The Blind Date Was Empty —Until Twin Boys Appeared And Told The Billionaire,“Dad’s Sorry He’s Late”
The Setup and the Truth
Their main courses arrived, momentarily pausing the conversation. The twins attacked their burgers with gusto while Olivia and Matthew continued their exchange, finding unexpected common ground despite their different worlds.
“So, Jenna arranged this setup,” Matthew said as they were finishing their meals. “How did she convince you to agree to a blind date?”
Olivia smiled, remembering her assistant’s persistence. “Jenna has been with me for 8 years. She knows me better than almost anyone. After my last relationship ended rather publicly—”
She hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. “The pharmaceutical CEO,” Matthew supplied, then looked apologetic. “It was in the business section. The boys and I read the Sunday paper together.”
“Yes, well,” Olivia continued after that debacle, “Jenna became convinced I needed to date outside my usual circle. She mentioned having a friend whose brother was, and I quote, ‘nothing like those Wall Street sharks you usually waste your time with.’”
Matthew laughed. “That sounds like Jenna. She and my sister have been friends since college. When Karen mentioned setting me up, I never imagined it would be with someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” Olivia raised an eyebrow.
“Successful, accomplished, intimidating,” he clarified quickly. “In the best possible way.”
Before she could respond, Lucas tugged at her sleeve. “Miss Olivia, is it true you have a helicopter?”
“I do,” she confirmed, amused by the abrupt change in topic. “For business trips.”
The twins exchanged excited glances. “Can we see it someday?” Ethan asked hopefully.
“Ethan, that’s not appropriate,” Matthew admonished gently.
“It’s fine,” Olivia assured him. “And yes, perhaps someday you could see it.”
The words surprised her as they left her mouth. She wasn’t one to make casual promises, especially to children, yet something about these boys made her want to open doors to possibilities.
A Sudden Disturbance
As dessert arrived—chocolate lava cake for the twins and espresso for the adults—Olivia’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. She glanced at the screen and frowned.
“I’m sorry, it’s my CFO. I should take this.”
She stepped away from the table, moving toward a quieter corner of the restaurant. The call was brief but concerning: a potential security breach in their new imaging software, one that could delay the FDA approval they’d been working toward for months.
When she returned to the table, her expression must have betrayed her concern because Matthew immediately asked, “Is everything all right?”
“Just a work situation that needs attention,” Olivia replied, reluctant to end the evening but knowing she needed to address this issue immediately. “I hate to cut this short, but I should probably head back to the office.”
Disappointment flickered across Matthew’s face, but he nodded understandingly. “Of course. The demands of running an empire.”
“Dad, we didn’t finish our cake,” Lucas protested.
“The restaurant can pack it up for you to take home,” Olivia suggested, signaling for the waiter.
As he arranged for the desserts to be boxed and the bill to be prepared, an awkward silence settled over the table. “I had a lovely time tonight,” Olivia finally said, meaning it despite the unconventional start.
“So did I,” Matthew replied.
He seemed about to say more when his phone chimed with a text message. He checked it, his expression changing to one of concern.
“That’s odd.”
“What is it?” Olivia asked.
“It’s from my sister, Karen. She says someone just came to her apartment asking questions about me and about tonight’s date.”
He looked up at Olivia, confusion evident in his eyes. “A man claiming to be a private investigator.”
Suspicions and Secrets
“A private investigator?” Olivia repeated, equally confused. “Why would anyone be investigating you?”
Matthew shook his head. “I have no idea. Karen said he specifically asked about my connection to you.”
The twins, sensing the adults’ tension, stopped their chatter and looked between them with growing concern. “Dad, are we in trouble?” Ethan asked, his earlier confidence faltering.
“Nobody—of course not,” Matthew assured him, though Olivia noticed the uncertainty in his voice. He turned back to her. “This is strange. I’m just a teacher. I don’t have enemies or secrets.”
Olivia felt a chill run through her. In her position, she was no stranger to corporate espionage or to competitors seeking leverage.
But why target a seemingly unconnected high school teacher? “I should go,” she said abruptly, gathering her things.
The evening that had started so unusually and evolved so pleasantly was now taking a darker turn. “I’ll have my driver take you home.”
“Olivia,” Matthew said, reaching across the table but stopping short of touching her hand. “What’s going on? Do you know something about this?”
She met his gaze, searching for any sign of deception, any hint that this charming evening had been orchestrated for ulterior motives. But all she saw was genuine confusion and concern.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I intend to find out.”
The sleek black Cadillac Escalade pulled away from the curb, leaving Matthew and the twins on the sidewalk outside their Brooklyn brownstone. Olivia watched through the tinted window as Matthew ushered the boys inside, his shoulders tense, occasionally glancing back at her departing vehicle even after they disappeared through the front door.
She continued staring at the modest three-story building, trying to reconcile the evening’s pleasant beginning with its unsettling conclusion. “Where to, Miss Wright?” her driver, Robert, asked through the intercom.
“The office,” she replied automatically, then reconsidered. “Actually, no. Take me home first. I need to make some calls in private.”
The Corporate Shadow
As the SUV merged into the late evening traffic crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Olivia’s mind raced. A private investigator asking questions about Matthew, about their date? It couldn’t be a coincidence.
In her position, paranoia wasn’t just justified; it was necessary. Corporate rivals had attempted industrial espionage before, trying to gain access to Wright Innovations’ groundbreaking medical technology.
But using children as part of a scheme? That seemed beyond even the most ruthless competitors.
Yet she couldn’t shake the suspicion. The timing was too perfect: a date arranged by her assistant, an unexpected complication with the twins, and now a mysterious investigator making inquiries.
It had all the hallmarks of a carefully orchestrated plan to get close to her. By the time she reached her penthouse overlooking Central Park, Olivia had convinced herself that Matthew Taylor was not the sincere, slightly overwhelmed single father he appeared to be.
She kicked off her heels in the marble foyer and headed straight for her home office, a glass-enclosed space with panoramic views of the city’s glittering skyline. “Call Victor,” she instructed her smart home system.
Moments later, her head of security appeared on the wall screen. “Miss Wright,” Victor acknowledged with a nod. “I was just about to contact you. We’ve contained the security issue with the imaging software. It appears to have been an attempted breach from an external source, but our firewalls held.”
“Good,” Olivia said tersely. “But that’s not why I’m calling. I need you to run a comprehensive background check on someone named Matthew Taylor.”
“He’s a history teacher at Brooklyn Heights Academy. Has two 8-year-old twin sons named Ethan and Lucas. Wife deceased, cancer.”
She hesitated before adding, “And he’s apparently the brother of Jenna’s college friend, Karen.”
Victor’s expression remained impassive, though his eyebrow twitched slightly at the unusual request. “May I ask what prompted this?”
“Someone claiming to be a private investigator visited his sister tonight, asking questions about him and his connection to me. I want to know who’s behind it, and I want to know if Taylor is who he claims to be.”
“I’ll have a preliminary report by morning,” Victor promised.
Conflicting Signals
After ending the call, Olivia poured herself a glass of scotch from the crystal decanter on her desk. The amber liquid caught the light as she swirled it thoughtfully.
Perhaps she was overreacting. After all, Matthew had seemed genuinely surprised by the news about the investigator. If he were part of some elaborate scheme, wouldn’t he have been prepared for that development?
Her phone chimed with an incoming text. It was from an unknown number. “Thank you for dinner. Despite the strange ending, the boys haven’t stopped talking about you. Whatever’s happening, I hope you know I’m not involved. — Matthew.”
Olivia stared at the message, conflicted. Her instinct for self-preservation urged caution, but something else—something she rarely allowed to influence her decisions—whispered that she might be making a mistake in dismissing him so quickly.
Before she could decide how to respond, her phone rang. It was Jenna. “I just got a very concerning call from Karen,” her assistant said without preamble.
“What happened?”
“Tonight, your friend’s brother mentioned that a private investigator visited her, asking questions about him and me,” Olivia replied coolly. “What do you know about this, Jenna?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Nothing,” Jenna finally said, sounding genuinely confused. “But that’s not all. Karen said someone broke into her apartment after Matthew left with the boys for your date. Her laptop is missing.”
Olivia straightened in her chair. “Was anything else taken? Valuables?”
“That’s the strange part. She had jewelry, cash, electronics—all untouched. Just her laptop.”
Jenna’s voice lowered. “Olivia, Karen works for the Department of Defense as a cybersecurity consultant. Her laptop would have been heavily secured.”
