bChapter /bb256 /b

    Back at the vi, Vivian’s online clothing order had arrived. The two of them spent the next two hours trying on all the new outfits.

    “Not bad at all,” Vivian said, striking a pose in front of the full–length mirror in her new coat. “I knew picking this one was the right call, my fashion sense is just impable.”

    She began striking poses before the mirror.

    Maxine sighed, scratched her head, and grabbed the tablet from the table, cing it in front of herself. “You don’t have anything you need to take care of here, right? If you’re free, I can show you some must–see spots around here tomorrow. They’re absolutely breathtaking.”

    Vivian nced at her and teased, “You’re just trying to trick me into pushing your wheelchair, don’t you?”

    As she spoke, Vivian yfully pinched Maxine’s cheek. “Were you super bored before I showed up? Looks like you’ve got this whole ce to yourself, huh?”

    Maxine nced at the tickets and exined, “This ce is rented by my friend. Since I had nowhere to stay after returning to Hathnd, I moved in with her. You know, Cleo, the girl who visited me before.”

    Vivian mumbled the name over and over, and then suddenly bit /bclicked. She remembered how, every so often, a friend from Hathnd woulde all the way to visit Maxine.

    “You mean Cleo?” Vivian asked tentatively.

    Maxine nodded as Vivian smiled and said, “d you’ve gotpany.”

    No sooner had she finished speaking than the doorbell rang. Both of them turned toward the door. “Are you expecting anyone else today?” Vivian asked.

    Maxine shook her head. Vivian narrowed her eyes, nced around cautiously, then grabbed a nearby broom and strode to the door, reaching out to open it.

    “Maxine!” Sebastian burst through the door urgently, but before he could finish speaking, Vivian brought the broom down on him.

    He barely had time to react, managing to tilt his head aside at thest second, but the broom handle still came down squarely on his shoulder.

    “Who are you?” Startled, Sebastian looked up to find a strange foreign woman standing beside him.

    Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Sebastian quickly scanned the living room. Only when he spotted Maxine approaching the doorway did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

    He stood up, rolled his shoulders, and exined in Vastelian, “I’m Maxine’s husb… /bfriend.”

    Maxine walked over, subtly shooting a re at Sebastian before turning to Vivian and exining, “bThis /bis my friend. He must have something to talk to

    me about.”

    Vivian eyed the two of them with suspicion for a long moment before finally turning to Sebastian and saying, “Hi, I’m Vivian Bernard.”

    Her Hathndian was halting at best. She’d only crammed some basics the night she arrived in Hathnd. Sebastian greeted her bwi/b… polite bsmile/bb, /bbut

    he couldn’t shake the feeling: He thought, ‘There’s/definitely a special connection between this woman and Maxine.‘

    Vivian turned to Maxine with a knowing wink. “You two catch up, I’m heading upstairs bfor /bsome rest.”

    Before Maxine could respond, Vivian turned and headed upstairs.

    Maxine hesitated for a moment, words left unspoken, then finally turned to Sebastian and asked, “What brings you here?”

    C

    Sebastian visibly rxed and said, “I texted you but got no reply. I was afraid something might have happened again, bso /bbI /bbrushed /bright bover/bb./bb” /b

    Hearing this, Maxine suddenly remembered the message she’d seen during dinner and sighed. She exined, “My friend Vivian came all the way from overseas to visit me. She’s always been there for ine when I was abroad.b” /b

    What she didn’t say out loud was that it wasn’t just today, she wouldn’t have much time for Sebastian in theing days.

    Sebastian didn’t press the issue. He simply nodded and said, “That’s understandable. Just stay safe, and message me if anythinges bup/b. With all bthe /bonline bacsh against Gabrieltely, he’s probably too preupied to bother you.”

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