The Seductive Pretty Boy of the Matriarchal World-Chapter 43: Kiss

"You’re Elias’s..."

The voice on the other end of the line cut off abruptly, as if someone had clamped a hand over the speaker’s mouth. Muffled fragments still leaked through—"maybe we shouldn’t ask," "probably not a good idea"—before the line went quiet.

Liora Voss’s casually dismissive expression sharpened by degrees, a glint of genuine entertainment flickering through her peach-blossom eyes. She knew precisely what that interruption implied and exactly what the unfinished question would have been.

You’re Elias’s sugar mommy...?

Nine times out of ten.

Just from this single call it was obvious how much his roommates actually cared about him. Liora wasn’t surprised in the slightest. If even Serena Blackwood’s towering arrogance and Giselle Frost’s glacial pride had tumbled headfirst into Elias Kane’s web, manipulating three ordinary boys his own age would be effortless for him.

The real question was whether the boy had ever paused to consider this particular ripple while he played his endless games with people’s hearts.

Humans were creatures of jealousy, after all.

Even if the envy of three college boys couldn’t truly harm him, Liora was bored right now. She didn’t mind adding a little extra friction to his carefully balanced life. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Consider it... the price he paid for deceiving her one more time.

Liora let a faint, velvet smile curve her lips and deliberately lowered her voice into something low, magnetic, and laced with the lazy fatigue of someone who had spent the entire night awake. "You boys are Elias’s roommates?"

Her tone carried the effortless confidence of a woman who had never lost a single round in the game of desire—sultry, indulgent, and dangerously charming.

The other end of the line was visibly stunned by that voice. After a stunned beat they stammered back, "E-Elias... you mean Elias?"

"Mm." Liora kept her voice soft and gentle, the kind that invited trust on first hearing. "Thank you so much for caring about him. When Elias wakes up, I’ll be sure to tell him."

The planted impression took root almost immediately. Believing her to be as warm as she sounded, the voice on the line gathered courage and asked hesitantly, "So... you’re Elias’s..."

"I’m Elias’s girlfriend," Liora answered with a light, affectionate laugh. Mission accomplished.

Not his sponsor. His girlfriend.

She had spent the entire night investigating every recent event in Elias’s life, which naturally included a full dossier on his three roommates and their tangled history with him. Tim Reed, Connor Blake, and Ryan Ellis already knew Elias was being kept by someone. They also knew Giselle Frost treated him with unusual favoritism. Now add one more woman—her—and suddenly Elias was entangled with three completely different women at once.

Liora had no idea what persona Elias had crafted for himself in front of them, but no matter what mask he wore, it was about to shatter into pieces. She had just elegantly stripped it away for him.

Still smiling, she ended the call, deleted the record with a few precise taps, and slipped the phone back into Elias’s lax fingers exactly as she had found it. Nothing had happened. Nothing at all.

Back in the dorm, Tim Reed, Connor Blake, and Ryan Ellis huddled around Tim’s phone, staring at the ended call in stunned silence.

Giselle Frost wasn’t the type to leave marks or gentle caretakers in her wake. The woman on the phone had sounded so soft, so willing to stay by Elias’s side while he was sick. She clearly wasn’t the one hurting him. Which meant the real culprit—the one actually keeping him—had to be someone else.

Three women.

After a long, heavy pause, Connor Blake broke the silence first. "Guys... do you think Elias has been lying to us? What if his dad isn’t even sick?"

Otherwise, how could he possibly have the mental energy to juggle three different women—especially someone as untouchable as Giselle Frost?

"Elias wouldn’t joke about his own family, right?" Ryan Ellis bit his lip, voice quiet.

Connor gave a cold laugh. "He’s already three-timing people. Why would he suddenly care about his family?"

Tim Reed silently pocketed his phone. "Forget it. This is his private business. We shouldn’t speculate."

The three of them drifted apart, acting as though it were nothing more than a minor, irrelevant footnote. After all, no matter how many boats Elias stepped between, it had nothing to do with them.

That was what they told themselves.

Yet the genuine guilt they had felt toward their roommate thinned out noticeably in that moment, like ice melting under sudden heat.

...

In the quiet infusion area of the hospital, Elias Kane slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was still hazy as he glanced at the IV bag; only a little fluid remained. He had woken at the perfect moment.

Liora felt the shift in his posture and looked over. "Awake?"

"Mm." Elias lifted his head from her shoulder and rolled his neck with a small stretch. "How long was I out?" His voice came out thick and sweet, still rough with sleep and medication—a side of him she had never seen before.

Liora started to check her watch, then stopped. "Your phone?"

Elias obediently unlocked it. Two hours.

Which meant Liora Voss had sat completely still for two full hours, letting a feverish boy use her shoulder as a pillow.

That obedient?

Elias snapped fully awake, disbelief flashing across his face. He stared at her for several long seconds before offering a sweet, almost boyish smile. "Thank you."

"Mm." Liora’s expression gave nothing away.

Elias narrowed his eyes. Something was off. What had she done while he was unconscious?

He was about to demand answers when the young male nurse arrived right on schedule to remove the IV. Elias changed tactics mid-breath. "Why did you come looking for me so early in the morning, anyway?"

He didn’t bother asking how she had found him. Every one of those women had their own terrifying network of ways to track him down.

With the nurse still present, Liora couldn’t answer directly. She simply arched a brow, half-smiling. "What do you think?"

Elias’s eyes lit up with understanding. "You here to fuck me again?"

The young male nurse’s face flushed scarlet at visible speed. He pretended he had heard nothing, swiftly removed the needle, muttered "Press here yourself," and practically fled the area.

Once the nurse was out of earshot, Liora let out a soft scoff. "You really have zero sense of shame."

She also silently cursed her own earlier stupidity for momentarily thinking this boy looked angelic.

Elias ignored the nurse’s instruction entirely. He let the small bead of blood well up and slowly soak into the bandage, staining it crimson. Rising to his feet, he tested his still-weak legs and gave a lazy smile. "Serena Blackwood flaunts her depravity in broad daylight without batting an eye. Why should I have any shame?"

"Or maybe you’re the one who gets shy in front of outsiders?"

Liora never engaged with him on the topic of Serena, especially not when he was actively provoking her. She simply refused to rise to the bait.

Elias accepted her silence with easy understanding. "Let’s go, then."

Liora lifted her gaze. "That eager?"

"Of course." Elias sniffed hard, deliberately dramatic. "While I still have this cold, I need to pass the virus on to her as quickly as possible. I tried last time and failed. This time it’s definitely going to work!"

"Oh, right." Another thought occurred to him. "I haven’t eaten breakfast yet. I’m starving. Let’s grab food first. Serena’s going to be late anyway."

The IV had been on his own dime. This breakfast was going to be a free ride.

"No." Liora rejected him flatly and started walking.

Elias’s eyes widened. He hurried after her, falling into step at her side. His lips pushed out in an exaggerated pout, voice turning soft and deliberately pitiful. "I’m sick, you know? Is this how you treat a patient? Come on, sister, have some pity on me..."

Liora had long since developed immunity to his fake pathos—especially when the boy currently had a cool ten million sitting in his account. Who would feel sorry for someone that rich?

Seeing that the act wasn’t working, Elias switched tactics. He grabbed her arm with both hands, trying to physically halt her stride.

Liora treated him like air. His strength was negligible right now; he couldn’t budge her an inch.

Elias’s eyes narrowed. Then his lips curved into a sudden, mischievous grin. He gave her arm another tug, rose onto his toes, and lightly jumped—just enough to press a fleeting, dragonfly-light kiss against her cheek.