Harlette composed herself, trying to look as relaxed and calm as usual. She was still stunned by what Dimitriv had just said. Waiting for her? Why?
This was their latest meeting. Morana was close with Dane, a young psychiatrist who was also a fairly famous influencer. Dane was a close friend of Dimitriv's, so he often invited his best friend to hang out with Morana's social circle, which included Harlette and three others.
"Want a burger?" Dimitriv offered. "There's no tomato in it," he clarified after noticing the slight hesitation on the woman's face.
"Of course Harlette wants one. She hasn't eaten all night," Serena cut in, taking the burger and placing it in Harlette's hands.
Harlette had been busy eating ice cream and had shown no interest in anything else. She began biting into the burger while wondering why Dimitriv's meeting with her older sister had been so brief. Then, all of a sudden, he had shown up here first.
"How's your wedding going?" Morana asked. She was curious, but she also wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly. She didn't want to lose the bet.
"According to plan."
"All good?" Morana pressed slightly. In this situation, she was Harlette's enemy. She couldn't afford to lose her money.
Dimitriv lifted his wineglass for a moment, as if arranging his thoughts. "All good," he said. "Why? Is there something strange?"
"Nothing." Morana laughed awkwardly. "I just wanted to make sure my best friend's future brother-in-law's wedding was going smoothly."
Harlette shot a cynical look at her best friend, who clearly had no control over her mouth. Then she shifted her gaze toward the man, who looked like he was enjoying the gathering.
A notification suddenly appeared on Harlette's phone. When she checked it, she saw that her older sister's private Instagram account had uploaded a photo of a tree Harlette knew very well. It stood in the backyard garden of their house, planted beside the gazebo in a warm, cozy setting.
Whenever Violette was there, it meant she wasn't doing well. Harlette glanced at Dimitriv again, finding him laughing with Dane. Was that why his meeting with Violette had been so short? Then what had happened for Violette to be in such a state?
"I'll get it from the fridge," Harlette suddenly called out when Madeleine was about to stand and fetch a can of soda from the refrigerator. The cans on the table were already gone.
Madeleine gave a small nod. "Okay, sure."
Harlette tapped the surface of the refrigerator twice, and the interior light came on, revealing a fridge packed with drinks and all kinds of snacks.
She quickly pulled out several cans of soda. When she turned around, she jumped at the sight of Dimitriv suddenly standing behind her. One of the cans fell, split open, and spilled its slightly foamy contents.
"Are you okay?" Dimitriv asked.
"I'm fine. You just startled me by appearing out of nowhere."
"Sorry. I was only trying to help."
Dimitriv looked around and spotted a tissue box on the table. He pulled out several tissues and bent down to clean the soda off Harlette's feet. But Harlette immediately lowered her head, took the tissues from him, and cleaned her own feet.
Dimitriv didn't react further. He waited for Harlette to finish, then helped her carry the cans of soda back to the gathering room.
"I thought you left with Vio," Harlette said casually on the way back.
"We met earlier."
"Oh, yeah? When?" Harlette replied quickly, a little more impulsively than she intended.
"Before I came here."
"Then why aren't you with her anymore?"
"Do I have to tell you the details?"
Harlette stopped walking, and Dimitriv fell silent as well. "No need," she said at last. She quickened her pace slightly and took the cans of soda from him. "Thanks for the help."
The others' laughter could be heard from outside the room. They paused for a moment and all looked toward Harlette, with Dimitriv following behind her.
"What took you so long?" Sanja asked.
"A can fell earlier. There was a little incident."
"Really? Or was that just an excuse to flirt with your sister's fiancé?"
Sanja's words made the room fall abruptly silent. Madeleine pinched her boyfriend's waist until he winced in pain. Harlette herself immediately shot a dark look at the man sitting on the opposite sofa. She squeezed her soda can slightly, making the liquid spill out. Sanja was such an asshole. He couldn't keep a secret to save his life.
"I think I should rip your mouth open with this can," Harlette muttered.
"Hey, I was only joking. Besides, I can—" Before he could finish, Madeleine pinched his arm again to stop him from saying anything worse.
"Your mind is really going places," Dimitriv remarked amid the commotion that involved him. "There's no way Harlette would do that."
"Yeah, I agree. Besides, she's a good woman. She'd never do anything bad." Morana offered her opinion.
The woman's words sounded like an outright jab at Harlette.
As the first person to learn Harlette's secret—that she was in love with Dimitriv—Morana had switched sides the moment she found out Dimitriv would marry his fiancée. She supported the legal team now and had begun opposing the illegal things Harlette did. Morana kept provoking Harlette to forget Dimitriv because they weren't meant to be, all so she wouldn't lose her bet money.
"What about your expansion project?" Serena cut in, trying to end the sudden awkwardness.
"It's in progress," Dimitriv replied.
"Have you met Mr. X yet?" Dane interjected, since he knew about the project plans.
Dimitriv didn't answer. Instead, he took another swallow of wine, proving that the meeting had yet to happen—and that he was a little frustrated.
The turmoil beneath Harlette's ribs felt as though someone were stirring it with a spoon. Her mood had already been awful for a while, especially after her surveillance failed and she had to listen to Sanja's loud mouth—one that clearly needed to be slapped into silence.
"I'm going home first."
"Why?" Madeleine asked spontaneously.
"I'm tired. I want to rest."
"Me too." Serena stood and followed Harlette.
"Harlette, the night's still young. We can have fun a little longer." Sanja tried to stop her.
"You're the one making it boring," Harlette grumbled as she walked away.
Nothing could stop her retreating footsteps. Madeleine hurriedly pinched Sanja's waist again until he winced, because he was the reason Harlette was so irritated.
Harlette was on the verge of throwing a tantrum in the car. She was so frustrated that her maroon-painted fingernails seemed ready to claw apart anything inside the vehicle.
"Did you see that? Morana was seriously annoying. She's so weird. She never used to care this much about me loving Dimitriv."
"Maybe it's because she knows now that Mr. Dimitriv is going to marry your older sister."
Harlette whipped her head toward Serena, leaving her best friend scrambling for words. "I feel like something's weird with her. Is she hiding something from me?"
"Hm? How would I know?"
"I heard you met Mr. Dimitriv earlier." Harlette made small talk as they searched her mother's study for an important note that had somehow gotten misplaced.
"How did you know?" Violette asked, making Harlette choke for a moment. She was such an idiot for bringing it up.
Jealousy was one thing, but this was unbelievably stupid. Of course they would meet. They were engaged, after all.
"H-He told me earlier."
"You met him?"
"Yeah, with everyone else too."
Violette picked up a folded sheet of paper wedged into the sofa. There it was. "I see. It must have been fun." Violette turned and looked at Harlette. "I found it. I'll give it to Mom."
Harlette nodded. She didn't follow Violette out of the room. Instead, she flopped down irritably on the sofa, reflecting on her foolish question. She turned it over and over in her head, wondering whether Violette suspected anything. Morana's words from before returned to her thoughts: Harlette's behavior was far too obvious for someone who liked Dimitriv.
A video was sent to their social-circle group chat. Despite her reluctance, Harlette opened it and saw Dimitriv drunk and rambling slightly about how unhappy he was.
There was definitely trouble between the two of them, Harlette thought. But no problem between them could be more serious than her own. She was preparing herself to love Dimitriv recklessly, then end it as quickly as possible.
It was so difficult, she complained silently again and again.
Apparently, no one was particularly happy this Saturday night. Harlette glanced at the digital clock on her phone. It was ten p.m. She needed to leave the room soon and take care of her private business in her bedroom.
Before that, she stopped by the kitchen and ran into Julietta.
"Want some noodles?" Julietta offered.
"No, thanks."
"Dumplings?" Julietta pointed to a foil box on the table filled with a dozen or so dumplings that had been perfectly torched.
Harlette looked at them for a moment, then said, "No, thanks."
"Why is everyone so weird tonight?" Julietta muttered. She had offered some to Violette and her mother earlier, but they hadn't seemed interested either.
Harlette left the kitchen with a can of soda in her hand. Her gaze dropped to the name of the drink, and she said, "Serena's recommendation is pretty good."
She was now standing in front of the bookshelf, inserting a key into the tiny keyhole that served as a portal to her favorite world. Her body sank into her usual swivel chair. She leaned her head back, and Dimitriv's perfectly sculpted face immediately filled her thoughts.
How should she start?
How could she...
"Ah!" Harlette cried, sitting up straight.
Her hands moved quickly to open the desk drawer and pull out a box about the size of a business-card case. Inside was an unused SIM card. Harlette inserted it into another phone she owned.
At first, she had planned to contact him anonymously through social media, but she changed her mind. Using a phone number like this would be better.
Harlette bit her nail. She hesitated. Should she really go through with this plan? It was a little more reckless than anything she had done in the past few years. Before, Harlette had only acted like a stalker who managed to acquire hundreds of photos of Dimitriv.
This time... it was a little thrilling.
'Good evening, Mr. Dimitriv. I hope you'll be happy tonight.'
A few seconds after sending the message, Harlette threw her phone aside, completely flustered by her own actions.
'Who are yuu.'
Unexpectedly, Dimitriv replied almost immediately. But his words were a mess, making it obvious he was drunk.
'Someone who likes you.'
'Damn, it's uselss, I'm gonna marrry someone else.'
'I know, but let me satisfy my need to love you before you get married.'
Meanwhile, Dimitriv laughed as he read the message. He sprawled across the bed after Dane dropped him off. Dane took Dimitriv's phone just before he could reply again and placed it on the nightstand.
"What happened?" Ryland asked, also in the room. He wanted to know what had made Dimitriv this drunk.
"He's just drunk as usual."
"By the way, thanks for bringing him home. Just leave him like this. He'll be sober by tomorrow."
Dane nodded. Ryland escorted him out. Dimitriv was left alone. Usually, Raiden was the one who looked after him. Or Seara, because she adored her eldest brother. Dimitriv's two younger brothers, meanwhile, were somewhat indifferent since they weren't close to him.