13 Cheeky Old Man *

The old man was turning blue by the second. I had to do something quickly. 

Maya went pale and shocked. 

"Mister!" I went to him quickly and patted his back. "Maya, call for the bodyguards quickly, tell them to get here with help. Go, now!"

"Y-yes… yes darling, right away!"

The cute girl ran as fast as she could to call for help quickly, while I was giving the old grandpa several hits on the back. 

He made some signals pointing to his throat. Then I realized that he had eaten something and was stuck in his throat. Dammit! He was choking. 

I hugged him from behind and pressed his stomach up and down with strength. After several times, something came flying out.

That frightened me.

He coughed more, but this time he could finally breathe.

"Sir, are you okay?"

He nodded while taking my hand. He lay there breathing slowly when we heard footsteps behind us. The people from the hotel were approaching us with a stretcher.

They helped him stabilize, but he never let go of my hand. He looked at me and Maya, and we had to follow him back to the hospital.

They examined him quickly, but they could not pry my hand from his tight clutch. 

Dammit, what a stubborn old man! He never said anything. I think his throat was in pain.

"Mister, I should go now, could you let go of my hand?"

The old man looked at me deeply and made puppy eyes. He dared to make puppy eyes. What is going on? I could hear Maya's chuckles and my irritability was at its peak. 

"Mister?"

Again with the puppy eyes. 

Maya was right, I managed to trap a wealthy man with my charm. Though he was an old man. 

We ended up staying in the hospital VIP room accompanying the old man. 

We helped him eat and entertained him by telling funny stories. He couldn't talk, so we mostly guessed his thoughts through his eyes and gestures.

By the time night came the ambiance was getting quite fun. We found out that he was a master in poker and some other games. I couldn't even win one round. What the f… I just lost several bucks and a favor. This cunning cheeky old man!

He just smiled but never went easy on me or Maya who was just about to cry. She had bet her collection of my framed photos. I didn't even know she made that. What the… My goodness. 

Then we began playing board games. He was very good at chess, but my ultimate skills shall never be underestimated. 

Then we returned to our hotel after a man in a black suit entered the room to take care of grandpa. He thanked us on behalf of his family and offered some reward, which we politely declined. After all, we enjoyed our time too. 

"Eve, who do you think was the old man?"

"Don't know, even the nurses were careful not to reveal his name."

"Mmmm, I am so curious. Can't you check it out?"

"Babe, maybe tomorrow, I am so sleepy."

"Tsk, alright."

I submerged myself into a deep and sweet dream, I knew the time to leave was about to come. 

My life will be safe from the plot and that tragic ending. I just needed to hang on a little more. Just a little more.

However, looking at that girl laughing like crazy while watching some stupid drama, made me hesitate. I will miss her so much. 

The next morning, I woke up as a new person. My radiant happy smile almost dazed my beautiful Maya.

Unfortunately, I should have known that nothing would go as expected when the plot was like gravity, pulling me and dragging me to a fatal destiny without a chance to fight. 

What a tragedy. 

* * *

The next day, we went back to the hospital to invite the old man to dinner at the hotel restaurant, but he had already left. 

The kind nurses gave us his message, that he was fine and was grateful to us for taking care of him, and that his family came for him earlier. He even sent us a pair of bracelets from an expensive and luxurious brand. Even we, who were used to these things, were surprised.

"Miss…" one nurse stopped me before leaving. Then she passed me another tiny box. "He asked me to pass you this. He said to not lose it."

I frowned and opened the box. It was a chess piece, the Queen. I started to hesitate. Panic began to rise in my heart. 

"Tch... Eve, how could you not find anything about his background? Are you sure you looked at it well? How can you call yourself a high-level hacker if you can't find an old man's identity?"

Auch... that hurt, a low blow to my ego.

It's not that I didn't do a background check on the old man, it is just that I concealed it from Maya. 

Last night, I woke up abruptly with a bad feeling, as if I had forgotten something important. 

What sweet dreams? What tranquility?

I remembered how the original Eve from the book landed an engagement with the great Evans family. Even though she was not as remarkable as her family made her seem, and she never attended any high society parties before eighteen, she was asked by the Evans family to marry the ML. Not the other way around. 

It just so happened that the villainess was there, at the right time and place.

When the FL saved an old man who turned out to be the ML grandpa, but she left before she was recognized. Eve just happened to pass by and saw everything. Then she decided to impersonate the woman who saved the old man as she distinguished the crest on his shoulder, the Evans family crest.

Several years passed, and Grandpa Evans got seriously ill. He asked the ML to marry a good girl before he passed away. 

Then in a horrible turn of events, he wrote his last will, forcing his indifferent grandson to marry the girl who saved him that day on the beach. 

And it turns out that Eve was the one. 

Crap, where the hell was the FL?