Freely Enter

"Excuse me, your high...sir," Jack, Maxen's assistant, corrected himself right away when Maxen snapped his head towards his direction. Jack bowed and handed the two keycards to Maxen before stepping back with his head still bowed away from his boss. His lips lifted into a sneer behind his boss's retreating back. It's hard to keep up when the boss has too many identities ah! Everyone knows his identity yet he chose to be 'humble' sometimes.

Of the two keycards that Jack handed over, one has a gold letter P print to it, while the other was an ordinary white keycard. Earlier during lunch, Fiona gave Maxen an extra keycard to her place so he could freely enter her… and her place too.

They were almost at the elevator when a lady accidentally bumped into Maxen. Although Maxen's face was devoid of emotions, deep inside he was seething with anger because he hated people who walk like zombies, slaving themselves to their phones, waiting for an accident to happen.

"Sorry about that," he heard her say. Her soft yet sultry voice suddenly reminded him of a girl. He moved his hand too close it created a spark yet the girl didn't even bother to raise her head and face him. And before he could get a good look at the lady, Fiona tugged the sleeve of his dress shirt, prompting him to hurry up.

Inside the elevator, Fiona eyed which keycard Maxen would use hoping to be brought to his suite for the first time. They've been 'hanging out' for a while now and she could feel how attracted Maxen was to her. She heard from the grapevine that he rarely comes back for a second date so she tried to invite him for lunch which he gladly accepted. However, just like the other days, the elevator stopped on the 18th floor where Fiona's apartment was. 'It's ok. You'll bring me home soon,' she said confidently to herself as she smiled sweetly to him before they stepped out of the lift and walked straight to her bed.

...

later that night - Cultural Complex

Nighttime has fallen and three cars arrived one after the other at the Cultural Complex where an auction was about to happen. Entangled with each other's embrace in the car, Fiona asked Maxen if he'd like to join her and her friends in the auction.

Maxen pulled away from her embrace and glanced at his watch to buy himself time to cook up an excuse and finally settled with his favorite excuse of them all. He looked out the heavily tinted windows and replied, "I can't. I have something to attend to… royal affairs." Maxen cleared his throat and sat leisurely with crossed legs and his hand resting on his knee.

Jack almost turned blue from holding in his laughter. That excuse never gets old, he thought. And after his boss said his piece, Jack alighted the car and opened the backseat passenger door for Fiona. She walked inside the venue alone, looking glamorous even with her broken heart. She smiled ever so sweetly to the group of invited media to the VIP event.

Fiona Chung. Chinese-Moroccan beauty. Lineage unknown. She quickly rose the cut-throat showbiz ranks and swept the country by storm with her beauty and talent. Her doll-like eyes and sexy plump lips were envied by ladies and desired by men. She was wearing a wine charmeuse and chiffon halter gown contrasting on her white as snow skin and the ruffled skirt slit occasionally revealed her long slender legs as she walked.

"Fiona, who did you come with tonight?"

"Nobody. But my boyfriend dropped me off," she replied before sending a wink to the reporter.

...

The bright lights of the city kept Olivia entertained on her way to the auction. Suddenly, the blinding lights turned hazy and Olivia spaced out in the car. She realized that her birthday's coming up in two days and she knew another DNA testing would be done again.

She could skip that test but she wanted to prove to Henry Lin that she is and will always be his blood and flesh. At the thought of the test, she bit the inside of her cheek where a doctor would take a swab for the 26th time and sneered before muttering under her breath, "Silly, Olivia. You don't have to prove yourself to anybody."

Olivia grabbed a water bottle on the console and quenched her thirst, easing her up from the humidity in the country. She wondered how long it would take for her to acclimate in the tropics as she rested her head on the headrest of the car with her eyes closed.

The car took its grand time to the auction because traffic in Nisia is deadly that even patients die on the road because of congested streets. And when she could feel her impatience starting to eat her up, she opened her eyes one more time and saw a giant billboard featuring the Royal Family greeting their people a happy holiday.

She bumped her head on her knuckles when she almost forgot that Nisia still has an existing monarchy so she took her phone out of her diamond-encrusted clutch and called her secretary.

"Gail, I need a list of the Royal Family."

"Which royal family, president?"

"Sui Family." Olivia's brow furrowed when she said the last name.

Sui. Sui. Maxen Sui?

Olivia looked up the billboard again, her gaze now focused on the man standing beside the King. She dropped her phone call and check the search engine she used earlier at the restaurant. When the app opened, countless photos of Maxen popped out.

"No girlfriend?" Olivia whispered when she scrolled down and saw anything but a photo with a rumored girlfriend. Her hand hovered a photo of Maxen cladded in his royal court uniform. His blue eyes, clear as a cloudless sky yet his gaze hold that of a deep blue sea ignited her curiosity.

She sneered when she remembered Wyatt lashing out on her and finally realized the reason why. Slowly, one side of her naturally red lips pull up in an asymmetrical smile, a glint of deviousness could be seen in her cold as lake hazel brown eyes.

"So they were talking about you, your highness."