Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 159

The interior light suddenly turned on, brightly illuminating the space. With the room now filled with light, which had previously only had a dim lamp, Ashley involuntarily furrowed his brows and covered his eyes with his hands. As he blinked in the shade, adjusting to the light, a familiar voice reached him.

“I’ve come to report, shall I proceed?”

The businesslike voice was simply older than before, otherwise unchanged. Ashley, finally accustomed to the light, slowly lowered his hands, and his blurred vision gradually cleared, the outlines of objects becoming distinct.

The middle-aged woman standing some distance away looked at him with a face that was entirely as expected. She had been his father’s secretary for a long time, and continued to work as his secretary even after his father retired from active duty. She herself had said that her loyalty stemmed solely from her high salary, but most people who knew her thought that such loyalty for mere money was absurd. If that were true, her desire for money would have to be immense, and her dedication for over 30 years without resorting to embezzlement or other crimes was remarkable in another sense.

Ashley didn’t bother to consider all those possibilities. Whatever her reasons for being loyal to his father, even if she were to betray his father one day, it had nothing to do with him. He had spent his entire life, constantly, every single day, just trying to survive.

“Did ‘Ashley’ die?”

At Ashley’s indifferent voice, the secretary replied in her usual businesslike tone.

“No, not yet.”

A gasp of disbelief escaped Ashley’s lips. The secretary added a remark.

“There have been no suicide attempts or unfortunate incidents.”

“Someone who can’t even walk alone couldn’t possibly commit suicide.”

Ashley, who had lightly scoffed, asked again.

“He’s still carried by my father, isn’t he?”

The secretary replied in a monotonous tone.

“As you know, he struggles even to get out of bed.”

It was an answer that made the questioner seem foolish. Ashley mumbled to himself, as if to himself, at the expected words.

“My father wouldn’t want him to get better.”

At the secretary’s gaze, Ashley chuckled briefly.

“I overheard him talking to the doctor.”

That was also the reason why a young Ashley had left home and gone to the West. He was afraid of his father, and the shadow of death always lurking somewhere in the house terrified him to death. And he had barely managed to escape.

Just remembering where he was now made him feel so hollow he couldn’t speak. The secretary glanced at the table where Ashley was leaning one arm, then moved to pour whiskey into an empty glass.

“What are you saying?”

Ashley brought the half-filled glass to his lips, drained it in one gulp, and said,

“That he’s only receiving enough treatment to keep him from dying.”

Setting the empty glass back on the table, he continued.

“It’s common knowledge that if a Gamma mutates and even has a child, their life is in danger. Do you think he didn’t know that?”

“Of course he knew.”

Whether she was humoring Ashley or judging that it was better not to offer meaningless denials, she agreed with Ashley’s words. “However,” the secretary passively offered her own thought.

“I believe it was an uncharacteristic choice for Mr. Miller to rely on luck when he might have died.”

“He might have thought it better to kill him if he couldn’t keep him by his side.”

Given his father’s obsession with ‘Ashley’ that he had witnessed so far, it was a plausible inference. The secretary did not bother to deny it. Leaving her, who still remained inscrutable, Ashley mumbled to himself,

“If he dies, my father will embalm his body.”

The secretary, who had been silently watching him pour and drink more alcohol, spoke.

“There are no major changes regarding Mr. Miller. As you already know, ‘Ashley’s’ condition is visibly worsening, but he is still alive. For now.”

She added the unpleasant word, then quickly changed the subject.

“May I convey Junior’s condition to Mr. Miller exactly as I have seen and felt it?”

“You wouldn’t do it just because I told you not to, would you?”

Ashley scoffed at her indifferently. All her life, she had monitored Ashley under Dominique’s orders, and his every move was probably being reported to Dominique through her, even without Ashley’s direct involvement.

“Or do you think I’d offer you money to keep quiet?”

When Ashley sneered, she replied expressionlessly,

“I appreciate the offer, but I am sufficiently compensated.”

The secretary politely declined and continued.

“Mr. Miller’s message is: Don’t forget to extract your pheromones.”

Ashley made a V-sign with his fingers in a mocking gesture and sneered.

“He knows I go to that ‘damn party’ without fail, doesn’t he?”

“Of course, I know that, but.”

Ignoring Ashley’s cynicism, the secretary said,

“Going to the party and extracting pheromones are separate matters. You’ve been meeting that child again recently, haven’t you?”

It was a very subtle difference, but Ashley’s attitude changed.

“Koi is a Beta. You know that too.”

Knowing that his tone, which had been dismissive and uninterested in everything until now, had subtly changed, the secretary replied indifferently.

“Yes, so I’m curious why you’re meeting him. Have you developed a masochistic hobby due to a brain abnormality?”

Her question was incredibly rude, but her tone was as flat as if she were reading a report, showing no curiosity or mockery whatsoever. Ashley deliberately prolonged the time by pouring alcohol, and only after bringing the glass to his lips and putting it down did he finally speak.

“No, I’m just playing a very childish game with my life on the line, you could say.”

The secretary tilted her head. It was the first emotional behavior she had witnessed, but that was all it was.

“Is it worth it?”

The secretary asked again. Ashley chuckled, then mumbled in a low voice,

“Well, but this is all I have left.”

The secretary said no more and retreated. She had already crossed the line enough. After she left, having conveyed Dominique’s final instruction once more, Ashley was finally alone.

The lights were still brightly lit. The secretary had not bothered to turn off the interior lights again. Ashley, unlike before, sat alone in the brightly lit room and tilted the whiskey bottle, but it ran out before he could even fill the glass halfway. He recalled that he had already finished two bottles of whiskey, but despite that fact, he wasn’t drunk at all.

Damn pheromones.

After his manifestation, he never got drunk, no matter what alcohol he drank. Like all true Alphas, ordinary drugs, alcohol, and even narcotics had no effect on him. No matter how much he drank, his mind only became clearer, and he couldn’t fall asleep at all. Sometimes, he would have the absurd thought that he wished he had drunk alcohol before his manifestation. Then he would have known what it felt like to be drunk, but because he manifested, he would never know for the rest of his life.

The night was endlessly long, and he spent yet another night almost wide awake.

Koi also tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He sighed deeply again and turned onto his side.

He had already sent Sarah a message canceling their appointment. Since canceling on the day itself was truly the worst, Koi chose to bravely send the message, even though it was quite late.

Fortunately, Sarah was awake and graciously accepted Koi’s apology. In return, Koi promised to buy her a nice meal next time. He couldn’t bring himself to lie and say he wasn’t feeling well, but thankfully, she didn’t probe further.

There are so many good people.

Koi felt grateful to her, washed up, watered his plants, and then lay down in bed. As he closed his eyes, Ashley’s face immediately came to mind. Remembering what he had said while holding out the card, his chest ached again.

How could he do that?

He couldn’t understand it at all. At that moment, Koi felt as if Ashley was a stranger he had never seen before. It felt as if 10 years, which he had been unaware of, were suddenly thrust before his eyes. The old Ashley was never like that.

Isn’t the usual reaction to apologize when an appointment is canceled and try to make the other person feel better?

The old Ashley would definitely have done that. But now, it was completely different. To break an appointment and then try to smooth it over with money, and with such a matter-of-fact attitude, Koi was shocked.

That’s not Ash.

Koi squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to sleep. As he drifted into a disordered sleep, he vaguely dreamed of his childhood.

<I like you, Koi.>

Ashley, who smiled brightly and kissed him, his figure boldly skating across the ice, him rushing towards Koi after finishing his final performance, and finally, his sincere confession with a kiss.

“Mmm…”

Koi let out a small moan as he wandered through his dream. That night, his entire body began to burn with a terrible fever.