CHAPTER TWENTY ONE +

DALLAS

Oliver's face went blank as soon as Sylvie touched him. His eyes were slightly widened and his posture went stiff. His hands did not leave his pockets. He seems to have falled into a trance. My dumb stepsister didn't seem to get the memo as she blinked her eye in a seductive way.

Suddenly, he seem to snap out of the trance and jerked Sylvie off him hard. She fell on the floor landing on her butt.

"Ouch, what was that for?" Sylvie winced as she stood up from the floor. But I wasn't even paying attention to her. My gaze was fixated on Oliver.

Oliver's face turned white as if it was drained of blood. He began gasping for air, still not moving from where he was. It seem his steps were frozen in the spot. Our gazes collided and I was overwhelmed with all the emotions swirling in his eyes.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do to prevent him from going into another panic mood. I did the first sensible thing that came to my mind. It was a long shot and seem unreasonable but it was the only thing I could think of. I made a silent prayer that it works and not make things worse. I walked towards him, not breaking eye contact with him. I gently interwined my fingers with his. His eyes traveled to our interwined fingers but he didn't say anything or throw up. The only reactions I got from him was a slight twitch of his mouth and his hurried gasps of air. I was partially aware of my stepsister's presence, I tugged gently at his hand and motioned to the door. He dragged me out of the house and into the backseat of his car.

Oliver was still trying to steady his breathing. I squeezed his hand gently in a reassuring manner. He threw his head back and shut his eyes tight. His breathing slowly returned to normal.

I made to let go of his hand when I saw that he had regulate his breathing. It felt wrong to hold on to him after I had achieved what I intended. But he tightened his grip on my hand. I couldn't help the blush that crept up my cheek. We sat there in the same position in silence for a long while. Holding hands and our knees were grazing. The position was completely nonsensual in every way but I couldn't help the tingles that travel all over my body. I finally registered how his touch felt. I felt a tingling sensation on the hand he was holding. It felt so good that I never want to let go of his hand. It seem the feeling was mutual because his grasp seems to tighten every passing second. I had blushed so much in the past few minutes than I had in my entire life.

The blissful moment was piercing sound of a phone. Oliver's eyes fluttered open.

"Don't answer." He said, a hint of annoyance reflecting in his voice.

I was also annoyed by the interruption but I flashed him a smile and gently removed my hand from his. I fetched my phone from inside my backpack. It was Lucien calling. My eyes darted to Oliver, he was staring straight into my eyes. I held his gaze for a few seconds before ignoring the call and dipping the phone back into my back pack.

I couldn't go back to holding his hand, though it seem like what he wanted. His squinted eye when I didn't take his hand said it all. I adjusted my sitting position and drew farther away from him. I pretended to be looking out of the window but I was actually trying to collect myself. I turned to face him and cleared my throat.

"Why are you here?"

"To take you back with me."

I flipped my hair dramatically.
"And what makes you think I will agree to go with you?"

"You don't have to agree with me. I will make you come with me regardless of your decision." He said with so much certainty that I could feel the anger shot up inside me. I suddenly went from zero to hundred. I was just admiring this man a few minutes ago, now all I want to do is kill him.

"Well, Mr Kang, I have to inform you how wrong you are. I am not leaving here with you today. At least not with that attitude to of yours."

It didn't escape me that this man was ten years my senior and I was the one with the attitude but I still stood my ground. He needs learn how to ask for somethinhg and not just take because he wants it.

"Little monkey, you are aware that you are breaking the terms of our contract by staying off work after your break. Breaking a contract is a serious offense. I could have you thrown in jail for that." He cocked an eyebrow.

I bit back a smile as I heard the nickname. I didn't know when I came to like it. But I wasn't going to admit it.

"Don't call me that." I groaned, in an attempt to hide my blush.
"And if anyone should be jailed for breaking the contract, it's you. You're yet to fufil any of your promises."

"I have. I gave you your paycheck like we agree. I never made you work overtime. I let you have your day off at the time we agreed on. I have basically fufilled half of the terms. You're the one breaking the rules."

"First, you wouldn't have have let me have my day off if I hadn't ran away. Second, you haven't fufilled this most important term on the contract."

"How would you know whether I have fufilled the terms when you refused to come to work?"

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. A smirk danced on his lips.

"Have you gotten lawyers for my mom's case?"

"I have. I contacted my personal lawyers and private investigators after you left."

A smile crept on my face and I almost hugged him. But I refrained myself.
"Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you."

"We had a deal. I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner."

My mouth hung opened and I stared at him in disbelief.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" His brows furrowed in confusion.

"Oliver Kang, did you just apologize to me?"

He took in a sharp breath as if realizing what he just did. He pretended to stare out of the window.

"Today must be my lucky day. Wow!."

"I said it accidentally. Don't think too much about it." He said, his hand traveled to the nape of his neck.

"Can you please say it again? I need to record this spectacular moment." I brought out my phone from my backpack.

"I'm not repeating it. Just let it go already. You're diverting from the main topic here."

I clicked my tongue and dipped my phone into my backpack. A thought flashed through my mind.
"Why are you immune to my touch?"

He drew a long sigh.
"I have no idea. I hadn't given it much thought because I was so excited about the prospect of getting cured. But I already set an appointment with a neurologist. I will get all the answers soon."

I swallowed hard. I already figured out the answer to the question in my mind but I still felt the need to ask. I wanted to clarify all my doubts.

"Is this why you didn't want me to go on my break and also why you were reluctant to help me with my mother's will?"

"I was hoping to stall the investigation for a while to get you to stay longer than we agreed. I know it was selfish but I couldn't stop myself." he said.
"You should go back with me. I don't want to live like this anymore. I want to feel human. I want to feel alive.

It was the most emotional I have ever seen Oliver. Turns out the man was not a robot anymore.
"On one conditon?"

"What?"

"You should ask politely."

"Seriously?" He asked, disbelief evident on his face.

I nodded and smirked. He let out a groan.
"Little monkey, will you come back to the mansion with me or do I have to drag you with me?"

"Hm, not very polite. But that would do. Baby steps."

He let out a small laugh and I realized it was the first time I've ever heard him laugh. My lips tilted into a smile as I watched him. He looked so peaceful at the moment. So alive. And so gorgeous. I wanted to lean in and kiss him. I wanted to engrave myself into every part of him. His laugh. His body. His soul. I wanted it all. Going back to work for him wasn't going to end well and I knew that. I was attracted to the same person that I want to kill and I wasn't even trying to stop myself.