CHAPTER 209: CHAPTER 209

Olivia’s POV

I was curled up in the armchair, a bowl of cereal balanced on my lap, mindlessly watching some reality show about people renovating houses they couldn’t afford.

Perfect. Exactly the kind of brain-numbing content I needed after the absolute chaos of today’s family lunch.

I’d freshened up the moment I got home, showered, and changed into my comfiest sweatpants and hoodie. Then I decided that thinking about anything else, or my job could wait until tomorrow. Or next week. Or never.

You don’t even have a job anymore, a voice in my head helpfully reminded me. You’ve been replaced by an imposter.

I shoved another spoonful of cereal in my mouth and turned up the TV volume.

The front door opened, and Kira practically floated inside, dancing like a Disney princess who’d just discovered her prince was real. Her eyes had a dreamy, faraway look that could only mean one thing.

She still hadn’t noticed me.

I cleared my throat loudly.

Kira jumped about three feet in the air, her hand flying to her chest. "JESUS! Olivia! What are you doing here?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, I live here too."

"Yeah, I know you live here, but..." She paused, "aren’t you supposed to be at Maxwell’s house? Playing Oliver?"

"Really? Are you forgetting I’ve been replaced?"

"Oh! Right! The imposter!" Kira’s eyes went wide as she rushed over and threw herself onto the couch beside me. "I completely forgot with everything that happened with Kennedy. Oh my God, Liv, what the hell is going on? Who is

that guy? And how are we going to resolve this?"

"Honestly?" I set my cereal bowl on the coffee table. "I have no idea."

"But how did it even happen? When did Maxwell have time to find someone to replace you?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples where a headache was starting to form. "On our way to the lunch this afternoon, Maxwell stopped by a shopping district. Said he had a quick errand. I used the opportunity to escape - told him I needed a restroom, then ran. By the time I got to my parents’ house as Olivia, Maxwell showed up with that guy, dressed exactly like Oliver, acting exactly like Oliver."

"Wow." Kira leaned back against the couch, processing. "Okay, so there are two possible scenarios here. Either Maxwell knows about your identity and is playing a dangerous game - like, way more dangerous than we realized - or this imposter is someone who’s been watching you and decided to use the opportunity to steal your identity."

I nodded slowly. Since getting home, I’d been running through the same scenarios in my head, over and over, until my brain felt like mush. "I’m so tired, Kira. My brain is completely fucked."

"I know." Kira’s voice softened with sympathy. "I know so much went down today. But Liv, you need to think about tomorrow. This guy is literally taking over your life - your job, your salary, everything you’ve worked hard for. We can’t just let him win."

"I know," I said quietly. "It’s just... I don’t know if I’m ready to face Maxwell yet. With everything that happened today - him knowing who I am this whole time, me agreeing to date Gabriel just to spite him - I just don’t know if I can handle seeing him just yet."

Kira went very still. "Wait. Back up. You agreed to date Gabriel?"

"Yeah. I talked to him about it on the drive home. He agreed to help me."

"But why?" Kira looked genuinely concerned now. "Liv, that’s..."

"Because I need to know, Kira!" I voiced out in desperation. "I need to know how Maxwell truly feels. He refuses to say anything, refuses to be honest, just walked away when I tried to get answers. And I know I shouldn’t be chasing after him or even acknowledging my feelings for him, but I need to know. Does that make sense?"

Kira studied my face for a long moment, then her expression softened with understanding. "Yeah. I get it. I understand."

"You do?"

"Of course I do. You can’t move forward when you’re stuck in this limbo of not knowing. If Maxwell won’t tell you how he feels, then you need to force his hand. And if dating Gabriel makes him finally admit what’s going on, then..." She shrugged. "Then it’s worth a shot."

Relief flooded through me. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course I understand. Even though I don’t like him very much, I still understand you completely." She squeezed my hand. "But first things first - we have to deal with the imposter situation."

"Right. The imposter." I groaned. "Any brilliant ideas?"

Kira’s eyes lit up with mischief. "Actually, yes. We kidnap him."

I blinked. "I’m sorry, what?"

"We kidnap the fake Oliver," Kira said, warming to her idea. "Lure him out of Maxwell’s mansion somehow, grab him, and make him tell us who he is and who hired him."

"Kira, that’s... that’s actually kidnapping. Like, illegal kidnapping."

"So was what you did to Mitchell," she pointed out.

"That was different! Mitchell is a cat!"

"Details." Kira waved her hand dismissively. "The point is, we need answers. And fake Oliver has those answers."

I had to admit, the idea had merit. Even if it was completely insane.

"Okay, say we do manage to kidnap him - which is a big if - how do we even get close enough to grab him? He’s living in Maxwell’s mansion. There’s security everywhere."

"We lure him out," Kira said. "I could text him. As his girlfriend, I’ll ask that we meet up somewhere private to talk about our fight."

"That could work," I said slowly. "But then what? We just... grab him off the street?"

"We’ll figure out the details later. The important thing is getting him away from Maxwell’s house so we can interrogate him."

The plan was absolutely ridiculous. Also potentially our best option.

"There’s still one problem," I said. "Even if we get rid of the imposter, I still need a reason to go back to Maxwell’s mansion. I can’t just show up as Oliver and be like ’hey, I’m the real one, surprise!’ He’ll want to know where I’ve been, why there’s been two of me..."

Kira tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You need a legitimate reason to see Maxwell. Something that wouldn’t raise suspicions."

An idea struck me suddenly, so perfect that I actually gasped.

"The love doctor."

"What?"

"Maxwell’s love doctor service!" I grabbed Kira’s shoulders excitedly. "I can just show up at his mansion as Olivia. To ask for relationship advice. I’m sure he won’t turn me away."

Kira’s eyes widened. "Oh my God. That’s brilliant."

"Right? I’ll tell him I need advice about my relationship with Gabriel. Make it all official and professional. And since he was so helpful last time..." my voice dripped with sarcasm "...why wouldn’t I come back for more guidance?"

"And while you’re there, you can scope out the situation with fake Oliver," Kira added, clearly catching on. "See what Maxwell’s doing, figure out his angle."

"Exactly." I was already pulling out my phone. "Let’s book an appointment on the website?"

"Give me that." Kira snatched my phone and started typing. "I think I can still remember the website."

She scrolled for a moment, then pulled up the website. "Okay, here it is."

"Can you book an appointment?"

"Yep, there’s a scheduling form." Her fingers flew over the screen. "What day do you want?"

"Tomorrow. As soon as possible."

"Tomorrow..." Kira scrolled through the available times. "There’s a slot at 2 PM. Should I take it?"

"Yes. Do it."

Kira filled out the form, using my real name, my real contact information, and in the "reason for visit" box, she typed: Need advice regarding new relationship with Gabriel Gregory. P.S it’ll be much appreciated if it’s done in your house.

"There." She hit submit with a flourish. "Done. You have an appointment tomorrow at 2 PM to ask your sort-of-ex-crush’s-best-friend-who-might-be-in-love-with-you for advice about dating his other best friend. This is the most deliciously messy situation I’ve ever been involved in."

"You’re enjoying this way too much."

"I really am." Kira grinned. "So here’s the plan: Tomorrow, you go to your appointment as Olivia. Scope out the situation, see fake Oliver, figure out Maxwell’s game. Meanwhile, I’ll work on luring fake Oliver out so we can... have a conversation with him."

"A conversation."

"A very persuasive conversation where he tells us everything. Then after your consultation with Dr. Heart, you can immediately change back to Oliver without having to leave the mansion."

I couldn’t help but laugh. "This is insane. This whole thing is completely insane."

"Welcome to your life," Kira said cheerfully. "Population: chaos."

My phone buzzed with a confirmation email. Your appointment with Dr. Heart has been confirmed for tomorrow at 2:00 PM.

"Well," I said, staring at the email. "No turning back now."

"Nope. Tomorrow, you walk back into his office and ask him for relationship advice about the guy he specifically doesn’t want you to date. Who, by the way, you’re only fake-dating to make him jealous."