Sweet Subterfuge

“Ms. Seymour here is my daughter-in-law. She’s been married to my son for almost a year but hasn’t gotten pregnant yet. We’ve
never held it against her and wanted to take her to the hospital for checkups, but she refused no matter what. She even spoke
aggressively to me in front of a bunch of relatives to embarrass me!
“But even then, my foolish boy didn’t divorce her and kept protecting her! Since she’s incapable of getting pregnant, my son
found a way and got a surrogate instead. She even agreed to it, but now that the surrogate is pregnant, she wants to back out of
it! Two nights ago, she even pushed the surrogate down onto the floor at a fancy restaurant. The woman was already four
months pregnant! Also, she poured hot stew all over the poor girl! The surrogate nearly lost the baby, and she’s still under
observation at the hospital!
“Tell me, people. How can she be so cruel!”
Larissa always knew that Janine’s skills in distorting the truth were impeccable but hearing the ridiculous extreme to which she
had twisted the truth caused Larissa’s chest to go tight once more.
“Since you’ve chosen to publicly humiliate me, I don’t think I need to bother sparing you and your son’s reputation.” Larissa
straightened up, her attitude neither haughty nor humble.
“First off, there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m not pregnant simply because I don’t want to be. I’ve come clean to your son about
this early on in our relationship. He was afraid that you couldn’t accept it, so he never told you about it. Secondly, your son did
not find a surrogate, and he never informed me either. That woman who is four months pregnant is his mistress—oh, no, soon-
to-be wife actually, because I’m already going to divorce your son. Thirdly, that woman crashed into the waiter herself. How she
banged herself up has nothing to do with me.”
“You’re lying! You little liar! Shameless bitch!” Janine raised her hand in preparation to slap Larissa again, but the latter was not
going to let her prevail. She only got slapped because she had not had the time to react. This time, Larissa caught Janine’s wrist
and stopped her.
“I don’t care if you don’t believe me. My conscience is clear, and I don’t care how you see me. If there’s nothing else, I will return
to my work.”
Larissa let go of Janine’s hand, but her hair was yanked on the moment she turned. The pain from her scalp caused her to hiss.
“You little liar! Fucking bitch!” Janine’s aggrieved voice sounded from behind. “You will go to the hospital with me! Apologize to
the poor girl! Apologize to my grandchild that you nearly murdered!”

Larissa instinctively yanked at Janine’s hand, but the latter had a firm grip on her hair and refused to let go. Janine began to drag
her out, and the other hotel staff did not dare provoke the elderly couple with such great “combat power.” They could only try to
persuade them from afar.
“Ma’am, please don’t do this!”
“If you don’t let go, we’ll call the police!”
However, threats like these did not scare Janine. “Do it! Call them! Let them be the judge. How long should my grandchild’s
murderer be sentenced to jail for!”
Suddenly, a cold voice sounded. “What’s with all the commotion?” The tone was filled with impatience.
Rachel was the first to react. “Mr. Rogers, sir!”
The other receptionists looked over and followed her example. “Mr. Rogers, sir!”
However, Kevan did not bother looking at them. He came over slowly, his brow furrowed deeply. “Does the security of this branch
do nothing? You would allow some random lunatic from nowhere to come and abuse your manager?”
The security guards had clearly been informed by their supervisor too and were wary of Kevan. So, when he said that, those who
were still observing and hesitating came over at once. Even if Janine screamed, shouted, punched, and kicked, they refused to
back off.
Soon, they managed to free Larissa. Her bun was now loose from Janine’s yanking, and the cheek that was swollen from the
slap had also gained a bloody scratch from the mayhem. Her clothes were now in complete disarray from the tugging and
yanking, and she was in a sorry state indeed.
Seeing that security was determined to chase them out and not put up with them like before, the Hardy couple lay down side by
side on the floor in perfect synchronization.
“Help! We’re being beaten up! Murderers! Does the law still exist around here?” they howled loudly, even rolling about at times.
The guards stared at one another before looking toward Kevan for his next order.
Although Larissa was frequently embarrassed because of them, she had never once experienced anything like this before. She
only wanted to bury herself in the ground right now. Sucking in a deep breath, Larissa prepared to go over to persuade them to

leave. She had just taken a step forward when Kevan stopped her.
He was so much taller than her. Whenever they stood together like this, she had to look up to see him. Kevan’s head was turned
down slightly, his gaze on her face. His own expression was dark, likely because he was in a bad mood.
“Go upstairs,” he said flatly.
Larissa wanted to flee from everything, of course. The further away she could be, the better. But no, that was not okay. She said,
“This incident started because of me. Of course, I should be the one to deal with it.”
“You? Deal with it?” Kevan suddenly let out a cold snort. “How do you plan to deal with it? Be slapped and dragged by your hair
again?”
His sarcasm was not disguised in the slightest. Larissa’s face was prickling with heat, the flush reaching her ears.
His smile disappearing, Kevan repeated, “Go upstairs. I’ve called the police. You’re not needed here.”
She could see the resolve in his eyes. “...Okay.” She turned and headed toward the elevator.
Once Kevan was sure that she had entered the elevator, he instructed the security guards. “Pick them up and throw them out.”
The guards complied, and the Hardy couple resisted with everything they had.
“If you dare touch me, I’ll sue you till you lose everything! I will also get on television and tell everyone how shitty your hotel is! I’ll
make sure that no one comes to your hotel!” Janine screeched.
“Wait.” Kevan motioned for the guards to stop.
Thinking he was frightened by her words, Janine clambered up from the floor and smiled triumphantly. “Scared, eh? If you are,
then get that bitch, Larissa, out here. She will go to the hospital with us! Only then I may consider not suing you, and you will only
have to pay for our medical fees!”
Kevan stuck his hands into his pockets, his dark eyes gazing sharply at her. A shallow smile appeared on his face. “Medical
fees? How much?” he asked in a genial tone.
“200 thousand!” Janine said strongly with her hands on her hips.

“200 thousand?” Kevan raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”
His forthrightness stunned Janine. Chagrined, she waved her hand and said, “I made a mistake, it’s not 200 thousand, it’s 500
thousand!”
“500 thousand? That’s fine too.” Kevan did not hesitate.
Hearing this, Dick Hardy glared at Janine before stepping in front of her. “That’s too little, we demand one million!”
“How about this,” Kevan’s smile grew bigger. “I’ll give you two million.”
The Hardys’ eyes widened with delight.
“For your lives.” Kevan finished speaking.
The smiles of the Hardy couple stiffened on their faces.