23 RIVAL

Nikolai tilted his head to one side. "That name sounds familiar."

"He's your maternal cousin, man."

"My cousin?"

"Gavin Kim is an A-list actor, one of the highest-paid ones in Korea. He has won several best actor awards, and a daesang recently in a prestigious acting award," Glenn continued with his report. "Most of all, Gavin Kim is the main lead in Mona-ssi's upcoming drama. In fact, they have a scheduled press conference happening in a few days to promote their show."

"Ah," Nikolai said, his reaction delayed. "Right. I remember Gavin Kim now. We met briefly when I was in England."

Glenn sighed while shaking his head. "How come you barely remember your relatives?"

"I'm not close with my own mother," he reminded his friend. "What makes you think I'll remember my maternal cousins I barely see?"

"Right. Your family isn't normal."

"Did it look like Mona was close to Gavin Kim?"

"The truth?"

"Yes."

"They seem pretty close," Glenn said, taking a sip of his Long Island Iced Tea before speaking again. "Gavin Kim picked up Mona-ssi from the police station earlier. I saw a huge bouquet of red roses in the backseat of his car, and Mona-ssi looked pretty happy to see him."

"Do you think the two of them are dating?"

He ordered another whiskey on the rocks, bracing himself for Glenn's answer.

[I'm not yet ready to hear it, but I'm curious.]

"I'm not sure if they're dating or not," Glenn said, then he patted Nikolai's shoulder. "Nikolai, don't jump to conclusions. Just ask Mona-ssi if she's dating Gavin Kim or not."

"But what if she said yes?"

"Then I'll drink with you all night even if I have to grovel before my wife the next day."

"Should I break them up if that was the case…?"

"Don't be stupid, Nikolai," Glenn said, smacking him at the back of his head lightly. "Do you want Mona-ssi and your children to hate you again? Plus, you don't even know if Mona-ssi and Gavin Kim are really dating or not."

"But I don't think I have the courage to ask," Nikolai said, staring at the glass of whisky in his hand. "I'll probably die if Mona said that she's dating Gavin Kim now."

***

"NIKOLAI-ssi, a famous interior designer has reached out to me this morning."

[Ah, those roses…]

Nikolai went to visit Mona at the Roseheart Café, which was still closed to the public for renovation, because his wife called and asked him to meet him there after work.

Needless to say, he canceled all his appointments that afternoon.

[But it's not like I'm being careless. The company invests in talented and capable people so the company won't crumble just because the boss went home earlier than usual.]

"Miss Jeanne Lim contacted to me and practically begged me to hire her to design the new interior of my café," Mona continued in a worried voice. "Miss Lim isn't only a famous interior designer– she's also the owner of a small yet successful furniture company."

He could hear his wife talking, but his attention was stuck on the table behind Mona.

The roses that he saw Mona carrying last night were on the table.

And it looked like his wife was working on the flowers to preserve them by using clear epoxy resin.

[In the past, Mona used to preserve the flowers I gave her that way…]

Was Mona doing that as well to preserve the roses that she had received from Gavin Kim?

The thought hurt Nikolai more than he thought.

[If Mona asked me for divorce in order to marry Gavin Kim, do I have the right to refuse?]

***

Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>