Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 164: Two stalkers

Chapter 164: Two stalkers

"Of course," Diana said without a second thought, "Warner never lies to me."

Maxim felt his chest expanding like a balloon. It was strange the way she could control his mood with a few random words.

Ryle smugly looked at him, "You wanted to confront them straightforwardly but it was my idea to hide behind the bushes. If we hadn’t settled on my idea, would you have heard her trust confession? Don’t you feel that having me as your best friend is the blessing of multiple lives?"

Maxim patted his shoulder without taking his gaze off Diana, "Thank you."

On the other side, Daisy looked at Diana in disbelief, "Can you be a little less disgusting? Your eyes are popping hearts."

Diana blinked, "What are you talking about? Come, let’s go."

"But..."

"Enough, who will stalk us here? Stop being so paranoid," Diana dragged Daisy inside the building.

Ryle and Maxim followed them, grabbing two flower vases as they sneaked in with stealthy steps.

"Let’s take the stairs," Daisy stopped in front of the elevator.

"Ah?" Diana blinked at her.

"I haven’t worked out in a long time. It’s good for my body."

"But I live on the 2nd highest floor..." Diana trailed off.

Daisy looked at her, "You look like a sick child now. Your body needs conditioning too. Climb the stairs with me."

"B-But..."

"No buts."

Ryle: "_" 2nd highest floor? The floor below the penthouse?

"Max, let’s drop the mission here, shall we? It’s not too elegant to stalk them after all."

Maxim frowned, "Why is he focused on working out at this hour?" His face turned frigid, "What does he intend to do with her?" He broke a twig of the roses, the thorns pricking his palm yet he could not feel any pain.

"_" Is that something you should focus on at this point? Ryle was speechless, "You... Is it too late to revoke our friendship?"

Maxim watched as Diana disappeared with that pretty face while holding his hand.

Without responding to Ryle, he walked after them.

Ryle gritted his teeth and followed Maxim.

As the sounds of their footsteps turned distant, Ryle scoffed, "Are they so idle that they need stairs for working out?"

They had just climbed two floors when Maxim’s footsteps came to a halt.

Ryle almost bumped into his back, "Hey, what are you doing? If we are stalking them, we should do it properly. You are acting like an amateur. Do you want to be caught?"

"Shut up," Maxim said in a whisper.

It was only then that Ryle realize that there was something weird in the atmosphere.

He tilted his head. The people they were trailing after were standing on the stairs like wax statues.

...

Diana looked at Maxim and Ryle in disbelief, "You both..." Didn’t they part at the airport? What were they doing here, holding two flower vases?

Ryle was quick to cover his face with the flower vase in his hand as he started retreating with slow steps.

But he had just taken a step back when Daisy jumped from the height of five stairs and kicked the vase he was hiding his face with.

Ryle was plastered to the wall behind him. The vase crashed to the floor, leaving two large daisies stuck in each of his ears.

He looked particularly docile and harmless with those flowers in his hair, stuck behind his ears, nothing like the man who spouted threats the moment he opened his mouth.

Diana glanced at Maxim. He was standing there with his head lowered, and his fingers held the vase of roses closer to his chest.

He... looked like a guilty child.

"Do you believe me now?" Daisy turned to look at her.

"Um..." Daisy kept saying that someone was following them but Diana did not believe her.

In the end, Daisy suggested that they should take the stairs to catch the culprit. They faked their footsteps by stomping their shoes. Diana thought Daisy was being paranoid but who could have thought that two fishes would be caught in Daisy’s net after all?

"I think there is some misunderstanding," Diana sighed as she descended the stairs. She did not meet Daisy’s accusing gaze out of guilt.

"You are not this naive usually," Daisy looked at her with disapproval, "Your blind trust is affecting your sense of judgment," she eyed Maxim and her.

Diana cleared her throat. She was biased towards Maxim so she could not even bring herself to refute Daisy’s words.

"Why are you here?" Diana glanced at Maxim.

He looked at her hesitantly, "Are you angry?"

"Why should I be?" Diana smiled. Usually, he was so sorted out. How in the world was he being so adorable right now?

She had the urge to squish his face so hard.

"You... Max, I am getting goosebumps by the way she is looking at you!" Ryle rubbed his arms.

Daisy noticed the looks exchanged between Maxim and Diana. The corner of her lips twitched, "Gross," she turned her face to the side.

Diana eyed both of them with displeasure before she said to Daisy, "Give us a moment," She grabbed Maxim’s hand and led him to a corner.

"You didn’t tell me why you are here," she leaned back on the wall, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Maxim cleared his throat, his gaze lingering on her for a moment before he looked at the vase of roses in his hand, "To give you flowers."

Diana bit her bottom lips to suppress the smile, "You should learn to lie properly."

"You don’t trust me?"

She raised a brow.

Maxim sighed, "Even if I do lie properly, I am afraid you know me too well to buy it."

"Good that you know it," she straightened up and patted his shoulder, "You don’t have to lie. I know why you are here."

Maxim looked at her face, "You do?"

Diana nodded, "I know you are worried about me."

He opened his mouth to say something but in the end, he did not utter a word.

Diana looked at Daisy and Ryle who were engaged in a fierce glaring battle at a distance, "I am safe with he... him. Don’t worry. Just trust me," she grabbed the flower vase from his hand, "Go now. You have two consecutive surgeries the day after tomorrow. I will see you later."

Maxim stepped back from her.

Just as he turned around to leave, she grabbed his hand.

Maxim turned to look at her, "Anything else?"

Diana was confused by the look in his eyes. He seemed... hopeful? Or were her eyes playing tricks on her?

She blinked and his expression seemed to have turned normal. "I think you were right," she said.

"About what?"

"About everything that has transpired between us lately," Diana lowered her head, "I am new to freedom. I have never had a job, and I have never made decisions on my own. All of this is new to me. Everything I have never experienced before, I crave to experience it now."

Maxim continued to look at her without interrupting her words.

"That led me to act on impulse. You refused me but I kept pushing your boundaries. I was wrong," she looked at him, her fingers gripping his hand tighter, "Let’s put it behind us. Forget my proposal. With approximately 4 billion males in the world, I believe we don’t have to risk losing what we have for something temporary..."

"You mean you will find someone else?" Maxim cut her off.

"I think I should sign up for dating websites when I have time. Not only that, I intend to try attending writing seminars and other things I have never tried before. I just need to make a decent schedule and arrange this properly. What do you think of it?"

His eyes searched her face, for any shred of hesitation but there was none, "You seem happy. Pretty excited too."

Diana nodded. Of course, she was happy. Although, she still felt pity that the proposal did not work out with Maxim and they almost had an argument in his car over it. But seeing Daisy lifted her spirits. With her sister around, she could float on the clouds.

Maxim took a step closer to her.

Diana stepped back, her back bumping against the wall, "What are you doing?" She glanced towards Daisy who was luckily not looking at them at this moment.

The stolen glances did not escape Maxim’s eyes, "You want to discard me at the first chance you get?"

"Discard what?"