Chapter 159: Chapter 159: The Shape in the Dark

Chapter 159: The Shape in the Dark

Elias did not believe a word out of Serena’s mouth.

There was no such thing as a person who never lied.

And Serena Blackwood was a businesswoman. Lying was practically a passive skill. On top of that, one of her defining traits was being top-tier at everything she touched.

What was a trait, in Elias’s eyes?

A habit so deep it became part of the person. Something no outside condition could erase.

Even if Serena’s favorability reached one hundred percent, that did not mean she would never lie again.

That kind of trait could not be scrubbed clean.

Elias understood this perfectly.

Outwardly, however, he looked too shocked to speak.

His pupils trembled faintly. His whole body, down to every breath, seemed to be asking the same question.

Is that true?

I don’t believe it.

Serena had gone this far to deceive him. How could he not cooperate properly?

Naturally, he had to give her his full acting ability.

"Is... is that true?" Elias’s voice shook, revealing a vulnerability he had never shown her before.

Serena understood why he would react that way.

The contract itself had been a heavy shackle, and this had not been some ordinary agreement. It had been personal. The moment Elias signed his name, he became a bird in a cage.

Maybe the cage was vast enough to look endless.

But a cage was still a cage.

An invisible mountain had still been placed on his back.

Looking at him now, Serena felt a faint tremor inside.

For a second, something in her almost moved.

Then it hardened again.

The things she did were not wrong.

"Of course," Serena said, nodding slowly. Her expression was serious. "From the moment I started calling you Eli, I had already begun to understand what I felt for you. That was when I tore up the contract."

The sentence sounded full of holes.

But in truth, it also fit Serena’s personality very well.

With matters like this, she really did act according to impulse.

Elias raised a hand and covered his mouth tightly, as if trying to hold back a sob.

Even so, the sound leaked out between his lips and fingers. Tears slid down from the corners of his eyes, catching faint light under the moon. He cried beautifully, helplessly, in a way that could make cruelty look like a crime and tenderness look inevitable.

Serena’s expression softened again.

She reached out, wanting to wipe away his tears, but they kept falling. After a moment, she gave up on that and pulled away the hand covering his mouth.

Then she kissed him again.

She chose to block the sound of his crying directly.

This time, Elias did not struggle.

He did not simply obey, either.

He responded with a heat so sudden and intense it felt almost reckless, as if emotions pressed down for far too long had finally broken their seal. All the grievance, hurt, and sadness he had carried since the beginning seemed to pour out through this one kiss.

Even Serena was caught off guard.

But she adapted quickly.

Little by little, she brought him into her rhythm.

They were like two people back at the dinner table, trading glasses again and again, drinking seriously, tasting every drop as if they meant to empty the whole night between them.

Only when breathing became impossible did they separate.

Serena’s eyes looked as if they had caught fire.

Anyone who could witness Elias like this and still hold back desire could hardly be called a woman in this world.

Elias’s gaze was misted and unfocused. The way he looked at her was an invitation all by itself.

Serena stepped forward again.

Once more, they fell into that same slow exchange, as if they had sworn not to leave sober.

Then Elias’s shirt was lifted, and a hand had already slipped beneath the fabric.

The cold night air brushed his skin.

That chill cleared his mind a little.

He immediately caught Serena’s wrist.

"N-No..." His voice was barely louder than a breath.

Serena lowered her mouth near his ear and exhaled softly against the skin there. Her voice had turned unfairly low.

"Eli..."

Elias shook his head again.

His body trembled faintly as he pleaded, "Can we go back first?"

Serena looked at him for a long moment.

"All right."

In the car, the driver stared straight ahead and did not dare turn around.

She was terrified of seeing the battle of kisses happening behind her.

In fact, she wished she were deaf right now.

At least then, she would not have to hear those fatal little sounds.

The boy had exposed his feelings, so he no longer seemed to suppress his voice at all.

At last, the car reached the Blackwood residence.

The driver was finally freed.

Serena carried Elias straight out of the car and moved upstairs as fast as she could, taking him to her room on the second floor.

Elias landed on the bed, bouncing slightly against the mattress.

He did not feel any pain.

At this point, pain did not matter. Sensation did not matter. The only thing left between them was each other.

Before long, the usually still Blackwood residence gained a thread of life.

Serena looked down at Elias, and for some reason, she suddenly wanted to cover his mouth.

Because his voice and Lucien’s were too different.

Far too different.

So the familiar pillow appeared over Elias’s face again.

The young man did not resist this time. He did not fight her at all. He was obedient to an almost dangerous degree.

It was completely unlike the stubbornness and resistance from before.

But facts soon proved that the pillow did nothing to block the sound.

At most, it blurred it, made it lower and muffled.

That only made it worse.

The already tempting sounds became hazier, more breathless, more enough to steal a person’s reason.

Finally, at some point, Elias lifted a hand and lightly patted Serena, signaling for her to move the pillow away.

Even his request, made when he seemed unable to bear any more, was obedient.

Serena hesitated for a moment.

Then she took the pillow away.

Elias lifted both arms toward her.

His damp black hair had fallen into a mess. His eyes were narrowed faintly, his lips parted, soft and flushed. His whole posture was a request.

So he had not been unable to breathe.

He wanted to kiss her.

Serena’s whole body went still.

A warmth surged from her chest and spread through her in an instant.

Fatal.

Who could refuse that?

The voice that sounded nothing like Lucien’s was finally blocked.

At the same time, something in Serena’s chest felt blocked too.

There, faint and unclear, a shape seemed to appear, as if it meant to push deeper into the place people called the heart.

No one knew how much time passed.

Eventually, everything faded.

The room returned to silence.

Elias lay in the curve of Serena’s arm, his face full of happiness. A faint smile rested at the corner of his mouth.

It should be time now, right?

At that moment, a figure slowly stepped out of the darkness.

Right in front of Serena and Elias.