Chapter 30 Stay away from Max
Emma cleared her throat and tried not to sound like an idiot.
She answered the call and almost yanked the phone away when ear-splitting laughter blasted through the speaker. She put the call on loud and waited until the caller had finished laughing into her own pleasure.
“So, hello,” Emma said, forcing calm into her voice.
She did not take insults lightly, and Alicia’s voice made something sour rise in her. Olivia could be rude, yes, but Alicia was worse. Olivia’s rudeness had an edge; Alicia’s had cruelty and repetition. Olivia could be silent and lethal. Alicia never shut up. She was like a fly that refused to die no matter how many times you hit it.
Alicia had lost to Olivia before and still would not stop. She hated with persistence and displayed it like a trophy. That kind of public nastiness made it easy for people to look innocent on the surface while doing darker things behind closed doors. If anyone wanted Olivia dead, pretending only to dislike her made perfect cover.
Emma felt her chest tighten. The memories the system had given her, Olivia’s suspicions, the attempts on her life, made the hatred look less abstract and more personal. According to those memories, Alicia’s father, Harry, was the man Olivia suspected. Emma had no hard proof, but seeing those flashes made the belief take root inside her. She imagined Olivia hiding in her room after each threat, and the picture made Emma feel anger toward Harry as though it were her own.
“Oh dear, you’re getting more popular every day,” Alicia finally said into the phone.
“Care to elaborate?” Emma asked, keeping her face steady though her hands clenched.
Alicia’s tone sharpened. “Dear cousin, did you not see your ugly mug all over the news? Are you paying people to attack you so you can get attention? Pathetic. If the attacks are real, they should finish the job. Kill you for once. That would stop the noise.”
Rage rose hot and fierce in Emma. She had her family nowhere near and did not have to hold back. She could answer as herself, not as a frightened girl protecting someone else. She forced the words out measured and cold.
“I will take the ugly comment as a compliment,” she said. “I recorded this call. The police can start their investigation on your side. You're instigating yourself right now.”
Alicia laughed again, loud and scornful. “You sound scared haha. Cute. Since you plan to use my words, let me make them more useful. I WANT OLIVIA SMITH TO DIE. There. That’s stronger.” She said with confidence.
Emma stared at the phone, stunned. She ended the call, but it rang again almost immediately.
But then memories flickered across her mind. Olivia used dramatic words, die, kill, curse but Alicia’s venom felt cruder, learned from a teacher. Emma, helpless, muttered, “She’s so annoying. What does she want?” Honey did not answer. The system did not step in; the mission was hers to manage.
Dealing with Alicia falls in the Family category of Emma’s objectives.
The phone kept ringing and Emma’s face hardened. She picked up again.
This time Alicia’s voice was serious. “Stay away from Max.”
Emma blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” Alicia said. “Max is mine. Do not lurk near him. I met him first and Daddy is going to make sure that the Smith girl he ends up with is me.”
Emma felt something click into place. Max, he was one of the male leads she had to win over. Alicia’s warning was not just a petty threat. It was a territorial claim. “And your point is?” Emma asked.
Alicia’s patience thinned. “Like I said just now, if you aren't deaf, I met him first. If I see you anywhere near him, I will make you go insane. Princess Olivia would not drag a man into a cousin’s mess, would she? Moreover, you're too proud to fight over a man anyway, so just leave him to me.”
“How about you go die yourself, bitch!” Emma huffed loudly and ended the call.
Emma could hardly believe she had just spoken so bluntly. The words shocked her; she had slipped, but the slip revealed something useful. Alicia had made herself obvious. She was not only an enemy; she was hasty and overconfident.
Emma’s mind cleared. Desperation sharpened into resolve. Alicia had lit a fire under her. If the rival was moving fast, Emma had to move faster. She had one objective now: get to Max before Alicia, or before anyone else could stake their claim.
Honey’s voice sounded soft and practical in her head. The system gave advice, but it did not fight her battles for her. This was Emma’s job.
She breathed once, steadying herself, and felt the image of her family rise into focus, her mother and siblings, the life she wanted back. Alicia’s threat felt less like intimidation and more like a timeline. There was no time to waste.
Emma pulled up Max’s contact. Her thumb hovered over the call button a heartbeat, then she pressed it.