The Seductive Pretty Chapter 103: A Real Misunderstanding?

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: A Real Misunderstanding?

Chapter 103: A Real Misunderstanding?

Lila Morgan was deeply grateful she had driven over.

If she had not brought her car, there was no chance she would have made it through the evening without resenting Elias Kane even more than she already did. With this many bags and boxes, carrying everything by hand would have been miserable.

She found her keys, pressed the unlock button, and the car lights flashed twice.

Before she had even taken two full steps forward, Elias was already at the passenger side. He opened the door, got in without hesitation, crossed one leg over the other, and lowered his head to his phone as if this had been the plan from the beginning.

The whole thing was so smooth it almost made her stop walking.

By the time Lila got into the driver’s seat, he was already settled in like the car belonged to him.

That was what felt strange.

His manner was too natural.

He did not carry himself like a man being followed by her, or even like someone tolerating her presence out of necessity. He acted more like they were old acquaintances, the kind who had fallen into an easy rhythm a long time ago.

Lila knew that was absurd. Elias might simply treat everyone this way when he decided they were useful. Even so, the feeling stayed with her long enough that she forgot herself and asked a question she should not have asked.

"Are you moving?" she said. "Somewhere off campus?"

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

That was not the kind of thing someone in her position was supposed to ask.

But Elias did not look offended. He kept scrolling on his phone and answered without much concern.

"The Blackwood residence."

Lila repeated it before she could stop herself. "The Blackwood residence?"

He turned his head and gave her a brief sideways look. "You don’t know what that is?"

His tone carried an obvious edge of mockery, the kind that made the words sound like, Seriously? You’ve never even heard of it?

Oddly enough, Lila did not get angry.

Instead she lowered her voice a little. "Was it Ms. Voss who invited you to stay there?"

Elias did not answer at once.

He looked at her for a second, then asked in the calmest voice possible, "Is it called the Blackwood residence or the Voss residence?"

"The Blackwood residence."

"Then why are you even asking?"

A small smile lifted the corner of his mouth, the kind he wore when a conversation started amusing him. Then he leaned back and spoke as if the matter were settled.

"What are you waiting for? Drive. We’re getting food first."

His tone sounded perfectly ordinary.

Still, Lila somehow heard something else under it, something faintly petulant, as if he were not giving instructions to a reluctant tail but complaining to a girlfriend who had started the car too slowly.

That thought was disturbing enough to make her grip tighten on the wheel.

It was ridiculous, and yet there was something sharp and thrilling in it at the same time. The feeling reminded her of standing too close to the edge of a rooftop, knowing exactly how bad the fall would be and still feeling her heartbeat quicken from the danger of it.

What made it worse was this:

Elias most likely had no idea she had seen everything that happened in the back seat earlier.

She had seen Serena Blackwood pin him down.

She had seen the way Liora Voss had watched through the mirror.

She had seen enough to know there was something wrong with the whole situation.

Serena Blackwood was the head of the Blackwood Group. A woman at that level of status and control was not the type who would casually tolerate her man being entangled with someone else, especially not with her own sister.

Which meant Serena had probably not realized what was going on between Elias and Liora.

Or maybe she had only sensed that something about it was off.

Once that idea formed, Lila’s pulse picked up so quickly that she could feel it in her throat. It was the kind of secret that made a person instinctively look around, even in an empty car, just to make sure no one else could hear them thinking it.

She stole a glance at Elias.

He was still bent over his phone. His blond hair had grown long enough that darker strands shadowed the lighter color near his temples, and the loose fringe falling beside his face blurred his profile.

Lila had seen him without glasses before.

Because of that, even with his head lowered now, she could still make out the softness hidden under the ordinary look he wore on purpose. There was a faint, almost deceptive prettiness there when he was not speaking.

He had already loaded the things he was taking with him into her car.

After that, the two of them got out again and found a restaurant. It was not especially famous, but the prices were close enough to The Pinnacle Club that Lila felt a twinge in her chest when she looked at the menu.

Elias, on the other hand, showed no concern at all.

He ate with real concentration, as if every dollar being spent here was entirely justified by the food in front of him.

Halfway through the meal, he lifted his hand and called a server over.

"One more lobster," he said. "Pack it to go."

The server nodded. "Of course."

Lila looked up. "To go?"

"Yeah." Elias did not slow down even while he answered. He cracked open a lobster claw, got oil all over his fingers, and kept eating with obvious satisfaction. "I’m giving it to someone."

Lila did not know who he meant until her car pulled up in front of Longhaven Hospital.

Only then did it become clear.

Elias picked up the large takeout box from his lap. The lobster inside was still hot enough that warmth seeped through the cardboard.

"Wait here for a bit," he said.

He shut the door and went straight inside.

By now, he had already worked out Yvonne Quinn’s schedule. If he came at this hour, she was almost certainly still in the hospital.

The elevator ride took forever.

By the time Elias finally squeezed out onto the eighteenth floor, his shirt had already picked up a few ugly stains from the oil inside the bag. He had barely taken a few steps when he spotted a woman in a white coat.

He went up to her at once.

"Excuse me," he said. "Is Yvonne here?"

Mira Perry looked at him with immediate surprise.

"Yvonne?"

She had been ready to answer without thinking. There was only one doctor on this floor with that name, so the question itself was simple enough. What gave her pause was the way he said it.

Too familiar.

Too easy.

Then she corrected herself internally.

A familiar tone did not mean a familiar relationship.

She had seen enough would-be admirers around Dr. Quinn to know better than that. The shameless ones called her baby, sweetheart, girlfriend, wife, and any number of things they had absolutely no right to call her. In the beginning, Mira had occasionally been fooled by the confidence of it. Not anymore.

So she instantly sorted Elias into the same category as the others: another pretty weed trying to grow too close to Yvonne Quinn.

Her voice stayed polite, but the answer she gave was a lie polished smooth from frequent use.

"You mean Dr. Quinn? She just stepped out. If you’d come a little earlier, you probably would’ve caught her. That’s really unfortunate."

In reality, Yvonne was sitting in her office exactly where she had been moments before.

This was simply the cleanest way to deal with situations like this. The admirer left disappointed, but not suspicious. Most of them blamed their own timing and went away on their own.

Elias lowered his head.

The change in his face happened so quickly and so naturally that even Mira almost felt sorry for him on the spot. A second ago he had looked expectant. Now the hope had gone out of him, leaving visible disappointment behind.

"I see," he said quietly. "Then I came too late."

Only then did Mira take in the rest of his appearance.

His clothes were from some brand she did not recognize. The white shirt had fresh oil marks on it, the kind that stood out badly against clean fabric. Judging by the splatter and the way he held the takeout box, the stains had probably happened in the crowded elevator ride up when the food shifted inside the bag.

He looked unexpectedly miserable.

The combination of that disappointment and those obvious little signs of effort stirred an inconvenient twinge of guilt in Mira.

In the end she said, "Give it to me. When Dr. Quinn gets back, I’ll pass it along."

At that, the light in Elias’s eyes returned a little.

"Okay. Thank you, sister."

The way he said it was sweet, soft, and utterly natural, as if he had known her for years.

Mira’s voice caught for the briefest second. "You don’t need to thank me..."

What she did not say was that she had only meant it as comfort.

Food delivered to Dr. Quinn by strangers never made it anywhere near her desk. Everything got thrown away. That rule existed for a reason.

There had once been a doctor who accepted food from a former patient. She ate it, went into poisoning shock, and nearly died before they got her into emergency treatment.

Among the people obsessed with Yvonne Quinn, most were merely annoying. A small number were worse. Those were the kind who would rather ruin her than fail to have her.

Mira still wanted to add something, maybe another gentle lie, maybe a parting line to send him off cleanly, but Elias had already turned and started walking away.

Then Yvonne’s voice sounded behind her.

"What are you holding?"

Mira turned immediately.

To meet Yvonne Quinn’s eyes, she had to tip her chin up slightly. She moistened her dry lips before answering.

"One of your admirers brought food for you. He was worried you hadn’t eaten."

Yvonne said nothing.

That silence was enough to make Mira move at once. "I’ll throw it out right now."

"Who sent it?" Yvonne asked.

Mira blinked. "A male college student. Glasses. Very ordinary-looking."

Elias Kane.

The name surfaced in Yvonne’s mind without effort, as if it had been waiting there already.