Chapter 5 Her Misplaced Underwear

Norene's shock was evident, her face turning pale. "How could you possibly know?"

Carsten, with a furrowed brow, retrieved something from his pocket and slipped it into hers, saying impatiently, "Go inside and put this on."

Could this be her misplaced underwear?

Norene cautiously reached into her pocket, partially pulling it out. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she asked, "How did this end up with you?"

"Didn't you notice it ended up with me?" Carsten had no intention of continuing the conversation, but she remained in place. He felt compelled to clarify, "It was with my clothes. I left in a hurry last night and didn't notice it."

Norene remained silent. However, she couldn't shake her suspicion that he had a peculiar hobby.

"Alright," she responded, heading back to change.

Once she had her underwear on, she felt considerably more secure. Then it dawned on her that Carsten's statement about leaving in a hurry last night implied he had departed before dawn.

He probably had numerous women and maintained no other connection with them aside from sex.

She could picture just how cheap she must have seemed in his eyes.

However, it wasn't a concern. She didn't have any pretensions.

Back in the room, Norene noticed Dillon on a phone call, recognizing the voice on the other end as Lyanna Payne, his stepmother.

"I'll call you after dinner, stay well," Dillon said.

Alex pointed at Dillon, saying, "There's something off about you."

Dillon, clarifying his actions, displayed his call history and said, "It was my mom!"

Lyanna was his stepmother, the woman who was only ten years older than him and who slept in the same bed with him all the time. A few days ago, Norene had seen them making love with her own eyes.

Lyanna, as Dillon's stepmother, had a legitimate reason to check on him, a rationale that was more reasonable than Norene's.

No one would question it.

Alex reacted similarly. Upon realizing the call was from Dillon's mother, he lost any interest in gossiping and didn't pursue the matter.

Who would care about the intimate way of calling each other between the mother and son?

Initially, Norene had believed Lyanna and Dillon were truly mother and son. The thought of them having sex was unimaginable to her. She kept this discovery to herself, too apprehensive to confront Dillon or share it with others. However, after a couple of days, Norene confided in Miriam. Together, they uncovered the truth that the woman Dillon referred to as his mother was not his biological mother at all.

Dillon's biological mother had passed away during childbirth.

His father had shown little interest in him, leaving Dillon to feel virtually orphaned for most of his life.

After turning thirteen, Dillon left school and ended up in this city with no place to call home. That was when Lyanna, who was a decade older than him, adopted him.

They began living together, presenting themselves as mother and son to others.

During their college days, Norene and Dillon started dating. Knowing Dillon came from a single-parent household, Norene rarely brought up the topic of his parents, leaving her unaware of the true nature of Dillon and Lyanna's relationship.

It was only in their sixth year together, as they considered marriage, that Norene discovered his mother's name was Lyanna Payne.

Initially, she didn't sense anything amiss until Miriam asked about it.

Norene was aware that Dillon had an influential uncle on his mother's side, Carsten, the heir to the Hayes family.

Thus, it seemed logical that Lyanna's last name would be Hayes too.

Norene quickly noticed the issue and asked Dillon about it. He clarified that Carsten wasn't his biological uncle.

Dillon then changed the subject. Norene had suspicions about potential issues in Dillon and Carsten's families, but since it involved Dillon's personal affairs, she decided not to delve deeper.

Norene had unintentionally accessed Dillon's photo gallery on his tablet while watching a TV show. Curiosity led her to look through the photos, where she found Dillon and Lyanna in intimate pictures, including sharing a bed and engaging in affectionate gestures.

The timeline of the photo covered the entire duration of their relationship.

Shocked, Norene couldn't believe such photos were typical of a mother and son.

Driven by her doubts, she went to confront Dillon on a rainy midnight.

Accidentally, she saw him and Lyanna having sex.

She left silently, as if she hadn't witnessed a thing. But only she knew how desperate she was at that moment.

She didn't feel the sharp sting of betrayal and deceit. Instead, she struggled to accept how naive she had been.

Feeling depressed for several days, she texted Dillon. "I never imagined you'd be so attached to your mom!" Afterward, she packed her bags and boarded a flight to Erimarsh.

She wasn't about to play the saint, unwilling to let seven years just go in vain. She craved retribution. Her scheme to sleep with Carsten, crafted with Miriam's help, seemed the perfect revenge.

And so, she did the plan last night.

She settled next to Dillon, acting as if nothing unusual had occurred.

Dillon, with a warm smile, wrapped an arm around Norene and said, "With Norene by my side, how can I be attracted to anyone else? Isn't that right, honey?"

He tried to kiss her face as he spoke, but she avoided him by pretending to be shy.

Some guys on the other side of the table took the opportunity to make a fuss. Someone commented, "Norene is so shy."

Another added teasingly, "If Norene hadn't seemed so modest, I would have guessed she was the woman in Carsten's room last night. Their voices are quite similar."