Chapter 19

OLIVIA

It has been two weeks since I married Chase Maxwell, and I would say that it was the best decision I ever made because I have had the opportunity to live a luxurious lifestyle that I never imagined would be possible for me. I had to admit that it was a little surreal. It was no longer necessary for me to perform endlessly on stage, seduce old hags in exchange for tips, or endure the daily battles that constantly reminded me of my traumatic past. I was finally able to say goodbye to the pitiful life I had previously led.

Now, all I had to do was seduce one man, and that man happened to be none other than my husband, Chase Maxwell. It was such an easy job that paid very well. I would wake up in the morning and provide him with morning kisses, making him feel loved all the damn time, even though it was just an act, so he would not act suspicious of me, taking good care of him and, most importantly, performing my duties as a good wife who understood him better than anyone else in this world. I could easily get what I wanted from him– money –as long as I was good and treated him right.

"So, how is it to be the wife of the super famous Chase Maxwell?" Lara asked curiously with a mischievous smile plastered on her face.

Today was Friday, and I decided to pay Lara a visit in her apartment so that we could discuss her ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Reese Jones, the princess who went missing. So far, I would say that the past two weeks have provided me with a wealth of information about her. Lara had worked extremely hard to gather some important information about my favorite person, and this information proved to be extremely useful when I pretended to be her.

I rolled my eyes at Lara, joined her on the couch and huffed out loud. We were the only ones in her apartment at the moment. Her son went to school and his nanny took a one week leave.

"Well, amazing, I guess?" I replied, which came off more like a question. "Aside from the fact that he always gives me money, Chase is such a romantic guy that I am having a lot of fun pretending to be in love with him whenever he is around. You know, like a real wife who is deeply in love with her husband."

Lara grinned widely, throwing me a malicious look like what she usually did whenever we met and had serious conversations.

"Putting on an act, I see . . ." Her voice sounded like she was not convinced.

"Like what I have been telling you all the time!" I snorted but she only shook her head while grinning.

"I don't get why you are so into such an idea that there is something real going on between the two of us. I do not like nor love him, okay?" I clarified.

"Are you not even attracted to him? He is such a hottie so if you would be honest, I will definitely understand. I, too, find Chase hot and desirable!"

My eyes widened with what she said. "What did you say? Did you just low-key admit that you are lusting after my husband?"

She leaned forward and raised one brow. "Why? Are you even bothered? You said you do not like him!"

"Fine! Then lust after him all you want. At the end of the day, the crown is still on me as I am his wife."

Lara laughed out loud, and all I could do was scoff at her. She really loved teasing me when it came to my relationship with Chase. I could not understand why she was so invested in questioning my feelings towards that man. Even though I already told her that Chase was not my type— well, alright, maybe he was my type, but just a little bit— she kept being so nosy, assuming things that were not true and would never happen.

"Anyway, my dear evil friend . . ." She stopped laughing and cleared her throat. "If you are engaged in frequent sexual intercourse with your husband, you have to be extra careful. I will tell you that the last thing you want to happen is to get impregnated by your husband, knowing that you are only pretending to be the love of his life. Is he even using condoms? Or are you taking contraceptives?"

I was stunned for a moment. I recalled those instances where Chase and I had sexual intercourse multiple times last week. We did it twice this week too, and damn it! I could have sworn that Chase was all bare when we did it. Worst of all, I did not even take any contraceptives!

Dang!

I caught my breath. In one instance, I felt a surge of worry go through my nerves. I was not the kind of woman who was very mindful about my safest days . . . I bit my lower lip and muttered a curse.

Lara gave me a wide-eyed look. I frowned, which made her palm her face out of frustration.

"Seriously, Olivia?!" she yelled at me, totally bewildered.

I did not need to say it at all. I knew that the expression of my face answered her questions already.

"Do not be mad at me, alright? I will be more careful the next time—"

"Are you out of your freaking mind? You just had unprotected sex with your husband! What would you do if you got pregnant?! May I remind you that this is just an act, Olivia!" she said, cutting me off.

She was right. I was a total idiot for engaging in such an activity. Now, I would have to pray to gods and even deities just to help me prevent the very worst case scenario. Getting pregnant was not part of my plan!

"I-I will take contraceptives starting today. I promise!" I responded, raising my right hand as if I was reciting a goddamn oath.

"You better pray so hard, Olivia. I cannot believe you forgot about your safety. Is he really that great in bed?!" she said sarcastically.

My cheeks flushed. "Lara, stop it, will you! I am sorry, alright? I will use contraceptives from now on. Stop talking about pregnancy. That word alone is sending me chills all over!"

"You have to be really nervous!" She rolled her eyes while shaking her head. "I swear you would not want to end up being a single mother."

"I know, thanks for reminding me . . ." I pouted my lips.

Lara may be harsh, but all the words she said were true, and even though she talked very harshly to me, I was all too aware that she was concerned about me. Since I was only pretending to be Reese Jones, getting pregnant was one of the things I should have prevented from happening, as I knew that once Chase found out that I was a different person, I would only end up raising the baby alone. I already knew where it would lead me.

Who would accept a child whose mother was a con artist anyway? I sighed at that thought.

Around afternoon, when Lara started discussing her ongoing investigation regarding Reese Jones. I was all ears while watching her, trying to digest every detail she had found out with the help of a geek he hired to assist her.

"Take a look at this." She handed me a printed copy of the blog post she found weeks ago. Lara mentioned that the said blog site was already turned down, and they were just lucky to find copies of its content somewhere on the deep web.

I looked at the paper and read the whole content. The writer did not literally mention Reese's name, but based on how she described the subject of the content— a swimmer athlete who was rumored to wed a top-notch billionaire— she was really referring to Reese Jones. According to the content, Reese had been getting death threats, and a lot of times she saw her being extra conscious about her surroundings as if she thought that someone was following her. The writer also indicated such events where Reese made a fuss in front of the crowd, crying for no reason and silently seeking help through eye contact.

I swallowed so hard. I could feel the anxiety building up inside my chest after reading the content. It was, indeed, disturbing. I could not help but feel concerned about Reese.

"It was posted a week before Reese had gone missing," Lara added, crossing her arms on her chest, looking directly at me as she stood up across the couch where I was seated.

"Do you really think that the writer knew Reese personally?" I asked.

She clicked her tongue. "My gut feeling said so. Given that she wrote a lot of things about Reese, I did feel that she knew her or probably was close to her. A friend, maybe? But I am not really sure, Liv."

"Will there be a chance for us to locate the writer? I think she could give us more details about what really happened to Reese."

"I tried though, but even the deep web was not able to save some information about the writer. All we know is her pen name, Jeen Se Rose."

"Jeen Se Rose . . . would you be able to hire someone who can help us find a lead about this writer?" I asked her curiously.

Lara's brows furrowed. After a while, she shook her head, as if she was telling me that what I wanted was too impossible.

"It will cost a lot of time and money, Olivia," she replied hesitantly.

I let out a sigh and stood up. "Lara, I do not care how much it costs. We just need to find this writer, as she may be able to give us the answers we need. I will wire the money to your bank account. Please, try to find someone, a private investigator perhaps, to help you with this. Can you please help me?"

"The amount of money to get someone to work their ass off to find this person is huge as a mountain. Are you sure, Liv?"

I smirked at her. "Money is not a big deal anymore. I am Mrs. Maxwell now, remember?"

"Ooh, alright then!" She grinned widely. "Why are you so invested in finding this writer anyway? Do you really want to find Reese? It will only cause more trouble if she gets back, just so you know."

"I am not trying to locate her to beg for her to come back. I just want to know what really happened to her . . . if she was still alive or–" I paused as I could not say those words. "You know, the worst-case scenario given that she had experienced receiving such death threats."

"You have a point. What she experienced was truly terrifying," Lara remarked and embraced herself as she seemed to have goose bumps while thinking about Reese.

"You are the only person I can depend on with this matter, Lara. Do everything you can and do not forget the one and only golden rule . . ." I said.

She nodded. "Yeah, do not get caught. I already knew that. You have nothing to worry about, Liv. I am very cautious about this. Anyway, I will work on this as soon as possible so I can send you a new report."

"Thank you, Lara. You are the best."

I huffed a breath. Honestly, I was not really sure why I was doing all these– trying to get information related to Reese and investigate what really happened to her. I could not tell whether I was threatened that anytime she would show up and take everything back from me or I grew fond of her as the time passed by when I was pretending to be her. All the more, I would not be at ease until I found the real reason behind her disappearance.

Dead or alive, I must find her . . .