Love My Friends with Benefits novel Chapter 61

Aunt Nancy stared at me. "Queena, why aren't you eating?"

Her voice was bland, and I couldn't sense any emotion in it. I answered uneasily, "I don't have the appetite."

"You can't skip meals," she said slowly. "You won't have the strength to deal with more complicated matters if you don't eat."

I thoroughly lost my appetite at her insinuation.

I threw the pasta away and suddenly remembered something. I asked Aunt Nancy, "Where's the security department?"

She was baffled. "Why are you asking about that?"

Because I wanted to see whether Phoebe was the one who'd caused Grandma to get so mad.

Since Leonard was around, I didn't tell her the truth. Instead, I said, "I lost some money this morning."

She didn't doubt me and told me the way. "It's on the third floor."

"I got it."

I headed towards the elevator.

Aunt Nancy kept her eyes on me the whole time. I couldn't discern the look in her eyes and felt uneasy. I quickened my pace.

When I turned the corner, I found that Leonard was right behind me.

I stopped and turned back to ask him, "What are you doing?"

He spread his hands. "You're not in the best condition. I was worried that you'd accidentally die."

I glared at him. "Die?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "For example. you could fall down the elevator shaft, miss a step on the stairs, or suddenly faint and choke on your own vomit..."

He spoke confidently as if these were things that were already going to happen.

I was rendered speechless. I ignored him and walked into the elevator before pressing a random button.

With Leonard around, there was no way I'd go to the security department. He was Phoebe's fiancé, after all.

A slender hand stretched out next to me and pressed the button for the third floor.

I looked up at him grumpily, my voice still a little nasal from my crying. "What are you doing?"

He didn't look at me. "The security department's on the third floor."

"I don't want to go there," I said peevishly.

Leonard suddenly pressed me up against the wall and asked, "Why didn't you tell me that your money got stolen?"

Our posture made me feel a little flustered.

I turned my face away so that I didn't have to look at him. "Is there any need for that?"

"Yes," he said calmly. "I can help you find the thief."

There wasn't such a person, in the first place.

I pursed my lips and remained silent.

Leonard threw out his trump card. "I'm a shareholder of this hospital."

I was speechless.

No wonder he was so confident. It turned out that he had such connections.

He continued asking, "When did you lose the money?"

It seemed that he wouldn't let the matter go until he got the truth.

I was so annoyed by his interrogation that I surrendered. "Alright, alright. I'm not looking for a thief."

Leonard raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for, then?"

"I..." For a moment, I was lost for words. "Either way, it has nothing to do with you."

The elevator stopped. We had arrived on the third floor.

This whole floor consisted of the offices of the hospital's administrative personnel. They had normal working hours, unlike the medical personnel on the frontlines who had to work overtime at a moment's notice.

At this hour, there wasn't a soul in sight. There was only one room in the distance with a light on, and I could see the words clearly stamped on the door from where I stood.

The Security Department.

Leonard dragged me out of the elevator and pinned me against the wall.

He looked a little scary with the dim lights shining on his face.

I had no choice but to ask, "What do you want?"

He looked me right in the eye. "Tell me the truth."

I was about to shoot him down when he said, "I've never minded having public sex. I also know exactly where the surveillance cameras are in this corridor."

My hair stood on end.

He ran a finger down my face. "Queena, what do you think will happen if people were to see a video of us having passionate sex with only your face visible?"

He was threatening me again.

I exclaimed angrily, "Are you really trying to help me?"

"No." He still had the nerve to laugh. "You got me wrong, Queena. I was just curious."

I fell silent.

"What's more, I've spent half a million dollars. I don't plan on getting it back." His hand trailed down my back. "Don't you think the truth is worth that amount?"

He made sense.

I couldn't think of any way to rebut him. "I can pay you back."

"Forget it," he snorted. "I know how much you earn. Your basic salary's fifteen thousand, and even with commission and bonuses, you'll earn a maximum of thirty thousand dollars. How much do you have left after paying for your basic necessities? You'll take at least four or five years to pay me back."

I had nothing to say.

He leaned in close to me until our lips were almost touching. "The only way you can pay me back, aside from sleeping with me, is to tell me the truth."

"Fine." I sighed.

I could only tell him about my suspicions.

After telling him, he immediately said, "That's impossible. Phoebe's not the type."

I knew he would say that. "So why do you think someone would just faint for no reason and need to undergo an operation when they were doing fine before?"

"I'm going to have to correct you on something. Someone who's doing fine wouldn't be in the hospital. Also, you didn't get me right," Leonard said.

I asked, "What did you mean, then?"

"Phoebe's smart, to a certain extent," he said. "And the smartest part about her is that she won't do something like this so directly. It's too obvious."

He was obviously trying to absolve her of blame.

I fumed and sneered, "So you're saying that she'd do something that wasn't so direct?"

Leonard actually nodded.

I didn't believe him and gnashed my teeth. "Do you take me for a fool?"

"You are, indeed." He had the nerve to laugh and reached out to rub my head. "Come on, let's go check the footage. I'll make you admit defeat."

He dragged me into the security department.

In there, a middle-aged man dressed in a security guard's uniform was sprawled out on the table, snoring away.

Leonard shook him to wake him up.

He woke up and rubbed his eyes groggily, muttering unhappily, "Who's that? At this hour..."

Leonard said, "We want to see yesterday's security footage."

The security guard glanced at him. "Do you have the authority for that?"

Leonard didn't say anything. He merely pulled out a black card and handed it to the guard.

The guard quickly sat up straight when he saw the black card and said respectfully, "Evening, Mr. Nell. May I know the details of the footage that you want?"

Leonard looked at me. "Go on."