Chapter 290 - Go The Extra Mile (1/2)

It was almost sun up when Maxen arrived home, and it felt as though his surroundings were a kaleidoscope image spinning endlessly.

Reaching the second floor of the mansion, Maxen lazily dragged his foot to the master bedroom.

He opted to forgo bath time, and shimmied off of his clothes, going commando for bedtime.

With his eyes closed, he peeled the duvet off and slid underneath the covers. To his surprise, the bed was cold as ice, and his wife was nowhere in sight.

”Huh?” he uttered, swiping his hand on the bed one more like an angry windshield wiper on a stormy day.

To validate Olivia's absence, he forced his eyes to open wide, and true enough, it was only him on the bed.

Scratching the skin above his eyebrows, he tried to remember Olivia's schedule, but his mind was cloudy from his exhaustion so he opted on giving her a call instead.

”Where are you?” he asked, his voice laced with worry.

”I'm down by the beach.”

”Whaaat?”

”I said, I'm down by the beach.”

”Yes, I heard you the first time. But, why?”

Olivia took a sharp inhale. She knew Maxen had a lot on his plate lately, and maybe that day was one of the longest days he had in his life.

So she did her best to tuck in her bitchy self in the closet who was itching to retort nasty words on her husband for forgetting about her whereabouts when they talked about it a hundred times because of his paranoia of her getting kidnapped by the Huks.

”The turtle hatchlings are going back to the sea, remember? We're doc.u.menting it. How was your night? Everything went well, I assume?”

”Oh. Okay. Now I remember. Yeah, every…”

”Max? Hello?” Suddenly, her lips curled into a smile when the notes of Maxen's soft snore danced in the air. ”Goodnight, Max,” she softly spoke, and kept the phone pressed to her ear.

She had no intention of ending the call because if she did, Maxen would wake up confused, forgetting about their earlier conversation.

Playing with the torchlight in her hand, she cast a spotlight on the sandy shores, close enough to the nesting site of the turtles where a dozen or more eggs were buried.

Nature took its course eventually, and tiny little creatures emerged from the pit, forcing their head up to catch a breath for the first time.

Gray powdery sands were sent flying in the air as the turtle's flipper pitter-pattered against it while they followed the trail their mother left behind.

A corner of Olivia's lips quivered when she felt a needle prick her heart. Somehow, she had an odd connection with the turtles who after hatching would go back to the sea and be lost for a few years before returning to the shores.

Like the turtles, she was born in Nisia, yet nobody knew of her or nobody dared to acknowledge her existence. Just like them, she, too, left her home and had her lost years.

Looking back at her old self, she found it silly that she had to beg for attention. Those who truly cared would let their existence be seen and felt.