Haga frowned. Derin had looked gloomy, listless, and irritable since that morning. He hadn't even wanted to touch the breakfast that had been prepared for him. He'd come to the office with such a rumpled expression that it frightened his employees. He signed documents in silence as if he were lifeless, listened to the operations manager's report without saying a word, and simply kept quiet.
At a time when Derin should have been beaming like a child whose parents had promised to take him to Dufan, he wasn't acting that way at all. Wasn't sitting beside Elana on a plane and taking a long trip together Derin's idea of a beautiful dream?
Yet instead of being happy, Derin looked anything but pleased. Was he about to change his mind? Was he confused or something? Because honestly, Derin had never gone this far before—not to the point of looking like a crazy stalker who constantly bothered Elana or followed her everywhere. Derin had always admired her from afar, elegantly, and of course without anyone needing to know except Haga.
Derin was still sane enough not to do something stupid, let alone immoral, even if he was more than capable of it. Besides, he had a busy schedule and a reputation to protect.
Haga still couldn't stop wondering if Derin was irritable because he'd suddenly changed his mind and realized that going to Paris with Elana was not exactly a normal thing to do.
But seeing how Derin remained silent without showing any sign of canceling his plans made Haga realize that the man might have some other problem.
After signing the paperwork to purchase a Lexus van and then picking up the Rolls-Royce—which he'd actually ordered the year before and intended to use as his personal car—they headed to Derin's apartment to get ready for the airport.
Haga couldn't hold back a heavy sigh when they were inside the elevator heading for the top floor, where the man's apartment was located.
"What's wrong with you?" Haga asked, making Derin turn toward him. The man was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
"It's nothing," he replied softly.
"Don't act like a girl! That annoying, rumpled face of yours has been awful to look at all morning. What's wrong with you?" Haga pressed, demanding an answer again after throwing in the jab. Derin sighed and walked calmly forward when the elevator doors opened.
The private floor contained only Derin's unit. They walked along the corridor, its marble floor covered by a dark red carpet. Several urns and bonsai trees had been carefully placed to decorate the length of the hall, all neatly arranged up to the far wall where the door to Derin's unit stood.
The man remained silent. With a smooth movement, he pressed his finger to the door sensor, which immediately emitted a sharp beep to signal that the lock had opened.
"Last night... Mom asked me to pick up Jeslyn at Fireclass." Derin spoke after entering his apartment. He removed his jacket and tie and tossed them onto the living-room sofa. Then he let out a heavy sigh.
"I happened to see Elana there," he continued, turning toward Haga, who had been following him the entire time. "She was... with Louise. Since when has Elana known Louise? Doesn't Louise live and stay in Surabaya?" Derin asked, his brow furrowed.
Now Haga understood why Derin's face had been so sour since morning. He sighed. Of course, he couldn't answer that question when he himself had no idea. Louise was one of the many enormously wealthy businessmen in the country whose name was constantly discussed, especially among businesspeople and government officials.
That man's family was one of the owners of the country's largest nickel mines. Some people hated him while others worshiped him like an idol. They hated him because his family seemed like a bunch of unscrupulous businessmen exploiting their homeland for personal wealth—which, in truth, wasn't unusual and was perfectly legal, considering that a nickel business like that wasn't illegal. They were worshiped because, naturally, the government and the country needed them. Unlike Pranadipta and Sujatmiko, who could go bankrupt at any time, Tanjaya would never go bankrupt as long as the country continued to stand strong.
They weren't rivals. Their different approaches to business simply meant that Tanjaya wouldn't be included on the list of colleagues, even if Sujatmiko wanted to acquire land in Sulawesi to turn into a tourist destination, should he get permission—an area not far from the family's mining site.
Honestly, Haga himself was confused about how Elana, who didn't even know Derin Sujatmiko, could know Louise Tanjaya.
"Maybe they had a sponsorship contract too?" Haga wasn't convinced. As far as he'd dug into Elana's life and even her privacy, he'd never once found any information about that. Elana's first sponsor had been a prominent lawyer who got her into Polimnia Entertainment—and then to Derin.
Derin turned and looked at him skeptically, making Haga sigh. He immediately pushed Derin toward the bathroom.
"Forget it. Don't overthink it! Elana's still single, and you have to get to the airport because you're leaving in two hours."
After finishing up the things Derin needed to bring in his suitcase, Haga headed to the walk-in closet, where Derin was now busy staring at his reflection in the mirror, changing outfits over and over like a nervous, confused teenager who had been asked out on a date for the first time.
"You'd look fine even if you didn't wear anything, Der." Haga reached for a Balenciaga jacket and put it on Derin, who was already wearing his Christian Dior Paris tee. "The trip is more than twenty hours because there's one layover. Don't wear anything complicated."
"You're really not coming, Ga?" Derin asked, frowning. Haga snorted.
"Here, I'm your gofer, but over at the office, I'm the vice president. If you're gone, I'm the one responsible for covering your absence." Haga sighed as he picked up a pair of Prada sunglasses and handed them to Derin.
"You have to be back the day after tomorrow. I've already booked your ticket. Don't even think about going to Elana's Fashion Week event!" Derin grumbled softly at that before leaving the walk-in closet.
While waiting in the airport lounge for her plane to take off, Elana sat quietly thinking about all the things that had confused and puzzled her since the night before. After signing a personal sponsorship contract with Polaris, Elana couldn't stop thinking about it—and she still couldn't believe it.
It was the first time she'd received another personal contract, the last one having come when she'd just entered the modeling world. Honestly, there were plenty of things making Elana think and leaving her confused and slightly uneasy. She didn't know what kind of person Derin Julian Sujatmiko was, and wasn't it normal to sign a contract together with the sponsor and legal counsel?
But she'd put that aside for the moment.
Sujatmiko? Elana had heard that name countless times. Who didn't know the Sujatmikos? They were like the Bakries, the Pranadiptas, and the Tanjungs—business giants in Indonesia whose names everyone knew, even if no one could remember what each member of those families looked like.
Elana knew a fair bit about the Sujatmikos, especially since one of her friends was a descendant of that famous clan. Was Derin related to Jeslyn? Was there another Sujatmiko? But that didn't seem possible.
Was that Derin guy one of the group of formally dressed men she'd seen in the lobby when she went to buy coffee yesterday? Probably. Then which one was Derin Sujatmiko? Judging by Jeslyn, who was tall, with fairly tan and sexy skin, was Derin Sujatmiko the tall, sexy one with Calvin Klein model–level tan skin? Ah, then it wasn't surprising at all.