Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 4

“I was drugged. Originally, I wanted to get you to find a call girl for me, but you didn’t pick up my calls… When you came up, I couldn’t hold myself back anymore,” Kevan said as if his actions were justified, and there was no hint of regret on his face.

Larissa was not quite able to react at the moment, so she failed to respond to him.

Kevan swiftly turned away, avoiding eye contact with some guilt. He pulled open the bedside table drawer and retrieved a billfold. Then he drew out a card.

“This is my supplementary card. There’s no limit to it. Just swipe it whenever you want.” He handed the card to her. “Consider it compensation for last night.”

While he was saying all that, he stared at the bed, not really daring to look at her. His heart was pounding faster than it usually did, and he held his breath, listening attentively to Larissa’s movements.

Larissa had long since figured out that he was acting weird. Getting involved with him was her own choice. However, what he said earlier caused her fury to flare up.

What did he take her for?

“You’re quite generous, Mr. Rogers.” A mocking smile appeared on her face. “But we’re all adults here. This is nothing. Besides, not anyone can just sleep with someone like you. If you really want to do the math, I didn’t lose anything, in fact, I’ve gained something. So—” She pushed the card back at him. “You can keep this card, Mr. Rogers. I don’t need it.”

Keeping her eyes locked on Kevan’s dull gaze, Larissa sat up with the sheets wrapped around her. Her anger had turned into courage. She rested her chin on her hands and said tartly, “If you really want to compensate me, how about accompanying me a few more times?”

She thought that Kevan would get angry. He could even fire her in rage, but he did something completely unexpected.

After getting over his shock, Kevan raised an eyebrow and smiled somewhat playfully.

“Sure,” he said, “As long as you want it, I’ll oblige.”

…

Larissa practically ran away.

She overestimated her courage and underestimated Kevan’s.

As she left Room 8888, she almost crashed into someone.

“Sorry!” she said frantically, and the other person let out a “Huh?” of excitement and curiosity. There was no disapproval whatsoever. Only then did Larissa realize that it was the man who checked in with Kevan the day before yesterday.

He was elegant, although his brow was softer than Kevan’s, which gave off an air of approachability. He wore a pair of gilt-edged glasses, looking very much like a gentleman as well as having the aura of a white-collar elite.

“Last time Kevan was hurrying me, so I wasn’t able to say hello. So, hi!” The man offered his hand to her. “My name is Dylan Shields. I’m a lawyer who specializes in handling divorce cases.”

The word “divorce” was emphasized, and an idea struck Larissa. If it were not for the fact that she was wearing Kevan’s big shirt, as well as having that red mark on her neck, she would definitely sit down and have a good talk with Dylan.

“Hello, Mr. Shields.” She shook his hand and let go after two seconds. “I’m afraid that I have work, so I’ll take my leave.”

“Wait—” Dylan stopped her and pulled out a tin of ointment from his pocket. “This is for you.”

“Burn cream?” Larissa was confused. “Why do I need this?”

Dylan gestured to her right ankle. “Weren’t you hurt? You’ll heal faster with that ointment.”

The spot where she had been scalded by hot stew two nights ago had long since stopped hurting, but a dark red mark was left behind. Larissa did not expect Dylan to notice this—they had only met briefly in the hotel lobby after all, and she did not think that he would specifically buy medication for her.

“Thank you, Mr. Shields.” She was flattered.

However, Dylan said, “If you want to thank someone, thank Mr. Rogers. He bought this ointment yesterday when he went out, but it was left behind in my car. I have something I need him for, so I was just going to give it to him in passing.”

Larissa froze. Kevan got her medication? Why?

With the ointment in hand, Larissa went back to her private staff room in a daze. She showered and changed into a fresh skirt suit before putting her hair up into a bun. Then she applied a thick layer of concealer on her neck until the mark from last night could not be seen. This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

It was as if by doing that, she could erase everything that had happened last night.

She threw Kevan’s shirt and the burn cream onto the bed, staring at them as she carefully thought of how to deal with these two items.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Having learned her lesson last night, Larissa did not dare hesitate and answered the call at once. Livie’s panicked voice came through the speaker as she said, “Ms. Seymour, please come over at once!”

“What’s wrong?” Larissa tensed up immediately.

“There are two people claiming to be your in-laws saying that they want to see you. Ms. Moss tried to get them to wait so you could confirm their identities, but they refused. They insisted on forcing their way through and are now fighting with security…”

Larissa could faintly hear the sounds of an argument on the other end. This behavior… They were definitely her weird in-laws. She quickly made her way downstairs.

The lobby was in chaos. A bunch of people were entangled in a fight—or, more accurately, a bunch of security guards were being pummeled by an elderly couple.

They were hurling abuse too. “Cheap fuckers! Watchdogs! Do you even know your place? How dare you block us!”

The lobby manager, Rachel Moss, was trying to break up the fight with two subordinates. “Sir, ma’am, please stop fighting! We have already called Ms. Seymour. She will be here soon!”

Larissa hastened her pace. “Dad, Mom,” she called. Only then did Travis’ parents stop.

Janine Hardy glared at the guard she just punched and shouted, “What are you looking at? Hurry up and scram! Be the watchdog you were meant to be!”

The guard was a young, hot-blooded guy. His temper flared the moment he heard that. “You had better watch your mouth, you old hag!”

“What, I’m not allowed to yell at you?” Janine took one step forward and snarled viciously. “You fucking watchdog! This is me yelling at you, asshole! Take that!”

The guard raised his hand.

“Oh, you wanna hit me now?” Janine shoved her face toward him. “Go on! Hit me if you dare! I fucking dare you to, shitface!”

The young guard’s face was blotchy, and his lips were trembling from the force of his rage. His colleague quickly held him back, whispering, “Forget it. If you hit her, it’ll just make things worse.”

Larissa got between the guards and her in-laws and asked Janine, “Mom, what brings you and Dad here?”

Janine said nothing and delivered a resounding slap across her face. “You have the audacity to ask?” she shrieked, eyes blazing with fury.

The blow was dealt rather harshly, and Larissa’s head snapped to one side. Her frail body stumbled from the force of it, and she felt dizzier than ever. Apart from the buzzing in her ears, Larissa could hear nothing else.

The previously cacophonous hotel lobby was now eerily quiet. The crowd stared at both of them, including the security force that was about to leave.

Larissa barely managed to recover as she spoke as calmly as she could. “Let’s talk in my office, Mom.” She reached out for Janine but was fiercely smacked away.

“What, you’re scared that your nastiness will be known by others?” Janine smiled cruelly at Larissa as the venom in her gaze stabbed at the latter repeatedly.

“I will not go to your office. I want to say it here! I’ll let your colleagues know exactly what kind of person you are!”

Larissa was already boiling with rage. She only treated them politely due to their age as well as to not cause a commotion.

But now Janine had pissed her off entirely. Throwing caution to the wind, she said, “Sure, go ahead then. Say it out loud for everyone to hear.”