Chapter 42

OLIVIA

"Thank you so much for your help!" I replied and smiled at her.

She offered me a shy smile. "No worries. I was a fan of yours when you were still competing in swimming competitions. You were cool, Mrs. Maxwell. Hopefully, you can find a way to get back to swimming."

I was taken aback by what she said. So, she was Reese Jones' fan, eh?

"I am so honored to meet a fan like you. And we'll never know! When my memory comes back, I will be able to return to swimming."

But I was not Reese Jones, and the memory I was referring to would never come back as it wasn't mine to begin with.

"I am looking forward to that. So, I will go now," she said, as she scratched her head a bit.

I nodded and thanked her again. I watched her walk away, and when her presence was no longer visible, I turned to the cafeteria.

I did not waste any time and rushed inside. I went to the table where Chandria was sitting comfortably, holding her stylus pen while her eyes were looking down at her expensive tablet and giggling with her friends.

"Hey there, my little Chandria!" I greeted her as soon as I stood in front of their table.

Her friends' attention immediately went to me, astounded and confused by my sudden presence. Chandria froze in her seat, cleared her throat and did not bother looking at me, as if I was invisible to her. Instead, she continued talking to her friends while jotting down some notes on her tablet.

"Chandria, I know you just heard me. Come on, do not ignore me!" I said and to get her attention, I waved my hand and smiled at her friends. "Oh, I am sorry if I suddenly appeared without introducing myself. My name is Reese Jones-Maxwell, and I am Chandria's sister-in-law. It's nice to finally meet you!"

They came back to their senses and nodded at me in response. They also greeted me and offered their hands for handshakes.

"I can't believe that I finally met you, Reese! You're a great swimmer! I am indeed a fan of yours!" One of Chandria's friends said. "I was rooting for you and Chase Maxwell back then and did not believe the rumors. I am glad you two have finally married!"

"Andrea, stop it..." Chandria gave her a wary look.

I smiled and turned my gaze on Chandria. She exhaled loudly, stood up, and walked out without saying anything. Her friends gasped at her sudden change of behavior. They looked so worried about her.

I shook my head as I crossed my arms against my chest. "She actually does not feel well, girls. So, I went here to pick her up and escort her home."

These two friends of hers frowned and glanced at each other.

"That might be the reason why she was so irritated earlier," the woman named Andrea said.

"Okay, you can send her home, Reese. I will tell our professor that she is not feeling well today. We will take notes and give them to her tomorrow."

"That's so nice of you. I'm going to follow her now. Nice meeting both of you!" I said and stormed out of the cafeteria to follow the little devil.

I ran as fast as possible and then grabbed her hand to stop her from walking away from me.

"Not so fast, bitch!"

"Let me go, Reese!" she said and tried to get her arm from my grip, but I did not give her that chance.

"Not your lucky day, my dearest evil sister-in-law. You will come with me," I said as I gripped her arm tightly and dragged her out of the school with me.

"What the hell do you want?"

I then brought her in front of the car and only let her go when Mathias blocked her way. I clicked my tongue as I looked at her, amused by her reaction.

"I already explained to your friends that you do not feel well and that you need to go home. Now, I am here to take you out with me," I said and grinned. But she only rolled her eyes at me.

"It is not up to you, Reese. I need to go back!" she said, but I grabbed her arm right before she took a couple of steps.

"Don't play hard to get on me, Chandria. I know you don't like to go to school," I said, as a matter of fact.

"What did you say? Are you trying to offend me?"

"If you really care about your next class, you are not going to let me drag you all the way here!"

What I said made her shut up. She looked at me angrily, and I could really tell that she was upset with me, but even if she snarled at me, I would never flinch and run.

"What the hell do you really want from me, Reese? Again, we are not that close for you to take me out." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I am more convinced that you are getting insane. Is that the aftermath of your so-called amnesia?"

I rolled my eyes. "What's wrong with making up with you? Geez, you are my sister-in-law and even though you almost got me killed previously, I wouldn't be able to escape the fact that you are part of my family."

"Well, then you no longer need to make up with me. Just try to be a good wife to my brother. Even if I hated you, I wanted him to be happy," she explained.

I narrowed my eyes and smirked. "How cute, Chandria. You love your brother that much, huh? That's enough reason for you to make a lot of fuss to make me go away… even if you resorted to it by giving me a death threat?"

"Mind your language. I am not the person who sent you that freaking death threat. Why would I even waste my time playing games with you? That's worthless!"

I observed the expression on her face. She grimaced and offered me nothing but a glare. She did not even flinch even though I gazed at her for that long. There was no hint of guilt or lying in her eyes... That only means that she was telling the truth.

Chandria was not the one who sent it.

"Try to calm down a bit, little girl." I was about to touch her hair but then she immediately pushed my hand away.

"Don't even dare touch me!" she yelled.

I winced at hearing her voice. A memory of me when I was a child flashed through my eyes: a kid that pushed me away. He was a visitor to the orphanage who came with his parents. That arrogant kid told me that I had no right to talk to him or become his friend because I was a filthy orphan... The way Chandria looked at me reminded me of that kid.

Chandria shook her head and was about to go but I held her hand once again.

"Chandria, why don't you give me a chance first? I want to end this conflict between us, and spend some time with you because your husband's sister." I sighed heavily and looked her in the eyes. "I want to be closer to you, and to apologize for how I acted before. Just please, let me. It's my treat."

Her chest was moving up and down in rage, but soon her expression softened and she became a little bit calmer.

"I don't really know what you are up to. You're so weird," she commented, and then hopped inside the car, wearing the grim expression all over again.

I turned to Mathias. "Let's go to a nearby beach."

"Sure thing, Madame."

I hopped into the passenger seat beside Chandria. She moved a bit away from me, and I could only giggle because of her childish actions.

"Where would you take me?" she asked after what seemed like half an hour of being on the road.

"We will go to a beach and have fun there," I replied. "We'll have some coffee, too. I badly need it because I still have a bad hangover."

I picked my phone from my bag and took a picture of me and Chandria pouting her lips in annoyance. I then sent it to Chase and then informed him that I was with her sister.

To: Chase

Hello there, husband. I am with your sister. I took her out for a girls' date to try to mend things between us. Wish me luck! I miss you! :x

I could not help but smile. I bit my lower lip and showed Chandria my phone screen. She only rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Can you at least smile a bit? Come on. We're going out for a sisterly date!"

"Yeah, right, and you're creeping me out…" She pouted her lips.

"Feisty!"

Even though Chandria was a bit sour to me, I could not deny that I was kind of excited about fixing the conflict between us. Sitting beside her without us fighting like wild cats was actually a good start. I hoped that after this day, she would be able to open her heart to me. I bet Chase would be so happy once he saw me and her sister on good terms. I mean, who wouldn't want a peaceful life without an enemy to mind, right?

My phone vibrated. I opened my inbox hoping to see if Chase had already replied, but it was Lara who had just sent me a text message.

From: Lara

Heyoo! Little Devil, I hope you're fine! Are you with Chase? Make sure to give him a wild night, to the point that he can no longer walk the next day! Or try to give him a lap dance. I bet he would love it!

I shook my head and massaged the temple of my nose after reading her message. I sent her a reply, informing her that I was with Chase's sister, as I planned to treat her somewhere nice. I even sent her our selfie.

After a few minutes, I got a reply from her.

From: Lara

Oh my gosh! Liv! Are you trying to get Chandria to like you? You've already fallen for the trap! First, you've become close to Chase's father and enrolled at Steinfield's Uni. Then now you are going to spend some time with Chase's devilish sister?

You know what that is? You are already in love with Chase! Liv, run away. I am warning you. You will get hurt at the end! It's not worth it!

I bit my lower lip and ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. I deleted her text message and turned off my phone. Something was wrong with me... I did not know why, but my chest felt so heavy after reading her text messages.

"Interesting. Now, you look annoyed," Chandria commented, her eyebrows raising.

"Don't mind me. I just received a terrible message from a friend," I replied.

"Things that make us annoyed are mostly the hard truths," she responded.

My forehead creased by what she said. I cleared my throat as it made me ponder.

"Yeah, maybe…" I said after a few seconds, and then laughed a bit.

Geez, Olivia. Are you completely out of your mind? I shoved all my thoughts away and focused on my goal for today—to get closer to Chandria Maxwell.

"I am getting bored. I hope you'll treat me to something fancy. I am not cheap."

I then gave her a sweet grin. "Seems so."

"We are here, Madame," Mathias announced as he stopped the car.