Chapter 18: Hurt ego

"Oh? That was fast. How about you come with me instead? We can go to my home?" Esmi chuckled as she slowed down the car, but she didn't stop the car.

"No, It's fine. My family must be waiting for me," Ryder said.

"Oh? Why do I feel like you don't want to spend time with me? I don't think that you really have a crush on me. You were fooling me, weren't you?" Esmi told him.

Ryder could see a reflection of her face on the windshield, which looked serious.

'What should I do? That freaking crush confession is coming back to bite me in the ass,' Ryder thought.

"I have a crush on you, but I know that our relationship is impossible even if I try. You're Bastion's Aunt. I can't do something like that to his aunt. I will take my leave," Ryder ultimately replied.

"That's your excuse? What if I say that I'm not his aunt?" Esmi told him.

"What do you mean?" Ryder asked in surprise.

Esmi looked towards Bastion that was still sleeping on the passenger seat.

"I'm not his aunt. I'm the secretary of his father, who left me here to take care of his son when Bastion was only 16 years old. He was told that I'm his aunt as his father didn't want him to think that there was no family here to take care of him," Esmi replied.

"Really?" Ryder asked in shock.

"Yeah. I'm still unmarried. His father left me here to deal with so much, and I didn't even have time to date anyone as people are either afraid of me and my position or they think of me as Bastion's aunt. It's the first time someone even dared to confess to me," Esmi replied with a wry smile on her face.

"Will you come with me now? It's fine if you don't want to, but that would mean that you were lying to me. Also, I hate liars," She said to him.

'She's not his aunt? I was wondering how his aunt could be so young and so beautiful. I guess this was the reason. But the problem still remains. Even though she's pretty and I feel attracted to her, should I really go with her? It would be my first time with a girl outside my home,' Ryder thought.

His head was telling him to go back home, but his heart was telling him to stay seated.

"Alright. Let's go to your home then," In the end, he decided to listen to his heart as he replied.

"Good boy." Esmi laughed as she increased the speed of the car.

She drove through the streets in her supercar and brought them to a beautiful looking home.

Esmi left the car, and he followed behind.

The house was huge. It looked less like a house and more like a mansion. There were four armed guards at the front gate.

The mansion was so large that he felt like 10 of his homes could fit inside her mansion. There were three floors in the mansion, and windows covered most of the house.

"Help me take Bastian to his room," Esmi said as she touched his lips gently with her finger.

"Right." Ryder hurriedly followed her and helped Bastian out of the car. 

They took him inside the mansion. The doors were opened, and the guards kept looking at him with a strange gaze as Ryder entered with Esmi.

"Thankfully, his room is on the ground floor." Esmi breathed in relief as they placed Bastian on his bed. She covered him in a blanket. She closed the door, and they left the room.

Esmi stopped as she turned back to look at Ryder and said something.

"Thanks for the help. You can go now." Esmi said with a smile as she looked at Ryder.

"But?" Ryder was stunned as he heard her words. He was confused as to what was actually happening.

He couldn't understand what the situation had developed to right now.

"But what? Do you really think that I would sleep with you? Even though I haven't dated a person since I was given the responsibility to take care of Bastion, and you look handsome, but I don't want to date someone weak," Esmi said as she laughed.

Esmi smiled as he brought her face closer to his face and whispered in his ears.

"Don't delude yourself. I'll never sleep with a weak guy, no matter how attracted I am to him. I was just having some fun," 

Ryder just stared at her blankly. A fit of anger was rising inside of him. Even though he didn't mind that they won't sleep together, he still felt terrible. He felt like he was being belittled.

" It would be a different situation if you could overpower me, though. I wouldn't mind being with you then, at least for today," Esmi laughed as she gazed into his eyes.

"Oh? Is that it? Aren't you underestimating me too much right now?" Ryder said as he stepped closer to her. 

'Even if she is from the underworld, I'm stronger than I was as well,' He thought as he stood at half a meter of distance from her and looked into her eyes.

The aura around her changed as she suddenly grabbed his hand and made a strange movement.

Ryder didn't know how, but in the next moment, he found himself lying on the ground while Esmi's right leg was on his chest.

"I'm not underestimating you, but I know how it's going to be. I know my strength,'

'Looks like I need to use low-level Martial arts that I learned from the system. Don't blame me, woman, you asked for it,' He thought as he got serious as well.

He caught her leg that was on his chest and pushed it upwards. Esmi didn't expect it in the slightest, and the strength made her shocked. She lost her balance as she fell on top of Ryder.

He changed their position so that she was lying below him. He kissed her.

He kept the kiss short and immediately stood up as he hurriedly separated himself from her and created some distance. 

"Looks like round one goes to me. How about you try again. Best of 5 wins." Ryder said with a smile on his face.

When it comes to Martial arts and Strength, he was quite confident in himself.

"Interesting. That was the first time I felt my heart skip a beat. Best of 5 it is." She said as she stood and licked her lips seductively.

"Not bad kid, Not bad at all. It looks like I need to step up my game as well." She said as she glanced at him with a fascinating look on her face.

She again turned serious as she attacked him with her fist. Ryder dodged the fist, but he didn't predict that she would kick him soon after. 

He reacted fast, and before her legs could hit him, he caught her legs and pulled her closer. Before she could respond, he kissed her sweet lips once again. He didn't forget to wink at her before creating distance between them.