Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“Thank you for forgiving me!” Flossie hugged Leia and patted her shoulders reassuringly. “Anyone else would have left after dealing with my bad temper and mood swings… Thanks for staying.” She knew that Leia had helped her manage her family and company when she was away, and her gratitude towards her was more than words could describe.
“Hey, we’re best friends-you don’t have to thank me. I’m proud of you for getting through it!” Tears ran down Leia’s cheeks. Nobody might ever really understand how Flossie had suffered, and Leia was amazed that her tortured heart could still be as pure as before.
“Hey, can you both stop crying? I feel like I’m at a funeral…” Xavier grumbled as he watched the two crying women. After all, his friendship with Halston was different-they expressed their feelings for each other by… bickering and fighting.
Flossie and Leia turned around to glare at Xavier, then looked back at each other with matching smirks. “Let’s give him a hard time… during the game later!”
The game started, and it was no surprise that Xavier was the most unlucky player thanks to Flossie and Leia’s secret tricks.
Justin watched the fun and made gleeful remarks from time to time. “How unlucky, Mr. Stuart! You always step on the Poison squares. We should think about how to punish you later. What about 500 push-ups? No, that’s too easy… Maybe we should get him to do a striptease! Imagine the boss of Universal Entertainment does a striptease… If we take a video and upload it on social media, well be rich!”
Xavier said to him fiercely, “Quit your yapping! If I step on Poison, I’ll make sure you’re the one suffering instead!” Xavier knew Justin was sneakily taking advantage of Halston not being around. Since he was Halston’s rival in love, it made him Xavier’s enemy too. Xavier decided to avenge Halston and make Justin suffer.
Xavier adjusted his ‘blindfold’, the eye mask, and jumped forward, hoping for the best. The others did the same, but they could avoid the Poison since they could see. Xavier could also grab someone to be his Scapegoat, who the champion could punish too. For his first jump, Xavier was lucky- although he did not jump to the Castle, he did not jump onto the Poison either. He jumped onto the Apple, which was neither good nor bad.
Abby was the shortest there, and unluckily jumped onto the Poison on her first jump. Justin and Flossie jumped to the Castle, while Leia, Jeffrey, and Adie jumped to the Apple. Each square was only a meter large, and the Apple square soon became crowded. Both Leia and Jeffrey held their breath in fear of getting caught by Xavier.
However, Justin crossed his arms and teased Xavier. “Mr. Stuart, don’t you want to make me a Scapegoat? Come at me! I’m reaching out, so it’s easy for you to grab me.” There was a Poison square between the Castle and Apple squares, so the people in the Apple square could drag the people in the Castle square to cushion their steps, but they needed to be strong… or have long arms.
Xavier’s temper flared, and he snarled fiercely at Justin, “Don’t test me, Justin! I’ll get you even if I have to crawl there.”
“Try it, then. I’m waiting for you!” Justin pursed his lips and smiled.
Flossie glanced at the two grown men and complained, “Hey, the both of you aren’t kids, you know. Look at Adie and Abby! They’re enjoying the game and not even making any noise.”
Both Adie and Abby were absorbed in the game. They squatted on the ground quietly, trying their best to avoid Xavier. Although Xavier was targeting Justin, they were afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
Xavier reached out towards Justin. His limbs were long given his tall height, and as he leaned forward with his arms outstretched, he almost touched Justin’s shoulders.
The problem was that Leia was stuck between Xavier and Justin.
The rule of the game was that people in the squares could move any body part except their legs. If they moved their legs, they would break the rules. They could avoid people by moving their bodies, as long as they didn’t move their legs.
Xavier’s hands moved closer to Leia, who quickly leaned back to avoid him, cursing his name. He kept moving towards her despite there being plenty of space around him, and Leia tried her best to avoid getting caught by him, keeping her feet planted firmly all the while.
Xavier started to get anxious, feeling embarrassed because he hadn’t caught his target.
“I’m here. Be confident and come get me!” Justin called out cheekily from Leia’s direction.
“I’ll get you, you pest!” Xavier quickly lurched forward and grabbed something. Excited, he yelled, “Yeah, I got you!”
But… why had everything suddenly gone quiet?
Xavier was afraid that Justin might escape, so he tightened his grip, but… something felt wrong. The body in his grasp was soft, and it didn’t feel like Justin. In fact, it felt like… However, before he could come to a realization, someone slapped him.
“Xavier, you jerk! Just what do you think you’re grabbing?” Leia blushed and smoothed her clothes, then slapped Xavier again. “I thought you’ve changed and become more polite, but it seems you’ve just become a bigger pervert. You’re disgusting!”
Stunned, Xavier realized that he had grabbed the wrong person… and the wrong part. Feeling awkward, he tried to explain, No, I wasn’t trying to grab you or that area. It’s all a misunderstanding, I swear…” Xavier rubbed his stinging cheeks miserably. “Even if I wanted to be handsy with you, I would have done it in private. I didn’t do it on purpose; you have to believe me.”
Everyone found it amusing, but they were too embarrassed to laugh.
Flossie turned to Justin and said jokingly, “Did you hear that? He’s talking about us. I think we’d better leave them alone.”
“Agreed, we shouldn’t be here. We’d better let them play the game by themselves, maybe they’ll be a couple by the time they’re done.” Justin crossed his arms and laughed.
Infuriated, Xavier burst out, “It was a mistake, I’m telling you! The real pervert is nearby!” He was referring to Halston, who watched Flossie all the time.
Immediately, everyone went silent. Xavier was clearly implying there was a pervert in the area, but not among the people gathered.
Leia instantly demanded, “Who’s the pervert? What do you know? Tell US now!”
Xavier’s eyes widened when he realized he slipped up, then cleared his throat awkwardly and mumbled, “I… What did I say? I didn’t say anything. You must have misheard me.”
Leia grabbed his collar, resorting to violence by default. “Do you think we’re deaf? We all heard you say there’s a pervert nearby. I’m asking you who and where that person is. If you don’t confess, I’ll make you suffer!”
Jeffrey quickly held Adie and Abby’s hands. He felt that Leia was very frightening even though she looked delicate and gentle.
Xavier set his jaw stubbornly, refusing to give in. “Go ahead. After all, I don’t know anything. Don’t ask me.” That Halston! He had pushed all his problems to Xavier, and now he was going to take the fall for it!
“Still being stubborn, huh?” Leia clenched her fists, and said to Xavier,” Fine, I guess I’ll just have to beat the truth out of you!”
Xavier had no choice but to betray his buddy to save himself. “Okay, okay, I’ll talk!” Xavier still had his eye mask on, but he looked towards the manor where Halston was. “As I said, he’s nearby… probably within a radius of two kilometers. But as for the identity of the pervert, I’m sure you can find out if you want.”
Flossie looked in the same direction and saw the manor opposite her and that giant French window. The window was draped with thick curtains, which didn’t make sense since it was broad daylight. That meant that the pervert was probably hidden in the manor. Flossie had no idea if it was her imagination, but as she stared at the window, she felt like someone was staring back at her. Although the window was far away, Flossie felt something in her heart stir.
Leia looked in the same direction but found nothing out of the ordinary. Confused, she asked Flossie, “Flossie, what are you staring at? Is there something there? I can’t see anything.” “No, I’m not staring at anything…” Flossie looked away and said coldly, “I don’t see anything either. Let’s go back to our game, stop making things difficult for Xavier.” “You don’t see anything either?” Xavier asked in disbelief. He thought his hint was obvious, but surprisingly, Flossie hadn’t got it. Maybe Flossie just didn’t want to acknowledge it. Ugh, she was just as proud as Halston! Halston was nearby but refused to show himself, and Flossie was in denial that he was there. In short, they did care about each other but didn’t want to admit it… It was insane!
The game continued.
After the first lesson, Xavier took a deep breath before catching a person next time. If he smelled that it was Leia, he would stay away from her and try to catch Justin based on his instinct.
At last, Flossie and Adie won the game with jumps to five Castle squares. Abby, Leia, and Jeffrey neither won nor lost with jumps to six Apple squares since Xavier had thrown the game away. Justin, however, had gotten the most Poison squares like Xavier since he had been hunted by him.
Flossie and Adie would be rewarded since they had won, and both Justin and Xavier would be punished because they had lost the game. The winners could order anyone whose marks were lower than theirs to serve them, while the losers would get punishments from everyone who had higher marks than them.
Flossie just asked Leia to massage her shoulders, told Justin to pour her a cup of tea, and forced Xavier to perform some breakdance moves, then she let them off.
When it was Leia’s turn to hand out punishments, she turned to Xavier, her eyes gleaming eagerly.
Xavier stumbled back and warned Leia, “Don’t come near me. It’s just a game, okay? If you have any wicked ideas in that violent mind of yours, I’ll call the cops.” “Don’t worry. I can’t do anything to you since you’re so tall and sturdy… but I will have some fun with you,” Leia cackled as she cornered Xavier. Xavier closed his eyes, preparing for the worst as Leia lifted his chin and declared, “Let me have your phone!”
Xavier’s eyes widened in despair. “I care so much about you, but you’re trying to kill me?” Phones were even more private than one’s body, and they couldn’t simply be exposed to people.
“You took a risk and lost. You should be punished since you lost the game… ” Impatient, Leia urged, “Stop wasting time and just give it to me. Is there anything bad in there?”
“You’re too violent. No one can tolerate you in this world except me.” Although Xavier was complaining, he still obediently handed his phone to Leia. He had a clear conscience when it came to intimacy, but there were other secrets on his phone such as… Halston’s secret.
Leia sat under a tree and started going through Xavier’s phone.
Georgiana: Master Xavier, I miss you. Let’s go to the bar tonight. See you there…
Xavier immediately explained, “She’s a new celebrity my company hired lately. She’s rather enthusiastic.”
Leia ignored him and kept on reading.
Mr. Clarke: Master Xavier, what do you think about Willie from the karaoke bar? Do you want me to give you her Facebook?”
Xavier’s face paled and he said quickly, “That’s my business friend. He bought me a meal! I can’t put him on the blacklist.”
Leia read the texts calmly. Although some were suggestive, Xavier did not reply to any of them. His restraint was very strong.
However, she soon came across a conversation with Shirley that perturbed her.
Shirley had texted Xavier at one o’clock in the morning. [My head hurts so badly.]