Chapter 88 - Pretentious Gazelle (1/1)

He took a step forward, cornering the pretentious gazelle in front of him until her b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s hit the back of the sofa. It was then that he noticed something amiss. Why is Olivia in his place? Wait a minute. He looked around and realized that he wasn't in his penthouse. ”Do you own this place? What else are you hiding from me, Olivia?” he asked in a low, dangerous, full of warning tone. Rolling his tongue over his teeth, he threw his suit coat on the sofa and yanked his tie to relieve himself from the swirl of confusion and anger that brewed in the pit of his stomach. First, she didn't tell him that she got engaged. Second, this penthouse apparently belonged to her. And third, at the very moment, all he wanted to do was mold his body into hers. Facing him, Olivia stood defiantly. She huffed and raised her hand in a stop sign that Maxen had to tilt his head so he could see her partly covered face. ”Answer my question first, Maxen.” ”Ha? What? What question? Me?” Caught off-guard with her animosity when he should be the one seething in anger, Maxen rubbed the skin above his eyebrow to remember what her question was. She called him Maxen and not Max. Somehow, he did something wrong, right? ”You said,” she air quoted and mimicked his cooing voice, ”Where is my Beauty?”  Maxen's bravado dropped. ”I can explain,” he surrendered, taking a step back as she stepped forward. *Click clack click* The deathly sound of stilettos hitting the granite floor was ominous. The spell of alcohol in Maxen's body turned into sweats that drenched his back. ”Baby,” Maxen brought his palms together in a prayer, calling upon divine providence to see the sunshine the next day. ”Listen to me. She's my cat.”  He inched closer to her, cupping her elbow but Olivia jerked it away, sending panic signals to Maxen. ”Baby, it's true!” In a split second, she stood by the elevator door, gesturing for Maxen to use the intercom beside it. But he didn't use it. Instead, Maxen dialed Jack's number. ”Jack, my card malfunctioned and I'm inside the other penthouse. I need you to inform them to grant me access so I could go home.” His eyes never left Olivia. Afraid that she might leave and get married away to someone again. During the entire phone call, he deliberately left out the detail that he just found out the owner of the neighboring penthouse. Explaining himself, ”Let's wait for the guy to come up. I can't call them and say 'hey it's me, open my door.' They won't believe me or anyone who says they're the prince. So I have to call Jack and Jack has to call them and now we have to wait. I'm not cheating on you. I promised you, remember?” ”Save your words for later, Maxen.” Olivia took a sharp breath and closed her eyes to keep herself from getting violent.  Maxen eyed her fingers and was relieved to see the absence of a wedding ring. He stole a peek of her face but his attention was stolen by the glimmer of her necklace.  Bowing his head, he tried to hide the smile on his face. Olivia was wearing the key that he gifted her around her neck. Now all he had to do is be patient and let her explain everything to him. After a few minutes, the elevator door to Olivia's penthouse opened, revealing the panic-stricken building superintendent.  ”Sorry about this inconvenience, Ms. Lin. Your Highness.” The superintendent bowed. He didn't want to say more and just kept his words short and simple. His fist tightly clenched on either side when his stomach churned in terror as he met the infamous witch of Penthouse Suite A.  ”Wait.” Maxen held a hand up, halting Olivia and the superintendent. He walked along the foyer and knocked on the wall as if a magical door would open for him. He smiled. Looking at the superintendent, he ordered, ”I want this wall torn down before sundown tomorrow.” ”No walls will be torn down, sir.” Olivia glanced at the superintendent who almost snapped his neck, looking back and forth between Olivia and Maxen. ”That wall will go down.” ”I'm not sure about that because you and your Beauty might want some privacy.” Olivia rolled her eyes. ”For Pete's sake, Olivia. She's a cat and you're her mom!” Maxen hysterically laughed, irking Olivia. ”It's not funny, Maxen.” Olivia seethed. ”I'm the one who's supposed to be mad, Olivia,” he sighed, storming towards his penthouse suite to retrieve his Beauty to settle the issue and so he could sledgehammer that wall down. He snapped his head to the superintendent and the latter shakily handed him his new keycard.  ”I'll take my leave, Your Highness. We are just a call away if you need anything else.” Facing Olivia, the superintendent spoke, ”Please let us know if you want the walls to go down, Ms. Lin. I'll get someone to work on it.”  Maxen's lips twitched at what the superintendent spouted. Clearly, that man knew who to please more in that situation.  His eyes darted to the guard by the elevator doors and the latter read what's on Maxen's mind, ushering the superintendent down the lobby, giving Maxen and Olivia their much needed privacy. Seeing Olivia standing by the threshold, Maxen knew he had to find his pet as soon as possible to clear the misunderstanding between them. ”Beauty… Where are you…” he called, crouching by the table to check whether the feline was hiding under it. He searched all the nooks and crannies of the grand room, moving forward to the rest of the rooms all the while glancing back and checking on Olivia, just to be sure she didn't storm out on him yet. All his hopes were almost gone when out of a corner, a cat that looked like a little tiger lazily stretched behind Olivia, extending Maxen's life by ninefold.  ”Beautttty! There you are!” Maxen heaved a sigh of relief. ”She's Beauty?” Olivia c.o.c.ked an eyebrow, skepticism apparent on her face.  ”She is! See for yourself.” Maxen cleared his throat and cooed, stretching his arm, ”Beautttty.. let's go meet your mom.” But the little tigress meowed and waltzed to its makeshift castle, turning a deaf ear to Maxen's bidding. ”I don't think her name is Beauty, Maxen. She's ignoring you.” Olivia clutched her bag with so much force and Maxen saw it. He knew the seed of doubt in Olivia's heart was sprouting the longer he failed to prove his innocence. ”She hasn't seen me in a month, Olivia. Let her warm up.” Three lines creased on his forehead. He was growing impatient too. So he caught up with his petulant child and removed her collar, passing it to Olivia's waiting palm. It was a black velvet collar with a gold bell and a round silver pendant bearing the beauty's name. A small smile painted her lips, relieved that Beauty was indeed a cat. It's not like she doubted Maxen because according to Emily, he never brought a girl up in his penthouse. But when she heard him earlier call out another girl's name, her heart almost dropped to her feet and a string of what ifs fogged her mind. She silently meditated and prayed that Maxen didn't lose his shit and seek comfort in the arms of another woman. Maxen rubbed the pad of his thumb on the corner of her lips, tasting it too with a soft kiss—far from the steamy one that he was imagining for days but weird enough, it tasted and felt better. ”This part was curled down a while ago. I'm glad you're smiling now, baby.” She hooked her arms around his neck, brushing the tip of her nose to his. ”I am because you're home,” she uttered. ”Really?” Maxen scrunched his eyebrows. ”Are you really happy that I'm home? Because I saw you earlier in the cathedral, all prepped for your wedding.” Olivia threw her head back, laughing for the first time that day. ”Yes, my funny man. And no, I didn't get married.”  Bopping her fingertip on his nose, Maxen, chuckled. ”You're not absolved from your little stunt yet and you have a lot of explaining to do, Olivia,” Maxen reminded her in between her assault of kisses but Olivia just replied with a ”Mmm.” When she pulled apart, he raked his eyes from her lips up to her nose, then to her eyes—etching her face in his mind.  He should be angry but anger never really had a room in Maxen's heart. An altruist to a fault, it's just his character to be warm and selfless, placing others' well-being ahead of his. To him what matters most was a smiling Olivia in his arms and that's all he ever needed. Lifting her up by the b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s, Olivia wrapped her legs around his waist as he strode towards his bedroom. ”I showed you my cat, baby. How about you show me yours?”