Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 56: Wilful Diana

Chapter 56: Wilful Diana

Maxim grabbed her hand and pulled her back to sit beside him, ’’Can we just stop it now?"

Diana rolled her eyes, ’’Don’t act like I started this, alright?"

’’Fine, I started this. I am sorry. For how long are you going to ignore me?" Maxim snapped, his voice low as students started filling inside the classroom, ’’For another month?"

Diana gazed past the cartoonish eyes that came Maxim’s way from the female population, ’’Till you tell me what’s going on.’’

Maxim’s brows tugged together.

’’It’s fine if you can’t tell me,’’ Diana pursed her lips as she moved to stand up once again.

Maxim pulled her back to him, ’’Since when did we start meddling in each other’s affairs?"

’’Since I have started resembling a female vampire while looking at your male vampire face,’’ Diana glared at him, ’’I can’t sleep at night thinking about you.’’

’’Me?" Maxim blinked.

’’Your issues, what else? What is going on with you, Warner? You know you can tell me—’’

Diana’s words were interrupted as his phone vibrated.

While he checked his phone, she noticed how his expression changed instantly. His eyes narrowed and his face turned rigid.

Initially, when his mother told her that he has not been home for days, Diana ended up assuming that he had some mysterious girlfriend and he was having sleepovers at her place but things did not look like that anymore.

As she tried to peek at his phone, he locked it and tilted his head to look at her.

One look exchanged between them and she understood his words without even him needing to phrase them out.

Do. Not. Meddle.

Diana pursed her lips.

After three consecutive classes, Maxim grabbed his bag and left the classroom without attending the fourth class.

Diana glanced at his retreating back for some time before she grabbed her own bag and rushed after him like a sneaky thief.

...

Near an alley behind the university.

A black sedan stopped and 3 men stepped out of it.

One was holding a baseball bat, the sturdier and more muscular of the three. He leaned back against the car while the other two approached Maxim.

’’Did you get it?" One of the two lackeys asked Maxim.

Maxim indifferently scanned their faces before he threw his bag at them.

The man with the baseball bat who looked like their leader caught it as he examined the bag, ’’How much?"

"$7k,’’ Maxim said, ’’That’s much more than the interest rate you decided on.’’

’’Oh? You haven’t dealt with this before, have you?" The man threw the bag inside his car as he stepped towards Maxim, rolling the bat in his hand.

The other two men scoffed, ’’You need to pay $40k inclusive of the interest.’’

Maxim frowned, ’’That was not—’’ he paused, knowing well enough that it was not going to go anywhere.

’’Brother John, look at how he is glaring. Let us gouge his eyes first.’’

The man whom they called ’Brother John’ raised the baseball bat in his hand, aiming it at Maxim’s head. Maxim closed his eyes on instinct.

But the expected attack did not come.

The air around them went still.

Maxim slowly opened his eyes and he was greeted by the sight of waves of blonde hair, delicately combed in a messy bun and a floral navy blue dress.

’’Where did this girl come from?" Brother John slowly lowered his bat and looked at his partners before looking at the girl standing in front of them.

’’Brother, put your bat down. This girl seems to come from a wealthy family,’’ His partners whispered to him.

Although Diana did not look that organized with her messy hair and simple dress, but her bag, her diamond bracelet, her diamond earrings, her expensive-looking high heels, and her whole aura made her stand out. Her bearings were that of a wealthy person.

The man put his bat down without a second thought as he contemplated it. They were loan sharks, not thieves or thugs.

While they sucked huge amounts of interest by duping desperate people, they did not mess with unrelated people to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Maxim blinked. It took him a moment to snap out of his daze.

He grabbed Diana’s shoulder and turned her around. And it was not until he saw her face did he believe that it was indeed her.

His face did not have a shred of fear when he was about to be attacked a moment ago but at this time, Diana could see the color draining from his face.

’’What the hell are you doing here?" he gasped.

Diana frowned, ’’Come with me.’’

’’Girl, we don’t know who you are,’’ The man named ’Brother John’ spoke up, twirling the bat in his hand, ’’And we have nothing against you. You can go all you wish. But leave him behind.’’

Diana turned around to glare at him, ’’You have got to be kidding me. We have not been on talking terms because of you all,’’ she felt indignant. If Maxim had issues, all he had to do was talk to her. Did he even need to go to these loan sharks and suffer so much? "I am not leaving without him,’’ she said in determination.

As Maxim looked at her straightened back, it was as if someone transported him all those years ago when he met her for the first time.

The little Diana. Did she defend him just like this? Was she fiercer back then because they did not even know each other?

Ignoring his racing heartbeats, he grabbed her wrist, ’’Diana, leave.’’

She pulled her hand out of his grip and punched his chest, albeit lightly, ’’You are being funny, Warner,’’ she rolled her eyes.

’’Girl, don’t force us to do things that we don’t want to do,’’ Brother John stepped forward, towering over Diana to intimidate her.

Maxim held her hand and pulled her behind his back, ’’She has nothing to do with this. Let her leave.’’

"I am not leaving,’’ Diana poked her head from behind Maxim’s back as she said arrogantly.

Maxim let out a shaky breath. He never found Diana to be this unreasonable. As adorable as she was, her safety was what mattered to him the most.

He would be damned if he let her be harmed because of his matters. His pathetic state had nothing to do with her and it will never have anything to do with her.