Chapter 17: Curiosity

When Monica returned home, it was almost midnight.
Bella was already asleep, and the living room light was still on for her. Monica changed her shoes, and Chocolate heard the sound from the entranceway and sleepily ran over to rub against her leg.
She leaned down to scratch Chocolate a bit before coaxing it to sleep, then went upstairs to her room.
Feeling sticky between her thighs, Monica took a shower and discovered besides the love bites on the inside of her thighs, there were even faint teeth marks.
"Is he a dog? He loves biting people so much," she gritted her teeth, unconsciously applying more force with her hand.
After finishing herthe shower and blow-drying her hair, finally feeling clean she lay on the bed and played with her phone. She heard the sound of the curtains rustling in the wind, so she got up to close the windows.
When she pulled the curtains open, she unintentionally glanced outside and found that Steven was still there.
His black car was parked at the entrance of the villa. He was leaning against the car, smoking, and a spark of fire danced at his fingertips in the darkness.
It seemed like his gaze had been fixed on her room, and when he saw her pull the curtains open and the room still lit, he lowered his head and sent her a message.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Monica replied, "Shouldn't I be asking that of you? Why haven't you left?"
Steven responded, "I will soon."
But he remained standing there, showing no intention of leaving.
He didn't move, and Monica didn't move either. The two of them stood there in a standoff for a while, until Steven finally surrendered, straightened up, and waved at her gently.
This time, a call came in. Steven's voice sounded somewhat soft in the night wind:
"I'll be going on a business trip to Z City the day after tomorrow. It'll probably be for a week."
Monica didn't know how to reply, so she unconsciously twisted the curtains with her fingertips and softly said, "Oh" after a while.
He paused for a moment and asked softly, "Will you miss me?"
His voice was soft, as if it would dissipate with the wind.
But before Monica could reply, he continued speaking, as if his previous words were just a figment of Monica's imagination. "I'm leaving, good night."
The car quickly disappeared into the night, hidden in the winding mountain road. Monica closed the curtains and felt her heart in turmoil for no apparent reason.
She paced around her room for a while before deciding to go downstairs and find some alcohol to drink. Unexpectedly, as soon as she opened the door, she ran into Eric coming out of the study.
Monica was startled.
"Wow, what time is it? Why are you still not asleep?"
"Work," Eric casually changed the topic, "Is the classmate you told me about, the one who gave you a ride back home to quite wealthy? That car looks a bit familiar to me."
She panicked, "You saw it?"
"The car has been parked in front of my house for so long. If it doesn't leave soon, I'll have to call security."
Monica vaguely replied, "Maybe the car broke down."
"Is that so? That's really unlucky." Eric didn't expose her lie, then turned and pushed open his own bedroom door. Before going in, he looked back at Monica who was still standing there, "Still not sleeping?"
"I can't sleep," she followed him into the room, "Let's play some games in your room."
"Monica, I have to go to work early tomorrow morning." He tried to reason with her.
"You sleep, I'll play." Was Monica’s response.
Eric: ...
Monica rummaged through his cabinet, unintentionally stumbling upon Eric's high school graduation photo.
She curiously examined it as if she had discovered a new world. In the photo, everyone was wearing the same blue and white school uniform, tightly packed together. If you didn't look closely, you couldn't see their faces clearly.
But Monica still recognized Eric. He was tall and had a handsome face that made the school uniform look slightly rebellious.
Standing beside Eric in the photo was Steven.
His face had a completely different temperament from Eric's, but it was equally impressive. There was no expression on his face, and his calm eyes looked directly at the camera. He stood upright like a pine tree.
After seeing Monica sitting there motionless for a long time, Eric approached and took a look, "It's just a high school graduation photo, what's so interesting?"
Monica pointed at Steven, "I remember you two weren't in the same class in high school, right?"
"This was taken with two experimental classes together."
Eric and Steven were in different classes in high school and didn't know each other, but they slowly became friends because they both competed for the top spot in their grade.
Monica continued to search through the photo, her eyes brightening, "Your class had a beauty!"
Eric glanced at it and smiled, "She asked me to pass a love letter to Steven."
Monica's finger trembled, "Really?" her surprise evident in her voice.
"Why would I lie to you?" Eric lazily replied.
"Did Steven accept it?" Monica found herself asking with suspended curiosity.
"Of course not. He said he wouldn't date in school, but I suspect he just doesn't like this type of girl."
"What type does he like then?"
Monica reflexively asked, then realizing she was being too curious, she hurriedly tried to cover it up, "I was just curious, it's just a random question."
"Hmm." Eric looked at her with a smile and pretended to ponder deeply for a moment, "He probably likes the type that is thick-headed and always causing trouble for themselves."
"What does that mean?" Monica was confused by Eric’s description.
"It means what I just said." Eric pulled her up from the floor, "Ms.rs. Perez, please be kind. Your big brother here really needs to sleep. I don't want to drive tomorrow morning while fatigued."
Monica was half-pushed out the door by him, just as Eric was about to close it.
When Monica couldn't help but ask, "One last question!" Eric leaned against the door frame with one hand and replied, "Go ahead."
"I have a friend, a true friend!" Monica poured out her doubts from the bottom of her heart, "…a man who had been difficult with her suddenly became sweet with his words… In this situation, does he have ulterior motives? How can you tell?"
A deeper smile played on Eric's lips, "That depends on the circumstances."
Monica didn't understand.
"If he sweet-talks you just to get you into bed, then he's a scumbag through and through. I suggest you give him a slap."
——
Eric, : A true pleasure-seeker who enjoyeds watching the show, cause some trouble for Steven.
While Steven: ? was blissfully unaware of the trouble to come.
**Chapter 18: Concert**