Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 15

Kevan successfully got Travis to shut up. Choking, the latter managed to spit out, “Shameless bastard!”

Kevan was unconcerned. He had lived for 34 years and had heard worse than this. The words “shameless bastard” had no effect on him at all.

“Is there any use in being modest?” he retorted. “I’m sure the two of you know better than I do that sometimes being shameless is the key to success.”

His sarcasm was obvious; Travis caught on to it immediately.

“You!” Enraged, Travis let go of Amber and charged over. His fist aimed for Kevan’s face, but the latter caught it a few inches before it could land.

“You’re biting off more than you can chew,” Kevan sneered coolly as he twisted Travis’ wrist, causing him to turn around.

Kevan then kicked the back of Travis’ knee. With a thud, Travis was kneeling on the ground.

Covering her mouth, Amber wailed shrilly, “Help! Help! There’s an attack! Someone’s assaulting my partner!”

Her voice was rather irritating in the silence of the night.

Kevan leveled a cold glare at her and growled, “Shut up! Or I’ll beat you up too!”

Amber took a big step back. “How dare you!” She did her best to look fierce, but that did not shield the fear in her eyes.

“You’ll find out later, won’t you?” Kevan smiled darkly as he yanked on Travis’ hair and stepped on his calf. A twist of his forefoot caused Travis to let out a piercing shriek.

“Amber, call the police!” he cried.

Coming to her senses, Amber reached for her phone, fumbling several times before she finally got it out. Before she could unlock it, however, Larissa snatched it and threw it on the ground.

“My phone!” Amber let out a squawk of despair before she lunged at Larissa like a mad woman.

Being pregnant, Amber was heavier than Larissa. So, when Larissa moved aside, Amber missed her target and fell flat on the ground.

It was a pretty bad fall. There was no sound for a while before her soft whimpers finally made themselves known.

Compared to loud howling, Amber’s current reaction was more alarming to Larissa. She hurriedly went to turn Amber over and crouched to check her condition.

She was pale, and large beads of sweat were dripping down her forehead. Amber was also biting her lip hard and trembling incessantly, her hand pressed against her stomach while the other clutched at the hem of her shirt.

Larissa noticed that a dark red patch had stained Amber’s light gray pants. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Shit!” she thought as she quickly whipped out her own phone to call emergency services.

“Amber!” Travis cried tearfully. He used all the power he had in his body to free himself from Kevan’s clutches and practically flew to Amber’s side, holding her hand.

“Hold on! Just hold on for a little while longer! You’ll be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you!” He comforted her softly.

When he came over, Larissa let him have her space. Right now, she stood about two steps away and watched the couple with coldness in her eyes.

History was repeating itself, but she was not as miserable as she was that night at the fancy restaurant. As a matter of fact, she felt nothing.

Kevan stood next to her. However, she did not know when he had come over.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

As the question was not related to the situation before them, Larissa was stunned for two seconds before she replied, “A little.”

Autumn had just begun. Hence, occasional cold winds were blowing in the night.

Larissa had only worn a thin shirt that could not resist the cold. She rubbed her arms and ended up hugging herself.

The very next second, she felt a weight upon her shoulders—Kevan had taken off his suit jacket and draped it over her. The fragrance of male cologne invading her senses made her feel a little uncomfortable.

“It’s okay.” Larissa wanted to peel off the jacket and return it to Kevan, but he stopped her.

“Keep it there.” Kevan glanced at the weeping couple on the ground, who seemed to act as if they were going to lose each other, and said in a low voice, “As things stand right now, you won’t be able to get back to the hotel soon. It’s colder at night, you’ll easily fall ill.”

The moment he said that, Larissa sneezed.

Biting his lip, Kevan moved to face Larissa with a stern expression as he helped her to adjust the jacket, ensuring that she was well covered.

“See?”

Larissa pursed her lips and stopped resisting his good intentions.

…

The ambulance arrived quickly.

Travis followed Amber into the vehicle. As he passed by Larissa and Kevan, he snarled a threat at the former, “If something happens to the child, I’m coming after you!”

The ambulance sirens grew fainter, and Larissa remained where she was.

“Do you think…that she’ll be okay?” she asked Kevan so softly that the latter thought he imagined it. He was not a doctor, so he could not answer that question. But he was certain of one thing at least.

“Regardless of what happens to her, you will be fine.”

Larissa blinked and turned to look at him. When she locked eyes with his unreadable ones, her heart began to race. She immediately looked down and composed herself.

…

Larissa spent the rest of the night stricken with anxiety. The moment she closed her eyes, she either saw a bloodied Amber or a gentle Kevan who draped his jacket over her.

Her emotions kept switching between fear and embarrassment, which made her feel like she was going to have a mental breakdown.

…

Her alarm rang at 8 am, exactly as she had set it, and Larissa welcomed her first day of work after her three-day leave.

The dark circles were quite heavy under her eyes due to her not getting much sleep last night, and she barely managed to cover them up with her concealer.

Fortunately, there were not many guests checking in today, and since Kevan and Dylan, the “important guests,” had checked out, she pretty much spent the whole day in her office. There were no incidents that required her attention.

In the evening, Travis called her. “Are you happy now, Larissa? Amber’s child is gone! My child is gone! Is this the result you wanted?”

His voice was hoarse, and he must have been crying for a long time. There was also great rage in his voice.

Of course, this was not the result Larissa wanted. No matter how much she hated Travis and Amber, the child was innocent. Except…she would not feel sorry for those two because of this.

“I just moved aside; I didn’t expect her to fall.” She stated the facts calmly, but that only made Travis angrier.

“You knew she was pregnant!” His voice got loud, causing Larissa’s ears to hurt from the volume. “You knew she would fall when you moved aside! You did that on purpose to hurt her! You wanted her to have a miscarriage! You wanted to murder our child! Larissa, you cruel bitch!”

“Me? Cruel?” Larissa laughed. “Get this straight, Hardy. You two were the ones who came looking for trouble. The ones who caused the loss of your child weren’t me! You two did that to yourselves.”