The Moment I Stepped Into His World as the Fake Girlfriend, I Became the Real Prize novel Chapter 24

At this hour, the maids were constantly walking around. They could be spotted at any moment.

Elena's chest tightened. She glanced downward, contemplating whether she should kick him again.

Xavier had been watching her closely and easily caught her train of thought. He nearly let out a dark laugh. "Babe, you really aren't afraid of breaking me, are you?"

Bending his long leg, he forcefully trapped both of her legs beneath his, entirely immobilizing her.

"I sent you a friend request. Did you just not see it?"

Thinking about how he had waited half the night without her accepting his request infuriated him.

Six months ago, she had vanished without a trace. Not only had she blocked him, but she had completely deleted her accounts.

"I saw it."

Elena gave up struggling, her tone airy.

Xavier's voice hitched. "If you saw it, why didn't you accept it?"

Then, he watched the girl flash a mocking half-smile, looking at him as if he already knew the answer.

"Mr. Hawthorne, please respect my boundaries."

Looking at him with a seductive yet distant gaze, she enunciated clearly, "If my boyfriend sees you acting like this with me, he's going to get the wrong idea."

"Do you really care about Sterling that much?"

Xavier scoffed. Instead of letting her go, he leaned in closer, interrogating her. "Just like how you used to care about me?"

"So tell me, Elena. Are you going to dump him exactly the way you dumped me?"

Elena didn't see his aggressive behavior as proof of some undying love.

Just like Sterling had revealed, she was the very first woman to ever dump him. He only wanted to track her down to make her pay. That was it.

"Xavier, what are you doing?"

A male voice suddenly rang out from downstairs. It was Sterling.

"Xavier, didn't we agree you wouldn't give Elena a hard time?"

Finally, she practically threw herself into his younger brother's arms, her long, high ponytail bouncing in a perfect arc behind her.

"Sterling, where did you go? I haven't seen you all night. I missed you so much! Did you miss me?"

Sterling staggered slightly as she tackled him in a hug. To keep them both from tumbling backward, he hastily wrapped one arm around her waist and gripped the banister with the other to steady himself.

"I don't know what I did wrong, but Mr. Hawthorne hates me! He just ordered me to break up with you. What should we do, Sterling?"

Listening to her pitiful complaints, Sterling was even more baffled. Had Xavier seriously tried to drive her out that bluntly?

But the most pressing issue right now was that Elena had slapped Xavier!

Was she out of her mind? She knew this was all an act, yet she still had the sheer audacity to do that!

Xavier had always held grudges. Take the whole "getting dumped" fiasco as an example—he had spent months hunting his ex down. Aside from genuinely falling for her, half of his motivation was pure revenge.

He carefully sneaked a glance at Xavier, who was standing there entirely expressionless, a faint red handprint blooming on his handsome face.

"Uh, Xavier, this isn't entirely Elena's fault. She just loves me too much... Don't hold it against her."