Free Web NovelChapter 23: Heavy Jealousy
Fifty minutes later, the car pulled into the villa that had once belonged to Miria’s father.
The sky had grown considerably darker.
It was a three-story European-style villa, with neatly trimmed shrubs lining the front yard.
Apparently, a few of Miria’s family’s employees still maintained the property.
"We’re here."
Miria released Liam’s wrist and stepped out first, opening her umbrella.
With a single glance, she wordlessly signaled for Liam to stand beneath the same umbrella.
Only then did Liam realize that dropping his own umbrella in front of the school gate earlier had been entirely intentional on her part.
In the end, he could only sigh inwardly and follow her beneath the shared umbrella.
A chilly wind swept past, making Liam shiver slightly.
He glanced at Miria before speaking.
"Let me hold the umbrella."
Without waiting for an answer, Liam gently took it from her hand.
Miria blinked in surprise.
The anger burning inside her eased, if only by a little bit.
The villa’s interior was lavishly decorated, yet eerily desolate.
Nearly every piece of furniture was draped beneath white dust sheets. Only the living room and kitchen appeared to be in regular use.
Miria slipped off her trench coat and stepped out of her high heels.
Her slender, pale bare feet quietly touched the polished wooden floor.
Just as Liam was about to walk into the living room to sit down and catch his breath, Miria suddenly turned around.
"Look at me."
She raised her phone, its screen once again displaying the familiar swirling pink pattern.
Of course, Liam wasn’t hypnotized at all.
He simply played along.
With practiced ease, he relaxed his shoulders, let his eyes become unfocused, and slipped into the dazed expression of someone completely hypnotized.
Miria studied him carefully.
Once she was satisfied that the "hypnosis" had worked, the stern expression she’d been wearing melted into something far more complicated.
There’s pain and a faint sense of satisfaction all mingled together.
"Liam~"
"You made me wait for such a long time..."
Her voice softened completely, gentle and affectionate.
The cold, untouchable student council president had vanished without a trace.
Liam maintained his vacant expression.
Inside, however, guilt quietly settled in his chest.
"Follow me."
Taking hold of his wrist, Miria led him toward the spiral staircase winding through the villa.
Oddly enough, her footsteps were almost as light as a cat’s.
Every now and then she glanced back at Liam, her eyes carrying a strange, heavy satisfaction that made him feel oddly unsettled.
At the end of the second-floor hallway stood a wooden door carved with the image of a rearing horse.
Miria pushed it open.
Beyond it was a spacious room without a single window.
Everything inside was meticulously organized.
In the center sat a brown leather sofa facing a coffee table upon which several unusual objects had been neatly arranged.
A black blindfold.
A long wooden ruler, the kind traditionally used to discipline misbehaving children.
And...
A black leather collar Liam vaguely remembered seeing on cornhub before.
"Come in."
Miria stepped inside first.
Liam followed.
The moment he entered, the door behind him slowly swung shut with a heavy creak.
Miria walked over to the sofa before sitting down with graceful composure.
"Stand in front of me."
Her tone left no room for refusal. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Liam obediently complied, stopping directly before her, completely unaware of what she intended to do next.
Miria reached toward him and removed his bag from his shoulder.
It was slightly damp from the rain, though she didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
She immediately pulled out the thermos Silvia had given him at the school gate.
"So... Silvia gave you this?"
Her voice remained sweet, but her eyes turned cold.
"They’re the kind of pens you loved ever since you were little. How did she know you liked this kind of pen?" A faint smile curled across her lips. "Ah... maybe she’s been stalking you, Liam. You should stay away from dangerous girls like her."
Liam continued pretending to be hypnotized, though confusion quietly surfaced in his mind.
The kind of pen I liked as a kid...?
What is she talking about? I don’t even remember what kind of pens I used back then.
"And this..."
She lifted the bottle of ginger tea.
"Ginger tea."
"How thoughtful, isn’t it?" Miria murmured. "She cares so much about the people around her..."
She paused.
"...Or perhaps she only cares about you, Liam."
Next came Silvia’s handwritten notes.
Miria slowly flipped through every page.
"She even gave you these." She smiled faintly. "Everything categorized so neatly... Thermodynamics... Isobaric... Isochoric..."
"How meticulous." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
She slowly lifted her gaze toward Liam.
"Do you know?"
"I had someone watching you today."
"From the moment you arrived at school... to when Silvia gave you that pen and made you smile... to the two of you sitting together during lunch... all the way until this evening."
"I know everything."
Liam nearly broke character.
The revelation struck him like a bucket of ice water.
The thought that someone had been monitoring his every move throughout the day made his skin crawl.
Quietly, he ground his teeth together.
For the sake of his childhood friend, he forced himself to endure it.
But one thing became crystal clear, he had to find a way to stop this.
Miria slowly rose from the sofa.
She walked toward him until barely a breath separated their faces.
Then, without warning, she reached up...
...and pinched his cheek.
Liam almost reacted.
Fortunately, Miria’s hands were so delicate that it barely hurt at all.
"Guess how many times you smiled at Silvia."
Her eyes locked onto his.
"You smiled five times."
"Five."
Her fingertips felt ice-cold.
Liam was stunned, she had actually counted.
"I wait for you every single day, I cook for you, I worry about your health."
"And you... What have you done, Liam? Have you smiled at me even once lately?"
Liam couldn’t answer.
Not while he was supposedly hypnotized.
Not unless Miria explicitly ordered him to speak.
She slowly withdrew her hand from his face.
Then she walked back to the coffee table.
Picking up the black blindfold, she returned to him and gently tied it over his eyes.
Darkness instantly swallowed Liam’s vision.
"Turn around."
Miria’s voice had become frighteningly calm.
In the end, Liam slowly turned his back toward her...
...and silently prepared himself for whatever was about to happen next.
