Flash Marriage: In His Eyes-Chapter 243: The Suitor

–Lore–

My face felt itchy. When I scratched it, that’s when I realized—glitter. On my face.

I rushed to the bathroom and washed it off, but it wouldn’t come off easily. So I stormed to Alyssa’s room, knocked hard, and barged in.

She screamed. She was pulling her shirt on or rather changing her clothes.

I didn’t care.

"Damn it, Lore!"

"You did this to my face!" I shouted at her, a little irritated.

"Technically, it wasn’t only me." She finished fixing her shirt as I frowned at the fitness watch on her wrist.

"Did you put glitter on my fitness watch?"

"You gave it to me. I don’t wear anything tacky." She rolled her eyes.

I sighed and sat in front of her vanity mirror.

"Remove this." I pointed at my face. "You’re ruining my glass-skin face."

She snorted and walked over. She grabbed flat cotton pads, poured some liquid on them, and started wiping my face. Then she took wet wipes and scrubbed harder.

"Ow!"

"Zayvier wrote on your face with a permanent marker he found somewhere."

"What—"

She held my forehead and rubbed vigorously.

"You are irritating my handsome face!"

"Miss Alyssa," a maid called.

We stopped and turned toward the open door.

"Your friend is here," the maid said.

"Gina?" I asked.

"Uhm, it’s Paul Johnson. Ma’am Amiliee took your grandparents to the hospital for a checkup, so—"

"What?" Alyssa frowned and stepped toward the maid. I heard murmuring—something about him being rude.

I stood, grabbed the wipes, and followed Alyssa downstairs. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Broken glass littered the floor. Paul was hissing at the maid, who kept apologizing.

"Paul," Alyssa called.

Before he turned, I watched him fix his expression—innocent, gentle. When he saw me, he visibly cringed.

I approached the maid who was picking up the shards, pulled a handkerchief from my pocket, and asked for a broom.

"Well, I was just visiting after orientation," Paul said smoothly. "How are you?"

"I’m good," Alyssa replied casually.

"So, what happened?" I asked Paul as I gathered the broken glass.

"What?" He looked confused. "Oh, the maid was a little clumsy."

"Maids aren’t clumsy here, Paul." I stood and crossed my arms.

"Yes," Alyssa added, crossing her arms as well. "Our staff are not clumsy."

"Chill," Paul sighed, placing the bouquet and chocolates on the side table. Then he looked at me. "So, you’re living here."

"Yes, he’s living here," Alyssa answered casually.

I continued picking up the glass. The maid returned with a small broom and dustpan and finished cleaning.

"I don’t know why you’re here," Alyssa said, inhaling deeply, "but I told you—I don’t like you. And I know you and Tracey are betting on me with your friends."

Paul stiffened, clearly caught off guard.

"Leave my property," she said firmly. "Take your flowers and chocolates with you."

"Wait!" I stood up. "I’ll take the chocolates." I grabbed the box and patted Paul’s shoulder. "Come on, man. Let’s not ruin Alyssa’s mood. She might break everything and hurt us."

Paul hesitated—then nodded as I guided him out.

Outside the massive double doors, I showed him my face.

"Look at this," I said. Purple makeup stains still lingered. "She did this. So if you’re thinking about marrying into her family, it’s not the best—" I shook my head. "She hired me just so she could beat me."

Paul winced.

"She’s not like that."

"You don’t know her behind closed doors." I made sure my acting was flawless.

"Lore!" Alyssa shouted from inside. "Get back here!" She sounded like a high temper old lady.

Paul hurried to his car and drove off.

I went back in, grinning. I raised my hand for a high-five. She laughed and smacked it.

"Damn, we could squeeze more out of him," I said, flopping onto the sofa and grabbing the expensive chocolates. "By the way," I waved a hand in front of my face, circling it, "you need to remove these—from my handsome face."

"Yes, yes," she rolled her eyes and went upstairs.

I started eating the imported chocolates and hummed. I waved at the maids and shared them. Honestly, they didn’t even taste that good, so I just gave them away.

Alyssa came back with a storage basket and approached me.

I lay back on the sofa and snapped my fingers.

"Make sure that when I wake up, my face is glowing."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied nonchalantly.

Whatever. I was sleeping.

"Your lashes are long," she said, trying to pull one.

I swatted her hand away.

"Anyway, sleep. I’ll take care of your skin."

"I trust you this time," I pointed at her, she only grinned like a Cheshire cat.

–Alyssa–

First, clean the whole face.

I had never seen a man with this kind of face before. He doesn’t have acne scars at all. I think he’s just very disciplined—eating well, exercising, whatever his routine is. I’m pretty sure it’s all natural. I had never seen such a flawless face.

But he’s a guy.

A straight man, right?

Anyway, I continued cleaning his face, not as harsh as before. Once I was done, I applied the serum—Vitamin C and E. I had to put a fan over his face. He was sleeping. I tried hard to lift his hand, but it just dropped back down.

Yeah. He’s asleep.

Once that was done, I finally placed the serum mask on and started using the roller.

"Hey, baby."

I turned around and smiled.

"Hey, Daddy."

Dad approached me and kissed my forehead. Lore snored a little too loudly, then returned to steady breathing.

"So, what are we up to?" Dad asked.

I told him what happened, and he nodded, his voice low and thoughtful.

"Since your mom isn’t here yet, can you do that to my face too?"

"Of course, Daddy. Take a warm shower first."

"Got it." He nodded.

I hummed along to a song from my earpods that I had just put in. I cleared the mask seat and stood up, preparing for my next customer. Dad came back and lay down on the other long sofa. I cleaned his face and did the same routine—massaging it in and applying more product.

"Dad, your face is a little rough, you know."

"Yeah, I always forget to put moisturizer on. Your mother never lets me hear the end of it."

"Well, she’s right."

I applied the whitehead strip and rubbed it in gently. Lore snored again and muttered something in his sleep.

"That kid sleeps really well," Dad said.

"Yeah, I bet he’s a vampire," I muttered.

I finally removed the strip and showed it to Dad. He took it and inspected it closely.

"Wow. That’s a lot of white stuff."

"Yes. And black stuff," I told him, continuing with the cleansing and the rest of the routine.

"By the way," Dad said, "you and that kid in the apartment..."

"What about it?" I asked casually.

"Nothing. You won’t fall in love with him, right?"

"Nope," I said, just as casually.

"I’ll visit you. Also, send me your schedule."

"Okay." I tapped on my phone and sent it to him, then continued rolling the jade facial roller over the serum mask.

"Don’t date~~" he warned.

"By the way," I added, "Paul Johnson was here a while ago."

"Did you drive him off?"

"Lore did."

"Good." He crossed his arms. "They’ve been very consistent in initiating marriage partnerships or whatever."

"You’re not going to sell me off, right?"

"Of course not! You’re my only baby girl."

"Good. Because I will definitely run away."

He extended his hand. I held it, and he kissed it.

"I won’t sell off my precious daughter."

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Oh, that’s sweet," Lore said suddenly.

"You’re awake!" Dad exclaimed.

"Yup. I had a refreshing sleep. Thank you for the facial massage." Lore removed the mask and gently placed it on the table. He stretched his arms and back. "Uncle, I’ve gathered data on the Johnsons. I think you might need it."

Dad turned his head toward him.

"You did what?"

"According to my contract, I provide necessary information to protect the family from threats and harm." He yawned, picked up his heavy Jurassic phone, and tapped on it. "So, I’ll provide it."

Dad’s tablet chimed with a notification. He sat up, still keeping the mask stuck to his face. He even tilted his chin upward so it wouldn’t slip off. Then he picked up the tablet and lay back down to read.

I peeked at Dad’s screen.

I gaped at what I saw.

So they have a partnership with Dela Vegas. That’s why Paul has been partying with Tracey.

"They’re careless," Lore said as he lay back down.

"How did you do this, Lore?" Dad asked.

"Yeah," I added, staring at him. "How did you do this?"

"Remember, I worked for Livana’s Empire. Even though she’s dead, we’re still operating," he said casually.

I still don’t understand how he says her name so easily. Sometimes he speaks in the present tense... like Livana is still here.

What is his secret?

A high-paying job? Sure.

Training me and stalking me like a bodyguard? Also yes.

And knowing all this information with that Jurassic phone?

"No questions asked, Uncle."

"Alright. But thank you. This is really helpful."

"I suggest you don’t cut ties with them yet."

I saw Dad’s lips curl upward.

"I know what to do, son. By the way," he added cheerfully, "you can marry my daughter."

"Dad!" I frowned.

"No, thanks, Dad. I’m still young," Lore declined quickly, frowning at me. Dad laughed.

"Hey!" David chimed in.

I stood up and rushed to him, hugging him as he showered my head with kisses.

"I miss you!"

"Hurry up, wash up, and I’ll give you a facial spa too."

"Okay." David approached Dad and kissed his head, then did the same to Lore casually.

I squinted at Lore. He looked puzzled as he checked his Jurassic phone again.

Now I have ideas on how to ruin him.

I smirked.

Later tonight, when he’s asleep, I know exactly what to do.