Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast (Alicia Delaney) novel Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Maxwell frowned when he saw that Darren wasn’t moving. “Did you hear me?” Maxwell questioned.

Maxwell thought, ‘What’s his problem? Why’s he taking up our seats?’

Darren shot Maxwell a look, confused and irritated. “There are so many empty seats on this bus. Why do you have to pick this one?”

Maxwell, without hesitation, said, “Because I want to sit by—”

Before Maxwell could finish with “my sister,” Nicole cut him off. She stepped up behind him and spoke, “Maxwell, why don’t you come sit in my row instead?”

Nicole felt a bit helpless. Maxwell was the type to be very direct, with little to no scheming. He was easy to manipulate, but just as easy to mess things up without realizing it.

If Nicole hadn’t spoken up, Maxwell might have let the “sister” slip. This was another reason why Nicole had joined the show. She couldn’t let Maxwell expose his connection to Alicia.

Maxwell only realized what he almost said when he heard Nicole’s voice. He glanced at Alicia, who wasn’t even acknowledging him, and a hint of irritation crossed his face.

Maxwell thought, ‘Alicia actually lets a stranger sit next to her and didn’t even bother to leave any space for us.’ He then turned to Nicole and smiled, “Alright then.”

Maxwell shot another glance at Alicia, then, in a deliberately casual tone, said to Nicole, “I remember you like sitting in the middle. That’s why I was going to ask Darren to move, so you could sit here.”

Nicole gave Maxwell a smile, showing that she felt touched. “Maxwell, that’s so sweet of you, but I’m fine sitting in the front row.”

As Nicole relaxed, a slight sense of satisfaction crept over her. Nicole glanced at Alicia, but unfortunately, Alicia didn’t even look their way, let alone react or seem displeased.

Seeing that Alicia didn’t respond, Maxwell felt a growing sense of frustration.

The comments were filled with praise for how much Maxwell spoiled Nicole. However, Darren’s fans and the viewers weren’t impressed with Maxwell’s behavior.

Nicole then settled into the seat in front of Alicia. Maxwell sat next to her reluctantly. His smile had completely disappeared.

Nicolas, meanwhile, sat in the row across the aisle from Maxwell. Seeing this, Felicity immediately went to sit next to Nicolas, feeling a bit excited and happy inside.

Nicolas wasn’t just the heir of Starlight Entertainment; he was also an incredibly handsome and talented A-list superstar.

Felicity thought that if she could secretly hook up with Nicolas, it would be irresistible, both for the clout it would give her and the benefits. Now, this was the perfect opportunity to get close to him.

However, before Felicity could finish fantasizing, Nicolas showed no intention of letting her sit next to him. He looked up at her coldly and said, “I don’t like sitting with anyone. Go sit somewhere else.”

Nicolas hadn’t forgotten how Felicity had tried to sideline Alicia. He had recently looked into Alicia’s situation and found out that the other four members of LUMIA had teamed up to exclude, slander, and take advantage of Alicia.

However, the PR department chose to ignore it. They even made things worse, which was why Alicia became the target of online attacks.

Nicolas was starting to wonder whether he was still the major shareholder of Starlight Entertainment. He had already ordered the PR department to be reorganized.

Nicolas felt even more disgusted with the four members of LUMIA, so his impression of them was already terrible. Seeing Felicity at all annoyed the hell out of him.

The company had spent a lot of resources and money supporting the girl group. Now that they were a popular group bringing in substantial profits for Starlight Entertainment, the other executives were reluctant to make changes.

Otherwise, Nicolas would have already kicked them out of the entertainment industry. At the very least, they should have been removed from LUMIA and sent into obscurity.

But not sidelining the four members of LUMIA didn’t mean Nicolas was going to show them any kindness. If he had a chance to mess with them, he wouldn’t hold back.

Nicolas was still pissed about how Alicia was being treated. She was his childhood friend and the wife he planned to spend his life with.

If Alicia knew what Nicolas was thinking right now, she would just roll her eyes and tell him he was dreaming. She would also feel like he didn’t deserve to call her his wife.

At the moment, Nicolas’s impatient and blunt nature was on full display for everyone. The rest of the live-stream guests could clearly see that Nicolas didn’t like Felicity.

Felicity’s smile froze, becoming even more awkward. She immediately turned to look at Nicole, hoping Nicole might help ease the tension.

Felicity believed that as long as Nicole spoke up, Nicolas would let Felicity sit beside him. But Nicole acted as if she hadn’t noticed and was on her phone, seemingly texting someone.

Felicity didn’t dare offend Nicolas, so she awkwardly said, “Then I’ll sit in the row behind.” She took a seat behind Nicole, still wearing a stiff smile. Inside, Felicity felt incredibly put out and even held a grudge against Nicole.

Nicole, of course, could feel Felicity’s gaze, sensing that Felicity was silently asking for help. But Nicole wouldn’t do anything to upset Nicolas just to help Felicity.

Alicia removed one of the headphones and handed it to him, and they watched the video together. Although Darren and Alicia spoke quietly, the bus was so silent that everyone around could hear them.

Nicolas turned to look at them, his eyes full of annoyance toward Darren, thinking, ‘Where did this guy come from? How is he acting like he and Alicia are already friends?’

Knowing Alicia as well as he did, Nicolas realized she was comfortable around Darren, which made Nicolas even more annoyed.

Maxwell had already been upset about Darren not giving up his seat. Now, after what Darren had just said, Maxwell felt even more irritated when he saw Darren sharing headphones with Alicia and watching something together on the tablet.

Maxwell thought, ‘Who the hell does Darren think he is? Is he trying to make a move on my sister?’

Maxwell dug a bottle of orange-flavored gum out of the bag he was holding and handed it to Alicia, then asked her, “What are you two watching?”

The gesture made Nicole want to curse under her breath. She thought, ‘Couldn’t Maxwell just give it a rest? Alicia doesn’t even want to pay him any attention, and he’s still forcing himself in. Is he some kind of masochist?’

Alicia looked up at Maxwell coldly and said, “Thanks, but I don’t like this flavor.”

Maxwell froze for a moment, staring at the gum in his hand, then said, “Orange flavor—your favorite. I didn’t get it wrong.”

Nicole was speechless. She thought, ‘Can someone just throw this guy out? Saying that just exposed that he actually knows Alicia. Otherwise, how would he know her favorite gum flavor and carry it around for her?’

Maxwell had spoken too quickly for Nicole to interrupt him. Alicia, of course, had said it deliberately. Alicia thought, ‘Sure enough, this idiot didn’t think it through and just blurted out his answer without a second thought.’

Alicia added, “I like watermelon flavor now.”

Maxwell looked a little dazed. “What? Why?”

Alicia rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. “None of your business.”

Maxwell didn’t react like others might have expected, with anger or a sharp retort. Instead, he rubbed his nose, put the gum away, and replied, “Alright. I’ll get watermelon flavor next time.”

He sighed inwardly, ‘Why is Alicia getting more and more hot-tempered? She’s so hard to handle.’

The live-stream chat was full of question marks again.