— You fixed my jet. You’re flying with me.
The hangar erupted in exclamations again. Sam whispered to his team:
— She’s leaving for London. On the plane she saved.
A few minutes later, Olivia stood outside the hangar, gazing at her reflection in the jet’s gleaming fuselage. For the first time, she no longer saw a beggar. She saw the person she had always been destined to become.
But when he placed his hand on the cold metal, his heart raced. What if it all disappeared like a dream?
Behind her, Andrew’s voice broke the silence:
— Get ready. The world is about to learn your name.
And as Olivia climbed the steps of the private jet, neither of them knew that her story was only just beginning.
—
The Challenger’s cabin shone like a flying palace. Cream leather seats surrounded polished wooden tables. A soft yet intense golden light streamed down from the ceiling.
Olivia sat stiffly by the window, her tattered dress and tangled hair clashing with the opulent surroundings. She kept her eyes fixed on the runway lights, blinking to hold back tears. She couldn’t.
The door closed, the engines roared, and the jet began to roll. Olivia’s chest tightened with every vibration.
She had dreamed of one day sitting on a plane like this, back when her life still had meaning. Never would she have imagined finding herself there like this, not as a mere passenger, but as the person who had saved the machine that was now carrying them into the sky.
Opposite her, Andrew Jacobs leaned back with the ease of a man accustomed to ruling the world. But his eyes never left her. He scrutinized her like a historian examining a rare, forgotten manuscript.
« You worked on my jet as if you were born to do it, » Andrew finally said, his voice rising above the roar of takeoff. « Tell me the truth: where were you trained? »
Olivia swallowed.
— At the Aeronautical University of Nigeria, sir. I graduated top of my class. The first student to obtain a distinction of excellence in aircraft maintenance.
Andrew’s eyebrows rose.
— And yet, here you are before me, in a torn dress, starving.
Her face flushed with shame. She lowered her eyes to her hands.
« Life has broken me, » she murmured. « After my parents died, nothing made sense anymore. I no longer had the strength to fight. »
A silence fell in the cabin, broken only by the steady hum of the engines.
Andrew opened the compartment next to him and took out a small velvet case. He placed it on the table between them.
— Open.
Olivia hesitated, then lifted the lid. Inside lay a simple yet luminous gold bracelet, engraved with the initials *AJ*. Her lips parted slightly.
— Sir, I…
Andrew raised his hand.
« This bracelet belonged to my late wife. She believed in helping those who had fallen to rise up. I’m giving it to you tonight because I’m convinced you’re not meant to live on the streets. You’re meant to lead. »
Olivia’s eyes filled with tears. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. She closed the box with trembling hands.
Andrew leaned forward.
« Tomorrow in London, you’ll meet with the executives of JJ Jet Maintenance, the same company that previously offered you a position. I’ll introduce you as the woman who saved my Challenger. They’ll listen. »
Olivia’s heart stopped for a second.
JJ Jet Maintenance. She had dreamed of it two years earlier, before her world collapsed. She had cut them out of her life, buried her future under grief… and now, that future was returning like a miracle.
« Sir… what if they make fun of me? » she whispered.
Andrew’s sharp gaze softened.
— Then they’ll laugh at me too, for having believed in you. But I doubt it. Your talent is too rare.
The plane stabilized at cruising altitude. A flight attendant appeared and bowed respectfully.
— Dinner is served, sir.
Andrew pointed to Olivia.
— Bring him some clothes.
The flight attendant returned in a long gold dress that shimmered under the cabin lights, and carried a small toiletry bag. Olivia’s mouth opened of its own accord.
— Is this… is this for me?
Andrew nodded.
— You will not enter this meeting in rags. You will enter as you truly are.
For the first time in years, Olivia smiled through her tears. She disappeared into the small bathroom. The minutes seemed to drag on.
When she returned, the cabin seemed to have changed.
Her hair, washed and styled in a simple bun, shone in the light. The dress clung to her slender figure, simple yet majestic, transforming the street girl into a queen. Even her eyes seemed brighter, as if hope had polished them.
Andrew stood up, genuinely amazed. He had seen models in Paris, actresses in Hollywood, executives in London, but never such a powerful transformation.
« You resemble… » he said softly… « destiny personified. »
Olivia let out a small, shy laugh.
— I don’t feel like destiny. I just feel… me, again.
Dinner passed in quiet conversation. Andrew asked her about her childhood dreams, her teachers, her passion for engines. She spoke with fervor, as if a long-locked door had finally opened within her.
When the meal ended, Andrew leaned back in his seat, his gaze unreadable.
— Olivia, when this jet lands, you will have a choice. You can leave and disappear once again, or you can enter the life you were born to live. Which will you choose?
Her hands gripped the armrests, her breath trembling. She relived the nights spent on the street, begging for bread. The days walking past Sam’s maintenance center, staring at a future she thought was lost. And now, this chance, this door opening again.
Her voice broke, but her words remained firm:
— I will go in. I no longer intend to flee.
A thin smile stretched across Andrew’s lips.
– GOOD.
As the jet cut through the night, Olivia turned her head towards the window. Below, the city lights twinkled like constellations.
She thought of her parents, the tragedy, the betrayal, the pain. For the first time, she felt them not as chains around her neck, but as shadows behind her. She was now walking towards the light.
She closed her eyes and whispered to herself:
— I will not waste this chance.
But what Olivia didn’t know, what Andrew himself couldn’t guess, was that fate had more in store for her than just a job. A storm awaited her in London. Secrets, decisions… and someone who would change her life in unimaginable ways.
As the jet climbed into the dark sky, Andrew adjusted his tie, his gaze fixed on Olivia. For the first time in years, a glimmer of hope flickered in his own heart. Yet, deep inside, a small voice whispered:
*What if I’m wrong about her? What if she fails?*
And Olivia, despite her efforts to remain strong, felt the same question twisting in her stomach:
*What if tomorrow destroys me again?*
The Challenger sliced through the Atlantic sky, carrying away two beings whose lives would collide head-on with destiny.
—
The Challenger’s wheels touched down on the runway at London City Airport. The instant dawn painted the sky a pale orange, Olivia pressed her palms to her knees to calm the storm within her. Every breath felt too heavy, every thought too loud. She had assured Andrew she was ready.
But now that the moment had arrived, fear gripped his throat like pincers.
Andrew, impeccable as always in his navy blue suit, noticed. He leaned towards her and spoke softly.
— Remember, Olivia: it’s your skills that speak for themselves, not your appearance. Don’t try to impress. Just be yourself.
The car that took them there gleamed a glossy black against the still-damp streets. London’s skyscrapers reflected the rising sun. Olivia’s eyes kept shifting between the city passing outside and her own shimmering reflection in the tinted window.
« It’s now. No more running away, » she repeated to herself.
Late in the morning, Olivia found herself in a glass and steel tower, the headquarters of JJ Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul International. The meeting room was vast, with a high ceiling and walls covered in screens displaying aircraft diagrams and columns of figures. At the end of the long table sat a row of executives in dark suits, their faces as impassive as blades.
A grey-haired man, wearing thin glasses, adjusted his tie and stared at Andrew.
— Mr. Jacobs, we have been waiting for you for six hours. I hope your reason is worth the wait.
Andrew’s voice was calm, but authoritative.
— She’s worth it. Let me introduce you to Olivia Williams, the engineer who repaired my Challenger after your competitors failed.
Murmurs rippled around the table. A woman in a red blazer raised an eyebrow.
« That girl? » His eyes traveled down to Olivia, from head to toe, lingering on her gold dress. She looks… unaffected. Is she really the « storm » we’ve been hearing about?
Olivia’s chest tightened. She clasped her hands behind her back to hide their trembling.
Andrew’s voice became sharper.
Don’t judge her by what you see. Judge her by what she can do.
The man with glasses leaned forward.
— Very well, Miss Williams. Mr. Jacobs speaks highly of you, but repairing a jet in a hangar in Nigeria is not the same as working at our international level. Tell us exactly what you did to his aircraft.
Olivia took a breath. This was her moment.
The compressor section flange was tightened on the wrong groove, creating an air leak that produced a whistling sound under load. At the same time, the insulation on a sensor wire was cracked, causing the wire to rub against a support, which distorted the data sent to the system and made the engine run rough. Each of these problems, taken separately, is difficult to detect. Together, they mask each other. That’s why the repair team failed.
Her voice stabilized as she spoke, her passion surfacing.
— But engines speak. You just have to listen to them. The whistling was air, not the engine’s core. The uneven revving was a data error, not internal damage. By fixing both, I simply restored the machine’s truth.
A heavy silence fell. The executives stared at her.
One of them, an older woman with silver hair pulled up in a bun, inclined her head, impressed despite herself.
« That’s right, » she said.
The man with glasses frowned.
— Anyone can learn a manual by heart.
Andrew’s jaw clenched, but Olivia raised her hand slightly.
« May I? » she asked.
The woman in the red blazer pointed to the wall screen.
– Go for it.
Olivia approached the screen where a digital engine diagram was slowly rotating. Her fingers hovered over the controls for a moment.
« Give me a random failure scenario, » she said.
The man with glasses gave a wry smile.
— You are audacious. Very well.
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