Chapter 41: The Man Full of Schemes
Lucas's fingers traced along the bracelet as they touched me.
I could feel the warmth of his fingertips, the slightly rough calluses, and a ticklish sensation on the inside of my wrist. I couldn't help but kick him: "Are you done yet?"
"Not yet."
The fingerprint sensor was designed to be very discreet. Lucas took his sweet time, running his fingers over it for about two minutes but still couldn't find it.
Puzzled, I grew suspicious: "Are you doing this on purpose?"
The bracelet was only so big—did it really need to take this long?
"On purpose? What do you mean?" Lucas asked back.
Touching my hand on purpose.
The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I didn't say them out loud. After all, this didn't seem like something Lucas would do.
"Hurry up, I'm tired." I'd rubbed the bracelet at least dozens of times these past few days and had a pretty good idea where the fingerprint sensor was. I grabbed Lucas's thumb with my right hand and pressed it over.
Lucas curled his thumb up like he was playing games, refusing to cooperate.
"You ARE doing this on purpose!" I caught on immediately and glared at him angrily: "I told you the bracelet has to come off! The electromagnetic signal will interfere with medical equipment. Don't you believe me? Or do you just not take what I say seriously? You never listen to anyone but yourself!"
I brushed his hand away and pointed coldly at the nearby boat: "Leave. I'll get Marcus to help me cut the bracelet off."
"Do you hate seeing me that much? Don't want to say a single word to me?" Lucas asked.
The moon was behind him, his back to the moonlight. The deck was dimly lit, and I could see the barely contained hostility and anxiety in his eyes, the corners reddening, like a cornered animal.
"Is it that I don't want to talk to you? Don't you have anything to say to me either?" I asked him.
Since I kicked Lucas out of the villa, the number of times we'd spoken these past few days could be counted on one hand.
"There really isn't much left for us to say to each other." I was sick of Lucas's unfathomable thoughts and his hot-and-cold attitude, and even more tired of watching him and Amelia being all ambiguous right in front of me.
Lucas's kiss suddenly came down hard, full of anger.
Overwhelming emotions poured out, tinged with bitterness and grievance.
I didn't understand what Lucas had to be angry about, or how his grievances could even compare to mine.
I pressed both hands against his chest and pushed hard. Lucas's heartbeat transmitted through my palms. I turned my head but couldn't escape his kiss, so I bit down hard on his lip.
The taste of blood spread between our lips and teeth. I even bit his tongue. Lucas cried out in pain and pulled back a little.
"You smile at everyone except me!"
"I get angry just looking at you—how could I possibly smile at you?"
"Why are you angry? Because I competed with you for that diamond crown?" Lucas pressed his forehead against mine. "If you'd told me you and Jonathan weren't going to be together, if I'd known that crown was an engagement token, I wouldn't have fought you for it!"
"Are you blaming me? Is this my fault?" I was shaking with anger and lifted my foot to kick him, but Lucas easily restrained me.
"It's my fault," Lucas said.
My brain, scattered by anger, took two seconds to process that Lucas had actually admitted he was wrong.
But I didn't feel happy. Why did this jerk Lucas manage to make even his apology so infuriating?
He took my lip in his mouth. I turned my head to bite him. Kissing and biting both involved using your mouth—we were tearing at each other. This had long stopped being a simple kiss.
Lucas slipped one hand behind me, stroking my back from top to bottom, over and over, as if encouraging me, indulging me to vent my emotions.
I don't know how long it had been before we separated. Feeling the dull pain on my lips, I couldn't help but wonder—I just wanted him to take off the bracelet, how did it develop to this point?
Counting carefully, we'd kissed quite a bit during this time.
Would other couples preparing for divorce in the world be like this?
"You're spacing out. What are you thinking about?" Lucas asked.
He lowered his head and buried it in my neck, breathing in my scent somewhat greedily, then pulled down my collar and kissed my collarbone.
The moonlight was dizzying. It was probably an illusion, but Lucas's expression at that moment looked quite devout.
"Do you want to have sex one last time before we break up?" I blurted out.
Lucas's face instantly darkened. "What did you say?"
"Don't you just want to sleep with me? Are things not working out sexually between you and Amelia?" I pushed his head away and casually straightened my crooked collar.
Lucas ground his back teeth. "Is that what you think of me?"
"You never say what you're thinking—how am I supposed to understand?" My tone was cold. "Since you've already chosen Amelia, stop pestering me."
"I need time to think," Lucas said.
I didn't quite understand. "Think about what?"
Lucas: "About Amelia."
So he was suspicious of Amelia after all? I stared at him for a few seconds. "Even if you break up with her, don't come pestering me."
A flash of fierceness crossed Lucas's eyes. "What, Jonas said he'd pursue you, and you took him seriously? Let me tell you, that guy keeps at least five mistresses!"
I didn't know why he suddenly brought up Jonas, but this conversation was going nowhere.
"I'm tired." I raised my left hand. "Can you unlock it or not?"
Lucas casually touched the bracelet, and it instantly slipped off my wrist and fell into his hand, so fast I didn't have time to blink.
"Damn it! You WERE doing it on purpose!" I cursed in anger. This scheming Lucas!
Lucas chuckled lightly. "Adrian, Cole! Take Bella back to her cabin."
He placed a card in my hand, saying it contained two hundred and fifty million dollars to compensate for my losses, then smoothed my wind-tousled hair and walked back the way he came.
With mixed feelings, I applied the precious Phoenix Blood Balm to my lips before going to sleep, to prevent Marcus from noticing anything the next day.
The next morning, I arrived early at Roger's place to do pre-surgery preparations.
I provided three jars of Phoenix Blood Balm and three large boxes of the regular version of hemostatic ointment. At my instruction, Roger concealed the fact that I'd improved and corrected the surgical plan. Following my simulation, he practiced for a day and completed the surgery very smoothly.
After 48 hours of post-operative observation, the patient's recovery was good. The Langford family called off the hit on Roger, and then Roger reluctantly signed an employment contract with me.
With Roger in tow, we successfully sailed back. Everyone was happy, except Amelia.
The whole way, she clung tightly to Lucas, very wary of me, deliberately keeping Lucas at a distance from me.
After the plane landed in Starstream City, Amelia suddenly screamed while looking at her phone: "My money! My money's gone!"
I'd almost forgotten I'd done one other big thing.
Marcus traded two jars of Phoenix Blood Balm with Silver Eagle Auctions to find out the seller's payment account for the diamond crown.
When Amelia secretly sold the diamond crown, she played a trick—she used Byron's name, but the money went to one of her secret accounts.
After Silver Eagle Auctions transferred the money, Marcus hired a part-time financial hacker who was also a hitman to recover the money and dump it into a casino under Gale's name. A day later, we had a large sum of money in our hands.
With the money gone, Amelia completely lost it.
She cried and made a scene at the airport. When Lucas asked what money it was, he showed no intention of helping her.
"Didn't you say that diamond crown had nothing to do with you?" Lucas asked coldly, "Then why was the money from selling the diamond crown transferred to your account?"