Chapter 15

OLIVIA

If there was one new thing I started to hate the most, I guess it would be this very moment, standing in front of the media in a four cornered conference hall, mind was haywired as I took a look at these reporters who were very eager to hear a statement from me who did not even know what to tell them.

Looking back, I tend to admire celebrities who had so much to tell during interviews, actresses and actors intoning their speeches in a grand event hall and influencers who were making a stand in front of the media. I recalled myself wanting to be an actress before. I thought it was fun and exciting as all you had to do was flaunt your beauty and talent in acting on the national television, but right now, I would say that I would never dream of becoming one ever again.

The whole place was cold, camera flash could be heard and seen in every corner of this room, blinding my eyes as those were directed at me. The bunch of reporters, that I would say around forty in number, were sitting in their seats across the stage where we were seated, with their laptops and recorders turned on, and waiting for me to start intoning my statement.

I guess what really made me terrified was the thought that I would only cause a problem, instead of trying to fix everything. My eyes glanced at Chase Maxwell, who was seated beside me. His eyes were directed in our front, lips pressed together and had formed a thin line, and still completely dazzling despite his serious aura. He already taught me about what to tell these people and what should remain untold. I cheered myself inwardly, reminding myself that once we were done with this, we would meet our wedding coordinator and my plan would still push through.

You can do this, Olivia . . . You weren't born to be a weakling, I told myself.

A few minutes passed and I felt Chase holding my hand under the table. I could feel the warmth of his hand and at some point, it made me feel at ease. We did not waste much time. The press conference had started and the reporters started to question me and Chase. At first, I was able to answer some questions as they were just easy, however as the time passed by, the questions being thrown at me were getting too personal and were difficult to answer.

"Ms. Jones, is it true that there is a third party involved which is why you backed out from your supposed wedding with Mr. Maxwell?"

I looked at Chase. I saw how his jaw clenched but then, when he gazed at me, he gave me a reassuring smile.

"We assure you that there is no third party involved. Reese went through difficult times which caused the wedding to be canceled. Once she's fully recovered, we plan to push it through," Chase answered for me.

"Ms. Jones, there are speculations that the only reason why you want to marry Mr. Maxwell is because you want to use their power to save your company from its bankruptcy. What can you say about this?"

"That isn't true . . ." I answered, which I knew was a lie. "There's no other reason why I want to marry Chase aside from the fact that I love him so much. Our company has nothing to do with our relationship, right Chase?"

Chase nodded at me then he faced the crowd. "Reese is right. Our relationship was not built out of business and despite the situation their company is facing right now, I will still not hesitate to marry her in the future."

"And to those people who want to ruin our relationship, I advise you to give up that stupid move because Chase and I will never break up!" I said. I did not mean to say it out loud but it came off that way due to the anxiety which engulfed me.

I heard Chase chuckling softly. I gave him a wide- eyed look. It seemed that the reporters caught me making a face at him as the next thing I knew was everyone laughed as if I uttered a great joke in front of them.

Chase intoned a few more speeches regarding the rumors spreading about me and clarified that none of it were true. After that, he formally bid goodbye to the reporters. He held my hand and gestured to me to stand up. I glanced at the reporters one last time, who seemed still had a lot of questions to ask. Camera flashes became loud and severely blinding. Chase snake his arm around my waist and I felt his lips on my ear.

"You did well, baby," he whispered and kissed my cheek.

I could feel my face burning as I did not expect him to kiss me in front of everyone. I bet those reporters were able to capture it as they started cheering for us. I only smiled at them and then we proceeded to exit the place.

I huffed with relief, one hand clutching my chest. It felt as if I just went through a circle of fire and I was at ease now that it ended.

"Do you think those rumors spreading about me will end now?" I asked Chase curiously.

"I suppose, Reese. But regardless of the outcome of this press conference, this will be the last time you will make a statement. I know it has been quite a pressure on you and I apologize if my father forced you to do this stuff," Chase remarked.

"I wanted to help you. Chase. I am just glad we are done with it . . ." I gave him a reassuring smile.

His bodyguards were walking with us, making sure that no one would be able to come near us, especially reporters. We headed to the parking lot and hopped into Chase's black luxurious car.

He put my seat belt on and gave me one sweet gaze. "Now, for the exciting part . . . we will meet our wedding coordinator."

I smiled widely and hugged him. I could not contain my happiness now that everything was happening according to my plan.

"I can't wait to get married to you," I uttered, excitement evident on my tone.

"Should I get married today then?"

We both chuckled.

"Hmm, are you that excited to be my husband?" I raised one brow after releasing him.

"You have no idea, Reese . . ." He winked at me which made me grin even more.

***

The meeting with our wedding coordinator went well. I was beyond excited as we were able to choose a place where the wedding would take place, and Chase already hired someone who would rush my wedding gown. The wedding coordinator, whose name was Eli, pretty much covered everything and there was nothing else for me to do rather than preparing my cringe wedding vow, which I would end up searching the internet for.

Chase sent me home and I kissed him before letting him go. I could not stop grinning and humming a melody as I walked upstairs. It was as if Heaven blessed and favored me a lot despite the fact that I was a daredevil. My imagination flashed a scene where I saw myself laying down on a bed filled with money, giving me the glimpse of life I had been dreaming for.

My phone rang just when I entered my room. When I saw that it was Lara who just called, I immediately answered her call.

"Hey!" I started, voice still high due to my happiness. "Guess what? We met with the wedding coordinator and everything is settled! I'll be getting married this weekend! I am so excited, Lara!"

"That's cool. I am happy for you,my dear evil friend," Lara remarked but her tone sounded different.

"Hmm, you do not seem happy to me. What's up, Lara?" I asked curiously.

I heard her inhaling sharply on the other line, as if she was frustrated or stressed over something, which added up to my curiosity.

"Well, I started doing some research about your favorite person, Reese Jones . . . and I found something disturbing just now."

My forehead creased after hearing what she said. I sat on the edge of my bed and paid attention to her. "What do you mean disturbing, Lara?"

"Listen, I hired someone who used the deep web for advanced research about Reese Jones' past. Guess what? We found some copies of contents from inactive sites, and based on the contents I had gathered, it seemed that Reese had been getting death threats a few months before her supposed wedding with Chase. Another thing that caught my attention is, there is this specific blog from an unknown writer who posted things about Reese. It felt like this writer knew Reese personally. The posts were about the death threats, disturbing phone calls Reese had received from unknown callers and a lot of terrifying things. Everything is actually on the deep web . . ."

My eyes widened and a gasp escaped my lips. "What the hell, Lara. Do you think those you found out are true?"

I heard her exhaling from the other line. "I am not really sure. But my gut feeling is telling me that it had something to do with why Reese went missing."

"And if it was true, who would send her death threats? That's creepy!" I said, feeling the goosebumps all over my skin.

"That is exactly what I felt. That's something we have to figure out ourselves." She huffed out of frustration. "I cannot believe I would stumble upon such hidden information though. I kind of have a feeling that Reese's situation is a lot more difficult than what we thought, Olivia. You have to be extra careful out there because if these things about death threats were true, then you might be in serious trouble. Someone out there, unscathed, was trying to go after her."

A pang of anxiety went through me. I knew to myself that I could face everything but hearing Lara's words about death threats and someone who was after Reese made my knees go jelly. I hoped that everything she found out from that deep web thing wasn't true . . . My mind started to imagine things which made me scared a little more.

I really had to find out what happened to you, Reese Jones . . .

***

Two days had passed very quickly. For a moment, I tried to focus on the wedding which would be held by tomorrow. Chase, Lara and Reese' parents were completely excited about this most awaited event and I felt over the moon as my efforts were slowly paying off.

Chase and I went to the boutique of the fashion designer he hired to rush my wedding gown. I was stunned the moment I first laid my eyes on the gown that I would be wearing for tomorrow.

The white wedding dress had a plunging neckline, lace bodice and sleeves, and a full flowy skirt. Its style looked regal but balancing both tradition and modernity touches. I looked at it with awe visible in my face.

I never dreamed of getting married in my entire life, but seeing this wedding dress made me want to tear up even though I was all too aware that I was only doing this for money.

"Would you like to fit it?" Lou, the fashion designer, asked me.

"Of course!" I exclaimed.

I glanced at Chase who was sitting comfortably in the visitor's lobby, eyes pinned on me with all smiles on his face.

"Will you give me a sneak peak?" he asked in his hopeful tone of voice.

I stuck my tongue out to tease him but I knew to myself that this was not the right time to play hard to get. For Pete's sake, he would marry me tomorrow so being a little submissive to him would not hurt! I winked at him and then proceeded to the fitting room to wear my wedding gown.

I wondered how much it cost? I bet it was too expensive based on its design. However, Chase was too rich to even mind the price!

I excitedly wore the wedding gown and stepped onto the platform where there was a huge mirror for me to check myself. My mouth was left half open as soon as I laid my eyes on my own reflection from the mirror. A wide smile then escaped my lips, and I could not help but feel so emotional now that I was close to my goal.

Reese Jones, wherever you are right now . . . please do not come back just yet. Allow me to enjoy your life for a bit . . . Let me live this life that I had never experienced before . . .

I gasped as I tried to keep my emotions under control. My goodness, it was not even a wedding which was set out of mutual love but I was already over the moon . . . how else if I would get married to the man I love?

I pictured Chase in my mind, and in an instance, my heart raced fast. I had to admit that he was a perfect package to be someone's husband . . . I still could not believe that Reese decided to leave him. What else was there to ask for, right? He already had everything!

I spun around, gave myself another glance and smiled in front of the mirror. I was so excited for Chase to see me wearing this gown that I opened the red curtains so that he would see me.

However, instead of Chase, I saw Chandria standing up across the platform where I stood, arms crossed against her chest and giving me a grim expression.

"I knew it!" she yelled through her gritted teeth.

The next thing happened, she ran towards me and pulled my hair tightly. I felt her nails digging deeper into my scalp while her other hand was trying to rip my wedding gown apart.

"What the hell, Chandria!" I tried to stop her but she was so strong that even though I pulled her hair too, she did not even flinch and still continued attacking me.

"How dare you, Reese! You don't deserve my brother, in any way! I won't allow you to marry him!" She was able to rip the upper part of my gown. My hand immediately held the lace from its upper part or else it would strip me naked. "Chandria, fuck off!"

"I hate you! You should have not come back in my brother's life! How dare you try to brainwash my brother to secretly marry you! Our parents won't accept you no matter how you try! I assure you that!" she screamed and slapped me on the face.

It was such a huge blow that I ended up falling to the ground.

"Chandria!" I heard Chase' angry voice as he entered the boutique with Lou.

He immediately grabbed his sister and stopped her from attacking me. My breathings were ragged as I felt the pain on my cheek. I checked my arm and found some scratches from Chandria's nails. Lou came to me and helped me stand up.

"You have no right to marry my brother! You're a cheater, a gold digger b*tch!" she screamed while pointing her fingers to me.

My jaw clenched. I was not able to control myself, rushed towards her and slapped her. It was as hard as what she did to me that her head tilted and for a brief moment, she did not make any move, shock was evident on her face . . . same went with Chase and Lou.

I inhaled sharply and glared at her. "Cut the childish act, Chandria. I will no longer tolerate your damn behavior. Just because I didn't try to fight back the first time you laid your fingers on me does not mean I will allow you to keep doing it to me," I said and slapped her face once again. I could feel the pain on my palm. "If you want to play brat on me then let me tell you that you are barking at the wrong tree. You better f*ck off now while I can still control myself, my dear future sister-in-law . . ."