Chapter 184: Warning

The word "thank you" rang clear and clean, like a drop of morning dew clinging to a green leaf.

Giselle and Naomi heard it, and neither of their expressions changed.

To them, there was nothing strange about it.

Yvonne had politely let Giselle and Elias leave the elevator first. Wasn’t that the kind of thing a person thanked someone for?

But behind Yvonne Quinn’s gold-rimmed glasses, her eyes seemed to deepen.

In her ears, those two words should have had more attached to them.

Elias simply had not said the rest aloud.

Put together, the words became something else entirely.

Thank you for having me.

"Dr. Quinn."

Yvonne’s smile did not change. "Ms. Vale, after you."

Naomi felt oddly refreshed by the courtesy.

As expected of Longhaven Hospital’s most famous doctor. Even her manners were flawless enough that no one could find a crack.

"Thanks."

Naomi stepped out too.

Behind her, the elevator doors slowly closed. Yvonne stood alone inside, and for a brief second, she looked like a ghost swallowed by the dim elevator light.

After they walked out of the apartment building, Elias suddenly felt the phone in his pocket vibrate a few times.

He was still holding Giselle’s arm in an intimate little grip, so she felt the faint movement too. She lowered her eyes.

"Mm?"

Elias looked up at her and smiled. "Probably spam. Don’t worry about it."

Giselle said nothing more.

Only after they got into Naomi’s car and started toward Westbridge did Elias take out his phone.

Then he paused.

The message had come from an unknown number.

Technically, it did count as spam. The content, however, was strange.

3.

If anyone else received a text like that, they would only be confused. Elias smiled at once.

Interesting.

Whose little prank was this?

The instant the corner of his mouth lifted, Giselle turned her head from where she sat beside him in the back seat.

"What is it?"

"My roommate texted me," Elias said, smiling back at her without the slightest change in his pulse. "I’m replying."

There was one downside to raising Giselle’s favorability too much.

The little innocent’s feelings were too pure. She might not realize it herself, but once she cared about someone, her attention kept drifting toward that person without her even meaning to.

It did not affect Elias much.

Giselle would not check his phone. One lie was enough.

So, sitting right beside her, Elias began texting this stranger.

He did not rule out the possibility that Serena had suddenly lost her mind and was using some new number to test him, so his first reply stayed cautious.

What does 3 mean?

The reply came quickly.

Two times left.

The moment Elias saw the message, something clicked in his mind.

He immediately knew who it was.

Someone this stiff and boring in certain areas could only be Yvonne Quinn.

His smile turned richer. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He was not worried about Giselle noticing. He was talking to his "roommate," after all. By that logic, he was basically chatting with a real bestie. Smiling while chatting with a bestie was completely normal.

Yvonne, why are you suddenly speaking in riddles? Does "two times left" mean you want to sleep with me two more times? Aw, don’t be so lacking in confidence. I like you a lot. Whenever you want me, just call. As long as I’m free, I’ll come when summoned, and you can play with me however you want. No limit on the number of times!

Elias sent the long, shameless message and waited happily for Yvonne’s reply.

He figured the little brush across her hand in the elevator must have gotten to her. It had probably stirred up the twisted thoughts inside her, which was why she had suddenly texted him.

As for how Yvonne had gotten his number, Elias had already thought that through.

Mira Perry had his number. If Yvonne wanted it, all she had to do was ask her assistant.

Of course, he could not rule out the possibility that Yvonne had secretly saved his number earlier, and that her conscience had been wrestling with her darker impulses until now.

His phone vibrated.

Elias smiled.

There it was.

He opened the message.

Then he froze.

2.

Three. Two.

Next came...

Elias finally understood.

Yvonne was not booking him in advance or hinting at anything.

She was warning him.

A final countdown.

System Theta asked, "Host, what does Yvonne Quinn mean?"

Elias replied, "A countdown. It means... she’s telling me not to keep provoking her. Otherwise, she’s going to truly make a move on me."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Interesting.

The most twisted person was somehow the one with the strongest self-control.

Now he was curious.

If he really stepped over Yvonne’s line, what would she do to him?

Would she cut him open, or would she make him die in bed, trapped somewhere between pain and pleasure?

At Longhaven Hospital, Yvonne sat behind her desk in a white coat, looking at the phone lying on the polished surface in front of her.

A long time passed.

The phone stayed silent.

It seemed the boy had sensed her warning with his usual sharpness and pulled back in time before falling any deeper into the abyss. He had stopped displaying that dense, dangerous mix of curiosity and malice.

Yvonne flexed her wrist slightly.

A faint crack sounded.

What a smart...

Bad boy.

[Yvonne Quinn’s favorability has increased. Current value: 41%.]

Elias decided to move back into the dorm.

There was no special reason.

Giselle had also moved back into her dorm, which meant the two of them could go to class together every day.

The fairy who had once seemed too untouchable for ordinary life had finally fallen into the human world. Elias suspected Victoria Frost deserved quite a bit of credit.

If Victoria had not done something to Giselle, the high and distant heiress would never have become like this, willing to eat and live alongside classmates she once would barely have looked at.

Of course, Elias probably had something to do with it too.

The reason was the same: staying on campus meant she could walk with him to class every day, side by side under the trees.

Elias was moved.

Moved, his ass.

Walking across campus hand in hand every day was romantic, sure, but it was also too sweet. Too clean.

Elias had eaten too much rich food lately. This kind of plain vegetable dish felt fresh and interesting at first, but after a while, he started getting tired of it.

System Theta fell silent.

It had heard of people getting tired of meat.

It had heard of people getting tired of vegetables.

It had never heard of someone getting tired of vegetables because they were too pure.

But when Elias looked at Giselle’s favorability, now up to 54%, he decided that playing a campus romance game with her was not impossible.

Everything was for retirement.

Just like that, a stretch of peaceful days passed.

Then Timothy Reed suddenly came to find Elias.

"What’s up?" Elias asked.

It had been a long time since Timothy had last spoken to him.

Elias did not care whether Timothy felt guilty or not. Either way, Elias had genuinely been too busy to pay much attention to his roommates.

Now that Timothy had come to him on his own, Elias was willing to hear him out.

Timothy hesitated for a long while before finally saying, "Elias, are you coming to the party tonight?"