A Journey from Bitterness to Truth (Matilda and Yvan) novel Chapter 702

Keaton stood frozen at the door for a few seconds, his mind racing.

Suddenly, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He felt as though his reputation was crumbling right before his eyes. Hastily, he shoved Lance off him and called out to Yvan, "Dude, it's not what it looks like, I swear! Nothing happened, alright?!"

But Yvan just looked on, amusement dancing in his eyes. No matter what Keaton said, he seemed to take it as further proof of guilt. With a sly grin, he stood at the doorway, whistling teasingly.

"Lance, you were ribbing me about having a crush on a married woman, and now look at you, caught in the act!"

"Oh, shut it! You're one to talk!" Lance shot back, his voice rising. "With my looks, no woman or man could ever match up to me!"

After saying his piece, Lance turned to look at Keaton, who was just picking himself up off the bed, rubbing his neck where Lance had grabbed him a bit too vigorously. For a moment, Lance looked caught off guard, then quickly turned defensive, "And why the heck are you barging in on us? Didn't you know we were in the midst of a heated rivalry?"

"A heated rivalry," Yvan echoed with a smirk, whistling again, his gaze full of mischief. "So, this is how you city folks do battle? Bedroom brawls?"

The insinuation was impossible to ignore.

"Can't you ever speak like a normal person?!" Lance retorted, grabbing the nearest thing—a pillow from Keaton's bed—and hurling it towards Yvan. Yvan, quick on his feet, dodged with ease and swiftly shut the door behind him, the pillow thudding against it before flopping to the carpet.

Outside, Yvan's voice came through, laced with laughter, "Well, I won't disturb your 'deep, meaningful discussion'. Carry on, gentlemen."

Keaton covered his face in dismay. His reputation was in tatters... There was no coming back from this.

Meanwhile, as Keaton and Lance faced off, Yvan encountered Chase Johnson stepping out from another room.

"I heard some commotion... like something being thrown around," Chase said, puzzled. "Did you hear it?"

Yvan figured he was probably talking about the pillow Lance had thrown, but played dumb, shaking his head, "Nope, must've been your imagination."

Chase, utterly confused, considered checking on Keaton himself. As he moved to exit, Yvan quickly stepped in, slamming the door shut again.

Chase was baffled, "What's the deal, man?"

Yvan, barely containing his laughter, advised, "Now's not a good time to check on your brother."

"Why not?" Chase was perplexed. "The noise came from his room. I just want to see what's up."

Yvan, the master of deflection, said with a hint of mischief, "They're deep in a medical debate. You know how these doctors get, obsessed with cracking complex cases. They're exchanging notes right now, so let's not disturb them."