Little Liar

Leaving Malachi for dead, Igor takes Olivia to his manor, where she is imprisoned in a room in the basement. Adryx and Sebastien, who were seen helping the Vizes, have gone into hiding. Igor still believes that Xander is on his side. He urges Xander to marry and impregnate Olivia quickly, but Xander is not interested in Olivia. 

Though Igor forces Xander to spend nights in her basement room, he has not touched Olivia. Jennifer, who visits the manor, suggests that Igor send a witness with Xander to ensure that he has sex with Olivia. Olivia hates Jennifer and refuses to believe that Malachi is dead from his injuries.

Xander tells Olivia that Igor insists they attend a charity ball over the weekend. When Olivia refuses, Xander threatens her. He also tells Olivia that it is time she married him and gave him an heir. Olivia finds his threats puzzling, as he has never attempted to touch her. She wonders if the room is bugged. A guard comes in to tell him that Abigail has been seen. Xander tells the guard that no one is to touch Abigail and rushes out, leaving Olivia confused about the nature of his relationship with her best friend.

Olivia is forced to attend the charity ball with Xander and Igor. Igor asks Xander if he has had sex with Olivia yet. Xander tells his father that he has been forcing Olivia to give him oral sex and will soon impregnate her. Olivia knows that Xander is lying to appease his father. She feels some sympathy for Xander because she knows how it feels to have a controlling parent. To her disgust, Igor tells Xander that if he cannot impregnate Olivia, Igor will step in. Assuring his father that this won’t be necessary, Xander pulls Olivia away. He whispers to Olivia to trust him and to loudly ask to use the restroom. When Olivia does so, Igor asks Xander to accompany her.

Xander leads Olivia outside to a narrow alley and then goes back in. She is stunned to see Abigail, Adryx, and Sebastien waiting to rescue her in Adryx’s car, which will be arriving any moment. Olivia hugs Abigail in relief. Abigail tells her that Malachi is alive but in a coma. Jamieson, who was shot in the leg, hasn’t left Malachi’s side. Molly is fine. 

Xander returns to tell the group that the rescue mission is canceled. Adryx’s driver was shot five minutes ago. Igor knows that there is a mole on the inside and is looking for Olivia. Adryx and the others leave. Later, still unaware of Xander’s role in the botched rescue, Igor tells him to install a tracker in Olivia’s arm. Connected to a vital nerve, the tracker will detonate the moment Olivia leaves the manor, instantly killing her. When Xander hesitates, Igor inserts the steel tracker himself.

Malachi floats in and out of consciousness, unable to sign or speak after three weeks of being in a coma. He often dreams that he is rescuing Olivia from Parker’s house or that he and Olivia have been caught together by their parents. 

When he briefly awakens, he can hear Jamieson’s and Molly’s voices. The hospital attendants ask Jamieson to leave, but the older man says that he will not leave his son’s side. Malachi can’t believe that the man he nearly killed eight years ago is being so kind to him. He wants to get up and talk to Jamieson, but he cannot move. He desperately looks for Olivia but, unable to find her, sinks back into unconsciousness.

When Malachi opens his eyes again, he is in a safe house with Molly, Adryx, and Jamieson. Adryx is helping Molly with her math homework. Malachi tries to throw himself at Adryx, demanding to know Olivia’s whereabouts. Adryx signs that Olivia is alive but has a fatal tracker in her arm. He and Sebastien are recruiting help to remove the tracker safely and rescue Olivia. Meanwhile, Malachi needs to heal and be patient.

The help turns out to be an older man called Tobias Mitchell and his assistant, Barry (Tobias, the father of the twins Kade and Luciella Mitchell, is a character from Rivers’s Edge of Darkness trilogy). As it happens, Tobias also knows Jamieson, who defended him during a criminal trial. 

Adryx shares his plan to rescue Olivia. Igor is planning a masked ball at his manor the next week. During the ball, Barry will disable the power system, thus disabling Olivia’s tracker. Meanwhile, Malachi and the others will enter the mansion disguised as masked guests and take Olivia away. Olivia will be recognizable by her gas mask. Jamieson wonders what Adryx is getting out of helping his family. Adryx replies that his prize will be the chance to kill Igor.

Malachi’s wounds have healed, though he has a huge scar on his chest. The bullet punctured his lung, missing his heart by a few inches. As Malachi dresses in a suit for the ball, he hopes that Olivia won’t find the scar ugly. Everyone converges in a meeting room, where Barry gives Sebastien and Malachi a drone and some grenade-like devices that will disable the manor’s electromagnetic radiation for an hour. This will give them enough time to get Olivia to Barry so that he can remove her tracker.

Sebastien wears a Batman mask, while Malachi has a gas mask, at the ball. Tobias is present as well. All three wear mikes and earpieces that link them to Barry and the others at the safe house. Malachi scans the crowd for Olivia, finally spotting her in a sleek, black, satin dress and a gas mask. He wants to go to her instantly, but Sebastien reminds him that any sudden move can botch their mission. Olivia recognizes Malachi, too, and comes close to him to ask him to save her. On Barry’s direction, Malachi drops the grenade and grabs Olivia. The lights go off, and, in the confusion, Malachi gets Olivia into the backseat of Sebastien’s car. 

As Sebastien drives off, Malachi and Olivia take off their masks and kiss furiously. Olivia asks Malachi to have sex with her. A surprised Sebastien jokes about Olivia and Malachi’s priorities during such a tense time. Malachi ejaculates inside Olivia, even though she has been off birth control for the last three weeks. Malachi no longer worries about an unintended pregnancy; he will have kids with Olivia if she so desires.

Sebastien gets Olivia to Barry with 20 minutes to spare, and Barry cuts off the tracker successfully. Molly, Abigail, and Jamieson hug a relieved Olivia. Meanwhile, Xander and Adryx show up, with Igor stuffed in the trunk of their car. With their mission accomplished, it is time for the group to disperse. Olivia and Malachi get in one car, while Molly, Jamieson, and Abigail leave in another. Malachi and Olivia are eager to get to their home, wherever that may be.

Olivia and Malachi make love, with Malachi placing Cordelia on Olivia’s body. Olivia admits that, terrified as she is of spiders, fear is also a turn-on for her. The presence of the spider both repels and fascinates her. 

As always during sex, Malachi refers to Olivia as both his sister and his lover. However, the intimacy between them has changed in the last two years; Malachi is no longer frantic about losing Olivia. Olivia and Malachi consider themselves married, though legally, they cannot wed since Jamieson refused to reverse their adoptions. However, in their new town, people only see them as a married couple.

Though they have enough money to get by, Malachi works at an animal sanctuary to stay productive. They have a two-year-old son, Isaac, who is the center of their existence. Being a father has changed Malachi, who wants to be the best version of himself for Isaac. It has also helped him repair his bond with Jamieson. Jamieson meets Malachi and Isaac at the playground twice a week, and Molly babysits Isaac regularly. Jennifer has not been in touch with Olivia at all. Though Olivia had hoped that the news of becoming a grandmother would thaw Jennifer, she never came around to see Isaac.

Malachi, Olivia, and 14-year-old Isaac are in Scotland at Sebastien’s invitation for a fundraiser. Isaac scowls at being forced to dress in a suit. Malachi looks at him fondly; Isaac is both like and unlike him. Like Malachi, Isaac likes solitude and spiders, but unlike him, Isaac is calm and non-violent. Olivia and Malachi did not have more children after Isaac, as he is all they can handle. 

As Malachi looks at Olivia happily chatting with people, he wonders how everyone would react if they knew that Jennifer was buried deep in a grave in a forest somewhere. The event is filled with the children of Kade Mitchell, Sebastien, and the others. Even Abigail is present with a Reznikov brother. Olivia and Abigail hug while Isaac goes off to talk to a girl his age, Kade and Stacey’s daughter. Kade comes up to Malachi and asks him to keep Isaac away from his daughter. Malachi smiles because he can sense that there is no keeping the two young people apart.