Today Collins Beauty Company was meeting with the shareholders and finally signing the contract. Aiden had been the first one there, and as Sophia entered the room, his eyes shone.

He sat next to her and kept asking all his ridiculous questions, which eventually annoyed her. "Mr. Cooper, we've already gone through this section several times. The explanation was very simple. I don't know why you still don't get it," Sophia stated.

"Of course I understand now, I was just really confused before," he replied, trying to save face.

When she started to relax, he started asking her about herself. Her favorite restaurants, favorite dishes, where she liked shopping, and all other mundane things she could not be bothered with.

She ignored him and tried to pretend he was not there, but when the questions got to be too personal, she snapped, "Mr. Cooper, why are you so interested in my personal life? We are here to sign a contract. Please concentrate on signing the correct forms. If you are not interested, then we can just withdraw your investment."

Her patience was growing thin because of his constant nagging. She had never met anybody who could annoy her as much as he could.

"Of course I am interested… in you," he whispered the last two to himself.

"Please check and sign the marked areas," she said as she handed him more papers to sign.

Aiden read the document and touched her hand.

"What?" Sophia was surprised, and she withdrew her hand.

"I forgot my pen," he said innocently, tracing her fingers as he slowly took the pen she offered.

He saw her frown, and he smiled secretly.

Sophia gave everyone a handshake when all the paperwork had been signed. "Thank you for collaborating with us," she said, "I hope this deal brings our companies a lot of profit. All the updates will be sent to you during the monthly evaluations. If you have any queries, my assistant will be more than happy to help you."

"What if I want to see you?" Aiden asked with a smirk.

"My schedule is packed for the next few weeks. Let us meet at the next board meeting," she answered dryly.

Aiden nodded as she walked away, "We will meet sooner than you think. I cannot wait for long," he murmured to himself.

When Aiden arrived at his office, a package sat at his desk.

"Had everything been taken care of?" he asked.

"Yes sir, the previous owner had been very cranky and hesitant in the beginning. But when we offered him 3x the amount, he readily agreed. He just needed the right price," the assistant replied.

"That's good. Everybody can be bought after all. Get the rest of the stuff in order," Aiden instructed.

Aiden opened the package on his desk with a smile. This was the first step to get closer to Sophia.

-=-

Sophia lived on the 20th floor of the most elite apartment complex ever built. She never mingled with any of her neighbors, opting to avoid them whenever they tried to strike up a conversation. So she was surprised when there were a lot of movers on her floor, they were carrying a lot of boxes in the flat next to hers.

There was never anybody there, so she thought it had always been vacant, but according to one of the crew, the owner was not returning from overseas, so they sold the apartment.

That same night, someone knocked on her door. "Probably the next-door neighbor," she thought, "they've come to introduce themselves." She met her neighbors once or twice and she always gave them the impression that she was not friendly, so they eventually stopped bothering her.

But she was surprised when she opened the door, for a minute, she thought she was hallucinating. She rubbed her eyes, but the image in front of her did not change. "Why is this person standing at my door?" she wondered.

"Mr. Cooper, why are you here?" Sophia asked, a little confused.

Aiden enjoyed the expressions changing on her face. For the first time, he had the upper hand. He appreciated that she looked very comfortable when she was at home, from the loose shirt that she paired with the most comfortable leggings, to her tied-up hair and makeup-free face.

He pretended to be shocked when she opened the door, "Oh, Ms. Collins, what a pleasant surprise. I'm your new neighbor. I did not know you lived here."

"Really? Why did you move here when your office is nowhere near this area?" she asked curiously.

"My old apartment was in the middle of the city, there was just too much noise, and the pollution got so bad that I started to have insomnia. It was just too chaotic for me, so I decided to live on the outskirts. My agent referred me to these flats, and I really liked it, so here I am," he replied.

"Hmm… yeah, this is a very good area," she agreed because one of the reasons she chose this apartment was that it was located outside the city, and it gave her the peace she was looking for.

Aiden wanted to be near Sophia, so he asked his assistant to find her address and buy the apartment next to hers.

Her neighbors were overseas for their son's studies, and he was not ready to sell their flat. They loved coming home during vacations. But after a lot of bargaining and convincing, Aiden got the house for 3x at the regular price. He left his big villa with all its servants just for Sophia.

The flat was posh and costly, but nothing compared to his villa. He was going to miss all his servants doing everything for him.

"So what brought you to my door at this hour?" she asked.

"I haven't fully unpacked, and I couldn't find the lighter. I need it for the stove. It's gotten so late moving all that stuff, and I think the shops must be closed by now," he said.