Chapter 27 - An Unexpected Visit

It was Keith’s voice. I open my eyes widely in shock. It couldn’t be. Why would Keith be here? I must have heard wrong. I stood there, still doubting myself, when he once again opened his mouth, unable to keep waiting for an answer. “Open the door now, before I bust it open.”

The low, threatening voice that seeped out between his teeth undoubtedly belonged to Keith Knight Pittman. Yet I was still in doubt. He fell silent, but when I hesitated, he began to violently kick the door.

Slam! Slam! Slam!

I jumped at the loud banging, but I couldn’t just stand there blankly. Keith was kicking the door like he was actually trying to smash it. The timeworn door could bust open any moment, and I knew this wasn’t just me worrying over nothing. I saw the three bolted locks rattle wildly and yelped, “Wait! Wait just a second, I’m opening it! I’m opening!”

I repeated over and over as I rushed to unlock the door. Meanwhile, Keith continued to kick the door. When I finally managed to open the door, Keith’s long leg was bent at the knee as he was just about to kick the door once again. He looked down at my hardened face before finally letting down his leg. I saw the others living on the same floor peeking out from their houses. I quickly stepped back in embarrassment.

“The hell is this?” Keith grumbled.

He was glancing at the chair that I had used to block the front door. I swiftly grabbed the chair and moved it to the living room. With nothing standing in his way, Keith finally stepped into the house and I stumbled around him to bolt all the locks on the door once again.

As I turned around, I suddenly felt a choking sensation. When I saw Keith standing like a pole in the middle of the small living room, everything around me felt cramped. His signature sweet scent didn’t help. I suppressed my ragged breath and offered him the couch. “Take a seat.”

I glanced toward the kitchen, wondering if I should also offer him some tea. Keith looked around the house without moving from where he was standing and opened his mouth. “This is it?”

What was he talking about all of a sudden? I looked up at him out of reflex. Keith scrunched up his face and asked again, “This is the entryway, right? Where’s the reception room?”

I was rendered speechless and couldn’t reply right away. “…Where you walked in from just now was the entryway, and this is the reception area.”

Keith shifted his gaze away from my face and slowly looked around the whole place once again. I grew somewhat ashamed of the size of my house, which was not difficult to estimate without having to walk around. When Keith’s gaze once again returned to my face, the crevasse between his brows had grown deeper.

“Why the hell are you living in a storage closet?”

I almost apologized out of habit until I remembered that I had quit that godforsaken job. “This place was all I could manage from the salary I received from you, Mr. Pittman.”

When I replied quietly, Keith raised his brow slightly and returned it to its original position. My heart began to beat faster. I had never talked back to him like this when I was still working as his secretary. Blurting out what was on my mind was liberating, but this unusual deviation made me anxious all the same.

To my relief, Keith didn’t say anything in return and sat down on the couch that I had gestured toward. My only comfort was that I had finally bought a fairly fancy new couch not too long ago. I hesitated for a moment and decided to just stand. Thankfully, Keith didn’t offer me to sit. Instead, he buried his face into his hands and sighed deeply. “Was it you?”

“Pardon me?” I asked, confused by the sudden interrogation.

“Were you the one who talked to Elisa?”

For a moment, I contemplated lying. If I did, however, the innocent secretaries would be hit with a calamity. I supposed it shouldn’t matter even if I told him the truth since I had already quit.

“Yes, it was.”