Chapter27 Do You Miss Me More?
Linnea woke up from her sleep that afternoon.
As her awareness returned, she finally felt the arm wrapped around her waist.
It was usually strong and terrifyingly powerful, but now it was loosely looped around her. It was as if it was afraid of hurting her.
...It was Caius's arm.
Caius, slept with her last night?!
The memories of the previous night flooded her mind.
Her part-time job discovered by Caius, confronting Caius, using her fever to make Caius serve her... With every detail she recalled, Linnea felt one step closer to her revenge plan being completely ruined.
Linnea immediately made a decision. She would pretend none of it ever happened!
She nudged Caius's arm away, burrowed under the blanket, and tried to sneak out the other side. But a hand covered her butt, suddenly squeezing it tight!
"Ah...!"
Another large hand clamped over her mouth to stop her from being noisy.
Linnea was completely helpless, allowing the large hand to lift her butt, push her back into the covers, and press her tightly against his muscular body.
Linnea hesitantly pressed her cheek to his chest, trying to beg him not to actually hit her.
"What, starting to flirt now?"
His low voice revealed no emotion.
"Weren't you quite fierce last night? Arguing with me, yelling at me, full of grievances, as if I was awful to you. And now? Afraid to complain? Scared now?"
Linnea listened to the scolding, guiltily not daring to say a word.
No matter what, as Caius's bed partner, she shouldn't have been in that place.
Linnea thought if her head had been clearer then, she would never have chosen such an impulsive solution. However, Caius didn't give her much freedom to choose last night either...
As she was pondering, Caius's palm approached, bringing a faint rush of air.
...No, wait, was Caius going to touch her face? Pinch her? Or slap her?
Linnea quickly covered her face.
The person in front of her let out a chuckle, and then his palm landed on her forehead.
"Not so hot anymore." The large hand gently rubbed her head with practiced ease. "Does your head still hurt?"
Linnea was stunned. Was Caius concerned about her?
He wasn't the type of man who cared whether his bed partners lived or died...
"Why aren't you speaking? Are you stunned? Maybe I should give you a shot then."
Linnea immediately hugged him, frantically refusing: "Caius, thank you, I don't hurt as much now. No need for a shot."
"Willing to talk to me now?"
Linnea clung to him with a forced smile, looking around. "Where are we?"
"My beach apartment."
...Oh my God?
Caius's beach apartment?!
Linnea was more excited than winning the lottery. She never imagined that after provoking Caius all night, he would still bring her to his strictly private domain...
She immediately hugged Caius's arm. "Caius, you're so good."
"How so?"
"Kind, generous, thoughtful, forgiving..."
"I hope you genuinely think so."
"Caius," Linnea asked. "Was your business trip... tiring?"
"Not really."
"Why were you five days late coming back?"
This time, Caius didn't say, "Don't pry into my privacy." "I attended a last-minute forum. My flight landed last night."
So Caius wasn't ignoring her on purpose...
Thinking this, she snuggled closer to Caius. That distinct aroma gradually became thicker and sweeter.
"Caius, then... did you miss me more than before?"
A soft hand reached under the blanket, trembling as it touched his hardness.
Caius abruptly squeezed her wrist. "Linnea, stop."
No, Linnea thought. She had just made a mistake. And he had given her a generous "reward." She had to do something to repay this favor.
"Why? Caius, I'm your bed partner. I have a duty to satisfy your physical needs. Besides, you clearly missed me too..."
"You're sick," Caius only emphasized.
"It's okay, Caius, my fever is almost gone. Besides, don't they all say that when it's hot there, the experience is better than usual? Just consider it my apology to you..."
Linnea ignored his warning, dipped her head, and burrowed under the blanket.
But just before she could fully disappear under the covers, Caius, pushed to the limit of his endurance, harshly yanked her wrist and threw her onto the bed.
Caius's heavy, ragged breaths exploded in her ear:
"You invited this, Linnea. This means I'm not being unfeeling, right?"
---
Thanks to Leo, Linnea recovered quickly.
She went back to work normally the next morning.
She thought she could finally rest, but when Linnea arrived at the office, she heard whispers all around.
Colleagues were secretly gossiping.
Not only that, Linnea noticed them constantly glancing at her with subtle, meaningful looks.
She frowned deeply until she found an email in her inbox—
[Thorne Group's Rising Star Assistant Secretly Flaunts Herself at Erotic Yacht Party!]
Linnea's brow furrowed even deeper.
She clicked on the attached image. It was exactly the indecent photo of her from that night when she was working for those difficult guests!
The angle of the photo was extremely tricky. Even though she maintained a distance from the men, the picture made it look like she was sitting in their laps!
And even with the mask, those familiar with her could recognize her appearance.
Because Linnea was simply too beautiful.
No one would fail to recognize a beauty with half her face covered.
Linnea pretended to be calm, closing her email. She didn't shy away, meeting all their scrutinizing gazes. "Why are you all looking at me? Do you suspect I'm the person in that picture?"
"But it really looks like you..."
"That night, I was accompanying Mr. Caius to an art exhibition."
The others clearly didn't believe her, but just then, a knock came at the door.
It was one of Caius's subordinates. He had a stern face and said, "Mr. Caius wants me to remind everyone not to slander colleagues freely in the office. Any violation, and Mr. Caius will personally fire you."
As soon as the subordinate spoke, everyone immediately fell silent.
The crowd quickly dispersed. Even with their burning curiosity for gossip, they had no choice but to keep the matter to themselves.
After all—that was Caius!
Linnea was nothing, but once Caius personally stepped in to forbid it, anyone who dared to mock Linnea was going against Caius!
No one dared to defy Caius's will!
Once the others left, the subordinate nodded to Linnea. "Mr. Caius is asking for you."
Linnea agreed, but she first sent a message to Cora, asking her to quickly investigate the source of the internet troll IP addresses. After instructing Cora, she walked into Caius's office.
Two voices spoke at once:
"Caius, I've been set up!"
"Do you want my help?"
Linnea paused. "Can you?"
She wasn't that tough. A sweet plea was about to spill out.
But Caius tilted his chin slightly, acting very arrogant. He said:
"Beg me."
...Huh?
Linnea stared at him blankly.
This Caius. She was being targeted with leaked indecent photos, and he was taking advantage of the situation to toy with her? Ha... Beast!
She was enraged, clenching both her fists.
Suppressing the urge to smash her fists into Caius's face, she yelled at him:
"I-will-not!"
With that, she turned and walked out of the office without looking back.
Leaving Caius with a face as dark as charcoal.
He wanted to see how long this little cat would stay stubborn!