The Seductive Pretty Boy of the Matriarchal World-Chapter 41: Tools of Possession

Chapter 41: Tools of Posession

Even though Liora Voss was no stranger to Elias Kane’s flirtatious provocations, she still found herself momentarily disarmed by the soft, seductive way he carried himself right now. The contrast hit her like a quiet shockwave. Just minutes earlier she had watched him trapped between two formidable women—helpless, fragile, trembling like a porcelain doll one breath away from shattering, completely devoid of any threat.

Yet the second he was free from Giselle Frost and Serena Blackwood, alone in the car with her, that same boy transformed back into the cunning little demon who delighted in twisting hearts. One careless step and he would drag you straight into the abyss without mercy.

Liora honestly couldn’t tell anymore whether Elias had played with fire and scorched himself, or whether Serena and Giselle were the ones who had truly plunged into the depths.

Fortunately for her, she had not fallen in yet.

Dangerous things had always been kept at a safe distance in Liora’s world. She observed, she analyzed, but she never touched. Tonight she had merely stepped a fraction closer—nowhere near the point of surrender.

Liora kept her expression perfectly neutral, every turbulent emotion already smoothed away beneath the surface. "But you’re not a kitten," she said calmly. "Your saliva has no disinfecting properties whatsoever."

"If I say it does, then it does." Elias stopped licking the wound, lazily crossed one leg over the other, and issued the order as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Turn around. Take me back to campus."

Liora knew instantly that he had been trying to avoid Longhaven Hospital the entire time, yet she didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second. She executed a smooth U-turn and drove him straight back to Westbridge University without another word.

Traces of dried blood still lingered beneath Elias’s eyelids, but he moved as though he felt no pain at all. Like nothing had happened, he offered Liora a small, easy smile, gave a casual wave of his hand, and disappeared into the campus shadows.

Liora watched his figure vanish completely into the night before finally pulling away from the curb.

When she arrived back at the Blackwood estate, Serena Blackwood had already beaten her home. The older woman sat rigidly while her private physician cleaned and bandaged the wound on her palm. The gentle, refined smile that usually adorned Serena’s face was nowhere to be seen; the events at The Pinnacle Club had clearly left her in a foul mood that still simmered just beneath the surface.

The moment Serena spotted Liora, her brows drew together. "You didn’t take him to the hospital?"

"Mm." Liora strolled over unhurriedly, tossed the car keys onto the sofa, and dropped onto the cushions with careless grace. "He insisted he was fine, so I let him be. If he suffers later, it won’t be my problem anyway."

Something in Serena’s eyes softened just a fraction. She had been replaying the restaurant scene obsessively, growing more and more convinced that Liora’s behavior tonight had seemed strangely detached. Seeing her sister sprawled so casually now, acting exactly like her usual unflappable self, Serena decided she must have been imagining things.

"I’m not tired of him yet," Serena murmured, making no effort to disguise the way she viewed Elias as nothing more than an amusing plaything.

Liora exhaled slowly, the tension of the evening finally easing from her shoulders. After the entertainment she had witnessed, all she wanted was to unwind. "Then I’ll take him to Longhaven Hospital later if it becomes necessary."

Serena’s lips finally curved into a real smile. "You never mind the inconvenience, do you?"

Liora’s peach-blossom eyes curved with faint amusement. "Sis, you know me. I don’t have much, but time is one thing I have in abundance."

Serena gave a small nod of acknowledgment. "In that case, look into exactly how Elias managed to get close to Giselle Frost." Her voice dropped several degrees, turning glacial. "I want every detail."

If not for what she had witnessed with her own eyes tonight, Serena would never have believed someone like Elias Kane could possibly entangle himself with someone like Giselle Frost. The idea that he possessed enough pull to make the icy young heiress rush over in a fury was almost laughable. She had clearly underestimated this impostor.

After tonight’s betrayal, Giselle would never spare him another glance. That much was certain. But Serena still needed to know the full story. She refused to allow any unknown variable to exist in her carefully controlled world.

Liora stayed silent. Even without the order, she had already intended to dig deeper. What kind of method had Elias used to bewitch a woman as cold and noble as Giselle Frost? The question gnawed at her with genuine curiosity.

Outwardly, however, she only chuckled lightly. "Sis, I was only joking earlier. You’re really going to put me to work? I’m actually quite busy, you know."

"What you call ’busy’ is simply entertaining those little admirers of yours?" Serena’s smile remained soft, but her eyes had already frosted over. "You enjoyed the show tonight, didn’t you? Then get started immediately. Every single detail—leave nothing out."

...

Elias stepped into the dorm room and felt the familiar, comforting clutter wrap around him like an old blanket. Although Giselle had commanded him to return to the hotel tonight—probably after discovering his absence and going through whatever channels necessary to obtain his number—none of that mattered anymore.

After the way he had provoked her tonight, she was almost certainly raging somewhere private. Whether he obeyed the order or not was irrelevant now.

Besides, the dorm was far more comfortable than any sterile presidential suite. After all, he had three roommates who were currently drowning in guilt toward him.

Sure enough, the moment he crossed the threshold, Tim Reed and the other two roommates—Connor Blake and Ryan Ellis—swarmed forward in a wave of anxious concern.

"Elias, where the hell did you disappear to this afternoon?" Tim demanded. "Giselle Frost came looking for you in person. She even dragged the academic advisor into it to get your phone number."

Elias felt a flicker of understanding click into place. So that was how she had tracked him down. His previous relationship with the three of them had been lukewarm at best; they hadn’t even had his contact information. It had taken the academic advisor to bridge the gap.

The initial wave of relief at seeing him return quickly faded as the trio finally registered the bloodstains on his face and the fresh cuts across his palms. Their expressions shifted from worry to outright alarm.

"Elias, what happened to you?" Tim’s voice cracked with concern.

Elias quickly ducked his head and pulled his hands free from Tim’s grip, mumbling, "It’s nothing..."

The words convinced exactly no one.

The three roommates ignited with protective fury. "Was it Giselle Frost? Did she actually hit you? How dare she lay hands on a guy—is she even a woman anymore? I’m posting this on the campus confession page right now and exposing her real face—"

"It wasn’t her..." Elias shook his head slowly, biting his lower lip as he reached out to clutch Tim’s wrist. His eyes shimmered with quiet pleading. "Please... just don’t ask."

Faced with that vulnerable expression, Tim’s resolve crumbled instantly. He still looked utterly bewildered, but he dropped the idea. Connor Blake, however, couldn’t contain himself any longer. "Then... is Giselle Frost the one keeping you?"

The question had barely left his mouth before both Tim and Ryan Ellis whipped their heads around to glare at him with such intensity that Connor immediately clamped his mouth shut.

Elias absorbed every micro-expression—the curiosity burning behind their concern, the way they hung on his every word. Of course he knew how desperately they wanted the full story. He arranged his features into an expression of reluctant hesitation before offering just enough of the truth to hook them deeper. "It’s not Giselle. She... she’s helped me more than you know."

Far from satisfying them, the partial answer only fanned the flames of their curiosity higher. If Giselle Frost wasn’t the one bankrolling him, then why on earth would the untouchable campus ice queen bother helping someone like Elias at all?

Inside, Elias allowed himself a quiet, cynical laugh. Right now the guilt the three of them felt toward him was genuine. But guilt was a fleeting emotion—people forgot so easily.

And when they eventually learned that their supposedly pitiful roommate had suddenly forged an intimate connection with the very goddess they all secretly worshipped... what kind of ugly, complicated feelings would bloom in their hearts?

Elias didn’t mind in the slightest if they eventually turned on him and stabbed him in the back. In fact, the plan he was already quietly weaving for later required exactly that kind of betrayal.

So go ahead, my three perfect little tools... keep helping me exactly the way I need you to.