The Devil's Good Girl
Chapter 77: First stage of temptation: Attention.

Chapter 77: First stage of temptation: Attention.

Temptation was never sudden, it was often gradual. And there were four stages of temptation.

First, attention.

By coming to Marcus’s party, Fil made sure to get Marcus’s attention. It had been her plan all along. However, coming into that party wasn’t enough to move to the second step. Therefore, Fil had to make him come to her.

She knew he would come. It might not be because of his attraction to her, but rather because Marcus was a self-centered man. He needed Fil’s help with certain stuff, and thus, he didn’t want to leave a bad impression on her. It might backfire on him.

And come to the next stage of temptation:

Contemplation.

Once one’s attention was gotten, it wouldn’t take plenty of time to get into contemplation.

"Because I’m already eating ice cream."

Fil watched the slight surprise turn up on Marcus’s face at her remarks. The quirk on her lips turned into a satisfied smirk, humming as she listened to Vincent at the other end of the line. Throughout the call, she kept eye contact with Marcus until she hung up.

"That’s Vince?" Marcus spoke as she put down her phone. "Why did you lie?"

"I didn’t."

"Fil."

Fil sported an innocent smile. "I am eating ice cream. It’s not a lie. I just didn’t tell him who I’m eating it with."

Marcus opened and closed his mouth a little, rendered speechless by her clever argument. How could he rebut that? It was true, after all. It wasn’t like she told Vincent she was alone. All she said was that she was already eating ice cream.

A deep exhale slipped past his lips, feeling a little distress at the situation. It felt wrong. Although he and Fil weren’t doing anything other than eating ice cream together, a part of his conscience felt like he was betraying Vincent. They might have argued not long ago, but Vincent was still his friend.

"Vincent doesn’t need to know about this," Fil spoke, earning his focus once more. "Don’t get me wrong. It’s just that... I don’t want him to misunderstand."

She pouted a little, looking at him innocently. "It doesn’t feel nice to keep a small secret from him, but then again, even if our conscience is clear, he will still get angry. Remember that night at your party?"

Marcus was about to argue until she mentioned that time during his party. Back then, Marcus simply helped Fil, but Vincent overreacted. Therefore, it was understandable why Fil wanted to keep this a harmless secret. Vincent would surely misunderstand even if they told him the truth. Worse. He wouldn’t believe them.

"Fine," Marcus sighed, convinced. "I won’t tell him. Not even my friends."

"Why not?"

"Because they might slip up."

"Marcus, I am curious." Fil hummed as she scooped another spoonful of ice cream. "Have you and Vincent fought in the past?"

His brows rose at her random question. "We argue all the time."

"I mean, with your fist," she clarified, curiosity apparent in her eyes while shoving the ice cream into her mouth. Her eyes shone curiously.

"Never." Marcus shrugged. "There’s never something huge that we felt the need to let our fist do the talking."

"But if you fight, who do you think will win?"

This time, Marcus’s furrow knitted. "Why are you asking?"

"Just in case he finds out," she humored. "I am worried that he might welcome you with his fist if he finds out about today."

"Ah." Marcus laughed as he contemplated. "I want to impress you and say it’s me, but I’m not sure."

"You’re not sure? How come?"

"Both Vincent and I went to different martial arts classes. We excelled in our classes, but we never had sparring because they’re different styles," he explained magnanimously, unknowingly giving Fil the details she wanted to know. "That’s why I said I am not sure."

"Oh..."

"But what I do know is that if that happened, we’ll hurt each other. Winning or losing doesn’t matter."

"Like having black eyes, broken ribs, legs, and arms?" — just like Kenzo’s injuries?

"Yes. Maybe, worse."

"I see." Fil nodded with a smile. "We should be careful next time, then."

"Huh?"

"I might need your help with some things in the future," she said. "Or maybe you’d need mine. It’s not polite to ask someone a favor over a phone call, right?"

Marcus stared at her with an inexplicable explanation before he smiled, nodding. "Of course."

"Hehe. Let’s finish this." Fil grinned playfully, enjoying her ice cream. He also grinned back, offering her his ice cream. Fil happily accepted his offer and, in return, they happily shared their chosen ice cream with each other.

Like what VERY close FRIENDS would do.

*****

As promised, Marcus drove Fil home safely. He waved at her as she stepped out of the car, and bent over to look at him from the outside. She expressed her gratitude one more time, to which he responded with a smile and a nod. And then she walked inside the building.

"I’ve never been to her place even though I’ve known her for years," he muttered, equally amused and baffled at her chosen place. It wasn’t like the location of her building was bad, but with her earnings, she could get a better place.

"She’s actually fun." A subtle smile appeared on his face after seeing the time. "I didn’t feel bored even a second."

Marcus let out another deep breath, about to drive away, when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen on his car, furrowing his brows upon seeing Fil’s name on it. He answered it regardless of his confusion.

"Fil?" he greeted. "Why are you —"

"Why haven’t you left?" she said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "I can see your car. Don’t tell me you’re waiting for me to get in?"

"Huh?" Marcus instinctively lowered his head to check, eyes on the windshield and through the building. His lips stretched when he saw Fil leaning against the railing, hand on her phone, eyes on his car. She waved as if she could see him through the windshield.

"Take care on your way home," she said softly and sweetly. "And thank you for today. I... had fun."

"Me too," he replied quietly. "I’ll go now then."

"Mhm."

"Uh, Fil?"

"Yes?"

Marcus ran his tongue across his inner cheeks and then smiled. "Good night."

Fil smiled and hummed, keeping her attention on the car at the entrance of the building. She hummed in response, hanging up the call, and then she watched the car slowly move away.

The smile on her face slowly faded.

"A broken rib, legs, and arms..." she whispered, thinking of Kenzo’s condition. "That’s not enough. I want the worst to happen."

A glint flickered across her eyes. She couldn’t beat Marcus up, so she might need Vincent to do that for her. It still fell into her original plan, after all. Only this time, her plans involved real pain to all of them.

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