Chapter 8: Desire
They were transfixed by Lucia's answer who simply said that they were nothing more than subordinates or followers to her. How could she possibly say that after they met again as adults?
Seeing their reactions that seemed to be surprised and disappointed, Lucia immediately lowered her head. Her whole body was shaking, she felt so sorry for saying something unnecessary.
"Tch, you really haven't changed at all, have you? We'll alright, I think there's no longer any reason for us to stay here. At least we know enough that she's still alive! I'm leaving now!" Bryan said as he got up and got up from his place with an annoyed face that was very easy to read.
In contrast to Bryan who is very easy to show the emotions he is feeling, Leo, Pierre and Chris also have different ways of dealing with their disappointment.
Leo just smiled and thought it was ridiculous, Pierre just shook his head and touched his forehead like it was no big deal though he had to admit he was a little disappointed. As for Chris, he remained calm and was quietly aware of Lucia's unease.
"Lucia, I want to introduce you with my daughter. I thought maybe you'd like to meet her!" Chris said calmly and gently. His fatherly aura was so strong and it made him look much more mature.
"Really? Molly? Of course, I want to meet her!"
"Molly? How do you know her name?" Chris asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Ah...no, I was just guessing! Hahaha..." Lucia laughed awkwardly. She did not expect that the man she saw that night in the park was Chris and his daughter.
"Are you married?" Leo asked. For one thing he was quite curious about the man who might be with Lucia right now.
Lucia laughed awkwardly again, she wasn't sure she could tell them the news that was so embarrassing to tell. Six months ago, she had just been abandoned by her fiancé three days before their wedding ceremony. In the midst of wedding preparations, her fiancé actually went on vacation with a woman to the Caribbean.
When she recalled the incident, her heart ached again. The man had been her lover for eight years and it was not a short time to forget someone, moreover he was her boyfriend who made her love herself as a woman.
"No, I don't have a boyfriend or anyone! Do you want to be my boyfriend, Leo? Hahaha..." Lucia laughed. She hope that her joke can lighten up this tense atmosphere a bit.
Hearing her joke, they didn't respond with laughter like Lucia said. What the four of them thought was the same was the agreement they made when they were 13 years old. An agreement that kept Lucia from speaking to them for a month.
"Listen, don't expect much from him! A fugitive like him won't please you!" Bryan chirps as if he underestimated Leo.
"Hahaha... he's right, don't expect much from me! But if you want to spend the night, I don't mind!" Leo said.
Lucia was silent, she didn't know if Leo was serious about what she said or just kidding. But hearing it was enough to take Lucia by surprise.
Plaaakkk...
"Agh... tsk, why did you hit me? You bastard!" Leo grimaced as Pierre hit his head with an even expression.
"How can your mouth say such impolite things? You idiot!"
"So what? What's wrong?" He said defending himself. Leo was annoyed that he felt he didn't say anything wrong. He just said what he was thinking right now as a grown man looking at a woman in a nightgown opened in front of his eyes.
Leo prefers to be frank, in contrast to Chris who is very polite and respectful of women, Pierre who is indifferent and cold or Bryan who is good at reading situations. Leo prefers to do things according to his heart, he is a free man.
Thanks to Leo's words, the atmosphere that had been awkward from the start became even more awkward. Lucia realized her mistake, she shouldn't have left the room and met a group of men in just a nightgown. It didn't matter if the guys were her childhood friends she knew never found her attractive enough to be a girl.
"Do you always dress like that when you meet men?" Provoked by Leo's words, Bryan immediately asked a question that he hoped would bring down Lucia's self-esteem.
"What do you mean? What's wrong with my clothes?"
"Why? Are you really stupid or just pretending? What do you want to show us? Did you come back to this city to show your current self? You want to show off? You want to say that you too can be beautiful and desirable? Are you still hurt by the agreement we made?" Bryan kept on blabbering non-stop like a vengeful kid who never won over his rival. It is different from the image he showed last night as a CEO of a well-known company who is charismatic and authoritative.
"Hey Bryan, come on!" Said Pierre trying to stop Bryan's childish babbling.
Lucia who was the target of his hatred was just speechless with her mouth open. She was shocked, very shocked by what she was facing right now. They haven't seen each other in 12 years and now they have to argue over something that happened a long time ago.
"What are you talking about, huh? Why am I showing off to you? Do you think you're that important that I need your acknowledgement? Oh my God, you're really going too far, huh? Have you forgotten how many teeth you lost because of my punch? That's still not enough?" Lucia, who could not accept Bryan's words, immediately responded to his attack by revealing Bryan's past disgrace.
Bryan was silent, he felt so ashamed that Lucia had to strike a fatal spot. It made him even more angry and wanted to repay Lucia even worse.
"Hey, what's the point of changing your appearance if you're still the same? You want to deceive men with your appearance? How many men have you managed to seduce with your breast size?" Bryan was getting so mad that the words that came out of his mouth not only made Lucia go into shock, but Leo, Chris and Pierre were at a loss for words to say.
Lucia got up from the sofa and walked over to Bryan who was standing in the doorway. Lucia looked at Bryan with eyes filled with immense anger. Despite the striking difference in height and body size, Lucia's strength seems enough to make Bryan's guts shrink.
Bryan still remembers the pain he endured for 12 years. He had to lose four of his teeth at different times every time he tried to fight with Lucia. Bryan never won once even though he had asked several martial arts coaches to help him train, Bryan still lost. And to cover his sense of defeat, Bryan could only bring up Lucia's status as the granddaughter of one of the Yakuza members who was definitely very strong even though her status and strength had absolutely nothing to do with it.
"What? What do you want? You want to punch me? You think that's going to work now?" He said with great confidence that now Lucia wouldn't be able to beat him like before.
Lucia didn't budge at all, her eyes remained focused on Bryan as if she was planning something. It made Chris, Leo and Pierre worry that their two friends would fight with their current age. It's really not a funny thing if that happens.
But Lucia, she knew what she had to do when faced with a selfish, arrogant and stubborn man like Bryan. Lucia took off her cardigan and dropped it on the floor. Her nightgown was visible and transparent. Lucia tugged at the straps of her shirt and lowered it slightly so that her breasts seemed to almost reveal their most important parts.
Bryan was silent, he was shocked by what he saw. Lucia had almost undressed in front of him and his three friends when there was no one in the house but the four of them. It wouldn't be a good thing if Lucia continued her crazy act.
Not just Bryan. But Chris, Pierre and Leo glared and were shocked. They don't know what to do now and this is really dangerous.
"What are you-" Bryan stuttered. His face reddened. He was quite used to being surrounded by many women, but in front of him was his childhood friend who used to always look like a boy.
Pierre got up from the sofa and took off the jacket he was wearing. Pierre stood behind Lucia and covered her houlders with his jacket.
"That's enough! We already know! You don't have to show that you're a girl!" Said Pierre. Lucia was silent, somehow she felt sad when Pierre said that.
"I really don't want anyone's confession! But you guys made me have to do this! Sorry if I've done something so embarrassing!" She said as she walked away leaving them frozen in silence.
Lucia went up to the second floor and entered her dat room. She felt very sad and did not know why something like this had to happen. She wanted to return to them like the Lucia they used to know as if there was never any awkwardness in whatever they did together. They had always thought of Lucia the same as them.
But now it seems that such closeness is no longer possible. Their circumstances and conditions had changed, if she forced herself to get close to them, people would definitely see it like a woman dating four men at once.
Meanwhile, Bryan is in shock, not knowing what to do now. For a moment he had to admit, his passion rose at the sight of Lucia and the beauty of her body. His heart was beating fast, and Pierre, Chris and Leo felt it too.
"Damn it! How could she be so beautiful?" Leo muttered as he leaned his head back on the sofa.
Chris kept silent, trying to hide his blushing face.
"Bryan, you should be able to stop yourself from saying something that hurt her like that! Why are you still bringing up the past?" Said Pierre.
"Aren't you angry with her? Don't you feel hurt by what she said? Damn! So for 12 years I was only her subordinate? No wonder she often blackmailed me?" Bryan said. He felt very disappointed.
"No time to think about that! Next week I'm going back to London. I hope that while we still here, there's no longer any old grudges. Bryan, just think about your responsibilities as chairman of the company. Don't disappoint your dad! Chris will back to work at hospital in London, maybe we'll go together. And you Leo, I want you to stop right now! You almost lost your job! Leave that woman before her husband finds you and kills you!"
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