said the words through her teeth, her face displaying signs of rage. "Did he steal anything from the storeroom since you say he's a thief?"

The man's body was shaking with anger as he asked, "Who the hell do you think you are to come here to insult me?" The man, trembling with anger, posed the question. "Are you aware that every single member of my family passed away in this building? This is the place where my mother and father first met. This is where I brought up my children!"

"Who am I?" Olivia let out a sour laugh and then moved one step before him. He had never seen someone as rude as her, and her behavior took Mr. Brown aback. He had noticed her rude behavior the moment she approached him just now, as well as a few other occasions when she had come to the building and passed by without greeting him. He had noted that she was not welcoming him. Given that she embodied everything that April was not, he couldn't help but question why his beloved April was spending time with a woman of her caliber. "I am the woman who can buy this entire stupid building, throw your family out in the streets, and demolish it." "It doesn't matter if this is the place where you met the President of the United States of America or where your wife went crazy," Olivia replied icily, causing the elderly man's face to turn white. If you fail to pray for the safety of the young child in the freezing weather tonight, I will reveal my identity. After speaking, she walked away, and Mr. Brown watched her while clearing his throat.

This woman had just told him that she would destroy his building and leave him without a place to live. Should she take that action, he would have to either restart his life or re-enter the workforce, a challenging task considering his lack of employment and reliance on his pension. Even though his children were successful, they had forgotten about him. Mr. Brown, feeling a great deal of sadness, opened the storage door and left it slightly ajar. In astonishment, he stared at the staircase Olivia used to ascend to the highest floor and shook his head.

Olivia reached the rooftop and stood at the very end. She stared at nothing in particular while crossing her arms across her chest. It was not her intention to be so rude to the elderly guy; nonetheless, when he talked, she had the impression that he was talking about her, and this caused her to become enraged. She had once escaped from her family and found herself living on the streets, a fact she intended to keep hidden from David. The reason she was in this predicament was that April had discovered her secret and was using it as a means of blackmailing her. An old article about children living on the streets of London was the motivating factor. April, much to her dismay, holds the photograph depicting Olivia. Even though April was threatening to tell David, Olivia was aware that David would not be able to deal with the truth.

"Why are you sitting in the cold?" "Why are you sitting in the cold?" asked a voice, causing Olivia to nearly jump off the bench she had been sitting on just moments before.

"Seth?" With a look of disbelief, Olivia inquired, and the young guy nodded his head humbly.

"The crazy old lady saw me this morning." Because of the cold, he said it while taking a few deep breaths and hugging himself. Although he was shivering, the only thing he was wearing was a vest and ripped pants. With a frown, Olivia questioned why he was not wearing the jersey she had given him. Seth was aware of her perplexity, and she was filled with wonder.

"Someone came to join us this morning; she was pregnant, and she was trying to get away from the man who was going to be her baby's father. I decided to give her the money and the jersey because he is a mobster, and if he had found her, he would have hurt both her and the baby at the same time. I sincerely hope she's OK." Seth gave his explanation, and Olivia remained silent, observing him.

"Come with me; you must be hungry," she said.

"But."

"There are no buts. You will spend the night at my apartment." With a firm tone and a sense of finality, Olivia explained. Heaving a sigh, Seth followed her back to April's apartment, contemplating the possibility that this woman was a human trafficker. If she was a serial killer or worse, what would you do? Imagine for a moment that she was going to hand him over to the authorities and make him leave the one and only family he had ever known to live on the streets.

Olivia unlocked the door and instructed him to wait in the sitting room while she went to the bedrooms. She then left the room entirely. She specifically left April's bedroom behind. When she emerged, she was carrying a few towels. After that, she went to the shared bathroom and switched on the bath for Seth. She exited the bathroom and instructed Seth to bathe to raise his body temperature. At first, he was hesitant, but he eventually agreed to comply. If this woman had the intention of killing him, she would have done so a very long time ago.

While he was still taking a shower, Olivia made a speedy lunch for him, served it to him, and then left it in the microwave. After that, she switched on the heater to warm up the space. In addition, Olivia found it difficult to travel to Fort Lauderdale at this time due to the generally cold weather in the area. Despite surviving the cold weather in London, Olivia was unprepared for the onset of winter in the first quarter of the year. 

Approximately one hour later, Seth returned from the restroom wearing the same clothes he had been wearing earlier. However, Olivia provided him with a fresh set of clothes the same size as the ones he had been wearing. Seth was perplexed as to how she could have known his height. While she and Aiden were in the city earlier, Olivia had bought clothes for him. When Aiden inquired about the clothes' recipient, she said they were for a friend.

Seth changed into the new clothes and threw the old set into the garbage bag Olivia had given him. After that, he proceeded to eat his food, with Olivia observing him closely. Currently, Seth is consuming his food. Seth pondered her actions and questioned why she was assisting him. He was aware that many people only acted politely when they expected something in return, and that most of the time, this was done to deceive them into believing they were trying to help when, in reality, they were simply waiting for their shipment date. He had spent almost his entire life living on the streets, so he knew this. Olivia spoke the words, "I was once like you, you know?" as if she'd caught wind of his thoughts. She stated this with an expression of disinterest. She directed the inquiry at Seth, who looked at her and responded, "I used to live in the streets, too."