Chapter 5
Dylan was furious, his face flushing with rage. “I can’t explain it to you, okay? Just stay out of it. It’s my business.”
He walked off in a hurry, his phone in hand, calling Chloe back as he went, clearly anxious to calm her down.
Ellen turned to look at Olivia. Olivia swallowed nervously and murmured, “You already yelled at them, so you can’t yell at me too, okay?”
Ellen said, clearly frustrated and disappointed, “You’ve got everything–looks, curves, the whole package. You’re way prettier than Chloe, and you’ve even got Morgan backing you up. And you still lost to that little tramp? How the hell did you manage that?”
Olivia scratched her head and muttered meekly, “I tried being good to him. I tried to build something with him. But he never gave me the chance. I couldn’t force it.”
Ellen replied, “If being nice didn’t work, then seduce him. If that doesn’t work, then take it by force. Ever heard of love growing over time? After three years with you, I don’t believe he can still feel nothing.”
Olivia was speechless. She thought, ‘She’s not exactly wrong, but damn, that was blunt.
Ellen turned and walked off, still grumbling, “Just seeing how useless you are pisses me off. You’re not some delicate little thing, so what’s with all this ‘perfect wife‘ crap? The first time we met, didn’t you throw me three yards with one shoulder flip?
“How come you never used that strength on your husband? You’ve got all that muscle and you’re wasting it in the kitchen? Why not just pin him down and take what you want?”
Olivia looked frustrated. If she didn’t love Dylan, she could’ve done that. But that was exactly the problem–she loved him. She wanted his heart before she ever slept with him.
She wandered around the garden alone for over an hour before going back inside. By the time she went to bed, Dylan still hadn’t come home. He was probably still busy comforting Chloe.
The next morning when Olivia woke up, Dylan was already fully dressed, sitting by the window.
Hearing her stir, he turned to her and urged, “Hurry up and get ready. You’re coming with me to talk to Grandpa in a bit. Tell him you want to go on a trip with me.”
Olivia looked at him. “You’re going on a trip with Chloe, and you want me to cover for you?”
Dylan replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “You already know, so why bother asking? If it weren’t for you, Chloe wouldn’t have to put up with any of this.
I’m taking her out to clear her head. The least you can do is help cover for it.
Olivia didn’t even bother arguing. She replied calmly, “I’m not going.”
Dylan’s face darkened. “Did you forget we signed a contract?”
Olivia said, “Nope, I remember. It says I have to make your grandpa happy unconditionally. Unless you’re saying that last night, to cheer up Chloe, you decided to call her Grandpa?”
Dylan’s face turned red with anger.
Olivia added mockingly, “If you really did decide to call her Grandpa, I’d be happy to help keep her entertained.”
Dylan took a deep breath, gritting his teeth. “I’ll give you thirty thousand dollars a day. Come with us.”
“No.”
“Fifty thousand
“No.”
“Seventy thousand.”
“No.”
Dylan’s expression turned even gloomier, his voice squeezed through clenched teeth. “One hundred thousand a day.”
Olivia studied his face, then said reluctantly, “Fine. I’ll do it for Morgan’s sake. I’ll walk you guys like walking dogs.”
She could tell that was Dylan’s final offer. If she kept saying no, he might really give up.
Olivia didn’t want to see Chloe, but one hundred thousand dollars a day was a decent offer. She’d have to be insane to turn that down. It’s not like
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she was some saint who saw money as dirt.
Olivia then took the initiative and went to tell Morgan about the trip.
It took Dylan two days to get everything at the company settled for the rest of the month. On the third day, he and Olivia took a private jet to another country, Darcoln.
After landing, they got into the car that had come to pick them up and left the airport.
Olivia thought they were heading to a hotel, but the car stopped in front of a bar instead. Though puzzled, she didn’t ask.
She followed Dylan into a private room in the bar and found more than a dozen people already inside–men and women. Five or six of them were Dylan’s friends from back home in Gravellia. Chloe was there too.
Chloe was a minor celebrity back in Gravellia, known as a D–list actress. To avoid getting photographed, she had arrived in Darcoln two days ahead of them.
She loved showing off. She had deliberately asked Dylan to invite a few of his friends from back home so they could witness how in love they were, all to feed her vanity.
The rest of the people in the room were unfamiliar faces–probably people Dylan knew who were now working here. A few of them were foreigners.
“Baby, you’re finally here. I missed you so much.” As soon as Chloe saw Dylan, she jumped up and threw herself into his arms.
Dylan wasn’t used to public displays of affection. He gave her a quick pat on the back, then gently pushed her away. “You’ve lost weight. Was filming that exhausting?”
Chloe smiled, “It was tiring, yeah. But I want to close the gap between us. That way, when we go public, no one will say I’m not good enough for you. I’m working hard for you, so it doesn’t feel exhausting at all.”
Dylan was both touched and heartbroken. “You don’t have to care what anyone thinks. In my eyes, I’m the one not good enough for
“If it weren’t for you back then, I wouldn’t even be here today. You saved my life. How could you not be good enough for me?”
Chloe said playfully, “I guess it was fate. My own husband had to be saved by me.”
“Olivia, what do you think?” she then asked, tilting her head just enough to flash a provocative look–one only Olivia could see.
you.
Olivia nodded. “You’re right! That’s why he became my husband. When something’s meant to be, no amount of scheming can take it away. He might be blind, but the universe isn’t.”
Chloe’s expression changed instantly with a flicker of panic in her eyes. Her eyes quickly welled up as she said pitifully, “I know you’re jealous that Dylan loves me, but that doesn’t mean you can slander me out of spite.”
Olivia said mockingly, “What am I supposed to be jealous of? Your busted face or your loose ass that farts like a damn drumline?”
Furious, Chloe burst into tears on the spot and threw herself into Dylan’s arms, sobbing, “Baby, did you hear what she just said to me?”
“Enough,” Dylan snapped, his face grim. “How many times are you going to make a scene? Saying it louder doesn’t make it true. We both know what really happened back then.”
Olivia pinched her ear like she was annoyed. “Can you keep it down? I’m jumpy around lunatics who scream.”
“What did you just say?” Dylan was fuming.
Dylan’s friend Damian Walker quickly stood up to intervene, saying, “Dylan, Chloe, don’t waste your energy getting mad at someone like that. She’s
not worth it.
“You both know what she used to do. People who come from places like that have no class. Arguing with someone like her just drags you down to her level.”
Chloe’s sidekick Kaitlyn Dixon chimed in too, “She just got lucky. She caught Morgan’s eye and sweet–talked her way into marrying Dylan. If not for that, even an average guy wouldn’t want to marry someone like her.”
Olivia glanced at the two of them coolly. “Since you know exactly what I used to do, then shut your mouths. If I wanted to deal with you two, it’d be effortless.”
Kaitlyn burst out laughing, her face full of scorn and mockery. “Oh please, that’s hilarious. You were nothing but a trashy performer in those adult fight shows. What are you gonna do–smother us with your boobs like you did to your opponents in the ring?”
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