THE END

14. Mini v/s Giant

"So he finally asked you out?" Leif holds the door open for me as we enter the mall.

"Yeah well he did." I shrug.

"And why exactly have you asked me to come meet you here?"

"I need a gift for him. And I've figured out you are his best friend." I roll my eyes.

Cassandra, you're influencing me.

"Damn. I've never had a best friend before ! Do you think I should buy him a gift aswell? Wait, did he admit to me be his best friend? Or is this the girlfriend effect people talk online ab---?"

"Are you guys NOT best friend?" I stop in my tracks and look at him in surprise.

"I mean we hang out a lot but we've never titled our relationship. " This time he's the one who shrugs.

"Now you're making me rethink my decision to bring you here to choose the gift."

"Okay leaving this behind, why exactly do you need to buy him a gift?" He raises his brow slightly.

"As a memoir of the beginning of our relationship. " I reply.

"Wow. I've never received that even though I've dated a lot."

"It's what my dad used to say. Each little things matter and sometimes efforts are what keeps the relationship intact." I sigh with the memory of my dad.

"He seems like a good guy. I'm assuming your parents had a wonderful marriage."

"As if it was really that easy." I scoff at the comment.

"Why? What happened?" He questioned as he stepped on the escalator after me.

"Messy divorce. It'd be great if we don't go there."

"Noted, ma'am. " He salutes me and I smile at his attempt to uplift my mood.

"So what do you think I should gift him?" I ask Leif.

"Anything you gift him with love will be engraved in his heart."

"That's what everyone says. But I didn't come for your poetry. Tell me something specific. " I elbow him as he stands behind me on the escalator.

"FINE. A perfume or maybe a diary or a watch or something." He looks around the mall from our height as we are about to reach the top.

"Come on. Something noteworthy and everlasting!!" I roll my eyes. Again.

"Let's go to a shop and check, Mini." He chuckles.

"Really? Mini?"

"Yeah well you're short to my 6 foot." He grins and I just try to find a perfect remark.

"Then that makes you GIANT to my miniature height." I smile with victory.

"Whatever." He says as I step out of the escalator and he follows suit.

We spend the rest of the 2 hour trying to come with a gift and I find something worth gifting.

It's a plain black t-shirt with the words 'Perfectly disguised as an ADULT' printed over it. I also brought a perfume with the scent of coffee keeping in mind his addiction to coffee.

"Am I free to go now?" Leif taps my shoulder as I'm on the billing counter.

"You did nothing. You were pretty distracted the whole time." I laugh at my own remark.

"Hey!" He flicks his fingers between my eyebrows. "I was the one who came up with that t shirt idea."

"Well you didn't. We just passed by that section and you just pointed it out !" I exclaim.

"But I did help you pick it. " He defended.

"Nah. You were posing with the mannequins half of the time! The rest half, you were at the kids section playing with toys. I am so embarrassed that I'll never bring you shopping again!" I declare and he pouts like a child.

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes.

And that is the time I find an even more appealing shirt near the counter and buy it aswell.

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The darkness is what welcomes me first before the gates to the Albrecht Mansion opens.

It's a three towered mansion which is practically three buildings which have a point top and when seen from top above form vertices of a triangle.  The one at the centre exact opposite to the main gate is the building where Elijah and Cassandra stay. It's a five floor building with the first floor for dinning with guests, second floor as a residence for both of them , third floor is the meeting quarters, fourth floor is Elijah's office and the last one is for storage.

The one at the left is for me to use. It has three floors. The first for dinning including guest rooms, the second is my residence and the last one is sort of my office for all the hacking I do.

The building opposite to mine is also three floored but it's a servants headquarters. The Albrecht Mansion has a loads of servants and if I were to guess, they are probably 100s. The servants headquarters has small rooms on each floor and every room is shared between 5 servants.

But in my tower, the rooms are bigger. There are three guest rooms which are probably equal to three servant rooms. My floor has two division, one for the bedroom area and the other for extracurricular activities.

But instead of turning my car to the left building, I head straight. Elijah had summoned me.

"Good evening Miss Alice." The receptionist greets me.

Elijah had ensured my name be Alice in the underworld. And Alice means NOBLE. He thinks that I'm a noble because I'm the heir to his throne.

"Appointment with Mr. Albrecht " I inform.

"Apologies. But at the moment, Sir Albrecht is not available. "

Which translates to him being in basement and torturing some poor soul.

"I'll wait till he returns."

"Please make yourself comfortable."

And I do. I never got a chance to actually wander the main tower. This building contains secrets and a huge pile of blackmail material.

Even the basement is under this building.

I rethink whether I should go upstairs and wondered where Cassandra would be. Where father would be.

But my hesitation is gone when I hear whispers and recognize the voice immediately.

"Phineas is not the biological father of Adira. It's Elijah."

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A/N

We are ALMOST halfway through the story. It's about time I answer some questions. But this specific one, I can bet most of you saw it coming but trust me, I've ensured that towards the end, you'll rethink everything.

So to deal with the house was a tough task, to be honest. Hence I used ALL my imagination for it. So let's just see where the story goes because now even I'm confused as you all. The characters are writing themselves !!!

So STAY TUNED !!