Steal My Heart/C7 He Kissed Her!
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Steal My Heart/C7 He Kissed Her!
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C7 He Kissed Her!

"Sister Clarissa, now that you're out of prison, what's on your mind?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "I dream of Erhai. Its beauty is pure and pristine. The waterbirds there are delightful, and the fish and shrimp are exquisitely fresh. The sky is bluer, the water clearer, and even the sunshine feels warmer than in this city.

"I'm determined to save up a substantial amount of money and open a quaint little inn by its shores. It's not about making a fortune for me; I just yearn to wake up to the sight of Erhai every day, to witness the ebb and flow of the tides. I don't need riches, just enough to live comfortably, and maybe watch the backpackers drift in and out from time to time."

"Sister Clarissa, I feel like my time is running out. What am I to do? I've yet to lay eyes on the splendor of Erhai."

Her voice, tinged with a celestial sorrow, is etched into Clarissa's memory, impossible to erase. She cradled the girl, desperately trying to infuse warmth into a body growing colder by the second.

As death loomed, the girl, with a longing gaze, peered through the prison's tiny iron window at a sliver of sky. "Sister Clarissa," she murmured, "I've never actually seen Erhai. All its beauty, I've only glimpsed through TV screens and magazine pages. I knew, even if I got out, I'd never have the means to start my own inn there. But I wanted, at the very least, to dream this impossible dream before the end."

To this day, the yearning in the girl's eyes just before she passed haunts Clarissa.

The memory brings a sharp pang of pain, and tears well up unbidden. She stealthily dabs her eyes dry, then crouches down, her hand creeping to her left flank where an organ should be, but isn't.

Because of this, she must abstain from alcohol. She must stay alive.

She's in debt, a debt she cannot repay.

She's sinned, a sin she cannot atone for.

No, she cannot die yet.

Clarissa lifts her gaze to Hollis, shaking her head resolutely. "Mr. Morgan, I'll do anything, just don't make me drink."

"Anything?" His eyes narrow, predatory, as a sly smile plays across his lips, hinting at danger. "Anything at all?"

Had Clarissa, the once proud heiress of the Jenkins family, truly shed her confidence and arrogance?

He was curious to see if the Miss Jenkins he remembered had indeed transformed into someone entirely different.

"Just no alcohol. Anything else goes."

"Fine!" A fleeting harshness crosses the man's face before he snaps his fingers, summoning a figure from the shadows. "Sir," the man in the black suit says, his head respectfully bowed.

Clarissa's gaze shifts to Hollis, his face aglow in the dim light, a smile unfurling like a deadly bloom. "Kiss him," he commands, his voice deceptively soft.

Her eyes follow his directive to the silent bodyguard behind him, and her heart skips a beat in shock.

"Can't do it?" Hollis's voice is laced with mockery. "Then drink, or begin your 'performance' right here."

A metaphorical bucket of ice water douses Clarissa, leaving her feeling lifeless and numb. She looks up at the man on the sofa, a god among mortals, and wonders if she heard him right.

A performance? He expects her to play the part of a courtesan, to engage in an intimate charade?

Her lips are parched as she contemplates the value of her first kiss. To him, it might be worthless, but to her, it's precious.

She doesn't want to squander it so carelessly.

She's already lost everything else.

The man lifts his glass, draining it in one swift motion. "You're in no position to negotiate," he says, a smug grin curling his lips. He's eager to see just how low Miss Jenkins of S City can stoop.

"Understood," Clarissa replies, her voice hollow. She stands, her legs weak from kneeling too long, pain lancing through her bones. She steadies herself, massaging her thighs to ease the discomfort before hobbling over to the bodyguard.

The others in the room mistake her actions for simple leg numbness from kneeling, but Eulalia knows the truth: Clarissa is enduring a torment beyond most people's threshold.

Eulalia was filled with regret for having dragged her sister Clarissa into this mess.

"Sister Clarissa..." she began, but a stern glance from the carefree Shaul silenced her. Fear clamped her mouth shut as her eyes brimmed with remorse, yet she felt utterly helpless watching the pitiful, limping woman.

Clarissa's face was a mask of impassivity as she approached the bodyguard, taking a deep, steadying breath. It took her a moment, but she feigned composure and reached out to grasp the shoulder of the man in black.

To an onlooker, she might have appeared collected, but the bodyguard, feeling the grip on his shoulder, could sense the tremors coursing through Miss Jenkins.

He recognized Clarissa, Miss Jenkins, but this black-clad protector still struggled to reconcile the disheveled, abject figure before him with the once proud and vivacious heiress of the Jenkins family.

On tiptoes, Clarissa's pallid lips quivered as they neared the bodyguard's. A first kiss lost was nothing compared to a life lost—if she drank that bottle of wine, her survival was nearly impossible.

She chose life over a first kiss. What was a kiss, after all?

Hollis watched with a complex look in his eyes, ultimately opting for the latter choice.

The man lounging on the sofa squinted, parting his thin lips to speak, when suddenly a voice from the doorway interrupted, "Eh? It's you? Why are you still here?"

At the sound, all eyes in the room swiveled to the entrance where a tall man had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

Clarissa, caught off guard, turned to the door. "Oh, it's you..."

Shaul glanced between the imposing figure at the doorway and Clarissa, his eyes crinkling with amusement. "Yo, Tiernan, you know her?" he teased. It was odd—what interest could Tiernan have in a mere cleaner?

With a playful stroke of his chin, Shaul settled in to enjoy the unfolding drama.

Hollis's gaze also lingered on Tiernan, a shadow flickering in his eyes.

Unconcerned by the attention, Tiernan gave Clarissa a quizzical look. What was she up to? It almost seemed like she was about to force a kiss on Hollis's personal bodyguard.

With an indifferent blink and a wry smile, Tiernan mused aloud, "Strange, I step out for a moment and the place comes alive. What's going on here?" Hands casually tucked in his trouser pockets, he sauntered over to Clarissa, his question hanging in the air.

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