Chapter 203: Kind, Not Naïve

"It was nice meeting you, Olivia," Lillian said as she rose from her seat, brushing invisible crumbs from her skirt."It was nice meeting you too," Olivia said with a smile on her face as she also stood up, "maybe we should do this again some other time?"

Lillian paused for a second as she thought about it for a while before handing Olivia her phone,

"I’d like that," she said and Olivia took the phone and entered her number, a small smile on her face.

"Alright then," Lillian said as she took her phone back, "see you later, Olivia."

"You too."

With that, Lillian walked out of the cafe and towards the guard who was waiting by the car, his eyes hadn’t left the two since Lillian entered the cafe.

With a smile, she entered the car, seemingly happy to have met a potential friend now that Aria had moved in with her boyfriend.

Olivia watched as the driver closed the door as Lillian had settled in the car, before looking directly at her.

She just smiled and gave him a subtle friendly wave and he walked to the driver’s seat and drove away.

Olivia watched as the car disappeared from sight before she dropped her smile and let out a sigh.

She let a breath she didn’t know she was holding in.

Olivia hated that she had to do this, but at the same time she didn’t have any other choice.

From their interaction, she genuinely enjoyed hanging out with Lillian. The only problem was that the girl was that she had no sense of danger.

For the COO of the company that the collector was interested in, Olivia thought she’d be more cautious when interacting with complete strangers.

Especially when considering that she had been kidnapped recently, and an attempt was made again just the previous night.

In different circumstances, maybe they’d be friends but right now, Olivia needed to money for his mother’s treatment and for that, she needed to use Lillian to get the man behind OmniTech.

She took out her phone, placed it on her ear and said, "I’ve successfully made contact with the target."

"Good," the person on the other end, the collector, said.

"She does not suspect anything, for now," Olivia added.

"That’s good," the collector said before asking, "and you ensured this meeting keeps happening?"

"Yes," Olivia answered, "she even gave me her number."

The collector had ordered her to report every single thing that transpired between the two and that was exactly what she was doing.

"How adorable," the man said with a small chuckle.

Olivia didn’t smile. She failed to find the humor in the words that he did. But the collector didn’t mind a single bit.

"She seems to be lonely," she said instead, her voice tightening just a bit, "her best friend moved out recently. She’s emotional right now, vulnerable even. If I keep this pace, it won’t take long before she opens up completely."

"Good," the Collector murmured. "You’ll use that."

Olivia closed her eyes briefly.

"I know."

"And the Founder?" the Collector asked in a tone that suddenly darkened. "Anything at all?"

"No," Olivia answered. "Nothing yet. Lillian never mentioned them. Never hinted she even knows who they are. It’s possible the Founder only communicates with her through their avatar."

"Possible," the Collector said. "But unlikely. No one gives that much authority to a COO without direct oversight."

"I think,"Olivia hesitated a moment before adding softly, "she genuinely seems kept in the dark, like the rest of the world."

There was silence for a short while before the collector spoke up again.

"Are you developing a liking for your target?" He asked, his amusement evident in his voice.

She hesitated for a short while before shaking her head, "no."

"That’s good," the collector said, his voice taking a softer tone, "after all, your mother’s treatment depends on your success in this, you wouldn’t fail like Victor did, will you?"

"I won’t," she said firmly. "I promise."

Her mother was the most important person to her, besides she barely even knew Lillian, after all, they just met, so she would choose her mother every single time.

"Good, continue the operation, and remember you goal in all this is to uncover who OmniTech’s CEO is, nothing else."

"Got it," Olivia said before the line went completely silent.

She held the phone to her ear for a few more seconds before she put it down and sighed again.

Honestly, the collector scares her, and it wasn’t just because he killed someone right before her eyes on the first day.

It was more so the fact that the man’s reach seemed endless, and yet he was obsessed with one person.

Rather than obsession, it seemed more like someone who was finding a worthy opponent to play his twisted games and he had found someone that was close enough.

Hence the reason why he was so obsessed.

Standing up, she also walked out of the cafe and stepped into the streets of Atlanta.

At this point the sun was already high in the sky and she was starting to feel awkward since she was still in jogging outfit.

Besides, Atlanta was pretty humid so she had to wear something a bit more comfortable and built for the heat rather than this.

She hailed a taxi and quickly walked in, heading to her apartment.

***

While Olivia headed towards her apartment, Lillian was doing the same.

The previous easy going smile on her face had disappeared, replaced by a neutral one.

"Are you okay, ma’am?" The guard couldn’t help but ask, after all, from what he saw in the cafe, Miss Hayes left relatively satisfied and maybe even a bit pleased, so what happened?

"What are your thoughts on Olivia," Lillian asked as she looked at the guard through the rear view mirror.

"The lady you met at the cafe?" He asked, just to confirm.

"Yes," Lillian nodded, waiting for his opinion.

The guard was silent for a short while, recalling exactly what he had seen in the cafe.

"Her approach felt a bit too perfectly timed," he finally said after a while, "it felt almost like she knew where you’d be and was waiting."

"I see," Lillian nodded. Although she might’ve seemed like some kind of gullible idiot put in a place she didn’t deserve, during her and Olivia’s interaction.

But she had also been watching Olivia, after all, she wasn’t naïve.

She was kind and that was different.

"And?" she asked softly, setting her phone face-down on her thigh.

"And," the guard continued cautiously, "she watched you more than she talked to you. And when I closed the door after you got in, she gave me this friendly little wave... but her eyes weren’t friendly, something about her feels off."

Lillian hummed thoughtfully, "Noted."

The guard frowned at her words debating whether or not to say his next words, but he just sighed and went on with it.

"I know it’s not my place to say," he began, phrasing his words carefully, "after what happened yesterday, after the kidnappingand the attempted abduction last night... shouldn’t you be more—"

"Paranoid?" Lillian finished for him, turning her eyes toward the window.

"Yes." He nodded, his eyes still on the road.

Lillian smiled faintly. "Oh, trust me... I am."

She watched the buildings go by, one after the other. She had felt something was off about Olivia and although she had dismissed that feeling as being paranoid, it got stronger the more they interact.

"But at the same time, I can’t help but be relaxed, after all.." Lillian took a short pause before smiling, " I’ve got pretty competent people keeping me safe."

By people keeping her safe, she was referring to both Ethan and Irina, but again, it was a complement to the guards around her.

"She’s dangerous," the guard switched the topic, a small smile could be seen in his lips though. "My gut says it."

"I know," Lillian said before calling, Athena?"

{Yes Lillian, what would you like me to do for you,} Athena had responded the moment she called out.

Ethan had granted her access to it and she was allowed to use it for not just work and Athena seemed happy to help.

"Can you find me information on a person known as Olivia?" Lillian requested, "Olivia Carver."

{Of course,} Athena said, {give me a few seconds.}

And so, Lillian waited, though she didn’t have to wait long before her phone suddenly let out a ding, an indication of a new notification.

{I just sent you everything you need on Olivia,} Athena informed, {from her childhood, friends, family, work life, personal life, her most recent interactions and everything you need to know about her.

Lillian was a bit taken aback by the size of the file, when she requested info on Olivia she didn’t know what exactly to expect but it definitely wasn’t her entire life compiled before her.

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

{Anytime,} Athena answered before going silent, leaving Lillian to the files.

"Now then new friend," She said, "let’s see exactly who you are."