DM Chapter 58
Owen had never turned the house upside down like this for a woman before, so he might as well get rid of her. Such matters shouldn’t even be left to the government. A woman who manipulates a man will cause trouble down the road.
“If you came here for the child, you should make wise decisions for the child.”
Nikolai stood up before the ball had even finished rolling, adding that he wouldn’t be waiting long.
“No more bets.”
No one paid attention to the number where the ball landed.
At Nikolai’s gesture, a server with a glass walks over and hands him a whiskey. He poured it all over Sarin’s head as she sat still and watched the numbers fall.
The smell of alcohol stung her nose.
The liquor slipped between her eyes and parted lips.
“You can talk to Yuri anytime. Don’t keep the old man waiting too long.”
Nikolai spoke kindly as he passed Sarin. Her shoulders trembled. Her chest heaved, as if she were hyperventilating. The alcohol on her tongue was enough to numb her reason.
She needed more. Her body cheered at the sensation, sweeter than honey, on the tip of her tongue for the first time in a long time. She stuck her tongue out long enough to instinctively lick his lips.
Someone grabbed Sarin’s chin and pushed their fingers into her mouth.
Her eyelashes were soaked, preventing her from seeing their face, but just by their actions, she knew who it was.
“Don’t swallow.”
Sarin blinked at the low command that followed the action. The amber liquid on her lashes trickled down her cheeks like tears. Her eyes hurt, and she couldn’t open them properly.
How much did he hear?
Soon, cold water was pushed into her mouth between his fingers.
“Spit it out.”
Sarin shook her head when he told her to spit it out on the floor. He grabs her by the nape of her thin, twitching throat and forces her forward, forcing her to gag and spit out what’s in her mouth. The taste of alcohol soon vanished like a mirage from her mouth. But the stench that coated her head didn’t.
Her eyes sting, and she can barely keep them open.
Owen scoops her up in one swift motion. She rubbed her stinging eyes against his shoulder. Still, he doesn’t say anything.
“How far did you hear? Your grandfather said I wasn’t human.”
“Shut up.”
She could feel the vibration of his brisk walk in her own body.
Sarin exhaled a slow breath as if she were drunk.
“Why? You treat me the same way too.”
He had treated her like an obedient dog from the beginning. The little taste of alcohol had paralyzed her reason. So she blurted out whatever came out of her mouth.
She was saying things to Owen that she couldn’t say in front of Nikolai. She knew that such behavior indicated cowardice, but she couldn’t stop herself.
She couldn’t question why he only came now.
“Ms. Lee Sarin.”
Owen’s pacing stops as he waits for the elevator. It was only then that Sarin realized the absence of the noisy sounds from the casino.
“I don’t call beasts by their first names,” Owen said in a flat voice, as if it didn’t matter.
“I don’t call animals by their names.”
What that meant was not easily understood. As the elevator arrived and they entered the small box, she swallowed her breath.
…Owen had never called his dogs by their names.
That helped her understand his words instantly. Although he referred to them as brothers, he had never called them by name.
Taking Sarin up to the suite room, Owen headed straight for the bathroom. He pushed her under the shower and turned on the water. The alcohol was swiftly washed away from her head. Sarin wiped her face with her palm.
“Stay there.”
Owen left her standing there and went to adjust the water temperature in the bathtub. As the tub filled with water, he sat on the edge, took off his suit jacket, and removed his wristwatch and cufflinks one by one, placing them within reach.
Owen watched Sarin in the shower, legs wide apart, upper body tilted, elbows on thighs, body low.
It was only then that she slowly sank down to the floor. Her clothes soaked up a lot of water. Her body gradually felt heavier. Sarin also sat on the floor, knees bent, facing Owen. She had many questions to ask, but when she actually faced him, words failed to come out easily.
“I told you not to leave.”
He was the first to speak.
For some reason, Nicolai suggested meeting outside the city, and Owen went all the way there. Under normal circumstances, Owen wouldn’t have fallen for it, but ever since Sarin took his hand, rational judgment has become impossible for him.
It was unfamiliar, like a part of his brain was missing.
He could just put it away, but he didn’t want to. Owen was succumbing to a desire to feel this strange stimulation for a little longer.
“Was it something I could refuse just because I didn’t want to?”
Sarin knew her voice sounded sharp, but she couldn’t help it.
She felt like she was teetering on the edge. She suffered from the things Owen sent her as a prize for saving his life, and before that, she couldn’t get out of bed all night. And it was extremely stressful for Sarin to have to meet Nikolai as soon as she woke up.
She knew who Owen had learned from. The moment Nikolai poured whiskey on her head, she realized they were alike. They were both used to digging in, poking, and prodding at a person’s weakest spots.
The falling water was hot enough to warm her, but strangely, she felt cold. It was similar to that night when they fell into the water. Sarin pulled her hands tighter around her knees and hugged them.
It had been a long time since she’d felt so alone. Lonely. The feeling of emptiness came back to her, like the time she’d been alone in the darkened hospital room, watching her mother sleep deeply due to the medicine.
The brief taste of alcohol fueled that feeling of emptiness. She had the urge to drink uncontrollably again and forget the day.
Her body longed for a time when she could forget the sick child, her life, and herself.
Suddenly, Sarin’s mind flashes back to the drinks at Owen’s bar. Her mind went numb, and her body reacted before her mind did. Just as she was about to get up from her seat and run out of the shower booth, Owen, who had been watching her without missing a move, made the first move and then grabbed Sarin around her waist and pulled her into his arms.
“…Just, please, a little.”
“Stop making it difficult.”
“What do you know!”
Holding Sarin in his arms, he stepped into the already-filled tub.
The water overflowed as it accommodated two people. and Sarin’s struggling in the hot water stopped. Sarin’s struggling movements in the warm water ceased. It was hard to believe that they were sitting clothed in the tub, with Owen supporting her.
Sarin gasped for air.
“My mother was addicted to alcohol, drugs, men, a lot of things.”
Owen, still holding her, buried his wet face in Sarin’s shoulder and spoke in a hushed voice. The irritation that had been bubbling to the top of his lungs quickly subsided. He rarely shared his story, especially not in this manner.
“That’s how I recognized Miss Lee Sarin at a glance. Addicted people tend to stand out. It’s like they have a lost face.”
He had such thoughts before.
The feeling of losing something in his heart. He wondered if he was drinking to forget what he had lost, and he rationalized that as he continued to drink. His body was easily addicted, to the point where he couldn’t survive a day without alcohol.
“If the child is…sick.”
“That’s just what the tests said.”
“Your grandfather doesn’t seem to like the child, despite what you say.”
“Oh.”
Owen’s words stretched out. Sarin felt him leaning his forehead on her shoulder and smiling. She hesitated, standing at a crossroads of whether to follow Nikolai’s words while staring blankly at the steam-covered bathroom wall.
No matter what choice she made, she felt she might never see the child again.
Even before, the time she spent with the child under the guise of earning money was short, so why did it bother her the most?
“Nikolai likes healthy children.”
“Hayan is….”
“That’s why they sought me out. They didn’t match my father’s liver.”
Sarin’s shoulders shook slightly. Owen’s lips pressed lightly against her damp clothes as if it were no big deal.
What Nikolai valued most was himself, followed by his children.
He had two sons and a daughter, who became the First Lady of Russia, while the two sons who followed led reckless lives, leaving behind numerous grandchildren.
The sons’ seeds soon became useful; however, when Nikolai’s favorite child, his eldest son, who had a congenital liver problem, was told he needed a transplant.
Many children, including Pavel, underwent tests but couldn’t find a matching liver. So they turned to Owen, whom they knew existed but had deliberately left alone.
“But I wasn’t a match either, but my father died in an accident, not from a disease.”
Owen spoke as if he were recounting someone else’s story. As Sarin took a deep breath, the humid air filled her lungs.
“You didn’t need to reveal all of this.”
Even with these words, Sarin probably shudders with anxiety.
Their relationship was strictly out of necessity. Not a strong blood tug, like grandfather and grandson, or anything like that, but a tacit acceptance of each other out of necessity.
Owen had taken Nikolai’s hand to get out of there, and Nikolai had saved Owen from the trash heap to save his son’s life.
After his son’s death, Nikolai did consider his grandsons as an alternative, but that was all.
Owen, Pavel, and the others knew where their benefits came from and how they arrived. If misfortune were to strike Nikolai’s most cherished grandson again, he would do the same thing all over again.
