Olivia’s POV
I stood rooted to the spot, my entire body frozen as I stared at this... this imposter.
He was wearing Oliver’s kinda clothes - the sa baggy jeans and oversized hoodie I usually wear to hide my feminine figure. The sa short wig I wore every day. The sa carefully applied facial hair that Nikita had taught to apply. Everything down to the smallest detail was perfect.
But who was underneath? Male? Female? I couldn’t tell.
What the hell is happening?
Beside , I heard Kira’s sharp intake of breath. She was just as shocked, her eyes wide and disbelieving as she stared at the newcor.
My mother’s voice filtered through the fog in my brain, catching only the tail end of her introduction. "...Kennedy’s friend Maxwell Wellington. He ca with his personal assistant, Oliver Hopton, who also happens to be your distant cousin! Isn’t that beautiful?"
"Wait, what?" The words burst out of before I could stop them.
Mom bead. "I know! I was shocked too when Kennedy told ! Apparently you have a cousin you never knew about, and he’s been working for Maxwell this whole ti. What are the odds?"
"No... I... Jesus..." I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. My brain had completely short-circuited.
I turned to Maxwell, forgetting myself, forgetting the audience, forgetting everything except the desperate need for answers. "Can we talk? Right now?"
"Oh, baby!" Mom exclaid, her hand flying to her chest. "You rember Maxwell now? I’m so..."
"I’ll go talk to her," Maxwell interrupted quickly, already moving toward .
But I was barely listening. "Rember him? Rember him how?"
Maxwell placed his hand on my back, gently guiding toward the front door. "Let’s step outside for a mont."
I let him lead out, my mind spinning with too many questions, too many revelations, too many things that didn’t make sense.
The mont we were on the front porch, away from everyone’s eyes, I whirled on him.
"Why should I rember you?" I asked, forgetting the initial reason I’d wanted to talk to him in the first place. "Have we t soti before? How do you know my brother? How do you know my family? And have you always known? Have you known this entire ti who I was and still choose to be cruel to ?"
Maxwell stood there, his hands in his pockets, his expression neutral as I went into full panic mode.
"Please," I said, and I hated how my voice cracked. "Just answer . All of it. Everything."
He was quiet for a mont, studying my face intently. Then he took a breath.
"We t briefly as kids," he said carefully. "Very briefly. It would be impossible for you to rember."
"Kids?"
"Your parents know because I’ve been friends with Kennedy since middle school. We’ve stayed close over the years."
I shook my head, trying to process this information. "So you’re telling ... you’ve known who I was this entire ti? Since I walked into your office as Olivia asking for love advice?"
******
Maxwell’s POV
Shit.
I thought I was ready for this. Thought I’d prepared myself ntally for every possible reaction she might have when the truth ca out.
But I wasn’t ready.
Not for the way she was looking at right now - like I’d betrayed her in the worst possible way. Like I was a stranger. A monster. Soone she’d never trusted and never would.
That look in her eyes was breaking sothing inside .
I can’t do this. I can’t handle her hating .
Call a big baby. Call weak. But I couldn’t afford for Olivia to hate . Not after searching for her for so long. Not after finally having her close.
It had broken before, when I’d lost her all those years ago. And right now, even though I didn’t want to admit it - even though admitting it made feel pathetic - it was breaking again.
Damn it. I should have been nicer.
But I’d been driven by anger at first. By the fury that she couldn’t rember when she’d walked into my love doctor’s office. By the betrayal of watching her pine after my best friend who didn’t even see her.
I’d let that rage consu . Had used it to justify every cold word, every calculated move, every mont I’d made her uncomfortable.
And now I was paying for it.
"Maxwell!" Her voice cut through my thoughts. "Answer right now. Have you always known?"
She was practically yelling, and I could see shadows moving behind the living room window. Everyone was watching. Her parents, Kennedy, Kira, Gabriel, the fake Oliver I’d hired.
This is a disaster.
I reached for her arm, intending to guide her sowhere more private, sowhere we could have this conversation without an audience.
She snatched her arm away like I’d burned her.
"Don’t touch ," she hissed, and the disgust in her voice weakened .
I can’t do this. I can’t see her look at like that.
Seeing her like this - hurt and angry and looking at like I was her worst nightmare - brought back mories I’d spent years trying to bury. mories of the darkness that had consud when I’d thought she was gone forever.
Maybe I shouldn’t have looked for her. Maybe I should have let her be. Maybe I should have just moved on.
What had I been thinking? That finding her would sohow make everything better? That she’d rember and fall into my arms and we’d live happily ever after?
I was a fool.
I turned away from her and started walking toward my car. I needed to leave. Needed to get out of here before I completely lost control. Before I said sothing I couldn’t take back or did sothing I’d regret.
"Maxwell, wait!" She followed . "Stop! You don’t get to just walk away! I demand an explanation!"
But I kept walking, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt. Don’t look back. Don’t engage. Just get to the car.
I reached my car and yanked open the driver’s side door, sliding into the seat and closing it behind .
My forehead dropped to the steering wheel as I tried to steady my breathing.
In. Out. In. Out. Get control of yourself.
The passenger door opened, and Olivia threw herself into the seat, slamming the door behind her.
"I’m not done talking to you," she said, her voice filled with emotion.
I didn’t lift my head. Didn’t look at her. Just focused on breathing while she kept talking, her words washing over in waves I couldn’t quite process.
Finally, I reached across her and opened her door from the inside.
"Leave," I said through gritted teeth.
She slamd the door shut. "No."
"Olivia..."
"I’m not going anywhere."
"Go back to your family," I said, still not looking at her. Still resting my forehead against the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping grounded.
"You’re apparently part of my family too, aren’t you!" she shot back. "So if I go in there, you’re coming with . Right now, I need answers."
I sighed heavily and finally lifted my head, forcing myself to look at her.
Mistake. Looking at her is always a mistake.
"I found out you were Kennedy’s sister after you visited my office," I lied. But It was safer than the truth. Safer than admitting I’d been searching for her for years. That I’d found her by chance when visiting Alex at his old firm. That I’d followed her to that concert like a stalker. That when she’d walked into my office the next day, I’d felt a joy so profound it had nearly brought to my knees.
Until she’d opened her mouth and declared her love for another man.
"After I visited your office," she repeated slowly.
"Yes."
"So you’ve known for months. While we’ve been..." She stopped, and I watched color flood her cheeks. "While everything else has been happening."
She’s thinking about the kiss. About all the tis I’ve kissed her as Olivia - probably about the sex too.
"Yes."
She went silent. Completely silent.
I’d never heard Olivia this quiet before - Oliver, yes. But not Olivia. Even in all our interactions, she usually always had sothing to say. Always had fire in her, whether it was anger or passion or stubborn determination.
But now? Nothing.
The silence stretched out, heavy and cold, and I couldn’t take it anymore.
I lifted my head fully and turned to look at her.
Another mistake.
Her eyes were filled with so much hatred that it physically hurt. Like soone was reaching into my chest and twisting my heart in their fist. Every breath beca painful. Every heartbeat felt wrong.
She was looking at like I was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.
"You’re evil," she said quietly, but her words cut deeper than any scream could have. "You’re a demon. A manipulator. And I hate you."
Each word was a knife slicing through my insides.
"Olivia..."
"I hate you, Maxwell Wellington. I hate everything about you. I hate that you lied to . I hate that you’ve known this whole ti, yet chose to play gas. I hate that you made feel..." Her voice broke. "I just hate you."
She grabbed the door handle and shoved the door open.
"And I never want to see you again."
She was out of the car before I could respond, before I could explain, before I could tell her any of the thousand things swirling through my mind.
The door slamd shut with a vibration that echoed through my entire body.
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