Aurora lay quietly on the sofa, her neatly cut hair already spread out around her. Hearing her phone ringing incessantly, she had no choice but to gently push the person lying on her. “Let me take this call.”
The person calling must have something urgent to say, for their persistence was notable. Aurora did not dare delay. Julian, initially annoyed by the interruption, softened upon seeing Aurora’s anxious demeanor. He picked up the phone from the coffee table and handed it to her.
“Don’t move,” Aurora warned. Julian gave her a reassuring look, and she pressed the answer button.
“It’s me,” she said, lowering her voice deliberately to mask her emotions.
“Miss, I’m here to remind you that you have half an hour. Do you need me to come and pick you up so we can go together?” Eric’s voice came through the phone.
The room was quiet, and Julian was close enough to hear every word clearly. Only then did Aurora remember her evening appointment with Jason, having almost forgotten about it due to Julian’s distractions.
“I… ah…” As Aurora was about to respond, Julian decided to tease her.
Caught off guard, she couldn’t help but let out a soft moan.
“Miss, what’s wrong?” Eric asked, hearing the unusual sound.
Aurora glared at Julian, her breathing still erratic. She cleared her throat quickly, “Nothing, just got bitten by a bug.”
Hearing her describe it as a bug bite, Julian became even more daring, amused that she had called him a bug.
“Oh?” Eric sounded skeptical. The soft moan he had just heard did not seem to him like someone reacting to a bug bite, especially knowing Aurora had never been afraid of bugs. He adjusted his glasses, his gaze deepening behind the lenses.
“You don’t need to come get me. I’ll head over soon and be there on time,” Aurora said, her voice and breathing noticeably heavier than usual as she struggled to maintain her composure.
“Alright, I’ll head over then,” Eric replied.
“Okay, I’m hanging up,” Aurora said, eager to end the call.
“Goodbye.” Although Eric said goodbye, he didn’t hang up. He planned to disconnect only after Aurora had done so.
Unaware that Eric was still on the line, Aurora tossed the phone aside. The call timer on the screen was still running when Eric distinctly heard a woman’s playful voice, “Julian, stop messing around!”
It was a sound he had never heard before, and Eric’s expression turned icy. His suspicions seemed confirmed. The delay in answering the phone and the strange tone of her voice were clear indicators to anyone familiar with the intimacies between a man and a woman.
“Little Bunny, who’s the bug now?” a man’s voice teased.
“Julian, I need to leave soon. Get up,” Aurora insisted, pushing the man.
“Little Bunny, you don’t know how beautiful you are…”
Her voice was muffled, and indescribable sounds came through the phone.
Julian glanced at the still-lit phone screen, putting more effort into his actions, especially after hearing Eric making his presence felt. Unhappy about it, Julian realized that the situation was not just between Aurora and Jason; Eric was also involved, complicating matters significantly.
Before the phone call, Aurora and Julian had been on the line for some time, and she had thought it would end quickly. However, Julian showed no signs of stopping. Gradually, Aurora began to lose consciousness, their voices distinct and clear over the phone, creating an increasingly ambiguous atmosphere even in Eric’s room, who was listening in.
Eric had never known that the woman, usually so cold, could also exhibit such a seductive side. Resting his head in his hand, his gaze deep and thoughtful, he switched the phone to speaker mode, allowing Aurora’s voice to fill the empty room.
“Say you’re mine,” Julian demanded, inexplicably insisting on hearing those words.
“I-I am yours,” Aurora replied, her mind muddled as she echoed his words, her voice coming through in fits and starts.
Eric’s expression grew darker and more sinister, as if he could see Aurora as she was now, with him as the protagonist instead of Julian.
Then came Aurora’s anxious voice, “I-I’ll go take a shower first. You heat up the food.”
“Do you want me to carry you?” Julian asked with a laugh.
“No need…” The call was abruptly cut off the next second.
Eric, hearing the dial tone continue, made no move to hang up. Instead, he merely adjusted his glasses, understanding something very clear. Julian had done it on purpose, otherwise, he wouldn’t have hung up right after ending the conversation. The man was trying to warn him.
How ridiculous, Eric thought, did he really believe that would make him back off?
There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Eric said indifferently.
A blonde woman entered, her face marked with respect. She avoided direct eye contact, her gaze nervously dropping, only to notice a certain reaction in the man’s body.
The only sound in the room was the busy tone from the phone’s speaker. What had just happened?
Eric glanced at her and commanded, “Come here.”
“Yes, Boss,” she replied, her words always carrying the weight of an order.
She approached him, the man maintaining a lazy pose with his head propped on his hand, “Help me.”
He was like a king on high, and she was less than a pawn before him. Her eyes lowered submissively, she said, “Yes.”
Her heart raced, not for the first time in such situations, each time filling her with a sense of pride.
Kneeling before him, her expression was one of utter devotion.
Eric released the play button, and a woman’s sultry voice filled the room.
He didn’t look at her; his gaze, hidden behind the lenses, was filled with deep resolve, listening to Aurora’s moans.
Hearing that voice, the woman’s face paled, realizing his desire was never for her.
As Eric’s body grew hotter listening to Aurora, tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. She had always longed for his real touch, yet his heart only ever harbored thoughts of that other woman!
She had known this all along, yet why was it so hard to accept?
Love was never a choice, perhaps doomed from the start.
Why wasn’t it me who met you first? There are no whys in love.