Chapter 97: Chapter 97
Olivia’s POV
"So you’re really going to do this?" Kira asked, watching me fold clothes into my suitcase.
"Yes, Kira. Three days. Maxwell suddenly declared it would be three days, didn’t even bother explaining the purpose of the trip, he just said it’s a work trip." I sighed deeply. "But of course, he’s being so thoughtful - said he’d send over one of his staff to care for Mitchell while I’m... indisposed."
Kira’s eyes was immediately filled with alarm. "One of his staff?" She grabbed my wrist with force, stopping me. "Girl, this man is obviously spying on you. On us."
Her words were true, and it made me even more anxious. "I know," I sighed, slumping onto the bed in defeat. "I know it’s going to be difficult, but I’ve got a plan." I turned to face her, trying to sound confident. "First, I’ll move Mitchell to the living room - I absolutely cannot allow his staff member to go through my bedroom. Then, before you call them over, you need to be completely out of the house. And before you come back in, you’ll need to call them to leave first."
Kira shook her head, frustration visible in every line of her body. "It’s just three days, Liv, but still... why now? Why immediately after he had that secret conversation with David?"
I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Honestly, I don’t know, Kira. From the moment I stepped into his office as Olivia, I felt like he knew something. The way he was staring at me..." I shivered. "God, I’m so confused. His eyes were boring into me like he could see right through every lie I’ve ever told."
"Damn, that man is crazy," Kira muttered, rising up to pace the room. "Sometimes I wish I could just crack open his head like an egg and see what’s rattling around inside, see what twisted thoughts he’s thinking."
Despite everything, I found myself smiling. "You’re not alone in that wish, girl. I want to know what goes through his mind too. One moment I think he absolutely despises me, then he looks at me with this... this longing in his eyes, and I don’t know what to think anymore. It’s like he’s two completely different people."
Kira stopped pacing and looked at me. "Maybe this trip is your opportunity to figure out what he truly thinks about you. Just... go with the flow, see what happens."
I nodded slowly, the idea both terrifying and oddly appealing.
"And as for that foolish ex of yours," Kira’s voice turned venomous, "David will definitely get what’s coming to him. Mark my words."
As if summoned by our conversation, my phone started ringing. The caller ID made my blood run cold: David.
"Why is this jerk calling me?" I muttered, declining the call and returning to my packing. But the phone immediately started ringing again. Then again. And again.
"This bastard won’t give up," I said through gritted teeth, but my hands were shaking slightly as I tried to ignore the incessant buzzing.
Finally, Kira had enough. She snatched the phone from my hands with a growl. "Let me handle this piece of trash." She answered the call and immediately put it on speaker, her voice filled with venom. "What the hell do you want, David?"
David’s voice came through the speaker, evil and furious. "You listen to me, you interfering bitch! Tell Olivia she’s got some nerve sending people after me! She’s going to pay dearly for this, right after I kill whatever criminal she sent to intimidate me!"
Fear shot through me like ice water, and I saw my own terror reflected in Kira’s wide eyes. But before either of us could respond, there was a loud sound of a door being kicked in, followed by David’s shocked yelp.
"What the..." David’s words were cut off by a bone-crunching thud and his agonized groan.
A new voice came through the phone, calm and deadly serious. "I told you to call her to apologize, and instead you’re spilling this nonsense?"
Another brutal kick echoed through the speaker, followed by the sickening sound of continuous punching. David’s screams pierced through the phone, and I could hear him gasping for breath between the impacts.
"Stop!" I screamed into the phone, panic overtaking me completely. "Please, don’t kill him! You’ll be a murderer! Please stop!"
But the stranger’s voice remained eerily calm between the sounds of violence. "David needs to apologize properly, or I won’t stop. It’s that simple."
The beating continued relentlessly. Each punch made me flinch, each of David’s cries sending waves of horror through me. This was beyond anything I had ever experienced or imagined.
Finally, David’s resistance crumbled entirely. His voice came through broken and desperate: "Please... please stop... I’m sorry... Olivia, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me! I won’t... I won’t come near you again, I swear! Please, I’m begging you!"
Instead of stopping, the sounds from the phone became worse. I could hear David’s labored breathing, the wet sound of blood, and what sounded like furniture being overturned in his struggle.
"Please..." David’s voice was barely recognizable now, thick with pain and terror. "Please, I’ll do whatever you want... just don’t kill me..."
"Then you know what you need to do," the stranger’s voice replied, still calm despite the violence he was clearly inflicting. "Apologize. Properly. Like you mean it."
"I’m sorry!" David screamed, his words slurred and desperate. "Olivia, please, I’m so sorry! I should never have threatened you! I should never have tried to hurt you!"
Another brutal blow echoed through the speaker, and David let out an agonized wail that made me flinch.
"That’s not enough," the stranger said coldly. "Tell her you’ll never bother her again. Tell her you understand what will happen if you do."
"I understand!" David sobbed, his voice breaking completely. "I’ll never come near you again, Olivia! I swear on my life! I’ll leave you alone forever! Please, just make him stop!"
The stranger’s voice became even more menacing. "And if I hear you’ve so much as looked in her direction, if you’ve sent so much as a text message, if you’ve even thought about her name... what happens then, David?"
"You’ll kill me," David whispered, the fight completely gone out of him. "You’ll kill me, and I deserve it. I’m scum. I’m nothing. Please, I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll disappear. I’ll move away. Anything!"
There was a moment of silence, then the sound of one final blow that made David scream one last time before his voice dissolved into incoherent whimpering.
"Good boy," the stranger said with satisfaction. "Remember this feeling, David. Remember it every time you think about being stupid again."
The line went dead with a sharp click that echoed loudly in our stunned silence.
Kira and I stared at each other, mouths hanging open in shock. The silence in the room was deafening after the violence we’d just witnessed.
"What..." Kira whispered, her voice barely audible. "What the hell just happened?"
I couldn’t speak. My hands were trembling so violently I had to clasp them together to make them stop.
My stranger had actually kept to his words.
Again.