CHAPTER 192: CHAPTER 192

Olivia’s POV

Jones slowed down, and Maxwell turned to look at me with raised eyebrows. "Why?"

My mind raced for an excuse.

"I want to come down," I said. "Just for a moment."

"Why?" Maxwell asked again.

"I... I want to pluck a flower. From those shrubs." I gestured vaguely toward the greenery lining the driveway.

There was dead silence.

Maxwell stared at me like I’d just announced I wanted to strip naked and dance in front of him.

"A flower," he repeated slowly.

"Yes."

"From the shrubs."

"Yes."

"Oliver." His expression was filled with disbelief. "There’s nothing beautiful in those shrubs. They’re just generic landscaping plants. If you want flowers, I have an entire garden..."

"I like those ones." I was already reaching for the door handle, desperate to end this conversation before it got any weirder. "They’re... rustic. Natural. I just want one. It’ll only take a second."

"You want to pluck a plant." Maxwell was looking at me like he was seriously reconsidering my mental stability. "A man. Wanting to pluck flowers from shrubs."

Shit. He’s right. This is weird. Very weird for Oliver to be doing.

But I was committed now. There was no backing down.

"Men can appreciate nature," I said defensively. "It’s not weird."

"It’s actually really weird."

"Well, I want one anyway." I pushed the door open. "Just give me a minute."

Maxwell sighed, but he didn’t stop me. "Fine. Go pluck your flower. But make it quick. I have calls to make."

Relief flooded through me as I practically leaped out of the car.

I could feel both Maxwell and Jones watching me as I jogged toward the shrubs on the left side of the gate, trying to look casual, like I was just a normal person who randomly decided they needed a plant right now.

The moment I reached the shrubs, I dropped to my knees and started searching frantically.

Left side. She said left side of the gate. Hidden in the shrubs.

I pushed aside branches, peered under leaves, ran my hands along the ground near the roots.

Nothing.

Come on, Kira. Where did you put it?

I moved further along the shrub line, searching more desperately now. I was acutely aware of Maxwell watching from the car, probably wondering why it was taking me so long to pluck a single flower.

Still nothing.

I checked behind the first shrub. The second. The third.

Oh my God. Oh my God, where is it?

Panic started rising in my chest. Had someone found it? Had a gardener cleaned up the area? Had Kira put it in the wrong location?

I was on my hands and knees now, abandoning all pretense of looking for flowers, just desperately searching through every inch of the shrub line.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Oliver?" Maxwell’s voice called from the car. "Did you fall in?"

"Just a minute!" I called back, my voice climbing higher with stress.

I searched more frantically, pushing deeper into the shrubs, ignoring the branches scratching at my arms.

Please be here. Please, please be here.

But no matter where I looked, no matter how thoroughly I searched, there was nothing there.

The package was gone.

Or had never been there at all.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out with shaking hands.

Kira: Did you get it? Let me know when you’re safe!

My fingers trembled as I typed back: Can’t find it. Are you SURE you put it by the left side of the gate?

Three dots appeared immediately.

Kira: YES! Left side as you’re entering the gate. Hidden under the third shrub from the gate post. I literally watched the package disappear into the branches.

I looked at the shrubs around me. The third one from the gate post.

I was at the fifth one.

Oh my God, I’m an idiot.

I went back toward the gate, counting this time. First shrub. Second shrub. Third shrub.

I plunged my hands into the branches, and my fingers closed around something plastic.

Thank God.

I pulled out a discreet shopping bag, quickly shoving it into the inner pocket of my hoodie.

"Oliver!" Maxwell’s voice was closer now, and I realized with horror that he’d gotten out of the car. "What the hell are you doing?"

I stood up quickly, grabbing a random leaf from the shrub. "Found it! Got my... flower."

I turned around to find Maxwell standing a few feet away, his arms crossed, looking at me like I’d completely lost my mind.

"That’s a leaf."

I looked down at my hand. He was right. It was just a plain green leaf.

"I... like leaves."

"You like leaves."

"Yes. They’re very... leaf-like."

Maxwell stared at me for a long moment, and I could see him trying to decide whether to call a psychiatrist or just accept that his assistant had lost his mind.

Finally, he shook his head. "Get in the car, Oliver. Before you decide you need a twig collection too."

I hurried past him toward the car, holding my "leaf" and trying not to let him see the bulge in my hoodie pocket.

As I climbed back into the car, I caught Maxwell’s reflection in the window. He was standing by the shrubs, looking at them with a thoughtful expression.

Then his eyes moved to me.

And I saw that he had that calculating look.

He knows something’s off. He doesn’t know what, but he knows.

Jones started the car again, and I sat in silence, one hand pressed over my pocket where the package was hidden.

I’d gotten the Plan B.

As the car finally pulled through the gates and continued up the driveway, Maxwell cleared his throat.

"I should inform you - a long-time friend of mine is coming to visit tonight. He’ll be spending the night at the mansion."

I glanced at him, only half-listening.

"So you should behave yourself," he continued, "No wandering around picking leaves or doing anything else that might embarrass me in front of my guest. I’m telling you now so you’re not alarmed when you see a strange face in the house."

"Mm-hmm," I said, nodding absently.

Honestly? I didn’t care if he brought his entire social circle to stay. Alex, Gabriel... he could host a convention of billionaires for all it mattered. I’d gotten what I needed. Nothing else was important right now.

As long as these pills work. Please, God, let them still be effective.

The car pulled up to the front entrance, and I was out of my seat before it had fully stopped.

"I’m going to my room," I announced, already heading for the door.

"Oliver..."

"See you at dinner!" I called back.

I practically ran up the stairs, tightly holding the package like it might disappear. The moment I was safely in my room with the door locked, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Okay. Okay, you did it. You got the Plan B. Now just take it and everything will be fine.

I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and sat on the edge of the bed.

My hands were shaking as I pulled the package out of my pocket. The plastic shopping bag crinkled loudly in the quiet room.

Just open it. Take the pills. Done.

I tore open the bag and reached inside for the Plan B box.

My fingers closed around something that definitely wasn’t a box.

I pulled it out slowly, my brain refusing to process what I was seeing.

Leaves.

The bag was filled with nothing but leaves. Dried, crumbling, completely useless leaves.

No.

I dumped the entire contents of the bag onto my bed, frantically searching for the pills, for the box, for anything medicinal.

But there was nothing. Just leaves. Dozens of dried leaves that looked like they’d been raked up from someone’s yard.