[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-2603220ECDF1-628":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},628,70,"Chapter 70: \"Are You Saying He's Not Naïve?\"","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">For someone with Roman Griffin’s stature, maintaining neighborhood ties was never a necessity.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">When Violette Ellis first replied to the \"neighborly\" gesture, she hadn't even considered the possibility that Roman might show up at the door. She knew him well enough to know he wouldn't. Just as she knew that Blake Pierce—if he wanted to regain any shred of goodwill—wouldn't be foolish enough to ignore the boundaries and go provoke Roman directly.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">As for that housewarming gift? Violette had inspected it thoroughly. It was a standard, innocuous gift, devoid of any suggestive undertones. He had sent it, perhaps, out of the reckless, arrogant impulse of his youth.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He had always been one to do as he pleased, knowing full well the consequences.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">This was the greatest headache of moving back into this complex. Upstairs lived her current husband, a man of composed, calculated precision who was slowly becoming a fixture in her life. Downstairs lived her ex-boyfriend, a volatile ball of young, unchecked energy who, more often than not, lacked any semblance of a leash.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">It wasn't that Violette hadn't considered coming clean to Roman. She had even consulted a few friends beforehand, though she’d initiated every conversation with the tired, \"I have a friend...\" opening.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The opening was pathetic, she admitted. To make it more believable, she even gender-swapped the scenario.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I have a friend whose ex-partner lives in the same building as their current spouse,\" she’d said.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"That's spicy,\" Chloe Nichols, one of her friends, had remarked, covering her mouth with a laugh.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"So, they’re asking me: should they tell their current partner that the ex is living right downstairs?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Chloe had countered, \"Is this guy actually done with the ex? No lingering 'benefit' arrangements?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"No,\" Violette had insisted firmly.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Don't be so sure. If you can trust a man's word, you might as well believe pigs can fly. My advice is to ignore your friend’s one-sided account.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"What if,\" Violette probed, \"they really are completely finished?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Impossible,\" Chloe replied, sounding even more certain than her. \"Who in their right mind stays living in the same building after a clean break?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Chloe’s words served as a silent confirmation that being honest wasn't exactly a stellar idea. She tried asking Marilyn Stone instead.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Marilyn, ever the professional, perked up. \"Someone from our station?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"No,\" Violette said, her expression steady. \"A classmate from middle school.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">God once said the more details you sprinkle into a lie, the more believable it becomes. Or, well, maybe God didn't say that. Violette felt like she was descending into some kind of personal hell, which explained why her mind was suddenly overflowing with dark, ironic humor.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"You could tell him,\" Marilyn said after a thoughtful pause.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Violette’s eyes brightened. \"Really?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Marilyn nodded, though she added with a regretful shrug, \"Though the odds of his relationship imploding go up significantly.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"...\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Violette tried to make a final stand. \"What if he doesn't want it to implode?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Move out. Immediately,\" Marilyn said. \"Get out of the danger zone.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Marilyn's advice was actually quite sound. If Violette hadn't been unable to come up with a valid reason to give Roman for why they suddenly needed to move, she really would have done it. Every friend she asked gave her roughly the same answer: no one believed the guy in her story was actually \"clean\" with his ex. Everyone was convinced they were still tangled up in each other.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Until she could think of a reason to move, Violette decided to play dead. After all, based on what she knew of Blake, once he started the Tour, he wouldn't have any time to spend in Deepwater. Even when they were at their most infatuated, they hardly saw each other, squeezing in meetings between major matches.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Sometimes, their only time together was a thirty-minute layover at the Deepwater airport.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">With the weather warming up after the New Year, matches were piling up one after another. He should be burying his head in the sand, grinding for ranking points.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The apartment in Deepwater was effectively a ghost house. This was quickly confirmed, as the newsroom was a hub of information; one couldn't walk past the sports desk without hearing updates about who was competing in what tournament.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Tournament after tournament—Blake was nowhere near Deepwater.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Roman noticed it too. The nightly blessing messages he sent to Violette had stopped at a certain point. He didn't lower his guard, though. He remained like a panther that had been provoked, watching and waiting.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The unfortunate thing was that as the head of such a massive conglomerate, he couldn't just park himself in Deepwater every day. His post-holiday business travel schedule had been set in stone long ago, impossible for even him to push back.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Before leaving, Roman didn't dispatch his secretary; he returned to the penthouse himself to grab his luggage. He stood in the living room, gripping the handle of his black suitcase, watching Violette bustle about as she packed spare medicine for him. He suddenly felt a twinge of regret that he had come back at all.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He feared that when the time came for them to part, Violette would be fine, while he would find his feet rooted to the floor, unable to walk away.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Violette crouched in front of the cabinet, checking the expiration dates one by one. \"I packed you a box of stomach meds and a fever reducer. Hopefully, you won't need them, but it's better to have them than to be caught without an emergency plan.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Alan, his secretary, had already prepared everything, but medicine packed by one's wife was inherently different.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Roman looked at her intently. \"Mm.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Chloe and I went to Germany for a trip once. The moment we landed, she caught a fever. We couldn't get a hospital appointment for four months, and when we tried to find a private clinic, it was Sunday—everything was closed.\" Violette droned on. \"When we finally got to see a doctor the next morning and got a prescription, I was handed a slip of paper and told I had to go to a completely different location to pick up the meds.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The situation was a common gripe among travelers.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Roman had experienced a few similar incidents during his own studies abroad. The only difference was that he hadn't just had access to private doctors; he had a medical institution that served the Griffin family exclusively.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He couldn't fully empathize with her struggle, but he still found himself smiling as he listened to her chatter. He loved hearing Violette share these mundane details of her life.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"And then?\" he asked.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"The pharmacy was four miles away,\" Violette sighed. \"I ran all the way there, only for them to tell me they were out of stock and it would take two days, or they could mail it to my address.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"That sounds inconvenient,\" Roman agreed.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"When I thought about the 'craftsmanship' of the locals, I realized I’d be better off by the time the medicine arrived, so I ended up begging a local student to get some for me at an Asian market.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Clearly, the word \"craftsmanship\" was being used sarcastically.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The smile in Roman’s eyes deepened. \"It seems my planning was indeed inadequate. I should bring more backup medicine.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"You don't need that much,\" Violette said, looking back at him. \"You’re only going for two weeks, right?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Right.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Then I’ll go pray for you at the temple. That should guarantee you have a smooth trip without getting sick.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The word \"temple\" felt oddly out of place here.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Roman repeated it, almost subconsciously. \"Temple?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"You didn't know? Our families are going up together to burn incense this weekend.\" Violette crouched on the floor, looking up at him. \"They probably didn't tell you since they knew you were going to be out of the country.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Roman asked again, \"Our families?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Yes. My mother told me. She said it was a proposal from your side.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Roman finally caught on.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">People in Deepwater were superstitious. The Griffin family had a tradition of going up the mountain to eat vegetarian meals every year. Sometimes they would stay for ten days or a half-month, but since Violette had work, no one forced her. It was likely just a weekend trip to recharge.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Even knowing his parents' character, Roman still felt uneasy. He had barely stepped out the door when he couldn't resist calling home from the elevator.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The moment the call connected, he only managed to say, \"Mom.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Margaret Lewis responded as if she knew exactly what her eldest son was going to say. She replied quickly, \"I know, I know. That's not what it's about. I promise, I won't pressure you about having kids.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Roman let out a long breath of relief.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Before he hung up, he heard Margaret speaking to someone else on the other end of the line: \"And you said he wasn't dense? Look at how nervous he is—he's way more responsive than you were back in the day!\"\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272919543]