His Dangerous Love On Ice (Olivia and Zane) novel Chapter 161

Olive’s POV

1 stared at the notification on my phone again and again, my eyes widening with each re-read like maybe the words would change if I just looked at them enough times.

“Oh no, no, no…” I whispered under my breath, dropping the phone down on my desk like it had burned me as I grabbed the folder Jessica had left with me earlier, frantically flipping through the strategy documents she’d arranged for Antonio’s assessment.

Antonio’s image filled most of the pages, professional headshots, action shots from games, statistics and analytics that Jessica had clearly spent hours compiling.

My phone rang again and when I looked at the screen, Nina’s name was displayed in bold letters that felt almost accusatory.

I groaned out loud before picking up.

“Olive, I believe you must have seen the message by now,” Nina spoke in that perfectly professional tone that somehow always made me feel like I was being evaluated. “I trust you’re prepared for Antonio Mercer’s early arrival?”

Early arrival was putting it mildly, he wasn’t supposed to be here for another two days, and now he was apparently already in the building.

“Yes, I saw it,” I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. “ll be in the conference room in five minutes.”

“Make it three,” Nina said before ending the call, leaving me sitting there wondering how the hell I was supposed to pull together a presentation I wasn’t mentally prepared to give yet.

The second I opened my office door to head to the conference room, I was immediately faced with Jessica’s panicked expression, her eyes wide with what looked like genuine terror.

“Oh my god, Olive,” she said breathlessly, grabbing my arm like she needed physical support to stay upright. “Antonio is here. He came so much earlier than we planned and we’re not even fully ready for this and I don’t know if my presentation is good enough and-”

“Jessica,” I interrupted gently, placing my hand over hers. “Breathe.

We’re going to figure this out once we get in there. Just don’t panic, okay?”

She nodded frantically even though her eyes were still wide with apprehension, clearly not believing my words any more than I believed them myself.

“Sophia won’t make this easy for you,” Jessica whispered as we started walking toward the conference room together. “She’s still angry about what happened last time with Zane choosing your strategy over hers.

She’s going to try to sabotage this however she can.”

I wanted to tell Jessica she was being paranoid, but honestly, she was probably right.

Sophia had made it abundantly clear that she viewed me as an enemy, and having her brother choose my work over hers had only intensified whatever personal vendetta she’d decided to wage against me.

We reached the conference room and I took a deep breath before pushing open the door.

Sophia was already inside, sitting at the table with that particular expression on her face that screamed she was plotting something, but surprisingly, when she saw me walk in, she didn’t say anything…didn’t throw any cutting remarks or make any snide comments about my being there.

She just sat there quietly, completely ignoring my presence as if I didn’t exist.

For a second, I was genuinely surprised by her silence, had expected some kind of confrontation or at least a passive-aggressive comment about my relationship with her brother.

But then I realized I was actually glad for the moment of peace, even if it probably wouldn’t last long.

At least | could take a breath and mentally prepare for whatever was about to happen without having to defend myself against her attacks.

Nina was already seated at the head of the table, reviewing something on her tablet, and Stephanie was hovering near Sophia like always, playing the role of loyal minion to perfection.

I moved to take my seat, gesturing for Jessica to sit beside me, and we’d barely settled in when the door opened again.

We can catch up on family matters later.”

He gave her a simple, dismissive smile before turning his attention back to me, and I could practically feel Sophia’s rage radiating across the room.

It was obvious that Antonio was deliberately choosing to focus his attention on me instead of his sister, and while I wasn’t entirely sure why he was doing it, I knew it was going to make Sophia absolutely furious.

Which, honestly, wasn’t my problem even though I knew she’d find a way to make it my problem later.

“So,” Antonio said, moving to take his seat at the head of the table opposite Nina. “I understand we’re here to review the strategic approaches for the Quantum Al campaign. I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve all come up with.”

Nina cleared her throat. “Yes, we have two presentations prepared.

Miss Monroe’s team has put together a comprehensive strategy, and Miss Mercer’s team has prepared an alternative approach. We’d like you to review both before making any final decisions.”

“Sounds perfect,” Antonio said, leaning back in his chair with that same easy confidence. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

I turned to Jessica and gave her a small nod, silently communicating what I’d decided.

Jessica’s eyes widened in shock, clearly not expecting what was about to happen.

“Actually,” I said, addressing the room, “Jessica will be presenting our strategy today. She and I worked very closely on developing this approach, and I think she should be the one to present it since she did most of the detailed work.”

Jessica looked at me like I’d just told her she was about to jump out of an airplane without a parachute, her face going pale.

But then something shifted in her expression-surprise giving way to determination, fear transforming into something that looked almost like gratitude.