L E V I ' S   P O V

Ophelia had been in her room for four days straight.

I had to bring back two maids to ensure that she was eating and for the other one to clean her room once in a while. I also made sure that Sam was here to cook her favourite meal; chicken alfredo, but even that hadn't gotten a word or a different emotion other than crying out of her and I was getting worried.

I hadn't seen her beautiful face since she locked herself in her room and I felt like it was all my fault.

I took a deep breath as I knocked on her door, "Baby?" I called softly.

My eyes squeezed shut when I heard her little sniffles coming from in the room from her sobbing.

I had hoped that she would've at least stopped crying by now because I hated to hear her in pain. I knew that my parents' opinion mattered more than anyone else's to her since she felt as if she had to prove herself to them.

"Could you open up?" I murmured as I rested my head on the wooden door, the palm of hand against it as well. "Please," I pleaded.

I didn't hear any movement inside; in fact, it seemed like she tried to be as quiet as possible, and that hurt me more than anything that she was ignoring me.

I stood there for a moment longer before pulling away from the door, running a hand through my dishevelled hair in the process.

I then pulled my phone from my pocket as I walked back the way I came from, "Hello?" Shalissa answered after she picked up my call. "Fucking stop it, boy. I'm on a call." She hissed afterward.

"Shalissa, can you come over? It's Ophelia." I sighed tiredly. I knew that I had dark bags under my eyes and I was in for a shave. If Ophelia wasn't feeling well, how could I even sleep properly?

I heard shuffling, "Happen to her?" She asked and I could hear the urgency in her voice.

"My parents came over for dinner," I said and I knew that I didn't have to say anything more.

"Well that shit can't be good, " She said. "I'll be over in twenty."

"And bring Elijah, " I spoke.

There was a pause in the background, "How'd you know that he was here?" She mumbled.

"When isn't he? Like he doesn't have a fucking job to go to," I retorted.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She grumbled and afterward, ended the call.

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"So tell me exactly what happened." Elijah inquired as he sat down in the chair in front of my table, unbuttoning the top button of his suit.

"They claimed that they wanted to meet her. At first, I rid them of the idea but as I thought longer, I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad and Ophelia would want to meet them sometime." I shook my head. "They came in, he disregarded her handshake, insulted her food, and completely embarrassed her and I fucking hate myself for allowing them to come into my house and do that," I explained.

Elijah squinted his eyes at me, "There's something else on your mind. Come on, tell me." He sighed.

He was absolutely right.

"At first, when he disregarded her handshake, I told her that they'd be nicer and to trust me. I basically broke that trust and now I doubt she'll ever forgive me." I ran my hands down my face.

He blew out a breath, a thoughtful look on his face, "I don't know... Ophelia doesn't hold grudges." He came up with.

I shrugged my shoulders in response, disregarding his words. He didn't constantly have our parents up his ass about every decision he made or breath he took.

Originally, since he was the eldest, Elijah was supposed the run the family business, but he was always purposely defiant of my parents' orders. He made it his mission to disobey them and after a while, they just gave up and didn't give two shits about what or who he did.

"Look, I gotta go to work. Watch Ophelia for me, okay?" I sighed. "I should be back in about a couple of hours." I clarified. "And tell me what happens with Shalissa," I grumbled.

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O P H E L I A ' S    P O V

"It's okay, Ophelia. They're just jackasses." Shalissa cooed as she rubbed my back.

I cleared the snot in my nose before sitting up, pulling my knees to my chest.

"Okay, I understand why'd you'd be upset but why are you avoiding Levi?" Shalissa asked softly. "Are you mad at him?"

I paused and looked up at her, "I can never be mad at him. I-I'm just extremely embarrassed. I mean, his parents basically told him that I wasn't good enough for him. What should stop him from listening to them?" I mumbled pulling the teddy bear that he bought for me closer to my chest.

Shalissa scoffed, "That boy cares for you. Everyone sees it but you. Now go and take a shower and let us drop you off by his Enterprise. He'll be happy to see you out of your room." She encouraged me.

"He left already?" My eyebrows scrunched together.

"Yeah," Shalissa stood up off of my bed. "He told Elijah and I that he had to leave soon when we came,"

I nodded in understanding and took a deep breath, completely wiping the dried-up tears from my face.

"Okay, I'm ready," I said as I let my hair fall down my shoulders. I did feel bad for completely ignoring all of Levi's advances. After all, it was never his fault. I just couldn't look at him and not think about what his parents said.

"That's my baby!" Shalissa shouted as she hugged me tightly. "I'll be downstairs. Clean up real nice for your man," She winked at me as she took her leave.

A small breath left my lips as I scurried my way to the shower, immediately ridding my body of the pyjamas that I had been wearing for a few days. Stepping into the shower, I scrubbed myself down from head to toe, with every possible lotion in the bathroom.

I spent about twenty minutes in the shower until I finally decided to step out and start looking for something to wear. I didn't want to be extremely extravagant, but I did want to look good for Levi.

I raided my closet looking for something to wear. I didn't want to wear a dress, nor did I feel like wearing just jeans, which seemed too simple.

The outfit that I chose was a dark blue, white and black striped jumpsuit which showed off a bit of my back and cleavage. It was also extremely comfortable and it didn't show too much skin, but I was hoping that it still showed enough to get a reaction out of Levi.

A smile forced its way on my face as I admired myself in the mirror. I paired the look with a brown designer purse. What brand? I have no idea, I just knew that Levi bought everything for me expensive.

Taking a long sigh, I headed outside after tying up my hair in a bun and putting on some shoes.

After descending the stairs, a squeak left my lips and my hands flew up to my eyes when I saw that Elijah had Shalissa pinned against the wall, one foot wrapped around his waist and tongue down her throat.

I heard shuffling and peeked through one of my fingers and then slowly removed my hand from my face when I saw Shalissa coming towards me, a sheepish smile on her face as she wiped her lips.

"Hey, you're ready." She cleared her throat and then jumped a few inches in the air when Elijah smacked her behind. She turned around to glare at him before looking back at me. "Let's go, we'll wait for you while you and Levi get your freak on in his office." She laughed.

I blushed as I walked in front of them to the car, "Damn, you got a nice ass." Shalissa murmured loud enough for me to hear. I quickly stopped and turned around to face her, the tint on my cheeks growing darker.

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"We'll be here waiting," Shalissa said as she waves at me through the window, "Oh! And—" Shalissa got cut off when the window began to slowly wind up, and Elijah pulled her back down on the car seat. A giggle left my lips before I turned around and headed for the large doors.

"Hey, Andrew and Mac," I said softly as I handed each one of them their own containers of cupcakes, smiling gently.

"Ms. Ophelia." They said in unison as they looked straight ahead, small smiles tugging at their lips.

I walked past them after sending them one last smile, looking down at my outfit and tugging on it lightly as I bit my lip.

"Good Morning, Ms. Alton," I said shyly as I placed my bag on her desk.

Her eyes lit up when they saw me, "Oh! Hello, dear. It's nice to see you again." She gushed. "And don't you look radiant?" She smiled.

"Thank you," I smiled. "Can I go up to Levi? I brought him some lunch." I motioned towards the tray of food in my hands.

"Of course you can," She smiled kindly. Just go to the gold elevator and to the top floor. You can go right in." She instructed nicely.

I voiced my appreciation and gathered my items and headed for the elevator, curious eyes looking at me.

As I exited the elevator and walked to his door, I took a deep breath as I looked at my outfit, planting a smile on my face as I placed my hand on the doorknob, and turned it purposefully.

I immediately stopped midway, the container with food dropping and hitting the floor with a loud thud. My heart reached the pit of my stomach, bile rising in my throat when I saw Amanda sitting on Levi's lap, lips on his with his hands planted firmly around her waist.

Levi quickly pulled away and his eyes landed on me, eyes widening in shock as he looked at me and instantly stood up, Amanda stumbling off of him.

Tears welled up in my eyes, spilling onto my cheeks as I stood there, watching as a slow devilish smirk made its way to Amanda's face.

My head began to thump and as if blood flew back through my body, I ran out of the room, sobs racking my body as I headed for the elevator.

I heard loud footsteps in the hallway and looked up just in time to see Levi make it to the elevator breathing heavily just as the door closed and I heard him pounding on it.

My entire body shook with disappointment and betrayal as I sank down on the floor of the elevator, only getting up when it dinged open. I made a direct beeline for the limousine waiting for me, pulling the door open and sliding in as I bawled my eyes out.

"Ophelia! W-What happened?" She said asked
when I laid my head down on her lap.

"H-He... She w-was," I blabbered as I tried to form words.

"No, shh, shh." She stopped me. "It's okay, shh." She cooed as Elijah pulled out his phone worriedly, the car finally starting to leave.

Happy Birthday to me.