Chapter 282: Goodbye Means Goodbye

After showing Liora Voss a proper dose of aggression, Elias left the coffee shop in an excellent mood.

As for whether Liora felt excellent, that was not something he knew.

It was also none of his business.

On the walk back to Blackwood Group, Elias sighed lightly and muttered, "Honestly. She could’ve just slept with me like a normal person, handed over that last bit of favorability, and been done with it. I’d have fun. She’d have fun. Even if we went our separate ways afterward, at least she’d get temporary happiness out of it."

He clicked his tongue.

"I really don’t know why she had to see through me so well. If she saw me clearly, she should’ve understood that what I want is for them to get through me, not see through me."

After saying that, Elias suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, sweetheart. Why have you been so quiet lately?"

[System Theta: Ah... I don’t know what to say.]

What was it supposed to say?

Every time the host opened his mouth, the words came out so outrageous that System Theta could only freeze and pretend its code had never heard them.

Elias laughed under his breath. "That won’t do. When you’re with me, sure, you don’t need to say much. Just watch and learn. But what happens after I retire, when you’re assigned to guide other new employees? If you don’t teach them, they’ll die in their first world just to prove a point."

[System Theta: That’s still far away...]

It was still a beginner system itself. It had not prepared for the noble burden of teaching rookies.

"Not far."

Elias stopped in front of Serena Blackwood’s tower and lifted his head.

Far above him, the floor where Serena’s office sat reflected the afternoon light like a blade of glass. He narrowed his eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted with a faint, almost absent smile.

"Soon."

Serena’s reputation as a workaholic had never been for show.

The backlog that had piled up while she was away was large enough to terrify ordinary executives, but she cleared it in only a few days. Her daily workload was still heavy afterward, but to Serena, that was normal. She had lived like this for years.

In a sense, the Maldives trip had unfolded almost entirely within Serena’s control.

She had followed Giselle, intercepted Elias, brought him home, cut off his family ties, and stabilized the company on return.

The only thing outside her control was...

"Big sister..."

Elias’s hoarse, ruined voice sounded beside Serena’s ear.

Serena turned at the sound, her expression complicated.

Elias lay bare beneath the covers in her arms, his head resting against her shoulder, his face full of lazy satisfaction. He looked soft, spent, and terribly pleased with himself.

When he noticed Serena looking at him, he turned his head too. Their eyes met. His full lips curved, and he leaned in without hesitation, giving Serena a kiss as naturally and generously as breathing.

"Big sister," he sighed, "you’re so good to me. Eli loves you more and more."

In the past, Serena had exhausted herself trying to pull those words from Elias’s mouth.

Schemes, pressure, tenderness, money, force, patience. She had tried nearly everything. Yet now, without her doing anything, he gave them to her so easily.

His confession.

His dependence.

And more than that...

Before this, Serena had never imagined Elias could be this seductive.

She had only ever had Elias. Only him. Yet now there was a strange feeling, as if Elias gathered every stage of a man into one body. A child’s pure trust. A young man’s clean brightness. An adult’s frightening ease with desire.

No matter how she looked at him now, he seemed perfect.

Even now, Serena was still a little dazed.

His earlier voice still lingered near her ear, unhidden and shameless. Mistress. Wife. Even Mommy had come out of his mouth in that wrecked voice of his.

Just thinking about it made heat rise faintly in Serena’s cheeks.

Her face showed none of it.

"Big sister..." Elias’s voice was badly worn. Anyone could hear why. He did not seem to care at all. A faint red still clung to the corners of his eyes, and his brows carried lazy satisfaction. "Get me the lighter."

Serena did not speak.

She only turned, opened the drawer on her side of the bed, and handed him the lighter.

Elias took it.

At some point, a cigarette had appeared between two of his slim fingers. He held it with easy familiarity, placed it between his lips, and flicked the lighter.

Click.

Flame rose.

He lit the cigarette, lips moving faintly as he took a drag. A thin stream of white smoke slipped from his mouth and drifted through the air.

Watching how practiced he looked, Serena’s gaze turned complicated again.

She had seen him smoke a few days ago. Even so, the sight still rubbed against her nerves.

Compared to when Elias had learned to smoke, Serena cared more about who had taught him.

Or had he learned it himself?

That did not feel right. Serena knew Elias’s life before college better than Elias himself did now. Back then, he definitely had not developed this habit.

While Serena thought, Elias nearly finished the cigarette.

Seeing that, she frowned slightly and warned him in advance.

"That’s enough. After this one, no more."

Elias paused.

Then he nodded, took the last drag, leaned to the nightstand, and crushed the cigarette into the new ashtray.

Serena nodded faintly.

At least Elias was obedient.

Even if he had a smoking habit, she could tolerate it.

Of course, only one a day.

Serena did not smoke, but she knew enough about its harm. She did not want Elias leaving this world before her by a few years. In her imagination, Elias was supposed to grow old with her. He was supposed to spend an entire lifetime beside her.

Just as Serena began to feel satisfied, Elias, who had settled back into her arms, stared at her for a while.

Then he suddenly leaned in.

Serena did not react at first.

By the time she smelled the smoke, it was already too late.

Elias pressed close and pushed the white smoke he had held in his mouth into hers.

Serena’s expression changed immediately. She shoved away from him, turning aside to cough.

"Ha ha ha, big sister..."

Elias laughed so hard tears almost came out. His whole face carried the bright joy of a successful prank.

After Serena finally stopped coughing, she turned back, intending to teach him a lesson.

Then she saw him like that.

Her heart softened despite herself.

She forced a fierce tone. "Do that again and I’ll throw you out."

Elias was not afraid of her at all.

He stuck his tongue out at Serena and made a face, still smiling in that bright, pleased way of his. The mischief in his eyes was so clean that it almost seemed innocent.

Facing this version of Elias, Serena could only sigh.

Then she got out of bed, bent down, and lifted him sideways into her arms.

She carried him to the bathroom to clean up.

[Serena Blackwood’s favorability has increased. Current value: 100%.]

[System Theta: Host, the target has been cleared!]

Elias froze for a fraction of a second.

Steam already filled the bathroom. The tub had been drawn, water rippling faintly beneath the soft light. Sitting in the warm water, Elias hooked his right arm around Serena’s neck and kissed her again.

This kiss still carried the faint taste of smoke.

Serena thought it would end quickly.

It did not.

For reasons she could not understand, Elias kissed her for a long time. Long enough that the steam gathered around them, long enough that the heat turned his eyes misty. His gaze became wet and distant, as if he had stepped into a dream too thin to hold.

Serena’s hand held his back beneath the water.

She did not know why her chest suddenly tightened.

The favorability notice was something only Elias and System Theta could hear. Serena knew nothing of thresholds, success, or endings. She only knew that Elias was strangely quiet now, quiet in a way that did not match the boy who had just laughed until his eyes shone.

When he finally pulled away, he looked at her for one more breath.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Big sister," he whispered, voice low from everything the night had taken from him.

Serena touched the side of his face. "What is it?"

Elias did not answer.

He only leaned into her palm, eyes half closed, as if even speaking took too much effort.

After the bath, Serena carried him back to bed.

Elias curled under the blanket, only his fluffy black head showing above it. The covers swallowed the rest of him, making him look smaller than he had any right to be after all the damage he had done.

Serena tucked the blanket around him.

The room was calm now. Too calm, almost. The sheets had been changed. The ashtray had been removed. The windows reflected the night outside, and beyond the glass, the city lights glowed like a world Elias had already stopped caring about.

Serena stood beside the bed and looked down at him.

For once, Elias did not reach for her.

He only blinked slowly, then said in a quiet voice, "Big sister, goodbye."

Serena thought he meant goodbye until morning.

She smiled faintly, not taking it to heart.

"Good night."

Elias closed his eyes.

His swollen lips curved slightly.

Goodbye.

Never again.