Chapter 197: CUTS
"Hi," Viper greeted Erika with a smile but that didn’t change her plain expression. She didn’t know who this man was and she had no interest in talking with him.
Without responding to him, she tried to repeat the same thing she did the first time she met him, leaving him but Viper suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Instinctively, Erika yanked her hand away from his wrist. She was now annoyed.
"Who are you and who do you think you are to touch me?" She questioned him without trying to hide her irritated tone.
The smile on Viper’s face immediately faltered when he saw her face. Worriedly, he immediately apologized. "I’m so sorry if I offended you."
Erika sized the man up from head to toe. She didn’t understand why the strange man was speaking to her in the first place. His black clothes seemed to want to ruin her bright day and she didn’t want to spend any time with him anymore. Without responding to him, she was about to leave but he continued,
"I saw you snooping around that particular room earlier, mind explaining what you were doing there?"
Halting her steps, Erika turned to face him. He has been following me for a long time, she guessed. "Don’t you think it’s rude to follow people around secretly?" She questioned him.
"Are you saying I should follow you in the open then?" He asked with a smirk, trying to flirt with her which he didn’t take notice of until the words came out of his mouth.
Scoffing, Erika concluded that this man must be crazy. She might not know the exact connection he held with Adrian but Erika had a feeling that they worked together.
"Who are you?" Erika asked directly. She didn’t want to beat around the bush anymore and would like to know the identity of this man who stood before her and uttered words uncontrollably.
Viper took a step closer to her and Erika took three backward, she didn’t want to be near him for any kind of reason.
Viper noticed her actions but didn’t say anything. He stared into her blue eyes that held curiosity, happiness, and anger all at once. The eyes, that was the only thing that was different from his late wife, Emma. Hers were midnight black that could send someone into a bottomless well. He moved his eyes to her blonde hair, which shined just like the sun.
"I’m Viper," he introduced with a soft tone which had Erika frown. Even though she didn’t want to recall her life when she was still married to Adrain, she tried to remember if he had any friend named Viper. Even though their marriage wasn’t a peaceful and lovable one, whenever there were any social gatherings, both she and Adrian would go together so that the media wouldn’t question the Hart family.
Viper noticed Erika lost in her thoughts so he flickered his finger in front of her face to bring back her attention.
"What are you thinking about Erika? Have we met before?" He asked her with the hope that Erika was Emma and she might have lost her memory or something. If that was the case, then he would go shoot Adrain to death and escape with Erika. While trying to study her facial expression, Viper anxiously waits for an answer.
Shaking her head, Erika responded with a firm tone, "We haven’t met before."
Without wanting to spend any more time with Viper, Erika turned to leave again but was stopped by Viper again. This time, he didn’t hold her wrist or touch her.
"What is it?" She questioned Viper with a solemn expression.
After releasing a slight chuckle to ease the tension around them, Viper asked, "Do you remember anyone named Emma?"
"I don’t know anyone named Emma?" Erika replied as soon as the question was asked, without wasting a second.
Not wanting to give up, Viper tried to question her some more but was interrupted by another voice that came to meet them.
"What are the both of you talking about?" Adrian asked as he walked towards them after coming out from a hallway. Erika noticed the first aid kit box in his hands and scoffed before tearing her eyes away from him.
Viper cleared his throat before he replied, "We were just talking. You didn’t properly introduce your ex-wife to me and I had to meet her walking alone."
Adrian chuckled before he remarked, "I’m sorry about that boss, but I’ve been so busy with the business lately and you went on a business trip remember? I’m sorry about that but you’ve seen her now."
Erika frowned when she heard Adrian call Viper boss and confusion rose in her mind. ’How many people are called bosses around this place and what business were they talking about ?’ she wondered.
"Erika, meet Viper, Viper, meet Erika," Adrain introduced.
"You didn’t have to do that, we’ve already exchanged names," said Viper with a smile, which had Erika stare at him with a questioning look. Why is he talking as if we are friends?
"Ahh...I see. In that case boss, you now know the woman who was once stolen from me by some rich brat? Erika, my ex-wife who will once again become my wife again," he dreamed loudly.
Erika couldn’t count the amount of times she had scoffed since the day began but she could already guess that it must have been a lot of times.
The people around her were simply crazy and she needed to leave before she caught their contagious disease.
"Erika," Adrian turned to her and began. "I’m sorry about what happened last night, it was my mistake and I shouldn’t have vented my anger at you," he apologized. "I didn’t know that I would lose my senses and throw that bottle right at you without thinking. It was my fault and I’m sorry once again."
It was at the mention of the bottle that Viper noticed the cuts on Erika’s arm. His eyes darkened at the possibility that Adrian had hurt his Emma.
