Chapter 56

OLIVIA

THE NIGHT went on the secluded island owned by Charles himself.

I could not help but question whether there was anything less dignified than seeing people getting more wasted and witnessing their audacity to distribute the party drugs as if it was only some sweet candies.

All I could do was curse under my breath. I badly wanted to stay inside one of the suites in the resort, if not for Mia, who chose to stay with Charles and be on the watch as she didn't want him to take any drugs either.

"Believe me, Mia. Had I known this would happen, I would not have dragged you to the party at all," I told Mia with my arms crossed against my chest.

"I know, Reese, and I understand what you feel. But we are already here. Let's just wait, remain cautious and avoid getting ourselves into trouble. I already asked Charles to send us back to the port in the morning," she said, assuring me that everything would be alright despite the horrible acts I was witnessing before my eyes.

"I don't understand why he can't do it now? My bodyguard is waiting for me at the port!" I said, totally annoyed.

"You see, I already asked him. However, he said that the captain is totally wasted and no one else knows how to maneuver a yacht here, Reese. I am sorry about this."

"Like seriously! To hell with him for not telling me that this is going to be an overnight party." I shot her with a glare.

We were here on the beach front. The people kept partying with loud music being played on. That made them alive. They were dancing in the white sand. Most of them were holding beer cups, totally wasted and high from both alcohol and the party drugs they took.

Despite the obvious illegality, there were men who were still offering party drugs, and my stomach twisted at the sight of it.

"Hey, hey, hey, ladies! Do you want some? One happy pill only costs three hundred bucks," said the guy who approached us while we remained seated on one of the sun loungers beside the shore where the people were dancing like crazy.

"Happy pill?" I asked in disbelief.

The guy jerked his head and grinned. "Yeah. If you took one of these, you would be extra happy," he said meaningfully.

"Go away or else I will punch you in the face!" I scoffed at him.

Mia tightened her hold on my arm and told the guy we were not buying anything from him. The guy offered me a smirk before he left. Rage boiled in me as I could not take what was happening here any longer.

"I just want to go home." I huffed in frustration.

"We will go home first thing in the morning, Reese. I assure you that," Mia said.

"F-uck this place. There isn't any cellular signal here. How can I contact my husband? Chase will be so mad at me," I responded, and palmed my face.

Mia kept patting my back while keeping an eye on Charles at the same time. He was talking to some businessmen and seemingly having fun, ignoring the illegal dealings happening at his own freaking party. If not for Mia, I would have rushed into him and punched his face for turning a blind eye.

The night went on. We stayed on the sun loungers for almost an hour, and after that, Mia asked for us to go inside the resort and check in because we were both feeling sleepy. All I could do was sigh as we stood up.

We walked towards the main entrance of the resort, but we came to a halt when we heard loud screaming followed by a gunshot.

I went into an instant panic and quickly squatted on the ground with my hands covering my ears. My heart raced aggressively inside my chest, and the fear that someone might have been shot made me feel cold.

"What is going on?" I asked Mia, but tears already streamed down her face. She was completely scared about the gunshot we heard.

I slowly stood up and turned to the beach front, where I saw people fighting, screaming, and cursing. My eyes widened at the sight of them. Charles tried to interfere but ended up getting punched by a man who seemed so high because of the drugs.

"Aren't there any security here? Anyone to help?!" I asked in panic.

Mia shook her head. "Bring Charles here, Reese! It's dangerous!"

"Stay here! I will go inside and ask for help!"

I ran and quickened my pace. I went inside the resort and looked for someone to report the situation to. I then found some staff in the lobby and asked them to deploy their security in the beach front area as there was a fight happening.

Security guards then lined up and got deployed in an instance by their leader. I followed them and took Mia away from the crowd. The situation escalated, and the next thing I knew, I heard men firing guns in the air, which made everyone scream in fear.

"We have to run!" I told Mia, but she screamed when she saw Charles getting beaten up by some men. "Mia, no! We have to run!"

"They are beating Charles, Reese! No!" She cried hysterically.

I caught my breath. My mind went blank and I could not think any longer as the situation had gotten worse. I embraced Mia, trying to stop her, but she was too strong to get away from me and ran towards Charles.

I followed her, but I stopped and covered my ears when I heard another gunshot. I was on the verge of tearing up when the movement of the air shifted and became so strong that it blew my hair and dress with force.

A strong wind blew the sand away. People stopped what they were doing and started looking above their heads. When I looked above, I saw a chopper moving in our direction. The loud noise of its fans made it impossible for me to hear the crowd any longer.

I watched it as it moved. It slowly went to the yacht's rooftop, and it landed there.

Everyone was watching the chopper. My heart continued to race fast. Someone was slowly coming out of it, and I gasped when I realized that it was my husband.

"Chase…" I mumbled.

I was overcome with relief and anxiety; I was relieved that he had come here to save me and Mia, but I was concerned that he might discover that I had lied to him. That thought made my tears pool in my eyes.

I watched how he descended from the yacht. His face was grim; his jaw and fist were both clenching. His eyes searched for someone in the crowd, and I stiffened when his ocean blue eyes found me.

He then closed the distance between us. I was about to explain, but he quickly grabbed my hand and dragged me away.

"Chase! Hold on, I am going to explain! Chase!" I called him but he did not say a word.

Fear went through me. I knew he was damn mad at me for lying. I bit my lower lip and let him drag me, but Charles came into the picture.

"Why are you dragging her?!" Charles shouted at him.

Chase turned to him. His jaw clenched even more and I panicked when he punched Charles in his face, which made him fall to the sand.

"How dare you include my wife in this mess!"

"Chase, don't! Please calm down!" I pulled his arm, trying to prevent him from striking Charles again.

Mia ran to Charles and helped him stand up.

"You should not have hosted a party if you can't control your crowd!" Chase shot him a glare. "Do you see what you've done?" He then pointed to the crowd. "People are f-ucking drugged and some have brought their guns. Isn't this kind of party illegal?"

"I will have the situation under control—"

"F-uck off, Charles Brent. You never controlled the situation and let your peeps be drugged as if it was a legal thing, and f-uck you for dragging my wife into this!"

"Chase, please! Stop!" I told him, tears pooling in my eyes.

His gaze turned to me. I shivered when all I could see in his eyes was anger.

"You lied to me," he said in his deep tone and accusing voice. "We are going to talk, Reese. Go to the chopper. Now!"

"Alright, alright. Please, calm down!" I wiped my tears away and looked at Mia. "Mia, come with me, please. I can't leave you here."

"No, she will come with me," Charles said, taking Mia in his arms.

"I was the one who brought her here. I should be the one to take her home, Charles!" I said firmly and quickly tugged Mia onto my side.

"Mia," he called her.

"We will talk, Charles… at school, but not now…" she said, her lips quivering.

"Let's go, Mia. I'm sorry… I really do," I said.

"Don't be, Reese. We both did not know this would happen…"

We then headed to the chopper. Chase was still silent and obviously furious, though he assisted me and Mia to hop in the passenger seats of the chopper and passed ear protection to us.

I tried to hold his hand, but he shoved my hand away. That alone made me feel so guilty. I lowered my head and cried in silence.

The chopper sent Mia to their restaurant on the beachside. Chase was the one who faced Mia's father. They talked for a minute, and then he went back to the seat on my side.

I could not even calm down a bit. My entire body tensed, knowing that Chase was furious at my lies. I inhaled heavily and pondered, gathering my thoughts so I could deliver a good apology once we got home.

"Chase…" I tried to get his attention. But he never gazed at me.

The chopper landed on the vast bermuda grass beside our house. We hopped out of it. Chase did not say a word and only motioned for me to go inside our house. I licked my lower lip and nodded.

I went inside the house and waited for him in the living room. I could not relax anymore. My hands felt so cold as I paced back and forth and waited for him. I could feel my heart pounding aggressively inside my chest, and my anxiety doubled when I heard his footsteps approaching me.

"Chase, I am so sorry…" was the only thing I said to him.

He shot me a glare. The fury in his eyes became visible. For a brief moment, I thought I was looking at a different man, but my guilt struck me, telling me I was the one who caused this whole thing after all... and I deserved it.

"Since when did you start lying to me, Reese?!" His voice boomed inside the whole house, and I almost jumped to my feet with his shout.

"It's not my intention to lie, Chase—"

"But you f-ucking did! Why?!"

"I just wanted to help Mia, alright? He likes Charles and—"

"You know what makes me furious?!" He cut me off. "That is the fact that you lied to me just to go to that f-ucking party being hosted by Charles! Didn't you see how the people acted at the party?! There were drugs being distributed! Have you taken drugs too?!"

I wasn't able to control myself and slapped him in the face. With ragged breathing, I looked at him in disbelief.

"I didn't, Chase! I know what I am doing and I won't do anything that will tarnish your name!" I defended myself. "I swear I didn't know any of that, and had I known about it from the start, I would never have come to that party with Mia!"

"But still, you chose to come. You chose to lie to me and made me look so f-ucking stupid, Reese. I should have known better! If I didn't send my men to follow you, I don't think I could ever imagine what would happen next at that freaking illegal party!"

"You got me tailed by your man? How could you, Chase! Don't you trust me?" I asked, horrified to hear it all from him.

"After what you just did, do you think I'd still trust you? You lied to me!" he shouted at me, which made me tear up. "For the record, you are not yet getting better, Reese! You are supposed to undergo therapy! For God's sake, how could you act like a normal teenager when you are not!"

His words struck my core. I stiffened as my chest tightened, trying to process all the words he said, and when it sank, it left me gasping for thin air.

All I saw was red.

I burned with deep anger as I realized he thought I was not normal; that I was a wife he did not trust and let his men tail me because I was clearly not f-ucking normal…

The man who I thought came to save me was, in the end, the same man who crushed me into pieces when I least expected it.

My heart suddenly hardened.

"How dare you!" I yelled at him.

My itching palm landed on his cheek once again, but this time, it was a severe slap that I did see my finger marks on his face.

"Yes, I suffer from an anxiety disorder, Chase. But that does not mean I am not normal. I am not as crazy as you think I was…" I said, but my voice came off cold and hurt.

Unable to bear the heavy emotions from the fact that he insulted me, I walked past him, crying.

"Reese," he called me, but I never looked back.

I ran to the foyer and exited the house. How could he say all that to me?

How could he f-ucking rub it in my face that he thinks I am not normal?

How could he, of all people, treat me as if I was a crazy woman?

"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath.

I was almost running to the main gate. There I saw Mathias. He approached me and was trying to stop me, but I extended my hand and asked him for the car key.

"Madame, it's past midnight. You can't drive in this state," he said. His voice was still formal and polite.

I shot him a glare. "Give me the key, Mathias. Please…"

"Madame, please calm down a bit."

"I said give me the freaking keys, Mathias!" I demanded.

He let out a sigh and then picked up the key from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Don't you ever try to follow me!" I said and then walked away.

I went towards the car available and hopped in it, then I drove it fast away from the house.

I was biting my lower lip firmly the whole time I was on the road, driving, with my heart feeling so heavy and betrayed. I screamed and drove the car to the side of the road and stopped it.

"How dare you! How dare you!" I slammed my hands on the steering wheel and buried my head in it afterward.

I thought he'd understood my condition better. I thought he'd cared for me, but he was just the same with others who see anxiety disorder as insanity.

My whole body was trembling, both in anger and regret.

"Don't cry. Please, don't cry…" I said to myself and wiped my tears away.

I licked my lips and tasted the sickly-sweet taste of my own blood.

"Damn it!"

Hot tears continued to stream down my face no matter how I tried to wipe them away. I swallowed so hard and recalled all those hurtful words Chase said to me in the house.

My lips quivered. I could not believe he'd thought something like that about me. I thought he was completely different... But no, he proved me wrong!

I cried in the car, letting all my emotions out. It took almost half an hour before my body calmed down.

After that, I decided to go to Lara's apartment.

I knew it was possible for Chase to follow me there, but I didn't give a damn about him. After what he said, I came to realize that rich people would never understand my situation because their worlds revolved only around money, and nothing else.

When I arrived at the building where Lara lives, I desperately rushed into her apartment and knocked on the door numerous times.

"Lara. Lara, it's me. Please open the door," I asked as I sobbed.

It did not take that long before the door opened. Lara appeared before my eyes. Her brows furrowed, her mouth half-opened as she looked at me in confusion.

"My goodness, Olivia. What happened?" she asked.

I immediately embraced her and all I did was cry myself into her shoulders.

"Sssh, hush now… I am here. It's okay…" she said. Her voice was soothing and she started patting my back, which made me cry even more. "Goodness… what the hell happened to you, Liv…"

Tears filled her t-shirt as I embraced her tightly. It was as if she was the only lifeline I had, and if I let her go, I'd end up meeting my downfall.

"Come inside. Let's talk," she said, and I only nodded.

I released her. Lara then closed the door and guided me to her room. I went straight to her bed and threw my body there.

For a split second, I felt like I was a teenager crying over a guy who had betrayed me. I hugged her pillow and turned my back on her, as I did not want Lara to see me in this state.

"Alright, whatever it was that happened, just cry your heart out and when you are done, you can talk to me," she said.

I only nodded at her.

She tucked me in and let me cry myself to sleep.