Saving the Villain

"Cozie, aren't there houses for sale in your area?" Luke fumed after releasing his anger at Maxen's way of 'flirting.' "This can't continue."

"Luke, don't you live in an exclusive subdivision?" Cosette sighed, already numb in Luke's moment of rage, that she already prepared an earplug ahead of time. Maxen was also wearing his earplugs, eyes on the window, keeping his silence. He was always like that while Luke was singing his accusations towards him.

"Even if we live in heaven, I can't let this guy be with you seven days a week! Cozie, what about our future?" she cringed at Luke's reply. "What sort of husband-to-be will I become if I let another guy linger around my future wife?"

"..." All she could do was stare at Luke, sighing, rendered speechless at his argument. She thought she was already used to him, but it seemed Cosette just got used to how he would render her speechless every single day.

Meanwhile, Maxen, who had his music at the highest volume so he wouldn't hear Luke, did nothing. He still heard his remarks, causing his expression to turn sour.

He closed his eyes briefly. 'Don't mind him, Max. Don't mind him. Because if you do, he will drain you.' He chanted those words in his head until he convinced himself to ignore this annoying second young master.

Cosette sighed and changed the subject while Luke was mumbling and glaring daggers at Maxen. "Luke, are we going to use this limo for your vacation home? Isn't it a bit too grand?"

"Ahh... no." Luke cleared his throat and adjusted in his seat. "I was planning to rent out a bus, but I don't want to stay on the road for long. Also, our classmates are too used to the bus. It's better if they experience more fun things."

"Fun things...?" she cocked her head to the side, watching the corner of his lips stretched from ear to ear. "Luke?"

"Hehehe... don't worry about that, Cozie. Let's fetch them first."

Her brows rose at his mischievous and enthusiastic grin but shrugged. Knowing Luke, he probably had things planned perfectly. After all, aside from Maxen, he liked everyone, and thus, he was the crowd's favorite. The only time Luke was annoying was whenever Maxen was around, but if it was just him and Cosette, he was more than tamed.

"Well, I'm looking forward to this trip." Cosette smiled as she leaned back comfortably, excited about this three-day and four-night trip Luke had just come up with this morning. Fortunately, Conrad permitted her since Maxen was with her with a condition to update him from time to time, which Cosette already planned on doing.

This was like a field trip for her since she and Luke transferred in the middle of the school year. Therefore, her excitement continued to increase every passing second while they were on the way to fetch their classmates to the meeting place.

Little did she know, there were more things that would happen than what she imagined.

*******

Unlike Cosette's sentiments this morning, her classmates were also awake early because they got used to waking up early. Hence, when they got Luke's message this morning, most of them packed things for this trip. Who would refuse a free trip?

The meeting place was the convenience store near the high school. One after another, everyone arrived with the bags containing their things for the next three days and four nights.

"Oh, thank goodness I arrived on time!" Fay panted for air, holding her knees in front of the convenience store. She raised her head and her classmates were already there. Three were around fifteen of them.

"Here!" Fay snapped her eyes and set them on Sarah. The latter was waving at her from the inside of the store. Her brows rose to see Sarah was with her other female classmates, but Amie was nowhere in sight. When she entered the convenience store to cool down, she looked around.

"Amie is still not here?" asked Fay to Sarah as soon as she sat down on the chair next to her.

"Well, she said her parents didn't allow her to go," Sarah explained with a sigh.

"What?"

Sarah nodded. "You know her. Her parents need to be notified days before things like this, and it's always not sure if she will get their permission."

"I should've dropped by her house and asked their permission." Fay sighed deeply. Amie had strict parents, and they would only allow Amie to go out if she was with Fay. Her parents trusted Fay for some reason.

"That's sad..." Fay added and sighed once more. "She's probably crying right now since she will miss another trip with her friends."

Sarah pursed her lips and patted Fay's shoulder. "Let's take tons of pictures and send them to her."

"She'll just feel worse if we do that."

"Then..." Sarah sighed, not knowing what to do. She gazed at Fay and forced a smile, squeezing Fay's shoulder lightly. "Fay, you know Amie. If she knows you were sad about the whole trip, she will feel even worse if you didn't get to enjoy it because of her."

Fay smiled faintly. "I'll try."

The two of them stayed silent, looking at their other classmates who were engaging in different discussions while they wait for Luke. The young master said they would fetch them. Although Luke was someone who would brag at every turn, everyone didn't doubt that he came from a well-off family. But how rich? They didn't really match it with those rich families they often see on television. Just a normal rich kid who could afford a comfortable lifestyle — not that kind of comfortable.

"Where are they, by the way?" asked Fay after a moment, turning her head to Sarah. The latter shrugged.

"Cozie said they were on the way. And that's thirty minutes ago."

As soon as the last syllables escaped Sarah's lips, a limousine stopped in front of the convenience store. Their classmates outside suddenly stopped talking, gazing at the expensive car in front of them. Fay and Sarah, who were inside, furrowed their brows.

"What..." Fay trailed off when the window rolled down, revealing the dashing Luke. 𝗳𝗿𝐞ℯ𝙬𝗲𝗯n𝗼νel.𝒄𝑜𝘮

"Sorry for making you wait!" Luke grinned brightly and then Cosette peeked from behind him.

"Hello everyone!"

But their classmates didn't reply for a moment and just gazed at them, wide-eyed.

Did they just fetch them with a limousine??