Ch. 1881..1885
Chapter 1881
Liam stated coolly, “It's Saturday. | don’t have to work.”
“Oh.” Caprice mouthed.
He shot a look at her. “What are you doing here?” *
Caprice avoided his gaze, “I was going to visit your mom, but it turns out she’s not around. | was just about to leave.” He glanced at the driveway, and something flickered inside his eyes. “Who drove you here just now?”
She confessed, “Piper’s brother. He’s a good friend of mine back in Glanchester.”
“How long have you known him?”
“Around ten years.”
“Why is he in Westchester?”
“He came here for work.”
Liam made a face and suddenly remarked, “It’s hot out here. Come into the house.”
With that, he turned around and walked into the house, fully expecting Caprice to follow him.
It seemed like he completely forgot about her mentioning that she was leaving.
Caprice hesitated.
After walking a short distance, he suddenly stopped and turned back to look at her. “What are you doing standing there?”
Caprice was very fond of Liam, but there were times when she revered him as well. She was not the only one who felt this way. Even Isabel and Flint, who were usually fearless, were intimidated by their brother as well.
Caprice jolted back to her senses and quickly paced toward him. The two of them entered the house together. This part of Westchester was significantly cooler than the main city, but the sun was scorching at this time of the day.
The moment they entered the house, they felt a gust of cool breeze rushing at them, offering a welcome relief from the heat outside.
Liam went toward a chair by the window and sat down.
There was a small table in front of him with a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses.
After he sat down, he filled one of the glasses with wine and proceeded to take a measured sip from it Caprice did not know what to do with herself, so she stiffly sat across Liam.
She thought to pour herself a glass of wine as well. When she tried to reach for the bottle, she accidentally brushed against Liam’s wrist. He was reaching for the bottle at the same time as her.
She immediately jerked her hand back as if she had been shocked by an electric current. Her heart skipped a beat when she grazed against his wrist.
Liam glanced at her without the most remote change of expression. Then, he turned to the housemaids nearby and ordered, “Bring her some juice and snacks.”
The housemaid quickly went to the kitchen.
Caprice spoke up, “Liam, I’m nineteen.”
Liam looked up from his glass of wine. “So?”
“| can drink now.” Caprice started gingerly. She may not be a fan of alcohol, but she did enjoy the occasional glass or two now and then.
He did not speak but let go of the bottle of wine instead.
She grinned, then she took the bottle and poured some wine into the empty wineglass.
The wineglass was immediately colored a dark, velvety red. Contrary to its sweet and alluring color, the taste was a sharp and bitter sting.
She frowned the moment she took a sip.
Coincidentally, the housemaid brought a glass of juice and some snacks to the table.
She immediately set the wineglass aside and opted for the juice instead.
Liam noticed her queer behavior and grinned. He did not make any comment. Then, he picked up a book and began reading.
Caprice quickly finished the glass of juice. She had nothing to do and merely stared at Liam while letting her thoughts wander. Then, she noticed a piano nearby and asked, “Liam, would you mind if | played the piano?”
There was nothing else for her to do, and she did not want to make Liam uncomfortable by staring at him all day. She decided to play the piano to kill time.
Liam looked up from his book. “Sure.” Caprice got up and went to the piano.
She would not call herself a talented musician, but she had a significant amount of practice on the instrument growing up, partly due to the insistence of her grandmother. As a result, she had a good grasp of the fundamentals.
There happened to be a collection of sheet music resting on the desk of the piano. She flipped to one of the pages and began playing a piece.
Chapter 1882
Chapter 1882 Her fair fingers soon danced across the black and white keys on the piano.
First, she fiddled around with the tune and rhythm. Like an obedient device, the piano produced gentle noise the way she intended it to. Soon, she entered a state of trance, letting the music flow through her without any thought.
Dum, dum, dum... The chords reverberated across the room. Sitting next to the window, Liam held the book in hand with an intent look in his eyes.
He looked at Caprice and observed the way she lost herself in the music, her eyes half-closed. She seemed intoxicated by the music she was playing and was beaming like a satisfied kitten.
He smiled at the sight of her.
Meanwhile, at the top of the spiral stairs connected to the living room, two figures were lurking upstairs and looking down at Caprice.
“The only thing saving my ears from permanent damage is the quality of sound from the piano,” Flint commented while leaning against the railing. He frowned while observing how Caprice was completely immersed in her music playing.
Isabel was already covering her ears with her palms with a deep scowl on her face. “Hurry up and text Liam and ask him to stop Caprice. It’s either that or I’ll send you down there to ruin this nice little moment they’re sharing.”
“Why are you sending me to do your dirty work for you? Do it yourself!”
Isabel glared at him. “Do you want me to push you down the stairs right now?” “Okay, okay. Geez ”
Without their parents around, there was no longer anyone to lord over them. Flint reached for his phone and relayed Isabel’s message word for word to Liam. Downstairs, Caprice was halfway through the piece.
The pace and difficulty of the piece shot up considerably toward the second half of the piece. stared intently at the music sheet and had to slow down her tempo to process the piece.
Despite her best attempts, the music she played had broken into sporadic, uneven chunks. She
She frowned but continued pressing on, trying to match every key on the music sheet as closely as possible. She could not embarrass herself in front of Liam!
No matter what, she had to play till the end! Dum... dum dum...
It only grew worse as time went on, to the point whereby she herself could not stomach the sounds she was making on the piano anymore.
Ugh.
She panted and had to withdraw the urge to give up right then and there, to turn away from the piano. That was when a figure suddenly appeared from behind and sat next to her.
The first thing she noticed was his unique smell.
Immediately after that, she noticed another large pair of hands resting on the piano. The long and slender fingers began to fly in a coordinated fashion along the keys like a butterfly dancing above. a hedge of roses.
A beautiful, melodious song followed.
Caprice grew wide-eyed as her heart began to beat faster. She stared at Liam’s beautiful hands as the beautiful piece of music carried her away.
“Come on, play,” Liam spoke suddenly She came back to her senses and stammered as she spoke, “I... | don’t know how to play this piece “Just follow my lead,” he said.
Follow his lead?
She was hesitant. “I can’t.”
She was only going to mess it up and kill his rhythm.
“It's fine.”
“Come on,” Liam spoke reassuringly. He spoke with warmth the first time, then followed up with a firm, encouraging voice. “Here goes nothing. Caprice thought.
“Don’t blame me if | ruin it.” She whimpered.
With that, she pressed her fingers against the keys,
Dumm!
Just as she thought, she barely managed the first sequence before playing the wrong key. She flinched and withdrew her hand from the piano. immediately after that, an arm wrapped around her back and held her right wrist firmly.
Like a puppeteer, Liam placed her palms back on the piano. He held his palm over hers, aligning each one of their fingers together. With that, he coordinated their joint movements with his left hand and began playing the piece.
The music came out perfectly
Caprice’s face had turned beet red by this point. Her heart was beating like a motor on overdrive, and her body was unnaturally stiff.
The reason for her agitation was that she could feel her back directly pressed against Liam's chest. Not only could she feel the temperature coursing through his palms into hers, but she could also feel his breath beating on her neck.
It was to a point where he was almost resting his chin directly over her head!
Chapter 1883 He...he... How could he perform such intimate actions with her? Did he see this as nothing more than a sibling interaction? How about his girlfriend?
Her heart was going to lurch out of her throat. The sound of the piano was replaced by an incessant ring in her ears. She felt like she was going to pass out any second.
Dum.
The last note concluded the music.
The living room descended into silence again, and Liam removed his hand from hers.
“Do you know how to play the piece now?” he asked.
Caprice stuttered, “No um, no.”
“Let's do it again.”
“No...no need.”
“Hm?” He lowered his head and cast a suspicious look at her.
She rose immediately and drew back several steps away from him, covering her face the entire time. Liam frowned. “What's the matter?”
She stammered as she spoke, “Liam, you...you’re getting a little too close to me. | don’t... | don’t think it’s appropriate.”
She had feelings for Liam, but she was a woman with honor! She would not allow herself to be the third party in Liam’s relationship with Heather!
Astiff silence fell over them. After not receiving a response from Liam, she slowly pried her fingers away from her eyes and looked at him cautiously.
He had risen from the piano bench at one point and was now standing behind the piano. He cast a quiet look at her. There was the usual indifferent expression on his face.
It was as if the person who held Caprice’s hands and helped her play the piano piece was an entirely different person. What if... what if she looked too much into it?
“Liam, I... | didn’t mean anything by that,” she explained vainly.
Liam suddenly became very morose. “| have some work | need to take care of later. Are you going
to be sticking around or are you going home?”
Caprice was afraid of overstaying her welcome. “I’m going home.”
“Okay, I'll send you home,” he said as he walked outside
Caprice followed him without a word.
Upstairs, at the landing. Isabel and Flint were dumbfounded by what they witnessed.
“Does he have any work to take care of later?” Flint raised his suspicions.
Isabel remarked, “If he did, he wouldn’t be at home today at all.”
This only confused Flint further. “Then, why did he say that? Did something happen between those two?’
Isabel shook her head and expressed, “You could say that there’s something up with Caprice too. She seems like she’s afraid of getting too close to Liam at all.”
“Why? | remember this one time around two years ago when she tried to snuggle in bed with Liam while she was visiting us during a vacation. Going by this rhetoric, Caprice should be jumping at every chance she could get to get closer to Liam,
Isabel remarked, “She was just a kid back then, and she’s grown since then.” Flint was not convinced. “It’s only been two years. Did she lose feelings for Liam?”
Isabel was running out of clues. “I have no idea.”
Liam’s car drove out of the Carters’ villa.
Caprice was seated in the middle row instead of the back. Her heart was still beating restlessly.
She placed her hands on top of her thighs and sat like a totem. It was how a well-behaved child would sit They spent the journey in complete silence.
Eventually, the car stopped outside the gate of the dormitory.
“See you, Liam,” Caprice said curtly before stepping out of the car. She clung her purse close to her body before quickly trotting up the stairs.
Inside the car, Liam sat all by himself in the back row.
He leaned against the back of his seat and watched Caprice’s figure disappear up the stairway. He wore a sullen frown on his face full of gloom.
Ding! He received a text.
He reached for his phone and saw that it was a text from Flint. “Liam, why did you send Caprice away? Did you two get into a fight?”
Liam heaved a long and exhausted sigh. They did not fight, but he sure did want to confront her head-on. He had no idea what was going on with her. In the past, she would cling to him like a bedbug.
It was such a sharp contrast to the present whereby doing something as casual as playing piano together would cause her to recoil away from him. Also, what was it supposed to mean when she remarked that it was inappropriate?
This was not the only episode in recent memory. This strange behavior had been going on for some time, and she had been growing distant.
Could she have possibly fallen for another man?
Chapter 1884 At the Emerald V clubhouse, Freya and Piper entered with the VIP card and met Moses shortly after they went inside.
He was dressed in a suit and held a glass of wine in hand. He seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with several men of high stature.
Freya wanted to go up to greet him, but Piper stopped her from doing so.
They only approached Moses after he was done exchanging a toast with the men.. The girls were glad to at least meet someone they knew here.
The place was known for providing excellent service, and they had a wonderful time. Soon, it was evening.
After the event came to a close, Freya and Piper were each given a gift from the venue. After that, they said their goodbyes to Moses before preparing to leave Emerald V.
As they were walking out of the hall, they saw Heather coming in the opposite direction. She was wearing an expensive-looking dress. Every other accessory she wore, from her necklace to her bracelet and her purse looked like they cost a fortune.
One of the managers of Emerald V was following her everywhere she went.
Freya and Piper recognized her immediately. They exchanged a look before promptly taking another route to the exit so they would not have to engage with Heather.
It was not so much that they were afraid of Heather. They just were not in the mood to deal with her, especially considering that this was her turf which gave her an advantage over them.
Soon, they were out of the hall. The two exhaled at the same time.
“Why is she here?” Freya asked in a puzzled voice.
Piper speculated, “She’s probably here to join Emerald V’s event as well. They head towards the exit of Emerald V while talking.
Meanwhile, Heather stood in front of a set of French windows which offered her a clear view of the figures of Freya and Piper leaving Emerald V.
She noticed them the very moment she arrived.
The reason she noticed them at all was that they stood out jarringly among the crowd. They were dressed without any resemblance of taste, like cheap commoners. The worst offender of the two was that girl who went to Carter Tech City with Caprice last time. She was dressed like a bug.
Why were they here? When she noticed them heading out, she turned to the manager of Emerald V and asked, “Do you know who those two are?” There was a short list of mernbers in Emerald V, thus the manager should be familiar with most of them
The manager followed her line of sight and identified Piper and Freya. He informed curtly. “The lady on the left is Piper Rockon, and her father is the chairman of Rockon Technology. The girl with her is her roommate.”
Rockon Technology?
The same company that had been negotiating a deal with her family’s business recently?
It came as a surprise to her that the imbecile Caprice had a roommate of such good stature.
Heather processed the information in silence, then an idea suddenly came to her. She reached for her phone and made a call.
“Dad, it’s me. | remember you mentioning that you’re going to meet the representative of Rockon Technology the day after tomorrow...
Caprice stayed inside the dormitory.
Around evening, after the sky had turned dark, Freya and Piper returned to the dormitory.
It was evident that they had a good time today. Upon their return to the dormitory. Freya harped on and on about meeting Moses at Emerald V among many other interesting things they saw there.
“| have never seen something so grand in my entire life. It was so classy, and | felt so nervous being there at all. Good thing Piper and Moses were with me the entire time. Speaking of which, Moses doesn’t have things easy over there. He’s always been a high-achiever, but when he’s over there, he has to play second fiddle to the other bosses there and entertain them.”
Freya cast a suggestive look at Caprice. “You won't be able to imagine what the place was like. It’s crazy! There were even a few handsome guys who came up to flirt with us.”
Caprice smiled and teased her, “How handsome could they be anyway?”
Freya blushed and said, “The classy and gentlemanly type. In terms of looks, they're comparable to Moses.” Piper chuckled. “Alright, alright. That guy back there looked like a walking red flag. Don’t even think about it.” “Okay, | know, | know.”
They continued chatting for a while about what they saw at Emerald V until at one point, Freya suddenly remembered something. She turned to Caprice sharply. “Oh yeah, do you know who we saw when we were leaving the place?”
Caprice asked curiously. “Who did you see?” Freya and Piper exchanged a look before revealing the name at the same time, “Heather!” Caprice stirred and asked, “What happened after that?”
Freya told her, “She was dressed like royalty, and even the manager of Emerald V followed her everywhere to attend to her. We avoided her completely and came home.”
Chapter 1885
Piper mused, ‘I suppose she comes from a powerful family in Westchester as well.” Freya nodded
Caprice pursed her lips and stayed silent.
After a while. Trey called and talked about bringing them out to get something nice to eat.
Both Freya and Piper were eager to go, and since Caprice had not had dinner yet, she went with them They left the dormitory and hopped into Trey’s car
Trey took them to a famous spot for late-night bites where there was a staggering amount of options. They ate until midnight, then Trey sent them home Freya drank a lot. The moment she stepped out of the car, she yanked Piper with her and returned to their dormitory
Caprice was the last to leave She turned to Trey and smiled appreciatively “See you, Trey Make sure you catch up on some rest at the hotel
Trey was dressed in a sporty, casual outfit today It was undeniable that he was handsome, albeit still rather juvenile, even bratty at times
“Got it, you too.” Trey responded with a quick smile and ruffled Caprice’s hair. He seemed like was intentionally messing up her hair
She glared disapprovingly at him Trey grinned mischievously and pulled his hand away As Caprice turned and went into the dormitory, Trey promptly returned to his car and drove out of the area
Caprice suddenly caught sight of something from the corner of her eye, so she turned around in the direction where Trey had driven off into
His car was already out of sight. There was nothing notable in the area, not a single person in sight as well Maybe her mind was playing tricks with her She turned around and continued into the dormitory
Meanwhile, behind a large tree on the edge of the open space outside the dormitory, two men could be seen crouching in the darkness
One was keeping a watchful eye on something while the other was sending a text on his phone Inside Liam’s office in Carter Tech City
Dingl
His phone rang suddenly.
He set aside his papers and picked up his phone.
It was a text from his secretary, Mitch. “Sir, we received an update from the two men we assigned to tail Caprice She went out with her roommates for supper with another man tonight. After supper, he sent them back to the dormitory before leaving.
“While the man was saying goodbye to Caprice, he ruffled her hair. It looked like the two were very close with each other.”
Liam frowned.
He ruffled her hair?
The two seemed close?
Did she fall in love with another man while leaving him in the dark?
A dark look came upon his face while he texted Mitch. “Did they catch a look at his face?” Mitch replied, “They snapped a picture. I'll send it over right now.”
Apicture was sent shortly after.
It was a man and a woman standing outside the car.
The girl had her back turned to the camera while the boy was standing at an angle that faced the camera. He wore an affectionate smile while he looked at her.
Although the girl’s appearance could not be made out from this angle, it was evident that it was Caprice. Who else could have such an adorable posture even when idle?
His expression turned cold.
He pursed his lips tightly and after a suffocating silence, he took a breath and texted Mitch, Investigate further.”