Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 9

Dylan spat out the water he had just drunk.

He hurriedly leaned forward to grab tissues from the dispenser and wiped his mouth as well as the wet stains on his clothes.

"My apologies." He was a tad embarrassed, and yet there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. Once he had straightened up again, he pretended to act serious by rubbing his chin in deep thought. Then he said in a straight-faced manner, "There actually is something wrong with Mr. Rogers. He really does have a problem."

Larissa perked up at that.

"He’s a total germaphobe," Dylan grumbled with disdain, clearly having been a victim of it.

This bit of gossip was nothing exciting for Larissa, but as she had not quite experienced it herself, she could not relate to him.

She just didn't quite understand. "How does being a germaphobe have anything to do with rejecting Karin Gallagher?"

"Mr. Rogers’ germaphobia is so extreme that he can’t even have bodily contact with anyone else. When he goes out on business trips, he doesn’t even want to shake other people’s hands."

Dylan’s words shocked Larissa once more.

When Kevan checked in that night, he clearly shook her hand, and last night, they had…

Larissa naturally would not think that she was the only exception for Kevan. After all, he did say that he originally wanted to have her get a call girl. Hence, she did not understand how Kevan’s ridiculous germaphobia would lead him to refuse Karin and have a call girl instead. Could it be that Karin was dirtier than a call girl to him?

Dylan saw her confusion but did not elaborate. Some things could not be interfered with by outsiders like him.

Larissa did not have the courage to ask either.

Now that business was concluded, she did not intend to stay any longer. As it just happened to be dinner time now, she asked out of courtesy, "Do you have any plans for tonight, Mr. Shields? How about having dinner? My treat."

Dylan did not stand on ceremony either. "Sure. Can I bring someone with me?"

Larissa could not think of anyone else but Kevan as Dylan’s tagalong. Even if she did not want to meet Kevan due to last night’s events, he did help her out this morning. So, she needed to show her gratitude to him too.

"Of course." She nodded with a smile.

…

The Regal Dynasty Hotel’s restaurant had a 3-star Michelin rating. Hence, it would not be considered negligent to invite someone of Kevan’s status to have a meal here.

Larissa and Dylan went over to occupy a table first. Kevan only arrived half an hour later. Unlike Dylan’s casual attire, he was still dressed in a suit, and his hair was clearly taken care of. His bangs had been completely swept up, revealing his gleaming forehead.

"I was in a meeting. It only ended now." He gave only a brief explanation for his tardiness.

Dylan was long used to this, and replied without complaint, "Have a seat."

The waiter arranged a four-person table for them. As Larissa was not familiar with Dylan, they naturally sat on opposite sides of the table. She thought that Kevan would sit with Dylan, but who knew that he would sit next to her without bothering to ask for her input?

The table was not very big, so they were very close to each other. Larissa only needed to move her arm a little to touch Kevan’s. For that, she felt like she was sitting on a hot pan, but Kevan seemed unaware of her dilemma.

"Why were you together?" He seemed to be asking this in passing, but his narrowed eyes had a cold glint to them that caused Larissa to hunch a little.

Dylan just smiled and threw the question over to Larissa. "This involves the privacy of my client. I think it’s better if Ms. Seymour spoke for herself."

"Client?" Kevan caught on to the key point before turning to look at Larissa, his eyes suddenly warmer than before. "You want a divorce?"

Larissa normally hated talking about her private affairs to others, but since Kevan had asked, she could only bite the bullet and confirm it. "Yes."

Kevan let out an unprecedented smile.

"That’s nice," he replied blandly with his gaze lowered. "With such unreasonable parents, I doubt your former husband was anyone good."

Kevan was right about that.

It was a pity that Larissa was foolish back then. She had not known to look beyond the superficial. After she experienced the insanity of the Hardy elders, she actually carried a glimmer of hope that Travis would be different.

That only led to her being proven wrong in the worst way.

However, her vexed expression—from Kevan’s perspective—ended up becoming her dissatisfaction with his words.

Pissed off at that, Kevan barked at a waiter who just happened to be passing by. "I’ve been sitting here for a while. Why is no one serving us water? Is this the service offered by the Regal Dynasty? Is it worth the expensive service charge your restaurant collects from every customer?"

The waiter was so embarrassed by the scolding that they kept apologizing before deferentially filling up his glass with water.

Larissa was also nervous. "Forgive me, Mr. Rogers. I will relay this to the restaurant’s manager. I’ll make sure that he pays more attention when training the waiters."

Kevan, however, refused to listen. Giving her a cold stare, he said, "Just focus on your department. You have no jurisdiction to be meddling in the affairs of the food and beverage department."

Larissa shut her mouth at once.

Seeing that the atmosphere had gotten awkward, Dylan quickly smoothed things over by saying, "Alright, alright. Let’s make our orders, shall we? I’m starving."

The waiter handed out the three menus in due course, waiting for the moment to take down their orders.

Kevan suddenly asked Larissa, "I heard that you’ll be treating us to the meal?"

There was a faint smile on his face, devoid of the frostiness from before. Yet Larissa felt uneasy about it.

"Yes." She forced herself to move, nodding twice.

"Wonderful." Kevan’s smile grew deeper, which caused Larissa’s unease to grow.

Kevan did not disappoint her.

He ordered the most expensive meal and added a bottle of red wine worth more than five thousand dollars. This was considered a normal meal to him, but it cost Larissa almost three months of her food expenses.

Although Larissa’s heart was aching from the loss, her expression remained unperturbed.

Seeing her stony face as well as the lip biting, Kevan only felt relaxed and was at ease as the frustration from before vanished without a trace.

…

Once the wine had been decanted and brought to the table, the waiter poured half a glass for everyone.

Dylan asked Larissa, "Ms. Seymour, can you drink?"

"Yes," she replied.

She was the manager of a department, at the very least. Every time there was a team gathering, her subordinates often toasted her. As such, she had developed the ability to hold her liquor.

"In that case…" Dylan raised his glass while smiling at her.

Larissa quickly touched her glass to his. "After this… I’m afraid that I’ll have to trouble you for quite a bit."

"Of course." Dylan took a small sip and suddenly smiled enigmatically. "Leaving asset division aside, if you want your former husband and his mistress to have a hard time, I can personally offer you several effective yet legal methods."

Larissa’s eyes brightened. "Such as?"