Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 185: You live here, Warner?

Chapter 185: You live here, Warner?

2:45 am.

The moonlight infiltrated the room through the window, lighting the place dimly.

The man sleeping on the bed opened his eyes, and his gaze was filled with a hint of confusion as he glanced at the ceiling blankly.

Maxim pressed two fingers on the side of his forehead, feeling a mild throbbing sensation.

As he sat up on the bed, the blanket slid off his body.

He tilted his head down, only to be greeted by the sight of his half-naked body.

He remembered that he went to the nightclub to talk to Diana after leaving the hospital. Then, he ended up drinking the wine she was having. She asked him to wait for her while she went to the washroom and... and...

No matter how he tried to recall it, he could not remember a single thing that happened after that. Did she come back? Did he meet someone else?

He immediately shoved the blanket aside as his thoughts took a chaotic turn. A hint of relief appeared on his face when he saw that he still had his pants intact.

Maxim glanced at the unfamiliar walls in the dim lighting of the room.

Without giving it another thought, he was about to push himself out of the bed. But the moment he turned, a flash of green caught his attention.

He glanced towards the floor. Diana was sitting there, still wearing the green dress that she had been wearing earlier this evening. Her head was pressed on her hand and her breathing was even. The blanket he had shoved aside ended up being draped over her head, fluffing her hair.

Maxim slowly dragged himself back to the bed and leaned back on the headboard.

From that angle, he could clearly see her face.

His gaze landed on the two dahlias on the bed, that she had placed in front of her face. The position of the flowers made it seem like she ended up dozing off while looking at them.

Maxim switched on the bedside lamp. As the room was illuminated, he realized that they were at Silver Regency.

He tried hard to recall what happened after he started drinking but much to his dismay, Maxim had no recollection of it at all.

In the end, he gave up on it and glanced at Diana again. He remembered that her so-called friend, Dexter was there too. She left him alone to talk to that pretty man.

Maxim’s fingers twitched when he saw her peacefully sleeping face. He raised his hand and poked her cheeks a few times.

Her brows tugged together and her lips formed a pout as she mumbled something.

Maxim leaned closer to her.

’’Mmm...Warner, be good..’’

He stiffened and leaned back on the headboard again, feeling a little bit guilty.

But after giving it a second thought, he pushed himself out of the bed and crouched in front of her.

It was cold as it was. What was she doing, sitting and sleeping on the floor?

Maxim carefully adjusted her dress before picking her up in his arms.

Just as he was about to put her on the bed, her eyes fluttered open, ’’Warner..?"

’’It’s me. Sleep,’’ he calmly placed her down on the bed and began to tuck her inside the blankets.

Diana blinked, her muddleheaded expressions gradually clearing up as she raised her hand to touch his face.

He was stunned.

Probably realizing that she was not dreaming, she sat up on the bed, ’’How do you feel now?"

’’Better,’’ Maxim noticed the two bowls of soup placed on the bedside table. One was almost empty while the other had not been touched, ’’Did you make it?"

’’No, Da... Dexter made it for us,’’ Diana was not used to lying to Maxim. But she understood Daisy’s concerns as well.

Daisy had known Maxim for as long as Diana did and she trusted him too. Yet, Maxim and Ryle were pretty close. Since Ryle was not a good person in her sister’s eyes, so she did not hesitate to stay on guard against Maxim.

Although Diana had tried to convince Daisy that Maxim would probably keep it low if they asked him to, Daisy did not seem to be assured about it. So, Diana did not want to force her opinions on her. She could only respect her choices.

But lying to Maxim... wasn’t her favorite thing to do.

Upon hearing Diana’s words, Maxim’s movement paused momentarily before he nodded.

Diana noticed that he was back to his usual self. She sighed. The drunk Maxim was troublesome but so lovable. The normal Maxim was lovable yet not troublesome at all. She did not mind him being a little troublesome...

The direction of her thoughts made her speechless. The conflict of interests was pretty obvious and it made her feel like she was going nuts. It was like she wanted this and she also wanted that.

’’What did I do?" Maxim glanced at her hesitantly.

Diana’s gaze trailed down to his body which seemed to be glistening under the dim lights in the room.

Maxim followed the direction of her eyes.

Diana shoved the blanket at him and tucked him inside like sushi before knelt on the bed like an obedient child.

Maxim: "_"

Diana’s gaze landed on the dahlias that had fallen on the floor.

Pushing her out of the bed, she poured a glass of water and placed the flowers atop it.

Her actions did not escape Maxim’s eyes, who could not help but forget his previous question as he asked, ’’Who gave those?"

Diana sat back on the bed, her gaze still settled on the flowers as she sighed, ’’Someone who replaced you.’’

Maxim’s eyes narrowed, ’’What do you mean?"

’’I mean...’’ Diana tilted her head to the side as she glanced at him, ’’You sounded pretty confident when you said that you were irreplaceable. Now, I came across someone who replaced you.’’

When he looked at her blankly, she wanted to reach out to pinch his face. But she restrained her indecent hands, ’’When I went to the nightclub today, I only wanted to unwind. I did not have high expectations but who could have known...’’

Her words were yet to finish when Maxim pushed himself to his feet and left the room.

’Bam’

The door was slammed behind him.

Diana paused at her storytelling and glanced at the closed door with interest.

She calmly followed him out of the guest room, and found him standing in the living room quietly, ’’If you are thinking of looking for your shirt, it’s on the couch.’’

Maxim did not respond to her. He walked towards the couch and picked his shirt up.

The main door was also about to be slammed shut but his movements slowed at the last second and it was gently closed.

From what Diana understood about him, it was probably done out of consideration for Angel given that the master bedroom was not far from the main door.

...

The elevator stopped on the highest floor and Maxim stepped out of it as the door opened.

He walked towards his place but instead of entering the penthouse, he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the door quietly, his hand resting on the doorknob.

Complicated thoughts dominated his mind.

’’I always wanted to check out the penthouse in this building. It looks quite captivating from the outside.’’

The voice turned his body rigid.

Maxim straightened up and turned to the side.

Diana was leaning against the wall of the adjacent elevator with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Maxim felt like something was stuck in his throat. He had almost snapped at her a second ago but he could not bear to be harsh with her. No matter how angry or how upset he was, he did not want to vent it on her intentionally or unintentionally.

So regardless of the frustration in his chest, he left her place quietly. But what he did not see coming was that a moment later, he was left in a position where he did not know how to explain himself.

Her calmness gave nothing away.

And he had no idea what she was thinking.

When she had decided to move out, he took her to every place where he owned property so that even if she moved out, she would still be near him.

He wanted to stop her from moving out but it was her life, and it was certainly her decision to make where she wanted to live. He had no right to meddle in her choices.

So he let her move out of Ryle’s place but he had never intended to let her move out of his sight.

For one, he wanted to be there for her if she needed him. After the incident where she was almost harassed when she went to apply for the job at the library, he could not rest assured about her safety. He wanted to protect her.

And for the other reason, he was simply selfish. He did not want her to stay out of his sight.

It went against every moral he was taught since young but he had long realized that when this woman came into the picture, all morals were crumpled to dust.

Just the way he ended up reading a page of her diary when he stumbled on it. Had it been anyone else’s, he would have respected their privacy and kept his hands off it regardless of his reasons.

But when it came to Diana, he simply did not bother.

She made him want to do every immoral thing for her. To her.

When he remained standing there silently, Diana walked towards him.

The elevator door closed behind her, ’’You live here, Warner?"

Maxim looked at her face, trying to spot a trace of anger or any other emotion but again, she seemed too composed.

It made him realize that usually, she was like an open book to him but when she did not want to be read by him, it took her no effort to mask her emotions.

He nodded twice.

She stopped walking for a moment before she continued.

Diana stopped in front of him, ’’Why?"

Maxim knew that he had no way out of this lest she misunderstood him. So, he sighed and explained, "I was restless about letting you out of my sight. It’s not safe and...’’

Her words were interrupted when she captured his lips for a brief kiss.

He was stunned.

As their lips parted, Diana’s eyelashes fluttered, casting a shadow over her cheeks as she lowered her gaze.

’’What was that for?" Maxim found his voice with great difficulty but it sounded foreign to his own ears. Hoarse and desperate. Was he explicitly expressing how much she affected him? Right after she claimed again that he was replaceable and this time, her words weren’t even empty as before.

This time, she found herself a man before saying it to his face.

The thought of it turned his face cold.

He gently pushed her before taking a step back from her.

"What do you take me for, Diana?" He tried not to look at her but his gaze inadvertently found her face. He tried to ignore the hint of hurt that appeared in her eyes and his fingers curled into fists, ’’You think you can come to me when you want. You can start things when you want. You can...’’

His words were interrupted again when she stepped closer to him and pressed a finger on his lips, ’’Yes, I think like that. I can... I will come to you when I want. Will you let me?"

He did not say anything. He did not respond to her.

...

A/N: Mature Content alert for the next Chapter.

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