CHAPTER 22: DID YOU PEEK AT MY MESSAGES?

Luis sat in his room, racking his brain about how to unlock the questline. Suddenly, the door burst open—or more accurately, was kicked open.

"Brother-in-law, did you peek at my messages?"

"No, fixing a phone doesn’t mean peeking."

"The phone’s memory was laggy. There were browsing records when I opened it."

Leah’s eyes welled up with tears as she bit her lip, unsure how to respond before running back to her room and locking it out of habit.

But the moment she sat on the bed sulking, the lock clicked open. Luis closed the door behind him. "I put the key back where it was. Using it now isn’t too much to ask, right?"

"Of course it is! You’re just a pervert. Why did you look at my stuff after fixing my phone?"

Leah was furious, jumping up to shove Luis away.

Luis didn’t care, slamming the door shut with a loud bang, instantly sealing them in their own little world. Leah grew nervous, gritting her teeth. "Brother-in-law, don’t do anything stupid. I trusted you enough to ask for your help. Don’t think you can blackmail me."

Luis chuckled, sitting by the door as he lit a cigarette and took a drag.

The smell of smoke was the most hated thing in this household. Only Lily allowed Luis to smoke in their room. For everyone else, even the living room was off-limits.

Luis blew a smoke ring and smirked. "Leah, you’re really angry. You searched the room, didn’t you? But not thoroughly enough. If you’re worried I messed with your panties, go search properly."

"Brother-in-law, I didn’t mean that..."

Ignoring her, Luis went back to his room across the hall and lay down, his mind a mess thinking about his petite but busty sister-in-law. He had no idea how to unlock this questline.

"Ding... Questline not yet unlocked."

"Ding... Side quest generating."

Luis was beyond irritated when the door suddenly opened. Leah peeked in cautiously. "Brother-in-law, can I come in?"

"Whatever."

Luis was unusually irritable, mainly because he’d realized one thing:

The quest wasn’t up to him. His mother-in-law triggered one by taking panties. With Leah, things were already perverse enough, yet nothing happened. What the hell?

Leah closed the door behind her and stood there awkwardly. After a while, she bit her lip and said, "Brother-in-law, what exactly did you see?"

"Everything."

Luis looked at her pitiful expression, his wicked thoughts growing.

"What’s ’everything’? Tell me!"

The little sister-in-law was frantic, her face flushed red, on the verge of tears.

"Your eldest brother-in-law... I don’t believe it was an accident."

The room was small. Luis sat up and lit another cigarette, speaking sarcastically. "Your eldest sister’s height and yours—you’d have to be blind to mix you up. Your asses aren’t even at the same level."

Leah’s face turned crimson. She said angrily, "I thought so too. He was deliberately taking advantage of me."

Luis smoked silently. Leah pressed anxiously, "Brother-in-law, what else did you see?"

"I told you, everything!"

Luis gave her a meaningful look. "Leah, to sound old-fashioned, as your brother-in-law, I should lecture you. But I know I don’t have the right."

"I... I didn’t agree to Avery!!"

Leah panicked, confessing without being pressed, but then guiltily lowered her head.

After a moment, she grew angry again, her eyes welling with tears. "Brother-in-law, how could you do this? I trusted you enough to ask for your help. How could you invade my privacy?"

The term sounded lofty. Luis couldn’t help but laugh at her childish face. "Leah, I admit I was wrong. I won’t make excuses, but I have a suggestion to make it up to you."

Leah stubbornly wiped away her few tears and sniffled. "What suggestion?"

Luis grinned. "Everyone has their own secrets, or shared secrets. I promise I won’t tell anyone what I saw. This’ll be our little secret."

"You... you can’t tell anyone, especially Mom..."

Leah was so mad she rolled her eyes, but she didn’t know what to do. The matter was too embarrassing to bring up.

Seeing she was genuinely angry, Luis teased, "Our Leah is so pretty. Even when angry, you’re adorable."

"Who asked for your praise, you pervert, you disgusting peeping tom!"

Leah snatched the room key from the table. The more she thought about it, the angrier and more wronged she felt. With a loud wail, she ran back to her room in tears.

The door slammed shut again. Luckily, no one was home, or it’d be hard to explain.

Back in her room, Leah cried on her bed, pounding her pillow in frustration. "Eldest brother-in-law is a creep. Second brother-in-law seems nice but is actually a pervert, a huge pervert, a disgusting pervert..."

"Why did you have to peek at my phone..."

Crying like a mess, her phone suddenly buzzed with a message. Leah wiped her tears and froze when she saw it.

"Leah, your brother-in-law is even more perverted than you think. Guess what’s new in your room?"

"Disgusting pervert, don’t tell me..."

Remembering stories about men’s fetishes—how underwear and stockings would go missing when hung outside, stolen by perverts who’d jerk off onto them—Leah hurriedly wiped her tears and opened her closet, pulling out the drawer where she kept her panties.

Inside was a piece of paper.

It was a shopping receipt from the mall, dated that morning. The item purchased was the latest top-of-the-line iPhone 14, costing over a thousand dollars.

Leah stared at the receipt, confused about Luis’s intentions.

Another message arrived: "Perverted brother-in-law peeked at your panties. Is Leah even angrier now?"

"Disgusting pervert!"

Leah stopped crying but didn’t reply.

The girl sat on her bed, staring at the receipt. Of course she knew about this latest luxury phone. Nowadays, everyone had a phone, usually a cheap hand-me-down from their parents.

An iPhone worth a few thousand was already impressive. This one, costing over a thousand, wasn’t something anyone at school had yet. It was the stuff of heated discussions.

"Baby... your disgusting pervert wants to share another secret with you!"

Another message came. Leah hesitated, biting her lip, her face flushed.

She knew her brother-in-law had seen the messages from Avery. Worse, she’d responded. It was so shameful. In his eyes, had she become some kind of little slut?

No, more like a prostitute. Her good-girl image was probably ruined.

What did her brother-in-law mean? Was he proposing some kind of deal?

The thought made Leah grit her teeth in anger, but remembering those messages sapped her resolve. Her immature mind was in chaos.

Unlike her turmoil, Luis had no such complicated thoughts. When no reply came, he tossed his phone aside.

Leah was at the age where vanity peaked. In today’s materialistic school environment, Luis didn’t believe she could stay calm holding that receipt.

----

At dinner, Leah acted like nothing had happened.

While eating, Luis deliberately said, "Mom, my business partner said they’d give me a phone in a couple of days. I think little sister’s phone is too old. It’d suit her."

"What phone? Expensive?"

Ruth instinctively asked.

"Not expensive. Just something suitable for a kid, not for someone as mature and dignified as you."

"Oh, alright then."

Ruth looked at Leah, who was quietly eating, and frowned. "You stupid girl, what’s wrong with you? Your brother-in-law’s giving you something, and you can’t even say thank you?"

"Yeah, where are your manners?"

Lily joined in scolding her.

Leah’s heart raced as she remembered the receipt. She looked up at Luis, meeting his knowing smile, and her heartbeat went wild.

At that moment, Luis seemed like a demon tempting her, waiting to see if she’d sell her soul—no, her body.

Leah hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Brother in law, what kind of phone is it?"

Ruth immediately slammed the table, unleashing her inner fury as she scolded, "Why are you asking so many questions? You’re being picky even when someone gives you something. Where did you pick up such a bad habit?"

The slap produced a sharp, crisp "ping" sound, the metal of her bracelet hitting the glass table with a piercing noise.

Lily quickly interjected, "Mom, be careful not to break the table."

Ruth startled and immediately lifted her hand, examining her gold bracelet with concern. "Are you out of your mind? The table is worth nothing. If this bracelet gets scratched, it’s over. I’ve only been wearing it for two days."

Truth be told, Ruth was a first class bitch. On the first day she wore the large bracelet Luis gifted her, she complained it was too heavy, saying her arm hurt from playing cards.

To win over his mother in law, Luis tailored his approach to her tastes. The next day, he gave her a smaller bracelet. But what did she do? She wore both at the same time, flaunting them like a total nouveau riche.

"Mom, your bracelet is so trendy right now. Sister, you have one too!"

Leah finally noticed that both her mother and sister were wearing beautiful bracelets.

"You know about these?" Lily looked at her sister in surprise.

Leah nodded. "Of course I know. All the female teachers at my school have one, just different thicknesses. I also know it’s called the Summer Cicada series. Some students even secretly wear them to school."

"Students aren’t allowed to wear jewelry, right?" Ruth frowned again.

"They’re not, but as long as they don’t get caught, it’s fine. Last time, a classmate lost a bracelet and it caused a huge fuss."

Little sister in law Leah cleverly avoided the question by buttering up her mother.

After dinner, she dutifully helped her sister clear the table and wash the dishes. Luis, by now, was openly smoking in the living room.