No Love For The Villain - Chapter 33
“Milk shake, too.”
Eli added. Sierra thought he must like milk shakes. But when the food was served, the milk shake was placed in front of Sierra.
“For me to drink?”
Sierra asked. Eli answered while cutting the pancake into small pieces.
“You like sweets.”
“It tastes similar to that weird pastry.”
Weird pastry—Sierra understood he was talking about the Twinkie she had hidden for Isaac. She took a sip of the snow-white milk shake.
Sierra flinched at the cold, but her expression softened as the sweetness melted on her tongue. The artificial milk flavor was, as he said, similar to a Twinkie. As she was about to take another sip, Sierra met Eli’s eyes.
“Just to your taste. Sweet.”
Eli pushed the bowl of pancake cut into bite-sized pieces toward Sierra. The fork he had been holding was placed to the side of the bowl.
To Sierra’s eyes, the fork that had touched Eli’s hand came into view before the sweet-smelling pancake. Sierra carefully picked up the fork. The fork, still faintly warm, held the lingering heat from Eli’s hand.
Sierra, fiddling with the fork, speared a piece of pancake and put it in her mouth. While Sierra ate the pancake, Eli watched her, occasionally sipping his coffee.
In the restaurant, a singer’s gentle voice flowed like the soundtrack of a romantic movie.
[Because of you, a song flows in my heart. Because of you, my love story has begun…
I live only for your love and kisses. Being beside you is heaven to me.]
Sierra let the song lyrics sink into her ears. If she ever heard this song somewhere again, she would remember this moment—the man sitting across from her, the fork still carrying his warmth, the sweet milk shake.
But since she didn’t know the song’s title, she might never hear it again.
Eli looked out the window. Only then did Sierra lift her head properly and look at him.
It was more familiar to act in secret—running, drawing, even going to find Miriam and Isaac, everything had always needed to be hidden, without anyone knowing.
So, she stole glances at Eli’s face. She hid the urge to ask what he was looking at, what he was thinking, so no one would know.
Sierra took another sip of the shake. She endured the chill spreading in her mouth for the sake of the fleeting sweetness. Just as her lips began to tingle from the cold, Eli rose from his seat.
“Wait. Don’t go anywhere.”
Leaving those brief words behind, he walked away, leaving Sierra behind. Sierra, unable to let go of the fork, watched Eli’s retreating back as he left the restaurant. Her eyes, following the fading figure of Eli, trembled with unease.
After he left the restaurant, the door closed.
Sierra sat there in a daze. She looked out the window. Right in front of the window was the parking lot, so she immediately spotted Eli’s black car.
Eli got into the car and started the engine. His car reversed, as if ready to leave at any moment.
The thought that he might leave her behind washed over her. The singing voice no longer sounded beautiful.
He’s leaving.
The moment the certainty struck, Sierra hurriedly slid both feet out from under the table.
Just as she was about to rise from her seat, an employee approached. The employee stood blocking her way, their red lips curving into a sharp, pointed smile.
“Excuse me. I… know you.”
The employee studied Sierra’s face slowly, with a gaze like a policeman recognizing an escaped prisoner.
Sierra’s breath caught in her throat.
Was this someone sent by the pastor? Were they trying to send her back to the red house?
“You’re an actress, right?”
“……”
“I thought you looked like one from the moment you came in. But I don’t really watch movies or dramas much, so I can’t quite place your name. Sorry.”
The employee held out a piece of paper and a pen in front of Sierra. Their gaze still fixed intently on her.
“Could you give me an autograph?”
An autograph?
Sierra, unsure what was being asked, stared blankly back before reflexively taking the pen. The employee’s expression brightened immediately.
“Please write your name too. I want to hang it on that wall over there.”
The employee pointed to an empty wall in the restaurant.
Sierra hesitated, then placed the tip of the pen on the paper. As she carefully wrote each letter of her name, the employee kept talking.
“This is my first time meeting an actor. They say celebrities really look like celebrities, and it’s true. Your face is so small, your legs are so long…”
Sierra. After neatly spelling out her name and lifting her head, Sierra met the employee’s eyes. Their eyes curved softly.
“You’re beautiful.”
Faced with an unfamiliar compliment, Sierra could only blink like a child hearing words she didn’t know how to receive. Belatedly, she replied, “Thank you.”
The employee looked at the paper bearing Sierra’s name with a satisfied expression, then glanced out the window.
“Is that person an actor too?”
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