Chapter 292: Have you ever seen a cat play with a mouse?

Chapter 292: Have you ever seen a cat play with a mouse?

Chapter 292: Have you ever seen a cat play with a mouse?

“Wait... no way, Miss Alice, you must be joking.”

Ryan swallowed hard as he listened to Alice, clearly in disbelief.

“Live with you? In the same room? I must’ve misheard.”

No matter how much he tried to deny it, the shock in his heart was undeniable. The car was dead silent, and Ryan had heard her loud and clear.

Ever since he was kidnapped and brought here, Ryan had been living in a basement full of surveillance cameras.

At first, it was hard to adjust, but over time, he got used to it. The place was actually pretty well-furnished, and the servants were attentive. Honestly, it was way more comfortable than the apartment he used to rent.

After a while, Ryan had grown accustomed to life in the basement, treating it like his second little hideaway.

He figured he’d be stuck down there until the mission was over. That was his plan, anyway.

But now, Alice, dressed in an elegant gown, looking every bit the youthful princess, was telling him to move upstairs and live with her?

Ryan had been to Alice’s room a few times. There was only one bed—a princess bed. So, she meant... sharing the bed?

He rubbed his ears, wondering if he’d misheard.

Wait, isn’t Alice supposed to be this cold, aloof ice queen? Why is she suddenly being so... forward?

After tonight, Ryan was pretty sure Alice had feelings for him.

And ever since he realized that, he’d been racking his brain trying to figure out a way out of this situation.

He had to leave Alice eventually. He didn’t want to get emotionally involved, but he also didn’t want to hurt her. Was there a way to handle this without making things worse?

Flat-out rejecting her? No way. That would probably just piss her off, and if she refused to cooperate, the mission would fail. Then they’d both be screwed.

Agreeing? Ryan wasn’t ready for that. Sure, Alice was great, but they were from completely different worlds.

After thinking it over, Ryan came to a conclusion: the best thing he could do right now was... nothing.

Alice had that whole tsundere thing going on, right? Ice queens don’t just melt on their own. So, as long as he pretended not to understand, Alice wouldn’t make the first move.

If she didn’t make a move, and he didn’t either, they could just drag this out. No big deal, right?

But... right now, where was that cold, aloof Alice?

What had gotten into her?

“I’m not joking, and you didn’t mishear.”

“It’s exactly what you’re thinking—same room, same bed.”

“I mean, it’s not like it hasn’t happened before, right?”

Alice watched Ryan’s expression, clearly amused. Wasn’t it Ryan who had snuck into her bed in the middle of the night, kissed her, and then said something about not taking responsibility?

But now? Now, all he felt was a bitter taste in his mouth. Turns out, he wasn’t as ready to die as he thought.

“I’m not...”

Ryan didn’t hate Alice, of course. His eyes darted around, trying to avoid her gaze. But Alice’s serious demeanor left him no room to escape. It was clear there was no way out of this.

“Then what is it?”

“Well, you know, men and women are different. I just thought it might be... inconvenient for you, Miss Alice.”

“Inconvenient?”

Alice’s lips curled into a smile, as if she’d just heard the most amusing thing. She turned to face Ryan directly.

“When you snuck upstairs and messed with my underwear, did you think about ‘inconvenience’ then?”

The backseat was spacious, and the two of them had been sitting a fair distance apart.

But Alice could see Ryan’s instinct to retreat. A shadow flickered in her eyes, and before he could move, she acted.

She slid forward, closing the gap by a foot, leaning in close.

Ryan barely had time to register what was happening before Alice’s pale arms shifted positions—one hand braced against the window beside him, the other pressing lightly against his chest.

She had cut off any chance of retreat.

Her hand on his chest felt like a delicate butterfly, its wings softly fluttering, stirring something deep inside him. The space between them shrank rapidly, leaving only a few inches.

Their eyes locked. Ryan’s breath quickened, like a fish out of water, gasping for air, its gills flaring as it teetered on the edge of suffocation.

“I... I can explain...”

Ryan knew exactly what Alice was referring to. That incident had been haunting his dreams lately, the memory still fresh and overwhelming.

His face flushed bright red, like a thief caught in the act. He desperately wanted to explain, but the words stuck in his throat, coming out as nothing more than stammering.

Wasn’t Alice downstairs at the time? Could she have installed cameras in her own room too?

Embarrassment aside, what filled Ryan’s heart even more was shock. He was starting to realize he didn’t understand Alice at all—or rather, he was getting closer to seeing the real Alice.

“Oh? Then go ahead, explain...”

Alice wasn’t in any rush. She hadn’t expected the surveillance footage to actually capture something useful that day.

But now, using that incident as leverage, she was slowly backing Ryan into a corner, waiting for him to fall into her trap. Yet, her mind was already drifting to something else.

The photo. Ryan had seen that photo. Was that why he’d said those things back then?

Something about wanting to see her smile.

‘How cute. So adorably foolish. It makes me want to devour him whole.’