Miles Sterling stood downstairs, looking up, and imdiately spotted the window adorned with twinkling fairy lights in the dark night.
There was no need to count the floors to know that this window belonged to Vanessa Sterling’s room.
However, he had never seen those fairy lights before.
He took the elevator upstairs, opened the door to a pitch-black room, and his gaze fell on Vanessa Sterling’s closed door, where no light seeped through the crack—she should be asleep by now.
Without changing shoes or turning on the lights, guided only by the faint light of his phone, he walked to the door, gently turned the handle with his right hand, and the door opened smoothly.
The room was heated, much warr than the living room.
He shone his phone’s light towards the bed, catching the reflective eyes of Blackie.
Blackie was sensitive to the commotion, while Vanessa lay undisturbed, facing the window, quietly asleep.
The fairy lights hanging on the window alternated colors, not too bright but comfortably suited for nightti sleep.
Miles stood by the door for quite so ti until Blackie stretched lazily before jumping off the bed, which brought him back to his senses.
He looked down at his phone—it was 11:57.
Taking a deep breath, he lightly clutched the plush box in his hand, quietly walked over, and placed the box on the nightstand.
Blackie took the opportunity to slip outside, exploring a world it had never visited.
Hearing a soft ow from outside, Miles hurriedly turned, scooped up Blackie, placed it back in the room, and closed the door.
He stood thoughtfully by the door for a mont, turned on his phone’s flashlight, and headed upstairs.
In his own room, he ran a bathtub full of water, halfway through undressing, then felt sothing was amiss, quickly put his sweater back on, and directly went back downstairs to Vanessa’s room.
Opening the door revealed the sa scene as when he had left monts earlier.
After so internal struggle, he decided to go inside and take back the box he had placed on the nightstand.
Pretending nothing had happened, he silently left once more.
In Serephina, it was around six in the evening, still daylight.
The heavy snow could dampen everyone’s festive enthusiasm.
The hotel was located in a bustling comrcial area, with an evening bell-ringing ceremony to be held at the nearby clock tower.
Outside the window, crowds bustled by, noticeably more lively than in the past few days.
Shane Warner had no intention of joining the crowd, but if Audrey Sutton were there, he might take her out to soak in the local ambiance.
At this mont, he was only sitting on the sofa by the window, his eyes glued to Audrey Sutton’s fan group online.
Audrey had ntioned she would release a Christmas special at midnight, which was already past midnight in her country, yet the group remained lively without a sign of her.
Shane himself was waiting to see what the special content would be, curious about how bold his lovely wife could be.
But given the hour, Shane suspected Audrey had already fallen asleep.
Audrey had contacted him when she went out to play in the afternoon, saying she’d wait for her brother Stephen to finish his evening class to head ho together but hadn’t contacted him since.
Considering the ti back ho, Shane had sent her a ssage around 10 PM, which went unanswered.
Within Audrey Sutton’s fan group, about 99.9% of the mbers were girls; he was probably the only 0.1%.
Watching the barrage of ssages from her fans all day, filled with strange topics between the girls, Shane found it quite exhausting.
He also ca to realize how fast-paced the conversations were among girls, sparking his curiosity about Audrey’s chats with her friends.
Seeing that it’s already past 12:10 AM back ho, Shane figured Audrey had likely gone to sleep.
He put down his phone and shifted to a comfortable position on the sofa.
The snowy evening lacked the warmth of a sunset, and the weather outside appeared cold and gloomy.
With the heater on in the room, Shane was only covered by a thin blanket.
"Buzz buzz—"
Just as he closed his eyes, his phone vibrated beside him.
Reaching over to pick it up, he couldn’t help but grin as he read the sender’s na, sitting up straight on the sofa upon seeing Audrey’s ssage: Just saw your ssage, Sister Phoebe and my brother had a fight, I just coaxed her to sleep.
What Shane cared about wasn’t the reason behind Phoebe King and Stephen Sutton’s argunt; instead, he asked: Then why are you still awake?
Audrey Sutton: I was soaking in the bathtub, going to sleep after my bath.
Shane Warner was typing a reply when he noticed a group-wide notification pop up in the readers’ group. He clicked it out of habit and saw Audrey posting: Sorry babies, I’m late, I’ll upload the special picture to the group album first, and update X shortly!
Seeing the ssage, what ca to Shane’s mind wasn’t the special picture but the realization that Audrey had replied to him before the group. His grin widened further.
Imdiately after, an album notification appeared in the group. He lightly tapped on the picture, and as it slowly loaded, a long manga strip erged.
The first scene was of a full moon night, followed by an unsettling surprise for Shane: the transformation of a bunny into a beefy man.
The subsequent scenes deepened his confusion until he reached a familiar storyboard...
The images were clearly drawn based on a photo of him holding a perfu bottle, but Audrey had replaced the perfu with sothing requiring censorship.
Feeling a shiver down his spine, he quickly scrolled past the images, closing the album in an instant.
He couldn’t bear to look at his own hands anymore, feeling they had been tainted...
"Buzz buzz—"
A ssage from "Little Cabbage": Why aren’t you replying to my ssage?
Overcoming his initial shock, Shane replied: What did you do with the pictures I sent you?
In the bathtub, Audrey froze; she had just uploaded the naughty picture to the reader’s group, and Shane was suddenly asking about it—a coincidence that made her suspect he had seen through her "plan."
However, she was convinced Shane wouldn’t know about these because he never paid attention to her manga, let alone her reader group.
So Audrey replied: Because I missed you! You don’t update your social monts, and I can’t even ask you for a few pictures?
Shane Warner: Is my face not as nice as my hands?
Audrey Sutton: Both are nice!
Just after she sent those three words, a video call ca from Shane.
Audrey hesitated for a mont, grabbed a bath towel from the rack to cover her chest, and then answered the call.
Shane Warner: "You actually dared to answer?"
Audrey Sutton laughed, "If you dare to call, I dare to answer."
Shane Warner: "Then why did you position the cara so high?"
Audrey mimicked his earlier question, "Do you think my face is not good-looking?"
Without blushing or skipping a beat, Shane replied in a calm tone, "Sowhere else looks even better."
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