Saving the Villain

Cosette flinched as she snapped back to the current lapse, tipping the digital clock a little. Horror dominated her face, holding her breath as she blinked her dilated eyes.

"What's that?" she muttered with a shaking voice, recalling the sudden memory that surged in her head. The memory was just like her dream last night; it was too crystal clear, the hair on the back of her neck raised.

She rubbed her shoulders to calm herself down, shaking her head mildly. "Was that another dream?" she wondered to herself.

"A forgotten one?" Her brows knitted at the thought, turning to her laptop, and immediately researched the sudden phenomenon. To her relief, according to google, it was very normal.

"Wait. I should write it down." Cosette didn't waste a second and jot down what she just recalled before she would completely forget about it. She tried to be specific, starting from the minimalist house as the location, Maxen's clothes and those tattoos peeking from his open collar, the picture frame, and everything she could recall so she wouldn't get confused later.

After writing every detail of the dream, including the location and the people — including herself — Cosette let out a sharp breath. This was tiring her and her brain. These dreams that had been occurring frequently and racking her brain remembering them were already draining her. If not for Maxen's future, Cosette wouldn't bother.

"Seriously. I know it's my vacation, and I was complaining yesterday, but this is a bit too much to handle in a short span of time." She clicked her tongue, eyes falling on the notes she wrote just now. Another sigh escaped her nostrils because now she had two 'dreams' she could remember clearly.

"Fuck buddies and that one..." she clutched her chest as the lingering pain those dreams brought to her heart resurfaced; although it wasn't enough to make herself cry. "That rotten piece of milk — tch. Is it possible that Maxen and Cosette were fuck buddies that the author didn't mention?"

Cosette frowned. If they were, then the author should've mentioned it since that would thicken the plot. But no, the author mentioned nothing about it. As Cosette reviewed the original plot in the novel, the only time she could remember was when Maxen and Cosette appeared in volume 2.

"Cosette appeared..." she arched a brow and tilted her head to the side. "Cosette appeared because she had some business with the Quinn Holdings. She... that's the first time Asher and Cosette met and she had already shown an interest in him at first. Wait. Can this be... that time... in that dream...?"

Cosette gasped and covered her gaping mouth with her palm. Was it possible that in that particular dream where Cosette and Maxen were in the tub, it was happening at the same time in volume one? Well, it was possible since the novel was focused on the main leads' perspectives. Therefore, Cosette and Maxen's points of view wouldn't matter in the novel.

"Oh, my god..." She hurriedly picked up the pen and opened another blank page to write down her theory. She didn't put it in the middle of the novel plot, but instead from a different perspective. Cosette didn't have much to write about aside from Cosette and Maxen being connected before they met the leads of the novel.

"But why?" she tapped the end of the pen against the journal, racking her brain about why would Maxen and Cosette break up. Or rather, why would they pretend they didn't know each other even though they met a couple of times in the novel?

"If my theory is correct, and these dreams were from the real Cosette, then... that means she liked him." Cosette's eyes softened as she smiled bitterly. Perhaps, because she was inside the real Cosette's body, she could feel her emotions from those dreams and even now. That was what she believed, and no one could change her mind about that.

Based on these feelings, Cosette liked Maxen even though lust was the foundation of their relationship. And for the obvious reason, she was aware she was a little special in Maxen one way or another. It might not be a normal relationship, but at the same time, those two weren't normal.

The real Cosette had always strived for greatness, wanting to prove herself. She was perfect in every way possible, and that wasn't just a natural gift, but she worked hard to become a fitting leader for the BLK Corporation. Meanwhile, Maxen in the novel was a wicked devil incarnate. He was cunning and dangerous, capable of killing a human being without conscience.

They might've led a very different life growing up, but also similar in a way. Both of them didn't enjoy their youth; those times a person was being honed on how to become an adult, Cosette was too busy involving herself in the company affairs while Maxen was too busy surviving day by day as a delinquent.

"Right... Maxen at first believed he was incapable of love," she whispered, recalling that Maxen had proven that in the first arc of volume 2, where he tormented the female lead as if he held a grudge against her. But because the female lead was smart, Maxen eventually fell in love with her, but he could no longer erase the things he had done to her.

"It's the same with Cosette..." this time, Cosette trailed off as she furrowed her brows. "That's right. She can't fall in love after getting betrayed by her fiance."

Cosette rubbed her chin, recalling that the side stories included the villainess's past instead of what happened to her after the book ended. It disappointed her while reading it since most readers were more inclined to read and know what happened to the characters after the book ended. But the author didn't give that to her readers.

"Now that I think about it... what happened to the villainess Cosette after Asher and Mia tied the knot?" she murmured, tilting her head to the side. This had never crossed Cosette until now that she was doing an extensive review of the novel.

"Ughhh!!! I always have a love-hate relationship with the author, but why does she make it so hard?" Cosette clasped her hair as her head throbbed. "If this continues, I think only hate will remain between us!"

Cosette thought long and hard about it but to no avail. All she came up with was the possibility of the villain and the villainess becoming fuck buddies. But the reason why those two pretended they didn't know each other and stayed away from each other's way still left a giant mystery to her.

******

Meanwhile...

"Good morning, Sir Max." Lucia greeted with a smile as she helped in the kitchen while Maxen went to the counter to pick up an apple.

Maxen leaned against the counter, watching Lucia prepare the lunch boxes where they would usually store them. His brows furrowed, curious. As far as he knew, no one used those lunch boxes the entire summer.

So, why did Lucia wash them and was carefully putting them in the drawer?

As Maxen was watching her while eating an apple and leaning against the counter, Lucia glanced over her shoulder. A chuckle slipped past her lips upon noticing the curiosity in Maxen's eyes.

"Even when they weren't being used, I still wash them and put them back carefully since the young miss won't like it," she explained while putting back the lunch box, making his brows to furrow. Storing them wasn't what took Lucia that long, but because she was arranging them as if she was displaying a painting in a gallery.

"Cosette won't like it?" Maxen repeated, watching Lucia look back at him and nod.

"The young miss had always liked things to be organized. Even back then, she hates it when something in her room was moved in the slightest."

"But Cosette isn't like that."

Lucia paused and looked back at him, bearing a polite smile. "The young miss's condition — I mean, her habit started with a small space. Back then, she had this small box containing her toys and we should arrange them in a particular order. But as she grew older, she shifted this overly organized habit to her room. That is why I am the only one who cleans it."

"Really?" Maxen furrowed his brows, as this was news to him. 'Does she have OCD?'

"So far, the young miss seemed alright." Lucia's smile stretched broader while looking at Maxen. For her, Cosette's obsessiveness over the position of things has slightly put a pause because of Maxen and the young miss's current lifestyle. The old nanny had always been worried that Cosette's condition would spread and would soon take over the entire residence, just like how she started from a small box to her bedroom.

"Anyway, I will go check on her. She's probably awake by now." Lucia bowed at Maxen and then checked the drawer where she kept the lunch boxes, just like how Cosette would stack them up. When she left, Maxen stayed leaning against the counter, but his chewing slowed down.

"Now that I think about it..." he whispered, looking at the way where Lucia left. "She gets very annoyed when I move her thing. Lucia slipped up and I'm certain she said condition. Should I look into it?"