Titan 177

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Charles didn’t see anything wrong with it. Instead of letting go, he held Yolanda even tighter.

Xavier didn’t think much of it either. After all, they were married.

But Leo was fuming. He stormed into the elevator and pressed every button without saying a word.

Xavier’s face darkened when he saw all the buttons lit up below the tenth floor. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Mind your own business. Can’t I have a shaky hand?” Leo shot back.

“Seriously? Your hand shakes that bad?” Xavier snapped.

With those two messing around, Charles had to stop mid–kiss, rubbing his temples in exasperation.

Xavier turned back with an apologetic look. “Sorry about that.”

Charles couldn’t help but chuckle. “What, Leo–heading off to a matchmaking session or something?”

Leo kept sneaking side glances at Yolanda, only to jerk his gaze away every time. He’d steal another peek, then act like nothing happened–nobody caught onto it, not even Yolanda herself.

She stood quietly in the corner, looking all gentle and innocent, like the perfect good girl.

Leo felt kind of stifled inside, though he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. “Yeah, I have no clue what’s up with my mom lately.”

Leo and Yolanda were the same age, and he was the youngest guy in the group–technically, there was no need for him to rush into anything.

But families are just like that: once the eldest gets hitched, everyone starts fussing over the next in line. Worse yet, Leo’s spent the past few years wasting his days glued to his gaming console or tearing up the racetrack- he doesn’t have any girls around, heck, the only females near him are mosquitoes. No wonder the Lawson family is panicking now.

The elevator stopped on every single floor–it took forever.

When it finally stopped at the last floor, Joelle Monroe was waiting outside.

Her face lit up when she spotted Charles, but as soon as she noticed Yolanda beside him, all that joy vanished in a blink. “Charles, you’re here too.”

Her manager–the one standing behind her–called out anxiously, “Joelle, don’t just stand there! Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Joelle’s face looked kind of pale, but she just shook her head. “It’s nothing, don’t freak out over it.”

“You’re bleeding–how is that not a big deal?” her manager blurted out in panic.

11:52 Wed, Oct 8 M

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Before anyone could react, the manager hurriedly shoved her into the elevator, making sure Joelle ended up right next to Charles.

The doors slid shut, and awkward silence instantly filled the space.

Yolanda instinctively stepped back, catching the smell of blood. She glanced up and saw it was Joelle’s wrist- blood was still leaking from the wound.

Getting hurt there was no joke; if an artery got nicked, it could be seriously life–threatening.

Joelle kept her head down, silent, and the rest of them didn’t say a word either.

When the elevator finally reached the ground floor, the manager was nearly in tears. “What do we do now? Looks like the paparazzi slashed our tires. I’ll call a cab–Joelle, hang tight!”

Joelle stood there, not saying a word.

Yolanda could feel Charles’s grip on her waist tighten.

Finally, he couldn’t hold back any longer. “How did you get hurt?”

Joelle shook her head, looking even more washed out. “I’m fine, really. I’ll just wait for my manager to call a cab.”

Charles’s face clouded over. He let go of Yolanda’s waist, stepped forward and took Joelle gently by the arm. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Joelle glanced at Yolanda, worry written all over her face. “But what about Yolanda? Weren’t you two together?”

Charles hesitated for a second. “Yolanda…”

Xavier chimed in right away, “I’ll take your wife back. Somebody’s life could be on the line–just get her to the hospital, fast.”

Xavier knew there’d been drama between Charles and Joelle, but now wasn’t the time to get into that. Joelle’s hand looked seriously messed up–and she was a star, after all.

Charles let out a visible sigh of relief. “Yolanda, you head back first. I’ll be home in two hours.”

What he meant was crystal clear–there was no way anything sketchy was going to go down between him and Joelle.

Yolanda nodded, worry written all over her face. “Quick, go.”

Charles felt something twist in his gut–Yolanda agreed way too fast. Just when he was about to say something, she turned away, her eyes already tinged red.

His mood instantly eased. “Don’t worry, I’ll be home tonight just for you.”

“Yeah,” she murmured.

Once they were gone, Xavier turned to Yolanda. “Let’s go.”

42 B

As soon as he finished speaking, Leo, who’d been lingering nearby, offhandedly asked, “Aren’t you supposed to have that overseas meeting tonight? Moonbay Estate’s pretty out of the way for you.”

Xavier froze for a moment–that was true. But how did Leo know about his schedule? Wasn’t he always the last to care about stuff like this?

Leo stuffed his hands in his pockets, wearing that classic annoyed look like taking Yolanda home was some kind of favor. “I’ll take her back. These days, I’ve been staying near Moonbay Estate anyway.

Xavier nodded, but couldn’t resist barking, “And quit acting like the whole world owes you cash! Leo, I just bailed you out last time–if you stir up trouble again, I’ll knock your head off, got it?”

Leo kept his mouth shut, struggling to hide how flustered he felt–his cheeks were burning up.

Once Xavier left, Leo finally walked over to Yolanda.

With the lobby cameras watching, Leo avoided her gaze, grumbling, “Ugh, such a hassle. Let’s go.”

Yolanda gave a cold snort and brushed right past him. “Thanks, but I can get home on my own. I drove here myself.”

She strode straight to her car, about to get in, when Leo suddenly snatched her wrist.

His eyes were burning red with frustration as he dragged her off to the side.

He pulled her into the hotel courtyard–pitch–black and empty, since it was late and everyone was holed up in their rooms.

Yolanda couldn’t break free and snapped, yelling angrily, “What the hell is wrong with you? If Charles pissed ‘you off, don’t come dumping your crazy on me!”

Before she could finish, Leo shoved her hard against the wall behind them.

He crashed into her, kissing her fiercely–refusing to let go, his tongue boldly pushing deeper.

Yolanda’s fists landed on his shoulders, punching him again and again, but he wouldn’t stop.

Leo kept his lips locked on her, even giving her a nasty bite on the lip. She winced and immediately kicked at him.

‘Am I just someone’s backup or what? If he’s so desperate for Joelle, why doesn’t he go chase her? It’s not like Joelle even wants him–so why am I getting dragged into all of this?‘ Yolanda fumed, feeling her patience

snap.

‘I don’t need to be stuck in the middle of their mess,‘ she thought, sick of being caught between these people.

She dabbed at her lips, scowling when she realized there was blood–so much for not getting hurt in their stupid games.

11:52 Wed, Oct 8 M

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Right as she was about to go off on him, Leo spat out in frustration, “What, isn’t this what you want? If you like! being kissed so much, I can do it too!”

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