Chapter 283 How Did You Know?
The next day, Calista went to the manor on the hill, with Liam following her.
They had grown somewhat acquainted over the past few days, but their discussions revolved around subjects other than the mysterious man.
Whenever the topic of Mr. Mysterious arose, Liam would fall silent, keeping his thoughts to himself. There was no prying any helpful information from him.
Liam had received strict instructions that prevented him from venturing upstairs in the manor. He simply
walked Calista to the foot of the staircase.
Usually, Calista would have ascended without a second thought.
But today, she clung to the stair railing and asked, “Liam, ain’t you the least bit interested in what Sir looks
like?”
The portrait had been restored today, and Calista had arranged to meet Mr. Mysterious.
Liam replied, “Curiosity killed the cat.”
Calista rolled her eyes in mock disdain and said, “You are no fun.”
After that, she made her way up the stairs. Over time, she had become well–acquainted with the layout of the manor. Despite Berta’s disapproval, she still recalled Calista’s preferences.
Calista had a penchant for well–lit and well–ventilated spaces. As such, Berta opened the curtains and
windows every time she visited.
Tonight was different. Mr. Mysterious would be in the study room. Calista knocked on the door and waited for a response before pushing the door open.
She felt the cramped and dim atmosphere as soon as she entered the room. She had to squint to make
out the figure standing by the curtains.
“Sir, we’re almost done with the restoration. Just a bit left, and I can wrap it up tonight. Do you want to
head out, or should I flip the lights on?”
Calista couldn’t stand the dim lighting. She always felt that strange things hid in heavy shadows.
“You can move your work elsewhere,” Mr. Mysterious replied.
He was wearing a hat, sunglasses, a mask, and gloves. He was completely covered from head to toe, with
no skin exposed. Calista had a gut feeling that he was frowning when he spoke.
She gestured toward the desk where her belongings were still neatly arranged and said, “There’s quite a lot of my stuff here. Instead of moving it, we could use that time to complete the restoration.”
Of course, her statement was a bit of an exaggeration. Mr. Mysterious glanced in the direction Calista pointed without saying a word. After a while, he finally moved and walked toward her.
“Hurry up. Your procrastination has a
delayed the work for too long.”
Calista replied, “I know, I know. I wanted to get it done as keenly as you are.”
As Calista rushed toward the desk, an unexpected stumble caused her to collide head–on with Mr.
Mysterious.
His immediate instinct was to step back, but after a brief stop, he offered his hand to assist her.
Calista grabbed his arm and promptly pulled his mask when he paid no attention. While she did so, his sunglasses were inadvertently knocked askew.
Mr. Mysterious reacted with lightning speed, clutching Calista’s wrist.
A wave of intense pain surged through her, and she felt her blood cease to flow in her wrist. It was evident that he possessed the strength of a well–trained man.
Calista let out a genuine scream of agony and dropped the mask in her hand.
“You’re asking for trouble,” he warned, his voice carrying a harsh tone, pronounced with chilling precision.
The study’s silence amplified the menace in his manner. Calista’s body leaned to the side. She raised her head to look at the familiar face before her.
“Gotcha, Liam.”
Liam looked at her from a higher vantage point and reached up to remove his askew sunglasses.
“How did you know it’s me?”
Llam had crossed paths with Calista as Mr. Mysterious on just three occasions. However, these meetings took place in poorly lit studies, from a distance, with only a few words exchanged.
He had even taken care to hide some of his usual behaviors. Liam was sure he hadn’t let his identity slip. Liam and Calista were practically inseparable day and night.
Despite her suspicions about his identity, Liam hadn’t revealed a hint.
Calista responded, “I had my suspicions ever since we were at the museum entrance when I made the
call
Liam released her hand and pursed his lips.
“But you saw my phone screen. It wasn’t your number.”
“That kinda started me thinking, you know? But honestly, before you helped me up, I wasn’t completely sure. I guess it was just a woman’s intuition, Calista responded.
She continued with certainty. “You saw me stumble, and your first move was to step back, but then you lent a hand. Mr. Mysterious wouldn’t have given me a hand, but Liam sure did. You knew I had twisted my ankle and wasn’t faking it.”
On top of intuition, Calista had always found Liam’s voice familiar. Liam reprimanded.
“That was a risky move. You might not be here right now if I were a bad person.”
Calista shrugged off his sarcastic remark.
“Sometimes,
you’ve gotta take a chance” she said.
Calista was sure Liam wouldn’t harm her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let her remove his mask.
If Liam had any ill intentions, he wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of pretending to be her bodyguard and sticking with her.
Calista straightened up and asked, “So, what about the person on the third floor? Are you going to
introduce us?”
