Love My Friends with Benefits

I scoffed at his words.

Did such a small issue matter to a scumbag like Leonard? If he could force her, he could definitely hit a woman.

I snorted lowly and turned my head away.

His grip on me loosened, but his shoulder was still pressed to mine threateningly.

I could see my disdainful expression reflected in his eyes. Leonard's expression turned frosty as he said, "You're not gonna give in until you know you've lost, huh, Queena?"

How ridiculous.

I laughed. "Are you going to let me go if I give in?"

Leonard shook his head slowly. "No."

"Then why should I?" I shrugged, not noticing that Leonard was still pinning me down. I accidentally tugged on my wound and gasped at the pain.

"You idiot," he said before setting me free.

I clambered out of bed, turned on the lights, and dug out a first aid kit to tend to my wound.

Leonard persistently repeated his request. "Be my mistress."

"That's impossible." I shot him down firmly.

I applied some ointment onto my shoulder and started to wrap a bandage around it. My wound burned as the bandage pressed the ointment deeper.

I couldn't help wincing.

Leonard narrowed his eyes and reached out a hand. "Give me the bandage."

I ignored him and continued to slowly bandage myself.

He didn't press the matter and got out of bed to get dressed.

He was finally leaving.

I'd just heaved a sigh of relief when he said, "Queena, don't think that you can hide from me. Regardless of where you go or the type of lock that you've installed, I'll always have a way of tracking you down."

I had to admit that he made me feel a little anxious.

I smiled and put on a disdainful act when, in actuality, my heart was racing. "Oh, I'd like to see you try."

Leonard did not speak.

I gave it some thought and tried a different method. "If you're really that..." I decided not to go with "desperate". "Maybe you could consider Phoebe?"

Leonard raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"

"Well, she's your fiancée, for a start. Even if anything were to happen between the two of you, it'd be perfectly justifiable." I tried my best to persuade him to see the light. "I mean, think about it. She has a good family background and status, unlike me. I'm sure it'll be a huge stain on your reputation to get caught sleeping with your fiancée's stepsister, right? Is the Nell family able to accept something like that?" Yes, I was trying to threaten him with that last sentence.

"You were at your best friend's house yesterday, weren't you?" Instead of answering me, Leonard threw out this question casually.

A chill ran down my spine and I immediately fell silent.

How'd he know about me staying at May's? Was he following us?

"You'd better be obedient if you don't want her to find out about our relationship. A blabbermouth isn't lovable at all, you know." Leonard patted my face provocatively. "There are plenty of women begging me to sleep with them. You shouldn't take your turn for granted, Queena."

My mind had gone blank. I didn't even hear what he'd said.

Leonard turned and left after saying his piece.

When I returned to my senses and recalled what he'd said, I felt cold to the core.

The window was open, and the cold wind billowed in through it.

I didn't get up to close it. I just lay in bed, feeling anxious.

Leonard wanted to make me feel like he could easily find me no matter where I was hiding.

Well, it'd worked extremely well.

On this day, I lost sleep.

As I lay in bed, I kept thinking of ways to rid myself of Leonard.

If I'd known that things would turn out this way, I wouldn't have followed him.

I was deeply regretful.

At the same time, I didn't regret a thing. It was all worth it since I'd managed to ruin Phoebe's wedding and her dream of climbing up the social ladder.

So was it worth it? Or was it a waste of my time?

I felt so conflicted that I couldn't help covering my face with a pillow and screaming at the top of my lungs.

The next day, I had a low fever.

I was afraid that Grandma would catch it from me, so I called Aunt Nancy and told her not to wait for me. "Take care of yourself, then," Aunt Nancy said. "I heard that there's a viral flu going around recently."

"Okay, got it." I was not in the mood to talk, so I just answered her perfunctorily.

Aunt Nancy continued, "You sound really hoarse. Make sure that you stay safe."

"Alright, alright." I hung up and let out a sigh of relief.

I didn't want to interact with anyone at all in my current state.

Unfortunately, misfortune never came in singles.

May had skipped off work to come to hang out with me. When she called me, she was already downstairs.

I had no choice but to head downstairs to bring her up.

When we reached my floor, I opened the door with my fingerprint and walked in, but May didn't move. She scrutinised the lock and exclaimed, "This lock is pretty great! Looks like it's worth the money, Queena!"

I couldn't help mumbling bitterly, "Worth it, my *ss." After that, I went to get May something to drink.

I slipped on something and almost fell. When I turned back to see what I'd stepped on, I saw a dirty, orange stain on the floor.

"Why's it so dirty?" May stuck her head out from behind me. "Did you spill some juice or something?"

It was the orange juice that Leonard had poured onto the floor.

My face burned at the thought of everything that had happened and quickly brushed May off.

My voice was hoarse from screaming my head off the night before.

May felt my forehead and made me sit down before asking, "Where's your flu medication?"

I pointed and said hoarsely, "Under the coffee table."

"Okay, you should stop talking." May couldn't stand my voice and gestured for me to stop before bending down to get the medication.

I sat there, feeling a little complicated.

I hadn't wanted to let May in at all. If Leonard used her to threaten me again...

"Queena, why's there a cigarette butt by your bed?" May suddenly cried out.

She'd gone to get me a glass of water when she happened to see the cigarette butt on the bedside table.

Leonard had left it behind. I'd forgotten to throw it away.

I sighed and didn't answer her.

"Queena, are you still smoking even though you're this sick?" May looked at me reproachfully as she threw the cigarette butt into the rubbish bin. "No wonder you sound so hoarse."

She thought that I was the one who'd smoked that cigarette?

I had no choice but to go along with it. "Alright, alright. I won't do it anymore."

"That's more like it." May nodded with satisfaction. She sat down next to me and started chattering.

...

I wasn't at my best and didn't have the energy to deal with her. She got bored after talking to herself and finally left a couple of hours later.

Before leaving, she reminded, "Don't you dare smoke anymore! Not even after you recover!"

Just to get her off my back, I said, "Okay, okay."