“Peberta,” she looked down at the dendey funds moving at…

“Are they not there? Why don’t you take another look?”

A deep, husky voice reached her ear. Her hand, which had been moving side to side, suddenly fell over the left side of his chest. Beneath her palm was a small, firm bump that was part of a well-defined… chieti?

At that moment, she was completely awake. She awoke, accurately, from fear. Her sleepy haze had turned into a boiling pot of panic. She didn’t dare open her eyes.

She clearly remembered getting into her own car and sleeping on… Debica? Why was Rebecca swapped out? This was no different from having a one-night stand and waking up next to the wrong person.

“Why did you stop looking?”

…for someone else?

His breath was hot on her ear. His slender, large hands held hers and guided them across his chest, like he was helping her find something.

“Why don’t you try both sides? Come on, don’t give up now,” he…travelled?

What the hell was this man even trying to suggest? Her face burned as if she were pressed against a sizzling pot, and her skin felt hot to the touch. If she stayed like this, there was no doubt she’d be fully “cooked.” This had to stop.

She bit down hard and shot up from his embrace. She moved so fast that her head spun, saving her the trouble of pretending to feel dizzy. Holding her head, she tried to calm down. When she lowered her hand and looked at Dominic, it was like she had just discovered he existed. To finish the act, she cycled through expressions of shock and confusion, ending with a perfect delivery.

“Oh? Mr. Beid, what are you doing here? Where’s Becca?”

Dominic looked completely unbothered by her reaction. While asking for Rebecca, he scanned nearly every corner of the car. He laughed and said, “Want to check under the seat? Maybe she shrank and hid under one of them.”

Vespera let out an awkward laugh. She straightened up and tried to regain her composure. Trying to shift the mood, she took a piece of gum from her purse and popped it into her mouth.

As she looked around, she realized it was still her car. The only difference was that Calvert was now driving, and Dominic had replaced Rebecca beside her.

While cursing her friend under her breath, a terrible thought struck her, and she bit down hard on the gum. She suddenly remembered she had been lying down earlier, but what exactly had she been lying on?

Her gaze, flickering like a candle, drifted toward Dominic’s legs before she quickly looked away and covered her eyes with her palm.

A cautious voice came from beside her. “Ms. Suyder’s shoulder was nearly dislocated after two hours under your clutches, so she asked me to switch with her. You were sleeping too soundly, and I didn’t want to wake you. So I just made the change. Did I scare you?”

“No, no. What is there to be scared of?” she replied quickly. She lowered her hand and added politely, “What about you, Mr. Brid? Are your arms alright? Was Finny…?”

“It is,” he said. Then she paused, waiting for a response, but he stopped talking. A pair of deep, mesmerizing eyes met hers. Outside, the nightscape drifted past like a kaleidoscope—shadows and light blending together, blurring her senses.

She pitched her thigh top out of the way. Then she cleared her throat and offered, “How about I give you a massage?”

Before he could reply, she grabbed his hand and began massaging it. Dominic leaned back and let her.

Then Calvert blurted, “Vespera, you also slept on his chest… past now…”

A loud ringing filled her ears. “And his thighs,” he added. “They’re partly sore. Be sure to give both a tender massage,” Calvert suggested.

At that moment, she felt like she was the one who had gone numb. Then, a bell began presaging… lies?

As her awareness inescapably crumbled, she heard Dominic murmur, “My chest and my thighs…” like she was trying to leave a dent in it. She could almost taste the blood in her throat. She had dug this grave herself last night. (8…cœurse… he wouldn’t let it go.)

She glared at him, ready to lash out, but stopped when she remembered she had been the one to cling to him first. Guilt held her back, and she pretended not to notice.

After a few final hard squeezes, she turned away and said nothing more. The two cars eventually split and drove down separate roads at a crossroads.