No Love For The Villain - Chapter 51
Sierra found the figure reflected in the mirror unfamiliar. Her bare shoulders shrank back, and she couldn’t meet her own eyes. She even wanted to take the dress off.
But the moment Eli told her she was pretty, her anxious tension transformed into joy.
The feeling blooming deep in her chest like a heat haze was unmistakably happiness. The man as cold as winter warmed a corner of her heart like the sun.
Eli drew closer. He touched her fully exposed neck. The observant staff member quickly brought over a necklace—a strand of pearls.
“Your wife is so exquisitely beautiful. An elegant necklace would suit her perfectly.”
Eli listened quietly to the kind words, then took the necklace in his hand. As Eli, standing behind her, fastened the necklace around her neck, Sierra caught a strange scent.
A cool, metallic smell.
The smell of blood.
Sierra tried to ignore the scent of blood lingering at the tip of her nose. But the dangerous odor, impossible to dismiss, began to invade her peace of mind.
Did he hurt someone?
Someone…
Sierra recalled the silhouette of the man who had lingered outside the window. The man watching from outside the hotel might be dead now.
Could something like that have happened in the brief time it took to change clothes?
Sierra didn’t know how to harm someone so quickly, nor did she know how to remain calm while reeking of blood. His world, where death came easily, was a world Sierra did not know.
His steady hands fastened the necklace. The cold clasp pressed sharply against the back of her neck.
When her eyes met the watching staff member’s, Sierra thought that perhaps the smell had drifted that way too.
She felt like an accomplice to murder. She treated his crime as her own and tensed at the thought of it being discovered.
The staff member’s eyes curved as their gazes met.
“It truly suits you beautifully.”
The words “thank you” wouldn’t leave Sierra’s mouth. She was too tense. The smile she forced onto her lips stiffened awkwardly. The staff member then draped the coat over her shoulders.
“How much is it? I’ll take everything.”
Eli spoke. Sierra felt uneasy with the staff member standing so close to him. Before the staff member could even state the price, Eli had already taken out his wallet.
Sierra spotted a red stain on Eli’s neck as he turned.
It was a bloodstain.
Sierra’s eyes darted uneasily between Eli and the staff member. The staff member still seemed unaware of the bloodstain.
“Eli.”
As Sierra called his name, his hand opening the wallet paused. Eli looked at her.
Sierra reached her hand toward his cheek. Her hand, cold from being outside, touched his cheek.
“Thank you.”
Sierra spoke while meeting Eli’s gaze as he stared at her. She caressed his cheek as if expressing affection, then naturally moved her hand toward his neck.
With a sweeping motion, she wiped away the bloodstain.
Sierra clenched her hand, now stained with the transferred blood, tightly shut.
Meanwhile, the staff member calculated the price of the clothes and necklace and handed over the receipt. Eli paid without a second thought about the cost.
Sierra couldn’t bring herself to open her blood-stained palm. After Eli finished paying and headed toward the door, Sierra hurriedly followed him. Eli held the door open for her. Just as Sierra quickened her pace to step out,
“Just a moment.”
The staff member called them back.
Had they noticed something? Did they realize the man beside her had done something wrong? Sierra turned around, tense as an inexperienced criminal.
The staff member handed over a business card.
“Please visit us again.”
The staff member spoke with a kind smile. Sierra reflexively reached out her hand, briefly forgetting about the bloodstain on her palm.
Just as the red stain on her outstretched hand was about to be seen, Eli intercepted and took the business card.
“We will.”
Pocketing the card, he took Sierra’s hand. The two stepped outside. As if nothing had happened.
The street after sunset was dark. The way back to the hotel looked different from the path they had walked hours earlier.
The street that had once brimmed with life now seemed transformed into a dangerous place concealing secrets.
Did you kill someone?
The frightening question lingered on the tip of Sierra’s tongue. But it felt irrelevant. Whether he said yes or no, nothing would change.
As Sierra walked beside Eli, she was occasionally conscious of their joined palms. Their blood-stained hands.
Hiding them, she intertwined her fingers with his.
“You mustn’t go to prison.”
Sierra wasn’t sure whether she was gripping his hand to shield him or to not let go of him. Whether it was for his sake or for her own.
When she held his hand, relief washed over her. She wasn’t alone. As long as she held the hand of the man who saw her sorrow so clearly, it felt like she wouldn’t sink, even in the midst of swirling loneliness.
Eli pulled Sierra closer to his side as he answered.
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