Chapter 281: Bitter Coffee

Liora Voss shook her head lightly.

"Nothing inconvenient," she said. "It’s not that different from before."

Her voice was calm enough that anyone else might have believed her.

"After all, even though Blackwood Group is in my sister’s hands, I’m not exactly empty-handed. The private clubs alone are enough to keep my lifestyle from dropping."

Elias smiled without quite smiling.

"She didn’t go after you?"

A faint softness passed through Liora’s foxlike eyes.

"We’re still sisters," she said. "Sisters who survived the hardest years together. Even if we fought because of you, even if we completely fell out, it’s temporary. Serena won’t destroy me."

Elias nodded slightly.

That matched his guess.

That was exactly why women like them sometimes managed to attract employees from the Trash Trope Intervention Division. Some operatives had crossed countless worlds and gone through countless relationships, yet still ended up choosing to stay in one world and live with one of these women.

Because women like Serena, Liora, Giselle, and Yvonne were not only dark.

They had bright points too.

No one was perfect, except saints, and saints were usually boring as hell.

A complete person had flaws and virtues together. Flesh, blood, weakness, cruelty, loyalty, pride, restraint, obsession. That kind of person could attract operatives who were already different from ordinary people. Elias did not find that strange at all.

The clearest example was Yvonne Quinn.

In matters of love, she was a complete sadist with a doctor’s license and a disturbingly steady hand. But to her patients, she was nearly divine. She had pulled who knew how many people back from death. There were plenty of families who would kneel at her feet and thank her for saving the person they loved.

Could someone call a woman like that useless trash to society?

Of course not.

Elias understood this perfectly.

And because he understood it, he would not fall in love with them. Understanding their good points only helped him read them better. Once he knew where their light was, he knew where the shadow fell. Once he knew what they valued, feared, hid, and protected, he could find a cleaner and more efficient route to clearing them.

System Theta felt the thoughts moving through him and fell silent for a while.

It did not know what to say.

The host showed so many emotions in front of it. He laughed, cursed, complained, flirted, threatened, acted spoiled, and played vulnerable. He looked more alive than anyone else in this world.

Yet for some reason, System Theta suddenly felt that in certain places, Elias Kane was terribly cold-blooded.

Maybe only someone like that could move through so many worlds without ever stopping.

Elias naturally took the coffee back from in front of Liora and took a small sip.

His brows immediately drew together.

Bitter.

Awful.

Seeing his expression, Liora could not help laughing.

"You were the one who told them not to add sugar," she said. "Coffee is supposed to be bitter."

Elias wrinkled his face and stuck out his tongue a little.

"How was I supposed to know it would taste this bad?"

If he had known, he would not have bothered pretending to be a rich young heir. He had only wanted to scare Liora a little with the full act, and the result was this disgusting thing in his mouth.

Elias immediately pushed the coffee back toward Liora.

She smiled faintly and said nothing.

She liked the small gesture more than she should have.

It looked like the sort of thing couples did. He tried something, hated it, and then pushed the problem to her with complete confidence. Food he disliked, drinks he disliked, little messes he made on purpose, all handed to her as if she existed to take care of the parts of life he did not want.

Elias did not care what Liora was thinking.

He picked up his water and drank, rinsing away the bitterness clinging to his tongue.

"So what are you planning to do next?" he asked. "Not going back to the Blackwood residence?"

Liora’s eyes curved.

The line of them turned warm, graceful, and a little too pretty to trust.

"I don’t have anywhere to live," she said. "Will you take me in?"

Elias’s expression paused.

Then he smiled again, that same unreadable almost-smile.

"What do you think my place is?"

"A shelter."

Liora smiled as if there were nothing embarrassing about the answer. Her red lips pushed into a faint, pitiful pout, and she let a trace of grievance settle on her face.

"When you see such a poor stray dog, don’t you want to adopt her, master?"

Elias’s eyes widened slightly.

Fuck.

Who understood what it felt like when a polished older woman suddenly played cute?

People always said cuteness was nothing in front of sex appeal. That was clearly because they had never seen the two things exist in the same woman at once. Even Elias, with his rich and professionally regrettable experience, felt a little unable to handle it.

He clenched his teeth.

"Fuck," he said inwardly. "She’s actually as shameless as me. I can’t take this."

[System Theta: Ahem...]

So this was how the host saw himself?

Facing Liora’s pitiful look, Elias showed no sign of being moved.

He only smiled and slowly shook his head.

"I do like dogs," he said. "But not strays."

Liora’s expression slowly settled.

Elias continued smiling as if he had not noticed the negative shift in her mood.

"Do you know something?" he asked lightly. "No matter what method you had to use, you never should have left the Blackwood residence. That was the only place where you had a chance to see me. Now Serena kicked you out. Once you’re away from that house, do you think you’ll still get that chance?"

Liora fell silent.

Elias’s tone grew even lighter, almost like a breeze brushing over the table. But every word landed heavier than the last.

"And you want me to take you in? Who do you think you are? What right do you have to live with me? Even Serena hasn’t managed that."

He looked at her with relaxed cruelty.

"From now on, you’ll be like some paparazzo hiding in the dark every day, hoping I happen to pass the road you’re squatting on so you can sneak one look at me."

His smile brightened.

"Most likely, though, the version of me you see will be with another woman."

Liora’s fingers tightened around the coffee cup.

The motion was small. Elias saw it anyway.

He leaned back, satisfied enough to be gentle.

"But if you behave well, I don’t mind letting you listen to the sounds I make in bed when another woman is touching me."

He stood with a peaceful expression.

"All right. I still have things to do. I’m leaving first."

Elias smiled and waved at Liora, as if the person who had just said all those cold and heartless words was not him at all.

Then he turned and left without hesitation.

The café door opened. The small bell above it gave a quiet ring. Several women looked up again, their eyes following him before they remembered manners and looked away. Elias did not turn back.

[System Theta: Host, what are you doing?]

Elias gave a low laugh.

’She’s been living too comfortably lately. I can’t let that continue.’

If things went on like this, Liora’s favorability would stay stuck at ninety-nine percent forever.

At a time like this, he needed something that could hit her hard.

For example, did she not enjoy watching him move between women?

Fine.

Then he would make sure she could not even watch.

There was no helping it. She had seen through him too clearly, and her favorability still refused to max out. Since that was the case, he would stop indulging her.

He would make her regret leaving the Blackwood family. He would make her jealous of every woman who could walk beside him.

And when she finally could not endure it anymore, when she begged desperately just to see him once...

Elias truly would not mind letting Liora Voss kneel on the floor and lick his foot.

Inside the coffee shop, Liora remained frozen in place.

She did not move.

She only watched Elias leave.

Long after his figure disappeared from sight, she slowly came back to herself.

Her gaze dropped to the coffee in front of her.

Stiffly, she lifted the cup and took another sip.

The same coffee that had tasted good only moments earlier seemed to have changed while she was not looking.

Now it was bitter.

So bitter she could not describe it.