58

58
Chapter 58

Scarlet Wolff

I groaned tiredly, forcing my tired and heavy eyes open.
I found myself lying on the bed with a casual dress on. I had slept off earlier after taking care of Lucien when he vomited. He must've taken me to sleep on the bed when he woke up.

I noticed Lucien wasn't in bed with me, so I stood up and headed out of the room. It was already past 7pm.

The sweet aroma coming from the kitchen graced my nose as I descended the staircase, and my stomach grumbled hungrily, reminding me that I hadn't eaten all day. My mouth salivated.

"Hey!" Lucien stopped what he was doing as soon as he noticed my presence in the kitchen, turning to face me with a smile on his face.

"Hey!" I muttered, going to the refrigerator.
I was about to exit the kitchen after picking out a bottle of water from the refrigerator, when Lucien stopped me.

"Scarlet..." he held my hand and pulled me back in a way that I crashed against his chest.
Strangely, my heart didn't race fast like it would before. My body didn't react crazily under his touch like before. I was just- there. I guess it was because I was mad at him.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble today. I forgot I can't tolerate much liquor, and ended up drinking a lot." He apologised, his eyes boring into mine.

"It's fine." I replied casually and bluntly, wriggling my way out of his grasp.

"I will be upstairs." I muttered before turning to leave.

"I'm making dinner. Let's eat together."

"Thank you. I'm not hungry." And with that, I turned and exited the kitchen, going back to my room. Even though I was terribly hungry, I was forced to endure it.

I had only gotten back inside the room for a few minutes when the door opened, and Lucien walked inside holding a tray of food. I rolled my eyes, adjusting on the bed and throwing my gaze away from him.

"I brought food." He muttered, dropping the tray on the center table.

"I told you that I'm not hungry." I reminded him, and I heard him exhale.

"Come on, Scarlet. You've not eaten for the whole day. You..." his voice trailed off as my stomach grumbled, and I held it, yawning.

"See? You are hungry. You should eat something. Don't be stubb-"

"What do you do, Lucien?" I cut him off, lifting my gaze to stare into his eyes.
His eyebrows drew apart, shock flashed through his eyes, then his face went blank in a second.

"If it's about what happened, I shouldn't have treated you like that. I'm sorry." He apologised instead, coming to sit in front of me on the bed.
He reached out his hand to touch my face, but I pulled back, frowning.

"What do you do, Lucien?" My eyes bored into his, my voice firm and demanding. I had never spoken to him in this manner before.

"Who were those men? What business do you..." I paused and exhaled. "That is not the problem, Lucien. The problem here is, what kind of business do you go there to do? In the middle of nowhere. It's suspicious." I stated, unable to hide it anymore.

"Why did it have to be that place of all other places? Why was it almost in the middle of the night? What do you do, Lucien?" I insisted.

His jaws clenched, his eyes boring into mine with an unreadable expression on his face.
For the next few minutes, Lucien was silent. He was probably brewing some lies to tell me, who knows?

A soft yet unconvincing smile crept up his face as he reached for my face and cupped my cheek in his palm, his eyes gazing into mine.

"Don't be too curious, Scarlet. Let's forget about this." Again, he dodged the question, and this confirmed that he was really into something suspicious.

"I feel like I'm not safe around you anymore. I am scared of you. You are full of suspicions! You are full of secrets, and that is freaking me out!" I spoke up. I might lose my mind if I didn't talk about it because I was literally on the verge of.

Again, he frowned, but just for a few seconds before he smiled at me again, taking his hand away from my cheek as he said. "As I said, Scarlet. Don't be too curious."

Lucien didn't bother to explain further to me as he stood up, and with a blank expression on his face, he looked down at me. "I'll be in my room. Don't forget to eat your food." He gave me a small smile which only lasted for a split second before he walked out of my room, closing the door behind him.

I exhaled, running my fingers through my hair frustratingly. What the fuck have I gotten myself into?

I picked up my phone in a bid to text my dad, hoping to get one or two pieces of information from him about Lucien, but I changed my mind at the last minute.
What if he asks me why I wanted to know? What if he suspects something?

My eyebrows creased as something crossed my mind. Could dad know about what he does? They are best friends, so what if they are probably into this together?

'Are all these necessary, Scarlet? Why not just leave?'
My subconscious mind told me, and I swallowed nothing. I guess that'll be safer. I guess it'll save me all the stress if I just leave.

My stomach grumbled again, and I bit my lip as I looked over to the food on the center table, and I exhaled. I didn't have a choice, so I'll just eat it.

A subconscious smile crept up my face, and my mouth salivated the moment I opened the plate and was welcomed by spicy chicken soup and noodles. He added a bottle of water and a glass of orange juice, just the way I like it.

"Eat for now, Scarlet. Let's think about the way forward tomorrow." I whispered to myself before I began eating...