Chapter 155 - Tabula Rasa (1/2)

”Goodness gracious. She shouldn't have done that. It's Finn's birthday party!”

”Relax.” Eli crossed his legs, locking it by the ankle. ”Your not-so-secret is safe. Nobody's believing Mom. One, she's had too much alcohol, her breath stinks. Two, they all think she's just saying that to beat Selena's pregnancy news.”

”Oh.” Olivia's eyes wandered around the venue, looking for Selena's shadow, and when she did, her eyes lingered longer than it should be that by the time she shifted her stare away from Selena's belly, the person of interest had caught her.

C.o.c.king a brow on Selena, Olivia kept staring at her, never blinking, as if challenging the former. It didn't take long when a slow smile crept Olivia's face as Selena scrambled, looking left and right for someone to save her from the mean witch she called Olivia.

”Look at her. Livi darling, you scared the little doe. Stop it or else her baby might end up looking like you.” Eli chuckled, taking a sip of his c.o.c.ktail.

”Why would it look like me? We're not related.”

”I don't know. Who knows she'll have a nightmare after that scary staredown that you did.”

”Psssh! The only way her baby would look like me is if she's carrying…” Olivia didn't get to finish her sentence. Her mind was suddenly filled with digits and months calculating the timeline of her seeing Selena leave her father's office in a disheveled state.

Her trance was interrupted when Eli nudged her. ”Carrying what? A Lin? Yeah, that's impossible, unless Uncle got her pregnant.”

Changing the topic, Eli shifted in his seat and faced Olivia. ”Let me know when the big day is. I have a nice idea for your gown.”

”Of course, you're the first one to know about the date.”

The two cousins side-hugged each other, giggling as Olivia recounted the events that led to her union with Maxen.

”Excuse me ladies, Ollie's calling for back-up,” Maxen excused himself, planting a kiss on the side of Olivia's head. He's adamant about keeping her at an arm's length all throughout the event just to make sure nobody ruffles her feathers but Ollie was pumping his fist in the air, rushing him to the mobile bar on the other side of the garden.

The Lee ladies were notorious in High Society for having a venomous tongue on top of their scheming minds, and Maxen had a feeling that they would try and stir trouble as payback for Olivia ruining Selena's engagement party.

However, the thing that worried him the most was not Olivia getting hurt, but those women suffering the brunt of Olivia's wrath.

He witnessed the mild and extreme ways of Olivia's retaliation, and most of the time, it left him scratching his head. She was so unpredictable that the last thing he wanted to happen that day was him wondering what the hell just happened.

”Be a good girl,” he reminded her, kneading her waist.

”I am a good girl,” Olivia uttered, glaring at Maxen. She knew he was telling her to stay as far away as possible from the Lee ladies, especially Selena and her mom. ”But if they bite me, I will fight back,” she declared, raising a single brow on Maxen.

”And I will be your knight in shining armor.” He smiled at her, patting her head before dragging his feet out of the teepee.

The cousins craned their necks, watching Maxen walk farther away from their direction as possible.

Eli let out a sigh of relief, clutching his c.h.e.s.t where his heart should be. If he was one bit scared, it didn't show. ”I thought he wouldn't leave.” He made the sign of the cross, thanking the heavens that Maxen finally made an exit.

”How long do you think before it'll work?”

”Oh goodness, she's wobbling, Livi darling. That one is potent,” Eli observed. Earlier, Ava asked them to sprinkle a little powder on Selena's mom's drink.

According to Ava, she didn't want her auntie to be making a scene during the party for she knew that Selena's parents came in prepared to fight knowing that Olivia was in attendance.

The two were busy following their target that they didn't notice Ava sneaking inside the teepee.

”You're blocking my sight,” Olivia complained, pushing the shadow to the side.

”Who are you looking at?” Ava asked, tracing their line of sight. Her hand flew to her agape mouth, her face written with so much horror as she witnessed her auntie reaching out for a chair. ”Eli, how much did you put in her drink?”

”You said to sprinkle the powder, so I sprinkled it.”