Saving the Villain

The Quinn Holdings annual party went by successfully. Cosette mostly spent it with the Quinn brothers. Although it was Luke who ranted most of the time, telling her how he had enough of dealing with adults.

He said, "he had enough dealing with them."

Cosette, as a devoted fan, who simply wanted to support all these characters from the bottom of her heart, played along. It was actually a treat to her to get to spend time with them. Asher barely spoke throughout the night, though.

Overall, she had fun with their company until Conrad fetched her when it was time to go home.

Lying on her bed after a night well spent with the Quinn brothers, her smile wouldn't leave her face.

"Luke is really charming." She breathed out, blushing at the thought of spending her night with not just one but two of the characters in the . "I'm living the dream, indeed. What a treat."

Cosette rolled to her side while hugging her giant teddy bear, still smiling from ear to ear. She had spent months with Maxen and she was happy with her progress with him. But there was just something different from the Quinn brothers' energy that gave her a different type of euphoria.

"Not only they are handsome, but they're very kind too. Will Maxen get along with them?" her smile, which never left her face, slowly faded as her eyes softened. "Luke is friendly and Asher is patient. Although Max has trust issues, he will surely get along with them."

She hid her lower face and hugged the teddy bear tightly. Her mood gradually turned somber as she recalled the life the three led.

In the , since Maxen was ruthless and obsessed with Mia, the female lead, he messed with the Quinn holdings. It was a chaotic arc with an enemy like Maxen who had zero consciences.

It came to a point that things got too dangerous that Maxen tried to kill Asher, Mia's lover. But Luke took the bullet for him. So Luke had met his end at a young age, trying to save his brother. In that timeline, Asher and Luke had a strained relationship because of the constant comparison between the two.

"How can I forget?" she mumbled. "That not only Max but Luke and Asher had shared the same tragic story. It may not be the same as Max's experience, but those brothers… were also pitiful."

For a good ten minutes, Cosette sulk the more she thought about the original storyline. Although she didn't want to change much in the story, it wouldn't hurt if she tweak it a bit, right? Maxen was a different case since he didn't have any connection with all the other characters until years later.

But it wouldn't be a big deal if she tried to maintain Asher and Luke's relationship, so they wouldn't grow apart. It was not like those two truly hated each other. Luke was simply hurt since others usually compared him with his older brother, and he felt like no matter what he does, he was never enough.

"Since we're friends now, I should hang out with them, too." She mumbled before raising her head, catching her phone on the bedside table. Cossette crawled and grabbed it before she leaned against the headboard.

"Max didn't even reply to my last message." She frowned before typing a new message.

[Max, are you asleep?]

Cosette didn't even hesitate to send the message, smiling when it showed it was read after a minute. However, Maxen didn't reply, which she already expected.

[What are you doing?]

Her message was still marked on read, but he didn't reply. Cosette snapped her tongue, wanting to give Maxen a call just to check if he was still sane. But before she could, a notification popped up at the top of her phone screen.

[ Have you returned safely? I opened the gift, and it's cool! Let's hang out next time! When are you free?]

"Heh… I can hear his voice and see Luke's expression." She giggled, not surprised at how straightforward Luke was. She was about to respond when she tilted her head.

"Isn't it a good time to introduce Max to them? If they became friends, maybe… he won't try to kill Asher and Luke wouldn't die saving his brother?" she mulled over it for quite some time, nodding in agreement.

Although she was already working on hindering Maxen from becoming a ruthless felon, it wouldn't hurt to be sure, right? All she wanted was for all of them to live life peacefully without one of them dying.

[Yes. We arrived home early. I had fun, thanks to your company. I love the cookies too! Let's buy some sometimes. I'm mostly free during the weekends. ]

Cosette didn't think twice when she replied to Luke. In her mind, there was no way Luke would hang out with her soon. Hence, she just gave a vague answer since she could make time during the weekend.

[Great! See you, then!]

"Heh… I'm excited to spend more time with him. Oh, right…" Cosette didn't think much about Luke's reply and got distracted by another thought. "If I hang out with Luke, I'd see more characters!"

Her eyes sparkled at the thought of meeting more characters. As she was getting distracted on the long list she had in mind, she snapped her eyes when a ding sound reached her ears.

She lifted the phone up only to read a bland "working" reply from Maxen.

"Gosh… is he that busy to only send one word?" she mumbled with a pout, but then remembered that Maxen had always been like that. "Max should just live in here. If only he lives under the same roof as mine, I wouldn't always worry about his well-being. He's very unfriendly too, so he always gets in trouble."

Cossette shook her head and sighed. "I'm sleepy." She muttered and typed what she just thought and unhesitatingly sent it, since she knew he wouldn't care, anyway.

It took him a minute before he replied with another short reply, "sleep."

"What time is he going to clock out?" she wondered and typing the question before pressing send. This time, he didn't respond. She waited, staring at the screen before she decided to call him.