CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75

Olivia’s POV

I stared at Maxwell in complete shock. Did he just... scoff? At my dedication? So I’ve been doing what all these time? Lazying about?

The absolute nerve of this man!

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out, unable to hide the irritation in my voice.

Before Maxwell could answer, Kira jumped in with immediately. "Babe, can’t you see he’s here to make sure you rot in jail?" She wrapped her arm around my shoulders possessively and started petting my fake beard like we were some kind of power couple planning our wedding.

Maxwell stared at Kira like she had completely lost her mind, his eyebrows arching slightly.

"Oliver," he said slowly, his voice tight with frustration, "could you ask your... girlfriend... to excuse us? I need to speak with you privately."

"Absolutely not!" Kira declared, tightening her grip on me. "I cannot leave my man alone with you. What if I turn my head for one second and you dump Oliver back in prison? No way, honey. I’m staying right here."

Maxwell let out a long, exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oliver, please. Talk to your woman."

I could see the storm brewing in Maxwell’s eyes, and honestly, I was getting curious about what he wanted to say. I turned to Kira, placing my hands on her shoulders in what I hoped looked like a loving gesture.

"Babe, it’s okay," I said softly, trying to give her the kind of reassurance a boyfriend might give. "I’ll be fine. Just give us a few minutes, okay?"

Kira looked between Maxwell and me, clearly torn between trying to protect me and respecting my wishes. Finally, she huffed.

"Fine! But if you’re not out here in ten minutes, I’m calling the police!" She shot Maxwell one last warning glare before stalking off toward the waiting area.

The silence that followed was deafening. Maxwell and I stood there, neither of us quite knowing how to begin. He kept opening his mouth like he was about to say something, then closing it again. Finally, he just blurted it out.

"I came here for a reason."

"What?" I asked, already confused by his sudden awkwardness.

He took a deep breath, and what came out of his mouth next nearly made me fall over.

"I came to apologize."

I was shocked to my very bones. My brain completely went blank. Did Maxwell Wellington - MAXWELL WELLINGTON - just say the word ’apologize’? To me?

Oh God, if I was dreaming, someone needed to wake me up immediately because this was about to turn into a full-blown horror movie. There was no way this was real. Maxwell didn’t apologize. Maxwell didn’t show vulnerability. Maxwell certainly didn’t come to jail cells to make amends with his lowly assistant.

I was still standing there like a statue when he continued, his voice slightly uncomfortable.

"I came to drop the charges and to bail you out, actually. After I had some time to think, I realized I acted... rashly." He cleared his throat. "How did you get out?"

"A friend bailed me out," I managed to croak, still trying to process this alternate reality I’d apparently slipped into.

"I’ll reimburse them the fifty thousand dollars," Maxwell said matter-of-factly. "For the stress I caused."

I still couldn’t believe what was happening. This had to be some kind of prank. But I forced myself to respond.

"I... I forgive you."

I watched as Maxwell tried to cover what looked suspiciously like a mocking laugh, his lips twitching slightly. "Really? After you tried to steal my cat?"

And there it was - the ultimate question I’d been dreading.

"Why did you do it, Oliver?"

My mind raced frantically. I couldn’t exactly say ’Well, you see, I’m actually a woman seeking revenge because you humiliated both my male and female personas, and I was trying to take revenge on you.’ That would go over really well.

So I did what I’d been getting far too good at lately - I lied.

"My curiosity got the better of me," I said, trying to look sheepish. "When the staff described your bedroom like it was some kind of forbidden apple, I just couldn’t help myself. I had to see what all the fuss was about."

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Then why did you go straight for the cat? And scratch that - how did you even know I had a cat?"

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I was trapped. Oliver had never been told about Mitchell, but Olivia had known about her. How could I explain knowing about a cat I’d never been told existed?

Think, Olivia, think!

"I didn’t know you had a cat," I said quickly, probably too quickly. "I just saw the staircase inside your bedroom, and curiosity got the better of me again. When I got upstairs, I saw the cat and thought... well, I thought it might be fun to take her downstairs to play. But then the door wouldn’t open and I panicked."

Maxwell stared at me like I had just told him I was secretly an alien from Mars.

"Are you talking to a child?" he asked incredulously. "You grabbed someone else’s pet to ’go play’? What are you, five years old?"

I didn’t know what else to say. My lie was ridiculous even by my own standards, but it was too late to backtrack now. I just stood there, probably looking as guilty and foolish as I felt.

The silence stretched between us, uncomfortable and awkward. Finally, I worked up the courage to ask the question that had been gnawing at me.

"Am I fired?"

Maxwell studied me for a long moment, his dark eyes unreadable. I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable axe to fall.

"No," he said simply.

I blinked. "No?"

"No, you’re not fired." He straightened his jacket and checked his watch. "I’ll see you Monday morning, Oliver. Try not to break into anyone else’s home between now and then."

And with that, he turned and walked into his car, leaving me standing there wondering if the last ten minutes had actually happened or if I was having some kind of stress-induced hallucation.

What the hell just happened?