From His Invisible Wife to the World's Icon novel Chapter 181

Frederick's voice drifted into the room.

Lydia reached out and grabbed Xavier's hand, her eyes pleading.

*Jerk!* she cursed him silently.

She had only stood him up once!

Xavier's gaze suddenly locked onto hers. Catching her mid-mental curse, she felt a flush of guilt. In that split second, he flipped his hand and laced his fingers through hers.

He didn't even bother lowering his voice for Frederick outside. "Investigate him. I want an answer."

Lydia's eyelashes fluttered. Knowing exactly who he meant, she nodded.

He released her hand.

Xavier glanced toward the door, taking the laptop from her. "What was she wearing?" he asked casually.

Seeing Xavier lie without skipping a beat, Lydia rolled her eyes.

Outside, Frederick seemed to remember it was a masquerade ball tonight; anyone could be hiding behind a mask. "I'll keep looking. Excuse me."

"Thank you, Mr. Foster."

Xavier replied politely, suddenly raising a hand to brush his thumb across his lips.

A faint trace of blood lingered there.

He smeared the drop of blood at the corner of his mouth with lazy elegance, but his predatory gaze held a dark, wicked glint.

A shiver ran down Lydia's spine. It felt like Xavier was openly provoking Frederick.

*I must be overthinking it,* she told herself. *Maybe it just stung from where I bit him.*

The door clicked shut.

Lydia let out a sigh of relief, only to meet Xavier's icy stare.

He watched her with calculated patience, his tone a borderline command. "Contact him."

Him...

Lydia froze. She wanted to tell him that Axiom couldn't possibly be an accomplice.

But someone important to Xavier had been hurt in that car crash. He wasn't just going to take her word for it, especially since he didn't know the guy.

"My phone is with my housekeeper," she murmured.

Just then, another knock sounded at the door.

She jumped.

"Mrs. Foster?"

It was Gable.

Lydia cracked the door open. Seeing only Gable in the hallway, she relaxed.

"Which one?" Xavier's voice murmured right by her ear.

Lydia scrolled to the very bottom and opened a chat.

The username read: Axiom.

The interface was flooded with hundreds of messages she had left two years ago, none of which had ever been answered.

Looking at the one-sided conversation, a lump formed in her throat.

Fighting back her emotions, she quickly clicked on his profile and turned the screen to Xavier. "Look, he hasn't been online in ages."

"I don't even know who he is in real life."

"And I can't reach him."

"It couldn't have been him."

A warm hand suddenly covered hers. Xavier gripped her fingers, turning the phone back toward her.

Her breath hitched as she saw the activity log.

His last login was yesterday.

In that very second, his grayed-out profile picture of a blue sky lit up, indicating he was active.

A new message popped up at the top of the screen: [Sweetie, let's meet.]