After showering, Luis wrapped himself in a large towel and stepped out. She hummed a little tune as she entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
To be honest, even though they had already been intimate, exceptionally intimate, with all three holes penetrated and even uncovering her own previously unknown masochistic tendencies, the awkwardness of the evening felt like a strange, unfamiliar kind of awkwardness. The feeling was particularly odd. It just goes to show that humans truly are peculiar creatures.
"Did you go to a hotel?"
"How did you know?"
"Hehe, I flagged your ID card. Should I send Nina over, or would you like me to find you another beauty?"
Bellaâs call came through, her voice sultry and tinged with familiarity, though it certainly hadnât reached the level of flirtation.
"Pass. Iâd only be interested if you came. Arenât you asleep yet? Itâs so late."
"Soon. You should get some rest. Iâll have Nina contact you again tomorrow."
After hanging up, Luis was utterly bewildered. Not long after, the roomâs doorbell rang, the catering he had ordered had arrived.
In the living room of the luxury suite, right before the floor-to-ceiling windows, stood a dining table. A waiter wheeled in a cart, offered a polite smile, and promptly laid out the meticulously prepared dishes on the table.
The spicy selections included boiled fatty beef, spicy chicken, and shredded beef with chili peppers, among other signature dishes. When youâre hungry, you donât crave delicacy so much as substance. The rest were seafood stir-fries and roasted meats, perfect accompaniments for drinks.
Luis glanced over and realized he had forgotten to order any staple food, but it didnât matter. With nearly ten dishes, it was more than enough for two people.
"It smells amazing!"
Deewaâs alluring voice chimed in as she approached, wrapped in a large bath towel, her delicate collarbone and slender calves exuding a distinct sensuality.
Sometimes women are strange creatures. In Luisâs eyes, perhaps amplified by some status-based buff, he always felt that Chloe and she paled in comparison to his celestial, fairy-like sister-in-law.
Now, having washed off her makeup and emerged fresh-faced, Deewa seemed even more stunning in her natural state. With a playful glint in her eyes, calling her a reincarnated fox spirit wouldnât be an overstatement.
Deewa sat directly across from Luis and said with a chuckle, "You didnât even close the curtains? What if my towel slipped and I was exposed? I wouldnât mind you seeing, but I certainly donât want any perverts getting a free show."
She was remarkably casual about it. Luis smiled and drew the curtains.
When he turned back, she had already poured two glasses of sorghum liquor, each holding about two and a half ounces, and had tossed the beers into the ice bucket with practiced ease.
Luis was momentarily taken aback. He sat down, unsure of what to say. She placed the ashtray conveniently to her left, most men tended to smoke with their left hand during meals or card games.
The drinks were set before them, but she started eating before touching hers. Luis, ravenous himself, didnât overthink it and focused on filling his stomach first.
The atmosphere was peculiar. They hadnât opted for a playful, shared bath but had washed separately before diving into the meal.
They were dressed so intimately, so revealingly, with almost no privacy between them. Though alcohol is often a catalyst for passion, they were too famished to drink, despite the seemingly romantic setting.
For some reason, without a word spoken, an undercurrent of something called ârealityâ permeated the air, making it all feel rather surreal.
After letting out a satisfied burp, Deewa finally looked up and picked up her glass. Instead of clinking with Luis, she downed the entire two and a half ounces of 48-proof liquor in one go, showing not the slightest discomfort.
"Ahh, that hits the spot!"
On the contrary, she immediately refilled her own glass before asking, "Not to your taste? Want some beer instead? Or mineral water? I could order you some juice."
Luis shook his head, picked up his glass, took a small sip, and set it down. "Your alcohol tolerance is really impressive."
Deewa grinned. "My grandparents ran a rustic winery up in the mountains. I donât even know my own limit. But someone like David? I could drink ten of him under the table without breaking a sweat."
After a brief silence, Deewa murmured softly, "Youâre really something. After the police examined me, they said there wasnât a single fingerprint or trace of you left on my body."
"And then?" Luis replied with a teasing smile, not wishing to expend energy on explanations.
Deewa, who had been remarkably composed all evening, finally flushed. She gritted her teeth and said, "They examined me... down there too. But they didnât find anything. Just how deep did you... shoot? Nothing ever came back out."
Seeing her aggrieved expression, Luis understood immediately.
This woman had misunderstood. It was all thanks to the Systemâs. The external avatar had perfectly handled the alibi issue.
The moment the duration expired, everything related to that avatar vanished, every fingerprint left at the scene, every trace of so-called semen or bodily fluid contact.
Even any potential tissue samples, anything that could yield DNA information, was gone. In fact, the only traces left on Deewaâs body were those from David.
She was released immediately after the examination; in truth, checking her was merely a formality.
No one could possibly imagine the existence of such an incredible System. All the clues and details pointed elsewhere. Plenty of people in the VIP section had witnessed Luis, who had made a splash by bidding a million, present the entire time.
The inevitable conclusion, one even Dominic himself wouldnât question, was that David must have been on drugs, hallucinating, and acting recklessly. Most of the Taiga family didnât even bother reviewing the so-called surveillance footage.
But Deewa was the one who had been penetrated in all three holes. She was the most terrified, bearing the greatest psychological pressure.
Amidst the rivalry between the Taiga and Leon families, and faced with this brazen man before her, she was experiencing genuine fear for the first time.
What others saw as a normal outcome, she interpreted as Luisâs immense power and influence, not merely covering up the truth, but completely inverting black and white, leaving David utterly defeated with no chance of recovery.
Luis took another sip of his drink and said gently, "Donât worry. This wonât cause you any trouble. Thatâs what matters."
After these few words, the atmosphere lightened somewhat. Deewa became convinced that everything was indeed Luisâs orchestration, that this frightening man who had violated her was masterfully manipulating reality.
Not daring to overstep, she settled for a teasing remark: "Youâre such a lecher. Nancy is your sister-in-law, yet you two carry on so openly together."
"Itâs thrilling that way. She enjoys it, and so do I."
Luis picked up a piece of beef and ate it leisurely before asking, "Iâm curious, though, whatâs the story between you, my sister-in-law, and Chloe? Why is there so much bad blood?"
"Is it strange that thereâs conflict? In that wretched school, everyoneâs scheming. Your sister-in-law is probably the most naive of the lot."
Deewa didnât mince words. "The environment is just like that. I once took a part-time job as a ceremonial hostess for an opening event. I nearly froze to death and barely earned anything, but when I got back, rumors spread that Iâd been selling myself."
"I suppose itâs similar for them. Anyway, we just naturally ended up at odds."
"Itâs actually quite odd. The three of us didnât even know each other initially. But as time went on, we became like fire and water."