Chapter 83: A kind person by nature
Liora looked exactly as April remembered her from the last time they met—sweet, soft-featured, radiating a gentle, radiant innocence that naturally made people want to protect her.
She was currently dressed in a pristine, emerald-green evening gown and it looked like she was getting prepared for an event as well.
What are the odds that we’ll meet again so early? And what do you know? We might be heading to the same venue, haha, April thought as she looked at Liora with no ounce of guilt as to what she did.
Liora stopped in her tracks, her eyes darting from an exhilarated Matilda to April’s striking, midnight silhouette, and her breath hitched.
"Matilda, what’s going on?" Liora asked, her brow furrowing in deep confusion. She stepped closer, her gaze locking onto April’s face. "Wait... aren’t you... April? The maid who helped me out of my gown the night I arrived?"
The room went dead silent.
"So you remember me," April whispered, though her voice was loud enough for them to hear. "I don’t know whether to say I’m flattered or honored about that," she chuckled, but it was not a delighted sound.
It made Liora a bit uncomfortable, and she began to think. That morning, when she had asked about April after the chaos had subtly settled and she wasn’t feeling too down, she was told she went out to get medicine because she claimed she wasn’t feeling well.
When she asked about her again that evening, she was told April still hadn’t returned. She went to her mother about it, worried that April might’ve fainted somewhere since they said she wasn’t well.
She was the one who brought it to their notice that April had not returned, and they began searching for her, Madam Morgan biting her thumb and hissing under her breath, wondering if she had stolen the necklace after all and ran off with it.
But where could she have put it? She searched April herself, and the camera footage showed she walked out without even branching her room.
So she wasn’t exactly a suspect, but then again, she would be severely punished for trying to escape. She remembered her mother yelling to the guards to find her and bring her to her right away. April needed to be disciplined once again for her to remember not to act out.
Whatever happened afterward, Liora did not know. All she knew was that April had not been found.
Liora was a kind person by nature, but she wasn’t stupid.
She couldn’t understand how a completely penniless maid from her mother’s household was suddenly standing inside a high-security, ultra-luxury boutique, backed by a personal attendant. But one thing was for sure: there was no way a thief could come in here looking so composed and confident.
"Miss Liora!" Matilda shrieked, pointing a crooked, trembling finger straight at April’s face. "Don’t let her trick you! This is the rat that ran away the morning your jade necklace went missing! She is a certified, deceptive thief! I was right all along—she’s the one who took your heirloom, and now she’s using the black-market profit to fund this disgusting masquerade!"
Beneath her cold, deadpan facade, April internally let out a dry, mocking laugh.
She isn’t entirely wrong. She did steal the jade necklace and it was currently acting as her spatial dimension. But April didn’t feel a single ounce of remorse or guilt.
For ten years, the Morgans had stomped on her dignity, left her to starve, and scarred her flesh until the apocalypse came and she was freed from them, but she wasn’t truly free since she descended into another kind of hell, dying a death worse than a dog’s death in the wasteland.
Taking their rock was simply the first installment of her universal back pay. Besides, it was better in her hands than the protagonist who didn’t know about the impending doom.
If she could turn back time to when she stole the necklace, she would do it again and again and there would be no dent on her conscience.
"Miss Liora," April spoke, her voice dropping into a smooth, crystalline purr that completely bypassed Matilda’s screeching.
She looked directly into the sweet girl’s eyes, her gaze entirely empty of submission. "Your housekeeper is suffering from a severe case of cognitive decline. As your mother’s own hands confirmed before I left the gates, I was entirely clean. If you wish to accuse me of a crime in front of my retainer, I suggest you bring actionable legal evidence. Otherwise..."
April steps forward, her hand moving with a terrifying precision as she ruthlessly snatched the midnight-black satin gown directly out of Matilda’s grip.
"...do not touch what is mine."
Liora pursed her lips, a deep wave of unease washing over her. Right now, April gave off an intense, sharp aura that made her incredibly uncomfortable.
It was completely differnet from the woman who had briefly interacted with her, helping her take off her dress and even told her that had said these words, Everyone carries their own marks. There is no need to feel ashamed for surviving.
The woman in front of her made that phrase feel like it was meant to taunt her rather than ease her insecurities.
Matilda, meanwhile, wouldn’t stop screeching. "Security! Get this thief out of here! She wants to steal that gown!" She turned her venom back to April, her face distorted with spite. "That dress belongs on a proper lady like Miss Liora, not on a fake wench like you! You couldn’t afford a single thread of it even if you threw your body about like a slut!"
April finally decided to step back, her expression entirely unbothered, and she subtly cut her eyes toward her companion.
Samuel stepped forward effortlessly, his tall frame completely cutting off Matilda’s line of sight to April. The polite, weary air he carried minutes prior vanished, replaced by an imposing, dangerous presence that didn’t fit his assistant persona.
"Miss April is an important guest of Mr. Reed," Samuel announced calmly, his voice echoing with absolute authority across the marble showroom. "Any further form of defamation against her character will result in immediate, severe legal action from Reed Industries."
Then, his posture shifted, and his tone went pitch-black as he leaned in slightly, glaring directly down into Matilda’s bulging eyes.
"Watch your mouth," he hissed.
April raised an eyebrow from behind him, pleasantly surprised. This was the first time she was seeing Samuel genuinely vexed, and she knew she probably had that 85% loyalty metric to thank for it.
He wasn’t just doing his job; he was fiercely protecting her standing.
