Chapter 117 : Chapter 117
Chapter 117 : Can We Be Good Sisters for Life?
Eve stopped mid-step and tilted her head in confusion.
Vivian pointed to her own cheek. Though she said nothing, the meaning seemed obvious.
However, Eve misunderstood it as a request for her to touch it.
“Tsk!” Vivian frowned and slapped her hand away. “I didn’t say use your hand. Can’t you give me a kiss?”
So that was it.
Eve suddenly understood. But in her mind, a kiss did not necessarily include the cheek. Thus she leaned down toward Vivian’s lips instead.
After lingering like that for a while, Vivian was both surprised and satisfied by Eve’s clever interpretation. Her face flushed with shyness as she waved her hand impatiently.
“Go already, go! And when you come back, remember to bring some dessert from the shop you recommended.”
After the maid left, Vivian listened as the footsteps faded away.
She lifted a hand to touch her lips, then finally buried her face into the pages of the book in front of her.
A moment later, she suddenly laughed softly.
“Idiot.”
---
After leaving Morninglight Manor, Eve did not choose to use the family carriage.
Even though she had the authority to do so, she preferred to go alone.
It was close to noon when she finally appeared in the city center, walking with a parasol in hand. Without lingering anywhere, she headed straight for the JM Clinic again.
Since the clinic had originally been built to serve the lower and middle classes, most of the patients waiting there were dressed very plainly.
Some could even be described as somewhat shabby.
But it did not bother Eve.
She did not really discriminate much—at least not in the conventional sense.
To her, there were only two categories: humans and vampires.
And she herself happened to be stuck right in the middle.
So technically…
She could discriminate against both sides equally.
“Yo, look who it is—the busy lady herself,” Annabella said as she set down a rag and casually handed Eve a bottle of water. “Instead of serving your rich employer, what brings you to my humble little place?”
Her grin still looked as annoyingly smug as ever. She jerked her chin toward a private lounge nearby.
“Let’s talk inside. Too many people out here.”
Eve did not move yet.
“What about the patients?”
“Ah, it’s fine. I recently hired a chil—cough—an intern. They’re very capable. Don’t worry.”
“Did you just say chil—”
“Don’t say it,” Annabella interrupted quickly, grabbing Eve and dragging her into the lounge.
With a relieved sigh, she took off her white coat and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Truth be told, although this woman might be a bit strange in the head—with unusual thoughts and rather bizarre behavior—she was extremely serious when it came to her profession.
That was one of the reasons Eve could tolerate interacting with her.
The other reason…
Well, those who understood, understood.
After all, she was the one who provided Eve with “food.”
Seeing Annabella sit down on the sofa and loosen her collar to cool off, Eve shook her head slightly and sat beside her, leaving a palm’s width of space between them.
She was about to speak when Annabella suddenly noticed something.
“Wait… sis, you…”
Her eyes widened.
Her gaze locked directly onto the collar around Eve’s neck.
Even the Hatherin Family emblem hanging from it suddenly seemed unimportant.
Because the collar itself was the real issue.
“You… you actually gave it to her?!”
“Gave what?”
“That! You know exactly what!”
Eve frowned slightly, raising a hand as if to knock some sense into her.
But Annabella’s reaction was so exaggerated that even Eve felt awkward.
Apparently, people in extreme emotional states could unleash surprising strength.
Including catching the slap of a vampire.
“Look at yourself!” Annabella cried dramatically. “We haven’t seen each other for a few days and you’re already wearing a collar!”
Eve was silent for two and a half seconds before replying uncertainly,
“Am I… even human?”
“You—oh… right…”
Annabella momentarily had no response. She had basically dug a hole for herself and fallen into it.
After a moment she shook her head vigorously and continued.
“It was that red-haired brat, right?! Damn it! I should’ve driven the car straight into a ditch and blown it up back then!”
“You gave it to her? You kissed? Did you—”
Her words came out in a rapid barrage of increasingly incomprehensible questions.
The emotional explosion culminated with Annabella dramatically collapsing onto the sofa like someone who had just died.
Eve: …
She had no idea what that meant.
But it did not look like a joke.
She genuinely could not sense Annabella’s breathing anymore.
After hesitating for a moment, Eve remembered a method she had used before.
She bent down, took off one of her boots, and extended her bare foot toward the “corpse’s” face.
Almost instantly—
Annabella reacted.
Her nose twitched.
Her eyes snapped open with shining excitement.
“Wow! That scent! Intense!”
Eve quickly pulled her foot back before she could grab it, silently putting her boot back on with visible disgust.
Reliable as always…
Annabella, newly revived, stared blankly for a moment before immediately leaning closer again.
Almost in tears, she demanded,
“Just tell me, please! If I don’t get an answer I’m going to die of anxiety! Did you two actually do it or not?!”
“…We kissed.”
“Then did you do it?”
At that point Eve had absolutely no idea what this indecent woman was talking about.
Still, she thought about it quietly.
If kissing was excluded, there were really only two other things she could think of.
Calligraphy…
And the taste of the sea.
But could she actually say that?
Definitely not.
Her instincts were screaming at her again.
If she said it, trouble would follow—especially in the form of this brain-damaged nightmare clinging to her forever.
So she simply shook her head.
Seeing that, Annabella straightened up, hands on her hips, breathing heavily.
“Phew… thank goodness. First kisses can be refreshed, but first nights can’t.”
“Oh right. Then what’s the meaning of that collar?”
“It’s just decoration.”
“You sure it’s not your master’s command?”
Eve decided she no longer wanted to answer.
Half-closing her eyes, she felt a wave of exhaustion.
“Can we talk about the real matter now?”
“That topic change was way too abrupt!”
Even though Annabella was eccentric, she knew Eve would not come here without reason. She could always question her later.
“Fine. But before that, your big sister here has something to ask you. You came at the perfect time.”
“You go first.”
“Hmm… Eve, you would say we’re good sisters, right?”
Annabella suddenly used a strange opening move. And whenever she started like this, nothing good followed.
“No—”
“Please give me some face. I’m begging you.”
Eve fell silent.
For some reason she felt an overwhelming pressure.
Refusing now seemed impossible.
Finally, she nodded.
“Then lend me a tiny bit of money.”
“…No.”