CHAPTER 230: NO LONGER THAT PERSON

"What are you doing here, brother in law?"

Coco and Drishti both jerked their heads around in the direction of the voice, looking away from each other as their gazes searched for the source of the unexpected interruption.

Coco’s expression immediately softened, a look of surprise crossing her features as she recognized the voice, her body visibly relaxing.

The red haired mediator, on the other hand, looked puzzled, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to discern who had spoken— his eyes landing on the pink haired mediator standing behind him.

Almost immediately, Drishti’s shocked expression was almost one of horror, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open in shock.

Coco raised an eyebrow at his reaction.

The look on his face was a look of disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost or witnessed something truly monstrous, and beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead, a silent telltale that he was nervous beyond words.

His face was pale, the blood draining from his cheeks, and he raised a hand to his chest, clutching the fabric of his top, as if his heart had stopped in his chest.

He stood frozen in place, his body tense and his breath coming in ragged gasps.

Coco hummed softly and looked away from Drishti, stepping a foot forward as she walked past him to go to her new friend, a bright and pleased smile on her face.

"It’s good to see you here, Joachim." Coco greeted the pink haired mediator, a joyful lilt in her voice.

Joachim turned his gaze from the man standing by the doorway to the woman who approached him, his expression immediately changing from scrutinizing to one of warm familiarity.

"It’s good to see you here as well, Coco." Joachim returned the greeting, his face softened and a bright smile graced his lips, his expression bright and almost cheerful.

His pink eyes shone with affection as he looked at Coco, his gaze warm and full of happiness.

His entire demeanor shifted, his body relaxed and his expression joyous; it was as if he was seeing an old friend, someone he held dear to his heart.

"I was informed by my wife that you were coming to drop off the fruits and asked me to check up on you." Joachim chuckled and reached out to grab Coco’s hand in his, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"I’m so glad that I did." Joachim hummed out with a smile, "Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t? You can never trust the people around you after all."

His entire being radiates with excitement, his focus entirely on the woman before him if Drishti wasn’t there at all.

However, Joachim’s words say otherwise, stabbing Drishti right where it hurts— ultimately telling him that he was untrustworthy and dangerous to be around Coco.

"What does that mean?" Coco asked, the smile still plastered on her face, but there was a look of confusion in her emerald irises, "I don’t think there’s anyone dangerous around me except for me."

Joachim was stunned into silence as Coco said those words.

The word ’dangerous’ lingered in the air, the sheer audacity of the notion shocking him into silence.

The mediator stared at Coco in silent bewilderment, his mind trying to process her words as he had not expected her to describe herself as dangerous, making the word catch him off guard.

His eyebrows rose in surprise, his mouth falling open slightly in shock, but then, a small smile broke out across his face.

He had expected many things from her, but he hadn’t anticipated her calling herself dangerous; she’s far from dangerous and hearing it from her own lips made his initial surprise giving way to a mixture of admiration and entertainment.

He shook his head slightly, a hint of a smile on his lips as he looked at her, curious about what she meant by that statement.

"Well.." Joachim spoke up, his eyes gleamed with amusement as he looked at her, his body growing lighter as he let out a short bark of laughter. "I never expected you to call yourself ’dangerous’ given that you’re one of the few people who’s genuinely kind hearted."

It was as if he had realized something about her that he had missed before, a hidden side to her that he found endearing.

A light bulb had gone off in his head, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he chuckled softly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"If the reason why you’re calling yourself dangerous was because of who you were before.. Well, guess what? You’re no longer that person." Joachim hummed out, squeezing Coco’s hand to give emphasis to his words.

That’s true. Coco blinked as she mused the words of agreement in her mind.

However, Joachim doesn’t have any idea that the Coco standing before him is not Coco Hughes, but a different Coco.

She knows that Joachim’s words meant that she had changed from her old ways and doesn’t know the fact that she was actually a different person, but still, she finds it ridiculous.

"Okay." Coco smiled softly and returned the squeeze that eased her nerves, "Whatever you say, Joachim."

"Good." Joachim said as he turned his gaze away from Coco and looked at the red haired man standing by the doorway, narrowing his eyes into a glare, "And you, brother in law, shouldn’t be here."

Drishti felt a jolt of fear run down his spine at the words he heard from Joachim, making him nod his head fervently.

"Ri.. Right! I will be taking my leave now!" Drishti’s movements were hasty as he made a beeline for the front door, not even pausing to look back at Coco and Joachim.

He didn’t look back, didn’t stop to catch his breath, didn’t check if he dropped something— he simply wanted to be as far away from Joachim as possible, as soon as he could.

"Weird." Coco commented, blinking owlishly as she stared at the back of Drishti’s running form through the glass.