Chapter 157: The Last Glass

The moment Elias said it, the dining room erupted.

The teasing rolled through the room like a wave, loud enough to shake the ceiling.

Even Serena looked surprised.

Taking a drink for someone was already an intimate thing. When a man did it for a woman, especially in front of other people, the meaning became even harder to miss.

I can’t stand watching her get drunk.

I’ll feel bad if she hurts herself.

The affection in that kind of gesture was obvious.

Even between a boss and an employee, it could easily breed something improper. Alcohol dulled the nerves and stripped away the neat, rational layer people usually wore. It made them sentimental. It made them reckless. It let feelings that would normally stay impossible begin to seem reasonable.

And now, Elias was willing to drink for her.

A faint light passed through Serena’s eyes, quick enough that almost no one could catch it.

Then she said softly, "Can you? Drink it only if you can. Don’t force yourself."

Of course she would not reject him.

Sometimes rejecting someone’s kindness came from good intentions, but to the person offering it, it could feel like their courage had been thrown back at them.

It was like offering a seat to someone on the subway and being refused in front of everyone. The person who offered might feel awkward enough to regret trying.

More importantly, Elias was showing her his feelings.

How could she be that tactless?

Elias glared at Serena.

How could she ask whether he could?

Of all people, she knew best whether he could or not.

[System Theta: Cough...]

Wasn’t Elias the one who usually got worked over until his mind went blank?

From that angle, maybe he really could not.

Of course, System Theta did not dare say that out loud.

The next second, Elias lifted the glass in front of everyone and drained it in one go.

Maybe he drank too fast.

The deep red wine spilled from the corner of his mouth, slid along his smooth jaw, and traced down the pale line of his neck, staining it with a thin, striking mark that looked almost like blood.

The room exploded again.

Elias had clearly never drunk like this before. After forcing the wine down so quickly, he choked almost immediately. He bent over with his head lowered, coughing again and again.

Lucinda moved instinctively to pat his back.

A hand reached him first.

Serena’s.

She gave Lucinda a faint look. There was no clear emotion in her eyes, but Lucinda somehow felt the clean, unmistakable edge of a claim.

With a helpless smile, Lucinda lowered her hand.

Serena patted Elias’s back lightly, helping him catch his breath. The expression on her face was one no one in the room would have imagined seeing on Serena Blackwood before tonight.

Finally, Elias recovered.

His face had turned bright red, flushed and pretty in a way that made him look like a handful of spring petals scattered across white stone.

"You blush that fast?" Serena laughed softly. "You clearly don’t know how to drink, so why force it?"

At that single sentence, Elias jerked his head up and glared at her.

His expression was angry, but there was a thread of hurt under it.

"How was I supposed to know..." He pressed his lips together, then turned away. "Forget it. If you want to keep drinking, then drink. I won’t stop you."

His eyes had gone a little red.

Serena’s smile faded.

She softened her voice. "All right. I know Eli drank something he doesn’t like because of me. You even choked on it because of me. I’m happy."

Only then did Elias’s expression ease a little.

He turned his face away and refused to look at Serena. "Then keep drinking. I won’t drink for you again."

Serena shook her head. "Didn’t I already promise you? That was the last glass. I won’t drink anymore."

Elias softened completely, like an upset cat finally stroked back into place.

Then someone at the table started it.

"Kiss him."

The others caught on at once, voices rising together.

"Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him!"

Serena smiled again.

"Eli," she said, "they want us to kiss."

Then Serena witnessed what it meant for someone to change faces.

Elias’s face had already been red, but now the color deepened so much he looked ready to bleed from embarrassment. Serena could almost imagine steam rising from the top of his head.

His voice dropped too low for her to hear.

All she could see was him shaking his head, his eyes nearly pleading.

To understand him, Serena had to lower her head and bring her ear close to his mouth.

Only then did she catch his tiny, stammered whisper.

"N-No... there are too many people."

He had not refused clearly.

It was not that kissing her was impossible.

It was that kissing her here was impossible.

How was that a rejection?

It sounded more like a different kind of invitation.

Even Serena felt the sudden impulse to kiss him properly in front of everyone.

In the end, she did not.

She straightened and smiled. "Forget it. He’s shy."

Serena was smiling, but her eyes carried a clean edge of authority. It was just enough. She did not need anger to make the room understand.

The teasing slowly quieted.

The dinner continued, though it was already nearing its end.

Serena agreed to almost every request placed in front of her. She offered the maximum help she could give, one person after another, as if generosity cost her nothing.

At some point, Elias leaned against her arm.

His eyes drifted half shut. His cheeks stayed pink from the wine, soft and flushed, and even with his glasses on, he looked painfully easy to like.

When everything finally ended, Serena nudged him lightly.

Only then did he open his eyes little by little.

"Is it over...?"

"Mm."

Serena’s eyes had already cleared.

In her position, not knowing how to drink was impossible. It had almost become a passive skill.

Elias pulled away from her arm and stood. "Then let’s go."

Serena was about to stand too.

But the moment she straightened, her body swayed slightly.

Elias immediately reached out to support her. "Didn’t you say you weren’t drunk?"

Serena’s eyes were half open, half closed. She let Elias hold her and smiled faintly.

"My mind isn’t drunk. My body is."

"Body?" Elias gritted out. "I think you’re just stubborn."

Even so, he still helped Serena walk slowly toward the exit.

Seeing them like that, Lucinda said, "Why don’t you two stay here tonight? I had a large suite prepared for you."

Elias’s face reddened again.

He refused politely. "Thank you, but we should go back. Here... isn’t convenient."

Lucinda showed a look that said she understood perfectly.

"Then I won’t keep you."

Elias did not explain.

He only kept walking.

After they had gone a little farther, he seemed to think for a long time before finally gathering the courage to speak.

"Serena Blackwood, today... what did you mean?"

Serena pretended not to understand.

She smiled and deliberately leaned a little more of her weight onto him.

"What do you mean, what did I mean?"

Elias struggled to support her. "Don’t pretend. You know what I’m asking."

Serena stayed silent.

Elias grew anxious. "Don’t play dead. What did you mean?"

"What do you think?"

Elias fell quiet for a moment.

"I don’t believe it," he said. "You were too gentle to me today. It makes me suspect everything you’ve done to me is fake."