Chapter36 A Tempting Liar
The next morning.
Linnea rode in Caius's car from the beach apartment to work.
In the car, she drowsily nestled against Caius as he worked, thinking about the yacht party.
Since Caius caught her that night, Linnea hadn't gone back to work at the yacht party, so she had no way to collect the wages she'd earned from those previous days.
But just because she wasn't going to work anymore didn't mean she shouldn't get the money she'd already earned, right?
But now the yacht belonged to Caius. How could she ask Caius for her wages without making him angry? Those two nights of liquor sales commissions had countless customer names marked on them...
Linnea was worried about this. A text message about her stomach checkup popped up on screen, but she didn't notice it.
A hand reached over and took her phone.
"Stomach problems?" Caius frowned, his gaze sweeping across the screen. "Linnea, I really need to have Leo arrange a full body checkup for you. Just how bad have these past few years been for you?"
"This is just a minor issue, normal people have them." Linnea mumbled defensively.
"You have stomach problems and you were still drinking with people at yacht parties?" His large hand lifted the hem of Linnea's shirt and covered her stomach area. "Linnea, you're really too stubborn."
"That was just work."
"You could choose not to do work that damages your health."
As he rubbed her stomach, Linnea felt warmth flowing through her entire body.
She couldn't help but say something honest. "Caius, I'm not like you, born with the best material conditions from the start. In these years after leaving home, to earn tuition and living expenses, I had to do a lot of exhausting, dirty work. Washing dishes in winter until my fingers bled, being a resident singer and getting force-fed alcohol until I vomited blood in public... All of this was normal."
"So that's why you couldn't bear to give up the yacht party job?" Caius asked her. "It only required you to occasionally drink, at least it wouldn't make your fingers bleed or make you vomit blood from drinking. Is that what you were thinking?"
"Yeah." Linnea was afraid of making him angry. "I'm sorry."
Caius was amused by her. "You really are... I didn't ask you to apologize."
He set aside his laptop and wrapped his arms around her, not continuing that topic. Instead, he stroked the dark circles at the corners of her eyes. "We fooled around too late last night. Are you very tired?"
"Tired." Linnea felt his touch and asked him, "You knew all along about Emily forming groups to bully newcomers, didn't you?"
"Of course."
Linnea asked puzzled, "Then why did you tolerate them doing evil before?"
Caius seemed to be in a good mood right now. He was even willing to patiently explain to Linnea. "A small portion of the secretarial department, like Emily's group, they're young ladies from families who were planted in the Thorne Group before my father became paralyzed. They try every way to get close to me just because they covet the position of being my woman, fantasizing about getting my favor and getting some benefits from it."
"On one hand, they won't violate the interests of the Thorne Group. On the other hand, to get your recognition, they'll work even harder..." Linnea said. "No matter how many bad things they do to others, for you, they only bring benefits, so you won't fire them, right?"
"Linnea, are you mad at me because of this?"
His fingertip slid from the corner of Linnea's eye to her lips. Before she could speak, Caius said again, "But the environment I'm in is much bloodier than the little fighting ring my subordinates are in. Forming cliques and bullying the weak, isn't that normal?"
Linnea pressed her lips together again. "But some people go to work not to gain invisible benefits. They just want to do their jobs well, earn wages, and use that to support themselves and their families."
"Oh." Caius shrugged. "That has nothing to do with me."
"Cold-blooded creature." She knew he would say that.
"You're complaining about me again?"
Caius didn't mind and laughed. He turned that tense face around and kissed her.
His kiss was urgent and fierce. When Linnea was kissed to the point of near suffocation, he finally let go. "But haven't I already cleaned them out?"
"That was only because of me."
"Of course it's because of you. As a cat owner, I have an obligation to clean the filth out of the cat's nest. Otherwise, my little cat will get angry."
This Caius actually compared the Thorne Group to her "cat nest"? What was he thinking... What a strange person.
Linnea's cheeks burned hot.
At the last intersection, she quickly got out of the car, refusing to continue staying with Caius.
Caius stared at her retreating figure, waved, and called a subordinate from the bodyguard car to give instructions. "From now on, stop the secret investigation into Linnea."
"But we're about to break through that firewall blocking Miss Linnea's information..."
Caius said nothing.
"Yes. We will stop the investigation." The subordinate hesitated and asked him, "But are you just going to let Miss Linnea continue interacting with you under a false identity?"
Caius spread his hands. "What does it matter?"
He didn't care what identity Linnea actually had. Now, what interested him more was how to get Linnea to show him her true self. Conquering a tempting liar who attracted him would be much more interesting than simply having a private investigator dig up her background, wouldn't it?
...
Thursday.
To recheck her stomach problems, Linnea took half a day off.
This week, although she'd only slept with Caius one night, he not only performed very passionately but also declared, "If I didn't have to work tomorrow morning, I'd really want to keep fucking you until you pass out."
So she concluded that Caius wasn't seeking her out frequently only because he was busy with work.
Arriving at the roadside, Linnea put away her thoughts and focused on finding her personal driver's car, but unexpectedly glimpsed a low-key yet luxurious silver sedan. Was that Caius's car?
That car pulled up in front of her. Linnea had no choice but to open the door and greet Caius in the driver's seat. "What a coincidence."
"Coincidence?" Caius smiled. "Maybe."
So Caius had run into her by chance and on a whim wanted to take her somewhere? Linnea couldn't think of a reason why he would be waiting downstairs specifically for her.
Full of questions, she sat in the passenger seat. Caius asked her, "Where are you going next?"
Linnea said cautiously, "I don't have any plans."
Compared to checking on her old health problems, satisfying Caius's interest was obviously more important. Caius rarely came to find her alone. She definitely couldn't say things that would ruin the mood...
"Then let's go home." Caius said bluntly. "I really want to fuck you today."
Linnea swallowed. She hadn't eaten lunch yet and was a little hungry.
But she still said, "Okay."
Caius suddenly scoffed. "Test results are in. Linnea, your performance is still terrible."
"Huh?"
"You still don't understand what makes me angry?" Caius shook his head with a smile. "Last chance."
"Where exactly do you need me to take you next?"