DM Chapter 19
Is that something to laugh at?
Sarin lowered her head deeply. She felt a hint of fear towards the man who spoke so confidently.
Something was off. It felt like Owen wasn’t revealing a crucial piece of information.
Sarin was the same. The evidence she could never deny was still alive and well in Korea.
She bit her lip, feeling unnecessarily nervous.
The next morning, when the maids finally entered through the hallway to clean, she could tell that Owen had decided to resume his usual routine. She hadn’t slept a wink after hearing such words last night.
Luckily, he wasn’t wandering around the living room last night. It was an unusually quiet night, but Sarin stayed awake.
“This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
Sarin pointed to the pile of trash she had cleared herself. Yuri’s gaze was clouded.
Despite Owen not being alone, the state of the suite was surprisingly good.
“All the dishes are broken.”
“We’ll just have to buy new ones.”
“He injured his leg, but he walked around.”
“Oh, just the leg?”
Usually, he gets injured in other places as well. Sarin closed her mouth when she saw Yuri’s reflective gaze. At that moment, Owen’s room opened, and he came out with his three dogs.
Under the neatly combed hair, a straight forehead, and a nose that stood tall even when clenched, something was strangely sensual, perhaps due to the unpredictable aura from his golden eyes.
His golden pupils fluttered softly, as if molten from pure metal. Waves of golden light seemed to spread wherever the gaze of the man, who seemed to be in better shape than ever, met hers.
He was beautiful.
When she focused only on the man, that thought dominated her mind. It might not be fitting to call such an imposing man beautiful, but besides that term, she couldn’t find words to define the creature before her.
His lips, as seductive as his leisurely gaze, moved slowly as he looked at Sarin.
“Good morning.”
A soft voice greeted Sarin.
The greeting was chilly, as if nothing had happened yesterday. He still had the same tired jaw and weary eyes, but he looked like someone who had slept well, unlike the night before.
“…Yes.”
He’s probably teasing me.
Sarin thought so. Her sister always had a taste for teasing, claiming that there were times she wanted to playfully tease her even more when looking at her face. She looked in the mirror and tried to find the face she wanted to make fun of, but she couldn’t quite figure it out.
“What about that?”
Owen asked, looking at the glass.
He pulls an envelope out of his pocket and hands it to Owen, but he doesn’t take it and points to Sarin.
Yuri’s gaze, not hiding his curiosity about what happened between them, turned to Sarin. He walks over to her and hands her the envelope.
Even at a glance, the thickness of the envelope was noticeable.
Without opening it, Sarin realized that it was the money Owen had promised. Accepting it made her heart pound, as if she had done something wrong. She had never touched such a large sum of money at once. The funds she hastily secured after taking out a loan were nothing more than cybermoney transferred through her account.
“I thought cash would be more convenient.”
Owen laughed as he spoke.
It wasn’t a check he could easily write, but the kind of cash he usually gives to his clients. Clean and unblemished.
The corner of his mouth quirks up as he gives her a sly, intense look. He is a man who is well aware of people developing perilous fondness for his face and skillfully exploits it.
Avoiding Owen’s gaze, Sarin quickly turned her head towards Yuri. Yuri looked at her curiously, surprised that she was suddenly looking at her when they weren’t even close.
The way she clutched the envelope tightly in her hand, as if afraid to let it slip from her grasp, was adorable, but he couldn’t help but notice that her gaze wasn’t on him, and with a low, tongue-in-cheek smile, Owen pushed past them and led the way.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
Yuri followed him with large strides.
The people cleaning the area behaved as if Sarin wasn’t there. The end of the envelope in her hand was damp with her sweat, and her fingers were tingling slightly from her tight grip.
As the owner left, the three dogs approached her, rubbing their heads against her thighs and nudging her. She wondered if this was a fair price to pay for walking the dogs.
Favors come with a price. Sarin vaguely realized that this was not just a simple favor. Still, she didn’t want to let go.
She wanted to rationalize this money somehow. The man had her passport, keeping her from leaving. Since it was akin to captivity, could she consider this money as compensation for it?
“It’s still raining; is he okay?”
She asked, holding the envelope in one hand and stroking the dogs’ heads with the other.
Three pairs of loyal eyes shone brightly.
The raindrops gradually became thinner. Seeing the visibility improving through the window, it seemed fine to take a walk wearing a raincoat.
“Yeah. Since your owner is gone, let’s go out.”
The rain passed, and the sky cleared.
Although she didn’t know if the weather would still be fine later, Sarin decided to go outside and see.
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“Ugh….”
It was a groan of agony. Laughter from women nearby echoed. Glancing at the half-opened door, Romanov muttered curses under his breath.
His pupils nervously shifted, fearing someone might rush in to kill him. Yet he couldn’t summon the strength to close the door.
He sensed the bandages, freshly changed, before he went to sleep, quickly becoming soaked with blood again. As soon as he opened his eyes, the terrible pain from his cracked head returned. Romanov hurriedly lowered his head to the table, which was now stained with handprints.
“Ugh.”
Inhaling white powder through his nasal passages, the foggy sensation in his head temporarily made him forget the excruciating pain.
Romanov, over 2 meters tall and weighing 130 kg, was an imposing figure untouchable by anyone. However, a sudden attack in Moscow left him helpless, losing his brother to gunfire.
His men guarding the mansion were incapacitated, and he was kidnapped just before his life was cut short.
After over 20 hours, he entered Eden City, and when he took off the cloth covering his face, there was Owen before his eyes.
The de facto owner of Eden City.
The nephew of Karena, the wife of Russian President Belov, also serves as Belov’s financial backer. Eden City was the laundromat where an astronomical amount of money flowed to Belov from Russia. Initially, Eden City was part of Belov’s plan to funnel money out of the country.
Who is the first lady, Karena?
Her maternal family ruled Moscow’s Red Mafia. Belov, obsessed with power, married Karena and became the president. Belov was the man of the century, but it was no secret that it was Karena’s father who had gotten him there.
The power was naturally inherited.
Belov had two sons, both of whom were known for taking the opposite path from their father. Unable to control sons who refused to follow his wishes, and with no desire for power, Belov couldn’t enforce his will over the two sons leading lives in exile.
Hence, there was talk that Karena’s father, Nikolai, who could bend Belov with just a word, considered his grandson Owen as the sole heir.
His sons had already passed away. They were ruffians, incapable of taking their father’s place in the first place. That’s what Belov and his father-in-law had in common.
Nikolai, who held sway over the Red Mafia, paying respect even among the conflicting organizations, observed Owen as the potential successor to follow in Belov’s footsteps.
As the next president of Russia. The smartest and most ruthless of the many grandsons his dead sons had left behind was the one who resembled Nikolai in his youth.
“Fuck.”
Romanov chewed on the expletive.
He couldn’t fathom Owen’s intentions for doing this to him. Romanov worked for his grandfather, Nikolai. Boris, Nikolai’s right-hand man, to be precise, was the man Romanov served. He shouldn’t be unaware of the connection, but he was trying to kill him.
Romanov had no idea what was going on.
Then an Asian girl walked into the abandoned building and had a vague idea.
“Fuck, that was bad money.”
It was just a prank.
A homeless person in ragged clothes, apparently unaware of the rules, came in for one last round. That was the kind of money that was too good to pass up.
Everyone in the casino knew who Romanov was and tolerated his domineering behavior. Owen would have typically overlooked it, as Romanov didn’t behave that way towards just anyone.
However, the moment the woman came in front of his eyes, which were dragged by Owen, a silent scream burst out with a blocked mouth.
Everything was because of that woman. A shiver ran down Romanov’s spine as he realized that she was the reason his brother was dead—the reason he’d been dragged back to Eden City in his underwear that dawn.
Turning the arrow towards Owen was not an option. That would lead to the massacre of even his loved ones elsewhere.
As the face of the Asian woman, the culprit and the origin of all his troubles, once again surfaced in Romanov’s mind, his anger exploded.
“Damn Irish bastard.”
Gritting his teeth, Romanov poured out his resentment toward Owen.
