Chapter 4

Rachel's POV

The car sped all the way into the top-tier luxury villa district.

This was New York's most expensive real estate, also where the Johnson family had lived before bankruptcy.

Ironically, Xavier's villa now was right next door to my family's old address.

He dragged me out of the car and pulled me all the way into the villa's main hall.

Inside was cold and lifeless. The decor was all cool tones-black, white, gray. Just like the man himself, radiating an aura of "stay away."

"Go shower."

He pointed upstairs. "Guest room has a bathroom. Wash yourself clean. You reek."

My delivery uniform was already soaked through. Now mixed with alcohol and sweat, it really did stink.

But I didn't dare move.

Alone together, just a man and woman in one house-who knew how he'd take revenge on me?

"Not going?"

Xavier loosened his tie while watching me, his eyes dangerous. "Want me to help you wash?"

I startled and bolted upstairs.

The bathroom was huge. When the hot water poured down, I finally felt somewhat alive again.

But I quickly discovered a desperate problem.

No change of clothes.

I couldn't go out naked, and I couldn't wear that soaked, dirty uniform again.

While I was agonizing, someone knocked on the bathroom door.

"Clothes are outside the door."

Xavier's voice came through the door.

After his footsteps faded, I carefully cracked the door open.

A white shirt lay on the floor. Judging by the size, it was his.

I reluctantly put it on. The hem was very long, covering to the top of my thighs, but this somehow made it seem even more ambiguous.

I dawdled for ages before finally having to come out.

When I came downstairs, Xavier was nowhere to be seen. I only heard movement from the study.

I walked over as if possessed.

The study door was half-open. Xavier seemed to have gone to shower. No one was inside.

I was about to retreat when my gaze was suddenly drawn to something in the most prominent position on the bookshelf.

It was an old, yellowed book.

The cover was curled at the edges, completely out of place among all these expensive hardcovers.

*Advanced Calculus*.

My breath caught.

That was the book I'd used to hit his spine in the snow five years ago when I drove him away.

The spine had cracked from the impact. I'd watched him bend down to pick it up, brush off the snow, and limp away.

He'd kept it?

And put it in such a prominent place?

My heart began to race, not just from shock but from fear.

Inside that book's cover lining, I'd hidden the suicide note I'd written him when I thought I'd surely die.

It was a real confession letter, filled with my helplessness, my love, and all those truths I couldn't speak aloud.

If he saw it...

If he knew all my cruelty back then was an act...

The system would definitely judge me in violation and erase me directly.

No. That book absolutely couldn't stay here!

I couldn't care about anything else. Barefoot, I rushed into the study, standing on tiptoe to reach for that book.

The shelf was too high. I struggled, my fingers just barely touching the spine when a chilling voice came from behind.

"Developed a taste for thievery?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. My hand jerked and the book fell.

Fortunately it didn't fall open.

I frantically crouched down to grab it, but a large hand pressed down on the book faster than me.

Xavier had somehow finished showering. He wore only a bath towel, his hair still dripping.

Water droplets slid down his solid chest muscles, disappearing into the loose edge of that towel.

That body... was too illegal.

But I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it now.

He pressed down on the book, half-crouching in front of me. That intense pheromone scent instantly surrounded me.

"Why are you keeping this book?"

I forced myself to stay calm, trying to seize the initiative. "The footprints on it are from me stepping on it. Doesn't that disgust you?"

Xavier stared at me. His gaze slid from my damp hair to the collar of my ill-fitting shirt, finally stopping on my panicked eyes.

"Disgusting."

He said I was disgusting, but his eyes didn't look disgusted at all. Instead, they carried a predatory aggression.

"Reminding myself constantly how I was driven out like a dog."

He picked up the book, casually dusting it off without opening it.

I breathed a sigh of relief. My heart had just settled when I heard him say again:

"Want to take it back? Afraid I'll remember your cruelty?"

He pressed closer step by step, backing me into the corner by the bookshelf.

Hard spines pressed against my back. In front was his scalding chest.

"I... I just wanted to review my coursework."

I came up with the lamest excuse possible.

Xavier laughed in exasperation.

He braced one hand beside my ear, lowering his head until our noses nearly touched.

"Review?"

His voice went husky, his eyes darkening. "Why don't we review something else instead? Like... how we used to kiss five years ago?"

My brain exploded with a bang.

This plot development was all wrong!

I'm the villainous supporting character! You're supposed to be getting revenge on me!

Before I could react, he suddenly straightened up, casually tossed the book upward, throwing it to the very top shelf where I could never reach.

"Want the book? Dream on."

He turned to leave, his back cold. "Go cook. I'm hungry."

I leaned against the bookshelf, my legs a bit weak, looking at that book with a bitter heart.

This was bad. Trying to steal it back would be even harder now.