Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 2

Larissa did not return to the private room.

The incident in the corridor had attracted the attention of quite a crowd. That naturally included Travis’ subordinates. They had seen Travis leaving with Amber in his arms, but not a single person showed any signs of shock or surprise.

It was likely that they already knew about Travis and Amber’s affair.

Thinking back to how she deliberately acted affectionately with Travis in front of them, Larissa thought herself an idiot. They were likely laughing at her on the inside.

Doing everything in her power to hold back her tears, Larissa drove home.

The house was dark. When she turned on the lights, everything was as she left it before leaving for the gathering.

But the air had gotten significantly colder.

Without further delay, Larissa stuffed all of her valuables into two large suitcases and headed straight to her workplace, the Regal Dynasty Hotel.

She was the manager of the hotel’s housekeeping department, and she had a private staff room there due to her constant night shifts. Although there was nothing in there but a bed, it was enough to be a temporary home before she could find a new place to live.

…

Although Larissa was in charge of the housekeeping department, she was quite familiar with the people in the lobby as well as the reception due to having worked at the Regal Dynasty Hotel for almost five years.

"Ms. Seymour? I thought you took the day off today?" Livie, a receptionist, asked in surprise when she saw Larissa come in with two large suitcases.

"Something came up, so I came back." Larissa easily avoided the question.

But Livie was staring at her suitcases. "What about those?"

"Oh, an important guest is coming to our hotel. To provide the best service for him, I’ll be staying in the hotel for now." Larissa recalled the matter discussed by the general manager during the morning meeting two days ago and used it as an excuse.

Sure enough, Livie did not question her.

"Yeah, I heard about it from our manager too. Looks like an executive from the company. He told us to be as professional as possible for these two days. If we're caught making mistakes, then we’d have to pack our things and go." She pursed her lips.

Larissa hummed in response. She had no desire to hang around. Pointing at the elevators, she said, "Well, I’ll be heading up."

She had not even taken two steps when the sounds of two different sets of steady footsteps could be heard. In the quiet of the night, it was rather loud. Larissa turned around on instinct.

Two men walked in, side by side.

They wore tidy black suits and were rather tall.

Larissa’s attention was drawn to the taller man. He looked like one of those young stars with a huge following—slim eyebrows, captivating dark eyes, and soft lips set against smooth skin—and yet he was still rather masculine.

His left hand fell naturally at his side, and his right was loosely stuck in his trousers' pocket. Despite his elegance, there was a hint of roguishness to his temperament. As if sensing Larissa’s gaze, he looked up and turned to her.

His stare was terribly sharp, unlike his overall innocuous appearance. Larissa could not help but shudder at that.

"Um…would you like to check in?" Livie’s sweet voice sounded at just the right moment. Only then did the man withdraw his gaze, and Larissa quickly turned away.

The shorter man stepped forward and said, "Yes."

"Have you made reservations?" Livie queried yet again.

"Yes." He handed his ID over. "One presidential suite, and one deluxe suite."

The words "presidential suite" made Larissa pause once again. There was only one presidential suite in the Regal Dynasty Hotel. According to the general manager, it was reserved for that "important guest"...

Larissa flung her suitcases at the reception, turned, and made her way to that tall man. She put a professional smile on her face and stuck out her hand. Just as she was about to open her mouth, she suddenly remembered that she did not even know his name. Her smile froze for a second before she managed to cover it up.

"Hello. I am the manager of the Regal Dynasty’s housekeeping department. My name is Larissa Seymour. I will be in charge of any affairs during your stay."

The man gazed at her for two seconds before turning his attention to her hand.

"Hello."

His voice was just as melodious as Larissa had expected. It had a low, rich timbre, like a good-quality cello.

She was still caught up in it when her hand suddenly got cold—

The man had removed his right hand from his pocket and was gripping hers. His hand was just as smooth as his face, and his fingers were slender and well-defined.

Larissa gazed at her own hand, which was slightly more calloused than his, and a sense of self-loathing swelled from within.

"Kevan Rogers," the man said, uttering an unfamiliar name.

Larissa was stunned for a few seconds before she realized that he was introducing himself.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Rogers!" she said respectfully.

Kevan’s dark eyes narrowed as they took note of her facial expressions. Soon, the faint smile faded from his face, and a hint of frost crept into his gaze. He drew back his hand and stuck it into his pocket again.

The other man had finished checking in and handed a room card to him. "We’re good to head upstairs."

Kevan hummed lowly in response. He went past Larissa, accepted the card, and walked toward the elevator. When the other man bypassed Larissa, he kept shooting meaningful looks at her.

Larissa felt mortified by all the furtive looks. She touched her cheek awkwardly, and waited until they were both in the elevator before she asked Livie, "Is there something on my face?"

Livie shook her head in confusion.

…

Larissa got a call from Travis early in the morning. "Where have you been?" he questioned.

She did not answer his question. "Travis, let’s get a divorce."

There was a half-minute silence on the other end.

When Travis spoke again, his voice was a lot softer. "Lari, let me explain…"

"Sure," Larissa chuckled. "Go on. I’m listening."

Not expecting her reaction to be like this, Travis was stunned.

"Amber and I… It was just a drunken accident. I didn’t expect a child to get involved," he said. "I wanted to break things off with her, but she kept pestering me, insisting that I take responsibility…"

Larissa was not blind. She was not stupid either. Just based on his anxious expression yesterday, the affair was definitely not one-sided as he claimed.

"Okay, then." Larissa gazed out the window at the sky. The look in her eyes became cold. "Take Amber to abort the child today. Break it off with her, then this marriage may continue."

"But…" Travis faltered. "Amber’s already four months pregnant. Going through an abortion now will damage her health greatly… Besides… My mom has been urging us to have children since after the new year. She’s been calling every week. I was afraid that you might find it upsetting, so I never told you about it. But honestly, I’m so stressed out to the point that I’m gonna explode… It’s just as well that Amber is pregnant. Once she delivers the baby, we can bring the kid home and raise it. That way, my mom will get what she wants too."

Larissa closed her eyes, pushing down the rage and disappointment in her heart. She struggled to speak calmly. "Travis Hardy, I’ve told you before. I do not want children."

"I know why you don’t!" Thinking he had her figured out, Travis was a little triumphant. "You’re just scared of the pain, and you're worried that you’ll lose your figure after pregnancy! You don’t even need to go through all that now, you just need to raise the kid. Isn’t that great?"

Larissa choked out a laugh in her fury. Still fighting to keep her patience, she asked, "Does Amber agree with everything you just said?"

"Her agreement is not needed!" Travis somehow got aggressive at this time. Unfortunately, Larissa did not believe him.

"I’m not interested in raising children, much less raising someone else’s kid." She simply refuted him. "It's better if you stay with Amber. I think you two are good together."

Larissa mockingly hoped that they would stay together forever.

"Is there no room for discussion?" Travis asked.

"None," Larissa replied.

"Fine then!" Travis gave up playing nice, and his voice went back to its initial coldness. "Since you’re the one who wants a divorce, don’t think about getting a single penny from me!"

So, that was what all that acting was about.

Larissa’s heart froze over at this moment.

"Let’s go through legal proceedings. It’ll be fair and impartial," she said.