Chapter 171

OLIVIA 
“Please tell Hannah happy birthday for me. I miss her.” The message from Noah appeared on my phone that afternoon. It was the third birthday greeting he had sent since leaving for Africa. For nearly three years, those brief greetings were the only times I ever heard from him. Every year, he sent a message on Hannah’s birthday, another on Christmas, and one more when the New Year arrived. Along with those messages, a gift for Hannah would always arrive soon after. Aside from those greetings, I never heard from him. I glanced at the time on my computer screen. It was already two in the afternoon, and there were still three hours before I could leave the office. Today was Hannah’s tenth birthday, and I had reserved a table at the Belvedere Room for 5:30 p.m. to celebrate. Just then, someone knocked on my office door. “Olivia, Mr. Crawford from Riverwalk Plaza is here,” my assistant said from the doorway. “But Jennifer hasn’t arrived yet.” I glanced at the clock on my desk. Jennife