Someone immediately snapped at Olivia:
[Why are you freaking out, Olivia? This is between Calliope and Angelina, why are you butting in like it's your business?]
[Yeah, seriously. Maybe Calliope actually wanted to give it to her. Stop trying to stir the pot.]
Olivia was so angry she could explode. [Me? Stir the pot? You people are blind and brainless. I'm not wasting another breath on a bunch of bootlickers!]
Calliope shot Olivia a private message: [Olivia, leave the group. There's no point talking to them.]
Right after that, she herself tapped "Leave Group Chat" without hesitation.
A voice message from Olivia popped up: [Ughhh I'm so pissed! How can Angelina be so shameless?! That figure took you countless all-nighters to make! And now she has the nerve to say you gave it to her as a gift? With a blessing? What a joke!]
Listening to her bestie vent on her behalf, the ice in Calliope's heart slightly melted.
[You're right. She doesn't deserve it,] she replied calmly.
[If I made it myself, I've got every right to take it back.]
Calliope walked over to her desk and flipped open her laptop.
Her fingers danced over the keyboard at lightning speed, and soon, she hit enter with a sharp tap.
A pop-up instantly appeared on the screen:
[Self-Destruct Program for Core Chip Initiated. Completion in 10 seconds.]
As the screen dimmed, she finally felt her tense nerves begin to ease.
She did it.
Destroying something she once treasured so much-turns out, it wasn't that hard after all.
Then Olivia called, her voice anxious: "Cally! Are you okay? Don't let those two scumbags mess with your head! They're so not worth it, not even a little bit!"
Calliope's lips curved into a faint smile.
Having a friend like this-what a blessing.
"I'm fine, Olivia. It's all in the past now."
"That's great! So great!" Olivia sounded super relieved on the other end. "Alright, forget about those two drama queens for now. Let's talk about something real-Calliope, did you really go and get the marriage certificate with my cousin today?"
Calliope leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, letting the cool night breeze from the window brush past her.
"Yeah, we did."
"Oh my God! Calliope, that's incredible! So, what do you think of him? My cousin didn't freak you out or anything, right?"
Unconsciously, an image of Conrad popped into her head. Tall, broad-shouldered, lean waist and long legs. A bit icy and commanding, but strangely thoughtful too.
"He's alright." She paused. "I just didn't expect him to be a firefighter."
"A firefighter?" Olivia was caught off guard for a second, but quickly bounced back. "Oh-right! Yeah! He's a firefighter! Isn't that awesome? Saving lives and all that! Totally dependable, super manly, right?"
Calliope raised a brow.
There was something weird about Olivia's reaction.
"I never said there's anything wrong with being a firefighter. It just threw me off a bit. I mean, he's your cousin."
The Fletchers made their fortune in international trade, a well-known, wealthy family in Aurelian. Most of her cousins were CEOs or heads of departments before even hitting thirty. Someone like Conrad, risking his life at the front lines every day for barely-there pay? He was kinda the odd one out.
"Come on, what's there to be shocked about!" Olivia gave a nervous laugh. "Hey-don't take it the wrong way, okay?"
"My cousin-he's not what you might be thinking. Like, I swear I'm not trying to trick you or anything just because he's a firefighter. As if I'd do you dirty like that."
"I promise you, he's really amazing! Just give it some time-you'll see. Trust me, you're not gonna regret this!"
She was rambling so fast, she was almost tripping over her own words.
Calliope chuckled. "You introduced us. Of course I trust you. And yeah, he does seem pretty good."
"Yes! That's all I needed to hear! As long as you think he's a good guy, then everything's great. The rest doesn't matter."
