CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 153. OPERATION ADONIS

Denise had been in a bad mood lately. And by lately, it was a few months already.

Was it at the start of the summer when her supposed fiancé started to contact her less and less? She knew it was only a political move--a mutual alliance between a businessman and a politician--but shouldn’t they at least act the part? She couldn’t care less about the man’s feelings for her, but if they were engaged, he should still act like a proper fiancé.

And he did, at first, even if it was clearly performative. Sending flowers and gifts when she had events or shootings, regular dinners at least once a month, and public appearances as a couple from time to time.

But then, all of a sudden, he barely contacted her. From the middle of the summer, there was no longer a dinner invitation. Even when Denise contacted him first, there was no response. The flowers and gifts were still coming, but it was clear that his secretaries were the ones sending them as part of the habit. Even that had stopped for a month already.

"Lee Mason, you son of a bitch," Denise hissed in irritation. It was that side that begged to have an engagement, but he treated her like this? Did this stuck-up jerk think she was the one who needed him?

What a joke.

"Now, now--isn’t this why we’re going out to play?" a girl who sat beside her in the back seat of her car hugged her arm and stroked it to calm her. "We’ve been trying to get a reservation in that place, haven’t we? Let’s not waste Megan’s luck with a bad mood."

As people who were active in social media and had a lot of followers, they had been trying to get a reservation for this certain restaurant for a long time--the food itself didn’t matter; the bragging right was. But it was so hard and even though they had entered their name in the roster, there had been no news from the management for months. It was only last week that one of them finally managed to ’win’ one of the reservations, and since they were allowed to bring up to five people, the four of them came together.

"Phew...you’re right, Liz," Denise clicked her tongue. "Let’s post nice pictures and show that I don’t need that kind of useless man."

"That’s my girl!"

Denise exhaled softly. She had been asking her fiancé to get her a reservation too, but...tsk--what a useless man. She wondered if she should just break the engagement, but...it didn’t feel good if she ended up with someone uglier, or worse...not as rich.

Haa...should she hold on for a little bit? She could try to look for an alternative in the meantime, and if that useless fiancé refused to break the engagement, well...

She could always borrow her uncle’s men.

But her friends were right; she should just forget that man and enjoy the restaurant.

Thankfully, it was a place worthy of its reputation. A fabulous menu, both in taste and appearance--perhaps that was why it was so expensive. The room, while full, did not feel crowded since the table was situated rather far apart from each other, as if to give each group enough space to enjoy their experience. They were also given ample time to savor their meals, which was probably why the reservation was only available in limited quantities.

Before the dessert came, three of them including Denise decided to fix their makeup in the restroom so the pictures would come out better. On their way returning to the dining room, in a hallway near the stairs leading to the upstairs private room area, they bumped--physically--into someone coming from the stairs.

"Watch out!"

"Oh--"

"Kyaah!" Denise shrieked in reflex as she was the one who walked at the front and bumped into the person.

Well...bumping was quite an understatement--crashing might be more apt to describe it because the person felt like a wall of brick.

If the wall of brick had a gorgeous face, a mesmerizing gaze, and could catch her wobbling body like a prince charming catching his woozy princess in a ball.

"Ah," a low, attractive voice made the prince even more perfect. "I’m sorry."

"Oh..."

Denise blinked dazedly, watching a face that usually only belonged on a TV show. Which was funny, since she was supposed to be someone who belonged in showbiz. It was almost a disappointment when the man balanced her again and released her.

"Are you okay?" he asked with the gentlest tone that gave no one a chance to feel annoyed.

Even Denise, who loved acting haughty in front of men--including her fiance--felt tongue-tied in front of this Adonis. "Oh, y-yes."

At that moment, the floor manager of the open dining room hurriedly came over after hearing the brief commotion. "Excuse me, I heard a scream. Are you alright?"

"Oh, no!" Liz whispered worriedly. She heard from someone that if they were seen as a disruption, the restaurant could ban them from coming there ever again. That would be so, so humiliating for social media figures like them.

Denise caught on and attempted to explain--since she was the one who embarrassingly screamed earlier. "Oh, yes. We’re just--"

"It’s my fault, I was being careless," but the Adonis interjected, turning around to face the manager. He glanced at Denise and her two friends before shifting his gaze back to the manager. "Have these ladies pay?"

"Not yet, Sir."

"Please put their bills on mine," the man said, to which the manager nodded politely--didn’t even look surprised or question which room he was from. "My apologies for disturbing these ladies."

"Very well, Sir."

"Oh, you don’t have to do that," Denise shook her head. Didn’t it feel too overbroad, paying for them just for accidental bumping? There was no damage or anything, after all. It felt rather...embarrassing. "There are more people at our table, so--"

"It’s okay. Feel free to order some more," the man, once again, cut her off. It was a bit annoying, but he also smiled so beautifully that Denise’s mind--and her friends’--short-circuited for a moment. "Then."

"Huh? W-wait!"

They tried to stop the man, but he was already heading inside the men’s restroom while they were in a daze from the smile. Denise thought she was already immune to handsome men since she worked in showbiz, but well...exceptions did exist.

Having gained clarity of the situation, the manager bowed politely. "I will return then."

"W-wait, manager-nim!" Liz hurriedly stopped the manager.

"Yes?"

"Umm...who is that person? We haven’t even thanked him yet," the young woman asked, curiosity and desire cleared inside her eyes.

But the manager merely flashed a business smile. "I can’t divulge information about customers in private rooms, Miss."

"R-right..." Liz smiled sheepishly until the manager walked away before huddling with her friends as they returned to their table, whispering. "But phew--what a stud."

"You shouldn’t speak like that here, Liz," Denise rolled her eyes.

"Oops," the girl grinned. "But, come on--aren’t you curious? Someone that good-looking and rich, but we don’t know who?"

"Hmm...that’s true," the other woman who had been mostly quiet before--Sherry--spoke up. "I don’t think he’s a talent too, since everyone would be speaking about him if that’s the case."

"Yes, yes--that’s why I’m curious. I think he’s even better looking than Kang Daniel; I wonder if he’s single," Liz giggled.

"I don’t think you care much whether he’s single or not," Denise scoffed.

Liz laughed in agreement. "You’re right about that," she said, before nudging Denise. "What about you? Don’t think I saw the way you look at him," she smirked and adding playfully. "Even though you had a whole ass fiancé."

"Hah--what fiance? Someone who couldn’t even do the bare minimum of contacting me regularly?" Denise snickered. "He’s worse than my exes, honestly."

"What is this?" Megan, the lucky girl who got them the reservation and stayed back at the table asked curiously. "Why are you going back all upset?"

"Hey, hey, listen--"

With curled eyes full of excitement, Liz recounted their brief meeting with the mysterious Adonis. Megan’s eyes couldn’t help but widen and sparkled when she knew they didn’t have to pay anymore.

Sure, they could pay themselves; but she could use the money to purchase a new purse, so...

"Whoa...so this is all free now? What a gentleman," Megan swooned even though she had no idea how this man looked. "So, what does it have anything to do with Denise’s fiancé?"

"Oh, just that a single act of this mysterious man is better than the whole time Mason had been doing as her fiancé?" Sherry snickered.

"I said no such thing," Denise frowned, clicking her tongue in protest.

"But you implied it," Liz poked Denise’s arm. "Besides, she was right, wasn’t she?"

Denise pursed her lips. "Well...it’s not like we engaged because of love. Who would want to stay with that kind of man if I can have something better?"

"No argument there," Megan shrugged.

Not to mention, there was that rumor about him losing the succession--Denise muttered inwardly. Ugh...it was one thing after another. She wanted to break it off, honestly, but her father said breaking it off based on rumor alone would make them look bad, as if they only did it for monetary gain.

Of course, that was the truth, but the public didn’t like it if it looked too transparent like that.

And then, Sherry asked the real question. "He does look better, but is he wealthier?"

"He dines in the private room, so at least his parents must be," Megan shrugged.

"Yeah, but who is he?"

"Maybe he’d been abroad all this time? If he had been away since he was a child, most of us wouldn’t know

I mean, that was the case with Kang Daniel."

"Right, right! That must be it!" Liz clasped her hands. "The question now is: who are his parents?"

"Oh~so mysterious! Just that alone made him even more alluring," Megan said, getting even more curious about how this bewitching man actually looked.

Fortunately for her, that curiosity didn’t last long. Because when they went to the basement parking lot after finishing the excellent dessert, her friends heard a familiar voice that made them perk up. Liz hurriedly pressed herself against a pillar and peered at where the sound came from.

Naturally, Megan also tried to look after understanding that it was the mysterious gentleman her friends met earlier, and well...

She, too, might leave her husband for a piece of that.