Chapter 41

OLIVIA

It was around one o'clock in the afternoon when I decided to call Mathias to pick me up at Lara's apartment. I had to wait for Mikael first to return home from his school camping as I had missed him too.

When I arrived home, I went straight to our bedroom to take a rest. I threw myself on the bed, exhaled out loud, and massaged the bridge of my nose. Even though a lot of things happened today, my mind could not seem to get tired of thinking about Chase. I shifted my position sideways and caressed the part of the bed where he usually slept. Even the pillows and duvet smelled like his familiar perfume. I hugged the pillow he used and snuggled with it.

I missed him...

It had only been a day since I had not slept here, yet my entire body seemed to be craving him already. I did not know what kind of emotion this was... but I guess it was fine for me to go along with it.

Was he mad that I flinched when he kissed me earlier this morning? I hoped not, but my eyes had seen that he was somewhat confused by what I did. If ever he brought it up, I would clear things out, even if it meant telling him white lies.

"I missed you, Chase..." I murmured under my breath.

I heard my phone ring, and my gut feeling told me that it was Chase. I rose from the bed and grabbed my phone, too excited to answer his call.

"Hello there, Chase!" I greeted him as soon as I answered the call without checking the caller ID number.

"Oh my God!" My expression changed when I heard the familiar and irritating voice of Chase's sister.

I looked at the phone screen, brows furrowed, and asked myself why this bitch was suddenly calling me. I mean, we weren't close as far as I recall.

"What's up, Chandria?"

"What the hell were you doing last night? I heard that you got drunk with your friend and didn't go home! Aren't you supposed to take care of my brother?" she yelled at me from the other line.

I winced at her annoying tone. It was as if she was telling me that I was not a good wife when she did not have any idea about the entire situation.

"Where did you hear that, Chandria?" I asked coldly as I was getting so annoyed too.

The fact that she argued with me previously, and Chase's suspicion that she was the person behind the death threat, made my entire blood boil out of rage. Now, here she was, making me feel angry all over again.

"You do not have to know, Reese. And may I remind you that you have no right to question me." I could feel it from here that she was already gritting her teeth while talking to me. "How dare you leave my brother so you could party with your friend? You're supposed to play your role as his wife, not act as if you were a single woman who goes out whenever you feel so. Shame on you, Reese!"

I could have sworn that my ears were so irritated by her high pitched voice that I intentionally dropped the call. How the hell did she get my phone number, anyway?

"Chandria, you smart ass bitch. You are really getting on my nerves!" I yelled while glancing at my call logs.

I went all the way to block her phone number as I valued my peace of mind more than her capriciousness and whines then I received another call. I carefully checked the phone number and it was different from the one Chandria used a while ago, so I thought it was safe. I decided to answer the call just to check who was calling me.

"How dare you, Reese Jones! Did you just hang up on me?!" Another voice, of a seemingly crazy woman, just yelled from the other line. Then I realized that it was Chase's annoying sister once again! "Did you freaking block my number?!"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. How could she be so stupid?

"Perhaps it was only an accident," I replied but of course, knowing this woman, I knew she would never believe what I said.

"Who are you fooling? Don't tell me it was just an accident that you went all the way into your contact settings and blocked my phone number instantly, because I will never believe you, Reese. I wasn't born yesterday to be so ignorant of what you did!"

I shook my head and massaged the side of my head. "Whatever, Chandria! But I wouldn't block your number if you only chose to behave properly while talking to me." I sighed heavily and thought of something fun to do instead. "How about this? Since Chase is not yet home and I am also bored to death, why don't we meet?"

She laughed sarcastically. "Why would I meet with you? Aren't you aware that we're not even close?"

I just said, "Tell me where you are right now," ignoring what she said.

"I am still in class. I'm just taking my break," she answered.

"Great. I'll go there and fetch you. You can skip your classes, then we can go somewhere else to have fun."

She may have thought that I'd lost my mind. There was no reason for me to meet her either, but I'd like to kill some time and observe her personally. I wanted to judge her actions myself to see if she was the one who sent the death threat a couple of weeks ago.

"You really are crazy. Why would I skip my class just to meet a bitch like you?" she hissed, and I could only smirk while listening to her rants.

"Don't forget that this bitch you are referring to is your sister-in-law, Chandria. So, being the wife of your brother, have some respect and listen to me. In fact, I really think that you don't want to attend your next class. So, let's just meet. I promise it is my treat." I tried to sound as sweet as possible.

"I can't believe what you just said, Reese. You're out of your mind!" she yelled at me. "Whatever! Do what you want, but leave me out of it! I only called because I wanted to warn you. If you want me to be cool with you, be a great wife to my brother!" After saying those words, she hung up the phone.

I grinned and shook my head. Chandria was truly a brat. I wonder how Ernest and Chase put up with all her whines in life.

But whatever it was, she told me on the phone, it would not stop me from doing what I wanted. I took a bath and wore a trendy outfit—a floral dress partnered with white sneakers. I rushed downstairs and asked Mathias about Chandria's school.

"I am sorry, Madame, but I do not have that kind of information," he answered.

"It's fine. I am going to ask Chase," I said as I hopped inside the car.

I sent Chase a text message, asking him to which Uni Chandria attended, but he seemed to be so busy that he didn't reply to my text message. I then decided to call Chandria. I was lucky enough that she did not reject my call.

"What is it, bitch?" she asked as soon as she answered my call.

"I swear you do not want to use that tone on your sister-in-law, Chandria." I leaned my back against the backrest of the passenger seat. "Where do you study? Tell me."

"Are you really this insane?!" She then ended the call.

"What the hell?"

I gritted my teeth as she was clearly testing my patience. I was so annoyed that I ended up sending her some text messages multiple times. After what it seemed to be my hundredth text message to her, she then replied with the exact address of the university where she studies.

"There you go," I said, smirking widely. I told Mathias to drive me to the address Chandria provided, and he followed my order.

While we were on the road, I could not fight the urge to call Chandria once again, to make sure that she was not fooling me.

"If you are lying to me about the school you are attending, I will make sure to tell Chase and even your father about this," I said warily when she answered my call.

"For God's sake, Reese. Don't ever push your luck! Don't go here. My class will start soon, and I only have a thirty minute break."

"Don't worry, I will help you sneak out."

"No, I don't want to—"

I ended the call. Same thing as what she did to me earlier. I laughed devilishly in my seat, not minding Mathias' confused look at me from the rearview mirror.

I realized that her school was only thirty minutes away from our home. Mathias stopped the car in front of the main gate of the campus, and all that was left for me to do was pursue that devilish woman to come out.

I sent her a text message:

I am already here. I'll go inside and ask for your room.

I was grinning from ear to ear when I walked to the main gate. Many students looked at me. Some were astounded, and some gave me a confused look. If I didn't know that Reese was kind of popular, I would have really felt anxious by the way they stared at me.

"That's Reese Jones-Maxwell, right?"

"Chase Maxwell's wife is really pretty!"

I heard many whispers about me, but I decided to ignore them and went straight inside. I thought that the security guards would question me before they let me in, but it appeared that they were stunned by my beauty and aura. Instead, they greeted me happily.

"Good afternoon!" I greeted them back, trying to be nice and polite.

A lot more students threw their gazes at me when I walked into the building. To ensure my safety, Mathias was walking behind me. I felt more safe and confident with him by my side. Just in case Chandria threw a tantrum or started picking up a fight with me, I had Mathias to defend me.

A cute student walked in front of me, and I immediately held her shoulder.

"Hi there, pretty lady. Do you know what class Chandria Maxwell belonged to?" I asked politely.

"Chandria?" Her brows furrowed. I nodded.

"She's in the cafeteria right now," she answered shyly. "I can take you there if you need help."

"That's so nice of you! I appreciate your help," I said, and I smiled at her widely.

A surge of excitement went through me. I wanted to see how Chandria would react when she saw me in the flesh…

While we were walking our way to the cafeteria, my mouth felt so itchy to ask questions to this lady who was kind enough to help me.

"How's Chandria at school, if you don't mind me asking?"

She gazed at me and shrugged. "She does whatever she wants, I guess."

"Is she a pain in the ass to her professors?"

"Mostly…"

I giggled. Based on Chandria's personality, she clearly had the ability to make everyone angry. I was actually curious about why she ended up having that kind of behavior. Her brother was so kind, and I could really tell that their father was also the same. I thought about their mother, who had been showing how displeased she was with me ever since I met her. Perhaps Chandria got her rude behavior from their mother? I mean, it was actually obvious that Mrs. Maxwell was ill-mannered.

I shoved that thought away as it wasn't the right time for me to ponder it. The last stopped in front of the cafeteria, raising her index finger and pointing to the woman who was sitting on the table in the corner of the place, chatting with her friends.

"There she is," she said.