Erin McAfee

RIIIIIINGGGG

RIIIIIIINGGGG

RIIIIIIINGGGG

I cursed when my phone kept ringing. This was the third time this person calls me today and yet the he/she still didn't get the hint that I didn't want to answer his/her damn calls.

When I looked at the screen, I saw Jowee's name.

Now what the hell does she want from me?

"Give me one valid reason for disrupting my sleep!" I told her in annoyance as I answered her call.

"Olivia got humiliated again. This time, it's very serious." Jowee said in all seriousness.

"What happened?"

"Just come here in my apartment, she spent the night here, and don't tell this to Zac yet. We don't want to unleash the beast." When I heard Zac's name, I looked to my right to see if he was still sleeping but his side of the bed was already empty and that's when I heard the shower in the bathroom running.

"Okay okay. Is Livy alright?" I whispered.

"No she's not!" I heard Jowee's angry voice. Oh my God, what'd happened yesterday? I knew it was Tessa's birthday but what the hell happened?

"Okay, I'll be there as fast as I can." I told her and the door to the bathroom opened revealing Zac in his towel only.

Oh my God, why did you have to be a walking sin right now?

"What happened?" he asked while drying his hair with another towel.

"It was Jowee, the guy she's dating with ghosted her. Now she's apeshit mad and throwing things all over her apartment." I lied but this is what we three derived when something's serious happened to any of us. Also, I can't tell him that his sister was humiliated again. If I did, he'll be the one throwing things all over and will be furious.

"Oh."

I stood up immediately and went to the bathroom to get ready.

What the hell happened? Geez, if Jowee said it's serious then there's something bad happened to Olivia.

Oh my God.

After 15 minutes of getting ready, I went out and saw Zac in the midst of buttoning his shirt on.

"Babe, I'm so sorry but I have to go to Jowee's now. I'm sorry for making you in a hurry." I told him as I buttoned the remaining unbuttoned part of his shirt.

"It's okay, babe. No worries." he smiled and I gave him a quick kiss before scurrying downstairs to tell my family that we're heading out now because of Jowee's situation.

As we were on our way, I was restless in thinking what the hell happened to Olivia? Jowee wouldn't be mad like that if this wasn't bothering. What the hell did Niccolo's grandma did to Olivia this time?

I felt Zac's hand held mine.

"Jowee's going to be alright. I'm sure Livy's already there to console her." he said to reassure me.

Oh how I hate not telling him that it concerns his sister, not Jowee. If only I could tell you, Zac, I would but I couldn't as I too didn't know what happened.

Moreover, Olivia for sure didn't want Zac to be involved, just like before. But I know he has a way to know everything about his sister because he wanted to know everything that goes on in her life, that's how protective he is to his little sister.

As we arrived at Jowee's apartment building, I gave a quick peck on his lips and went straight to the lift and headed towards her unit.

After I rang the doorbell, Joanne, Jowee's housekeeper opened the door.

"Where's Jo---"

"Erin, come here!" Jowee emerged from her room and called me in a hushed yet restless voice.

We met halfway and she ordered me to sit on her couch first to explain everything to me.

As we were seated, she immediately told me every detail that happened yesterday.

Oh

My

Fucking

God!

I want to go to Niccolo and beat the shit out of him!

"Where's Livy?" I asked Jowee.

"In my room, still sleeping." I didn't wait for her to finish and I went straight to her room, there I saw my best friend sleeping peacefully in Jowee's bed but I didn't fail to notice the swelling of her cheeks, then as I neared her, I pushed her pyjama shirt up and saw the scratches gave by that Rebecca.

Oh this is making me mad.

Like super duper mad that I wanted to hurt the people who did this to her.

While I was rolling up the other sleeves of her pyjama shirt, she opened her eyes and looked at me.

I helped her get up and asked her what happened, then she narrated from the very beginning.

After that, she broke down and cried so hard, Jowee and I engulfed her to a hug to ease the pain, humiliation, and embarrassment she's feeling.

I swear to God, I wanted to hurt someone.

When Livy's hiccups filled the room, that's when I spoke again.

"That was the last time you're stepping foot on that house, Olivia! Enough is enough." I said sternly to her while she continued to stare at the space behind me.

"Olivia, promise us!" I forced her to look at me but she still remained silent.

"If you don't speak I swear I will call Zac and tell him everything that happened to you!"

Well I guess this got her attention because she looked at me shocked and aggressively shook her head.

"NO! Please don't! I don't want him to intervene... I promise, I promise Erin, I won't go to that house anymore." She pleaded.

Oh how broken she looked right now. It makes me want to hurt Niccolo and Rebecca! Times like this I want to tell this to her brother so he can do whatever he has to do to avenge Livy but I didn't want to unleash the beast. I mean, nobody wants to because it's scary as fuck.

But seriously, how the fuck did Nick do that to her? I thought he loves her? What transpired between them for him to treat Livy like this?

Ugh. I hate how Livy being treated in that house. She always gets ridiculed for being a "Princess" but can't they see how kind she is? She may look like a bitch but she's far from it. Among the three of us, she's most soft hearted that's why we're always overprotective of her --- all of us surrounding her actually.

Now, how can I make this a secret to her brother? I know for a fact that sooner or later, he'll notice something has going on with his sister and Niccolo and it was natural for him to ask me about it as I am his sister's best friend.

I didn't want to lie to him but I also didn't want to disregard what Livy wanted. Oh geez, just by thinking about it, it's giving me headache.

A week has passed and Livy were still in the same shape. She eats less, the familiar enthusiasm etched on her face has been replaced by voidance, and she cries more.

Every night, Jowee and I made it a point to spend the night at Livy's apartment so she won't be alone. Tonight was different though, she came to her apartment late telling us that she had a meeting with Mr. Andre Cooper and that she had accepted to be in Dubai for four months to personally supervise their joint-venture.

"You what?! Olivia, how many more revelations you have to surprise us?"Jowee stated angrily at her.

I held her shoulder to calm her down but she just shook my hand away. I guess she's really not having it.

"I'm sorry but my decision is final." Olivia replied meekly while putting some clothes in her luggage.

"For fuck's sake Olivia, couldn't you tell us three days before? Do you really have to tell us the night before your departure?" Jowee stood up and halted Livy in taking some of her clothes from the rack.

Something's going on with her tonight. I feel like something happened today that pushed her to do this.

"It's already been decided. I'm going to Dubai. This is my project so it's just right for me to be there personally." She took her clothes from Jowee but the latter held it hard.

"I know, but for four fucking months?! Do you have to be there that long? Does Zac knows? How about your father? how about your team here? My God, Livy, be rational! This won't fix what happened between you and Niccolo, being there won't fix anything Oliv--"

"NOTHING WILL BE FIXED! WE'RE DONE! WE'RE FUCKING DONE!" Livy shouted and took her clothes from Jowee and forcefully placed it inside her luggage.

It was a good five minutes of silence when I decided to break the silence.

"What happened today?" I spoke slowly and I saw Livy stilled.

"Something happened today for you to act rash. Have you spoken to ---" I wasn't done talking when she tossed a brown envelope on her coffee table. Jowee then took the liberty to look into it and when she took the photos out, we both gasped!

It contains a series of photos of her and Jowee's cousin Adolph in an angle that may seem look intimate.

Oh my God!

"Did Niccolo have you followed? Was this why he was mad at you?" Jowee asked angrily.

"I don't know!!! He just came here a while ago accusing me of leading him on and giving him and Dylan false hopes. For playing with their hearts, for using them to keep my dad's money and my status, for cheating on him, for being a two-faced bitch, for fooling him!" she cried harder, way more different than she cried last week.

This time, you could feel how hurt she was with all the words Nick had thrown at her. If there's one thing she's easily hurt was when you didn't trust her and accuse her with everything that the media has painted her.

She cried so much in our arms until there were no tears left for her to cry.

"Listen to me, Niccolo doesn't deserve your tears. If you're really decided to go to Dubai, then go, I will not stop you anymore." Jowee wiped away Livy's tears while some tears fell down on her face.

"Go, sweetie. Just remember, we're always here for you." I said while hugging her.

Oh Niccolo, you don't know what you've done. Once you know the truth, you'll regret everything. And once Zac knew about this, it'll be the end of you.

***

It's been two days since Olivia went to Dubai. Zac kept asking me if something happened to his sister because she went away in a rush.

I just told him that I too didn't know and quickly diverted to another topic. But right now, I really am torn between telling him and not.

Ugh.

Why are these kinds of situations keep happening on me?

Why was I always in the middle?

First, Alex and Zac, now, Olivia and Zac.

I was in the midst of finishing my night coffee when my doorbell kept repeatedly pushed by someone.

I quickly looked at the video intercom and saw Zac, who was now angrily pounding my door.

I felt nervousness all of a sudden because I kinda know what made him come here.

As I opened the door, he immediately pushed it wide opened and entered. A whiff of his manly vetiver scent filled my nose and it made me even more nervous.

Geez.

Before I could say anything, he held both of my shoulders and leveled down with me. His eyes were full or anger in them, it's as if he could kill someone tonight.

"Why?! Why the fuck did you hide it from me?!" He asked in an eerily strange dark voice where anger was evident and I swear to God, I wanted to get inside my closet and hide from this fuming monster in front of me.

"Z-zac, I didn't mean to b-but Olivia didn't---"

"Bullshit! My sister was humiliated, got hurt, and insulted in that house and yet you chose to shut your mouth? I asked you. I asked you, Erin! And what did you do? You lied to me! Hell you even used Jowee that day! Fuck!" He cursed loudly and brush his hair.

He then paced in front of me while he kept balling and unballing his fist. Oh my God. He's literally fuming with anger right now and I know no one can extinguish this, even I.

"Zac, please listen to me. I promised Olivia to not tell you because she knew that you will get this mad."

"Mad?! Do you think I'm mad, Erin? I'm more than that! The moment I heard from Markus what the fuck happened to my sister at that fucking house, I wanted to kill someone! I wanted to ruin the whole Knights household. I wanted to ruin everything Niccolo has. Now tell me, how am I just mad?" I squealed under his dark glare because this was the monster everyone has been saying.

"My sister got hurt in that goddamned house, Erin. They ganged up on her! She was the only one there, Erin!!!! She doesn't have anyone to help her while being humiliated in that fucking house! The one person she thought that got her back turned its back away from her and sided with a fucking insecure woman! My sister got humiliated Erin, why the fuck didn't you think that I don't deserve to know? Huh?! Now Livy's on the other side of the Earth, all alone! To what?! To have a break from everything! She's all alone there while hurting!"

He stood in front of me again and looked at me.

"You know how she was when she's hurt. She doesn't take care of herself! She keeps everything in her to the point that it eats her alive. She should be here that way I can take care of her, but what did you do? You and Jowee agreed with her to go and stay in Dubai for four fucking months! Four months, Erin! Four months!" He scoffed.

But up until now, I couldn't move nor say anything because I was scared of Zac. Also, I believe that the more I say anything, the angrier he'll be and right now, I didn't want to add more fuel to the fire because the fire that he's emitting were enough to make someone burn.

"Four months! She doesn't fucking know anyone there! What if she does something reckless? Huh? What if someone hurt her there? How am I going to protect her when she's miles away? You should've though about this, Erin! You should've said it to me first before confiding with her." Now his chest were heaving showing the amount of anger inside him.

"Zac, I'm so---" he raised a finger in front of me and shook his head at me.

"No. Your apologies won't mean a thing. It won't change the fact that you hid this from me, so save it." He said and walked away.

He closed the door with a bang after he exited.

What the hell happened?

I knew he'll get mad but I didn't expect that he'll be this mad.

Shit.

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