''Him. Yes, it's him I saw last night. They attacked my grandson together,'' The Old Lady screamed in exasperation, almost bolting out of her chair but she was quickly restrained by her grandson.
The officer looked back and forth between Diana and Maxim before he opened his mouth.
Diana tilted her head, ''Honey~" she jumped out of the chair before the officer could speak. She rushed towards Maxim as she placed her hand on his biceps, ''You didn't have to come all the way here for me,'' her voice was coy.
Maxim, who entered the place in all calmness felt his calm shattering when she leaned closer to him. He caught a whiff of the faint rose body wash that he had specifically gotten arranged for her. She loved roses.
But he didn't like surprises. Especially the current kind. Not at all. Or maybe...
''Honey,'' Diana's sugar-coated voice dragged him out of his trance. She had her back facing towards the rest of the people so they could not see how she looked like a stressed-out cat. ''I missed you so much,'' she smiled at him, although it looked like she was crying.
Maxim cleared his throat.
''Honey~" Diana hooked her arms around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes.
He stiffened for a moment before he wrapped an arm around her waist.
Maxim lowered his head, her blonde hair grazing his lips as he whispered in her ear, ''Call me honey one more time and I am going to duct tape your lips.''
Diana closed her eyes, hugging him tighter, ''As cringe as it is, just tolerate it. Why the heck did you come here? I was about to handle this, Warner. The last thing I want is for you to get in trouble.''
''Then, am I supposed to stand at the side and watch you getting in trouble?"
''I can manage...'' she sighed. Why was it so hard for him to understand that she did not want him in any trouble?
''Don't worry about me. I tend to be stronger when I deal with things alone. If makes me feel vulnerable with others around,'' she whispered.
''You are not alone,'' Maxim pulled back to look at her. He cupped her face before he tilted his head down. He pressed his forehead against hers, "So that changes the equation for you. Be as vulnerable as you can. I will deal with everything for you.''
His dark hair was in a mess and his black shirt was crumpled with the top two buttons unbuttoned. His current appearances told her that he came here in a rush. He...
Diana fell in a daze as she looked into his eyes dark eyes which seemed to mean every word that came out of his mouth.
'Thump'
'Thump'
'Thump'
''...See how shameless they are. Are you going to sit here and watch them?" The old lady's voice in the background broke her reverie.
Diana blinked. The rose-tinted glass in front of her eyes shattered and she slowly drifted out of her dreamland.
Maxim tucked the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, his fingers barely touching her skin.
She shook her head, almost pulling her oscillating senses in her hand and shoving it inside her body.
As he walked past her, she stood there rooted to her spot as she raised her hand to touch her chest.
''It's him,'' Ben pushed himself to his feet when he saw Maxim, his eyes were wary as he slowly stepped back.
''See how scared he is. This bastard dared to touch my grandson and I am going to make him pay for it,'' Ben held his grandma's hand but the woman fumed, ''...This bastard—''
''Call him a bastard once again, I will see you and your lawyer in the court...'' Diana turned around to look at the woman, ''...After I press charges of assault against your grandson.''
Maxim glanced at Diana, surprised by her sudden outburst. He has been here for some time and he did not step inside earlier because he was sure that she would not like that. But since she kept tolerating this quietly, he decided to step in before these people took advantage of her kindness.
When he saw her that night at Ryle's place, he was having second thoughts if she was even the same person he knew. The Diana he knew was never meek, she was never intimidated by him and god, did it annoy him when she spoke to him so carefully as if she was filtering her words?
But looking at her now reminded him of the first time they met almost a decade ago. He could see the glimpses of that audacious girl who went against the whole class for him.
''Assault?" The old lady asked, clearly taken aback, ''You have the audacity to mention assault when you have reduced him to this state?"
''Sexual assault,'' Diana stepped towards the officer who was observing the scene, ''The back of my head still hurts by being thrust into the wall so my medical reports would have something to say about it in case I do press the charges—''
''You are hurt?" Maxim grabbed her wrist, whirling her around.
Diana's eyes widened momentarily, ''And my honey here panicked when he saw me in that state. My fiance nearly had a heart attack at that time so there is nothing strange about a punch or two,'' she turned to look at the officer as she tucked her hair behind her ear, noticing how the man observed the ring sitting on her ring finger, ''With all due respect, any sane man, including you will lose his calm if something like this happens to your woman just like my fiance did.''
Maxim who was just regaining his composure after the 'fiance' bomb went into another moment of mental recession by the time she finished her words.
Diana turned to look at the old lady and her grandson who were both stunned.
The guy shook his head vehemently, ''I didn't... I... No, grandma, I didn't...''
''Miss Chen, do you have your medical reports with you?"
''I said that I will press such charges against them. If I was like them who act without evidence, then I could have easily gotten them in trouble by doing these things,'' Diana said to the man.
A frown settled between the man's brows, ''Then are you saying that you just lied?"
...
I am exam free for this month now *grins*. Also, I wanna give y'all good news. If things go according to my plans, then I will be able to start daily updates for this book from December 1st. Also, sorry for the cliffhangers. I literally look for the best part to end the chapter but regardless of which line I choose to stop at, it somehow ends up as a cliffhanger. If you want, I can pause the updates for this book till Dec daily updates so that you can read daily without any hiccups. I'll leave it up to you to decide. Also, thank you for the support ToT Your words encourage me so much. The best part of my day is when I read your comments and get some insight into your thoughts <3