Chapter 160: Chapter 160: The One Listening

Chapter 160: The One Listening

The scene was too horrifying for anyone to stay calm.

The instant that figure stepped out of the darkness, Elias froze.

Then his mouth opened as wide as it could go, and a scream tore through the room.

"Ah!"

His body curled in on itself like something dropped into boiling oil. In one breath, he had folded into a trembling ball, shaking so hard it looked almost like a seizure. He shoved himself into Serena’s arms by pure instinct, trying to burrow against her as if she were the only solid thing left in the world.

Serena could feel the strength in him.

That was not something a person faked cleanly. It was the kind of force that came out only under extreme fear, wild and uncontrolled. His elbows and knees struck her by accident as he scrambled into her, and for a second, even she felt pain.

Serena only smiled faintly.

She lifted one arm and folded Elias against her, letting him shake violently against her chest. His body kept jerking, his limbs hitting her in blind panic, but she only stroked his back and patted him in a slow, soothing rhythm.

"It’s fine," she murmured. "Don’t be scared."

Then, as if she had expected this all along, Serena raised her eyes toward the figure that had stepped out of the dark. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Her smile was light.

"Seen enough?"

The figure spoke calmly. "I couldn’t see. I heard enough."

At those words, the trembling in Serena’s arms stopped.

Elias’s neck turned stiffly, little by little, toward the person standing there.

The familiar eyes. The flirtatious curve at their corners. That face that always seemed amused even when the mouth did not smile.

Who else could it be but Liora Voss?

The moment Elias saw her clearly, he went completely blank.

It was as if the information had overwhelmed him so violently that his mind had shut down.

Seeing that reaction, Serena finally believed him completely.

She did not believe a person could control their body that precisely. Every response from Elias had been instinctive.

Which meant Elias and Liora had not shared information.

He absolutely had not known what Serena intended to do.

The way he looked at Liora held no grief of betrayal, no hurt at being deceived, no hidden anger between accomplices. He was simply frightened, confused, and unable to understand the situation in front of him.

Once Elias was fully cleared, Serena felt something almost like joy rise inside her.

Then she looked at Liora again.

Her gaze settled deeply on Liora’s face, as if she meant to peel away every hidden layer.

What she found was a trace of excitement buried very, very deep.

Serena was not unfamiliar with that kind of look.

She had wanted to find something else on Liora’s face.

Guilt. Panic. Jealousy. Calculation. Anything.

But there was nothing.

Not even a trace.

Either Liora hid herself far too well, or she had a taste for being made to listen to another woman claim what she wanted.

Or, and this was the best possibility, there really was no affair between Liora and Elias.

Serena did not want to lose this sister of hers.

If that was the truth, then nothing could be better.

A real smile appeared on Serena’s face.

"Of course I couldn’t let you see clearly," she said. "I don’t have that kind of kink."

At that moment, the trembling in Elias’s body finally began to weaken.

He seemed to have pieced together the situation. Slowly, he lifted his head and looked at Serena.

Serena lowered her gaze to meet his.

All she saw was his bloodless face.

Liora’s sudden appearance must have scared him terribly.

"Don’t be afraid," Serena said, her voice even gentler now.

This boy belonged completely to her.

She no longer needed to be stingy with her tenderness.

"She isn’t a stranger."

Elias’s lips parted.

At last, he spoke. His voice shook, and it was already rough from everything that had happened before.

"Why is she here...?"

Serena’s smile did not change.

"I asked her to come. This house is safe. No thief or stranger could get in."

She answered him.

She explained.

But it was not the answer Elias wanted.

Whether Serena had not understood his question, or whether she understood and simply did not care, no one could tell.

Maybe only Serena herself knew.

Elias asked again, "Why...?"

His throat had already been damaged from the earlier night. Then he had screamed loudly enough to wake half the house. His voice was now so hoarse it sounded fragile, almost desolate.

Of course Serena had already prepared an explanation.

She said without the slightest change in expression, "Liora came to ask me for help. She said she isn’t interested in women anymore and that her orientation might have shifted back toward men. You may not know this, but before now, Liora only dated women. So..."

Elias interrupted her.

"So to test what she actually likes now, you let her come here and listen to us do that?"

"Mm." Serena nodded slightly, smiling as naturally as ever. "From the look of things, she may really have become interested in men again. Perhaps we should thank you for that, Eli."

Just like that, Serena pushed all responsibility onto Liora and found a reason that sounded grand, ridiculous, and barely respectable.

She did not care what Elias suspected.

Liora’s silence was the best evidence.

It meant she had accepted what Serena said.

The test was finally over.

Serena was in an excellent mood now. All she wanted was to hold Elias for a while, let the warmth settle, and sleep properly.

She waved at Liora.

"Go on. And remember, hurry up and bring home a boyfriend. Our parents would be happy to see it."

"We’ll see," Liora said. "And I’m still not sure whether I’m interested in men, or interested in..."

Serena’s eyes cooled.

"Do you dare?"

Her tone was smiling.

Just as Liora’s sentence had sounded like a joke, Serena’s two words were half a joke and half a threat.

Liora was about to leave the bedroom when Elias spoke again.

He moved slightly out of Serena’s arms.

His eyes looked a little empty.

"What do you two think I am?" he asked quietly. "A tool for testing orientation? Or a shameless whore with no dignity?"

That reaction was also within Serena’s expectations.

She only lowered her voice and let her breath fall warm against his face, then laughed softly.

"She didn’t see anything. At most, she heard your voice. But when you cry out like that, who wouldn’t hear it? I’m sure the staff downstairs woke up too."

The light slowly returned to Elias’s eyes.

He looked at Serena.

Then he smiled.

It was an I knew it smile.

So broken, and so unbearably sad.

"Serena Blackwood," Elias said, "I didn’t expect that you don’t even have a cuckold kink."

Serena frowned faintly and shook her head.

"I don’t."

"Really?"

Elias laughed again, his voice trembling.

"I almost wish you did. At least then I wouldn’t have to know that you’re this much of an..."

He stopped for a breath.

Then he said it.

"Animal."