CHAPTER 173: HUSBAND

In the morning, it was announced that the pool would be closed for ’the foreseeable future.’ The cause of it was an accident that had taken place the previous night.

The area was cordoned off with security posted around the entrance.

It halted the onlookers’ attempts at digging for a scoop.

As best they could, the crew tried to keep the nature of the supposed ’accident’ under wraps.

Yet there was restlessness in the guests. The cause of it was a rumor spreading through the hall during breakfast hours.

"A guest’s dead?"

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

"Poor man."

It was a revelation from a well-dressed gentleman known for his morbid curiosity that had shaken the tables.

"Stabbing."

"I’m sorry?"

Resting his weight on his fancy cane, the old man continued, "It was a stabbing through the heart."

Gasps erupted, and for a moment, Averie wondered if it was truly necessary to dramatize the event.

’It could just be an accident,’ he thought.

"A knife was found in his chest, I hear."

Another wave of gasps saw an old woman fainting.

Averie chewed on his lips.

’He could have fallen on a kitchen knife. Happens quite often.’

The old man stretched his eyes. "It was a dagger, apparently."

’How do you know so much, old man? Even I didn’t see the dagger in his chest.’

The old man, according to a few of the middle-aged ladies who had taken in with Averie, was a curious collector known for his resourcefulness.

Throughout breakfast, Hyerin had her gaze on Averie.

"Give it a rest, Rin."

"Why should I?" Her mouth was full of waffles, yet she somehow kept her eyes venomous. "You still haven’t answered where you were last night."

He threw his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Listen." His voice fell to a whisper. "The occasion is rather sensitive. If the rumours are true, your grumbling will throw suspicion on me, and you know how much the authorities love me."

Hyerin’s mouth flapped uncourteously. She wanted to say a lot of things, but there was only so much room in her brain.

She stuck her fork in a waffle dripping with hot chocolate.

"Are you stupid?"

In the end, that’s all she could spit out.

Just like Min-Ha, who had been watching the two silently, Hyerin too doubted her friend.

But only because Averie had asked them not to ask, did they keep their suspicions to themselves.

"I swear that I, Averie Quinn Auclair, did not enact foul play against the supposed victim of our cruise’s pool," he had proclaimed, with a hand over his heart.

Such solemnity had them both dazed.

"So, where were you last night?"

Yet that question was hard for Averie to answer.

And even after they were done with their breakfast, Hyerin insisted.

"Hey, tell me."

In the end, Averie—in all his wisdom—chose to act out a brilliant sequence.

Acting coy, he rubbed his neck. "It’s—you don’t need to know, okay?"

It only seemed to kindle the flame in Hyerin’s passionate eyes.

"Tell me! What did you do?"

She stood in front of him, arms wide, stopping his advance.

Pretending to be anxious under her fiery glare, Averie averted his gaze; his head turned towards the sea.

"I—you know—I was socializing."

"With who?"

"...A nice lady."

The girls stared at him.

"Are you—did you—you—what?"

Min-Ha stepped in.

"So, you were with a woman... at night?"

The talented actor nodded his head uncomfortably.

After sharing a long conversation through stares that only women could decipher, they threw glances at him.

’He did look untidy when he returned last night.’

’His hair was all over the place.’

"You, um—" Hyerin held her hands behind her and took his left side. "—you met someone nice?"

"Yeah—" Min-Ha folded her arms and took his right side. "—what’s she like?"

For Averie, it was mission successful.

He didn’t give any specifics about who the lady was or what they did. He kept it as vague as possible.

He had no intention of introducing this lady to them.

But fate had other ideas.

At a remote corner of the garden on one of the upper decks, Averie came across Julia Kim.

"Oh," the woman exclaimed. "Hello."

She was sitting at a cute little table, her hands gathered in her lap. Hanging from her shoulders was a yellow sundress.

"On an early walk today?"

’Life’s ruined.’

Staring at her serene expression in harmony with the greenery around, Averie raised a reluctant hand.

"What a lovely surprise. How nice to see you here."

The woman pointed at the chairs across from her.

"Would you like some tea?"

’Throw it in my face.’

"Oh, it’s alright. We are just passing by—"

"It’s not polite, Averie," said Hyerin.

And the glare that he returned, very sadly whimpered: ’Et tu, Rin?’

The girls quickly took their seats, attracted to the sweets on the table like moths to flame.

Averie too followed.

"Did you sleep well last night?" the woman suddenly asked, after introductions were made.

"Wonderful."

She poured three cups. "That’s good. I was worried I may have caused you some unpleasantness."

"Not at all."

"I also wanted to thank you. I slept well yesterday because of you."

The scone that Hyerin was utterly annihilating glared at Averie from her ajar mouth.

With laboured breaths, she turned to him, a flicker of suspicion stirring in the depths of her soul.

Her dilated pupils relayed to him something he most feared.

’It’s her? Your lady?’

Averie closed his eyes, resigned to his demise.

He pursed his lips. ’Yeah...’

Hyerin glanced at the woman and then at her friend. ’She is at least ten years older than you, right?’

Her lids flickered as if she were trying to back down.

’I mean, if that’s how you like them, it’s fine. I’m not shaming you—and I mean, she is pretty. What’s age anyway?’

On the other hand, Min-Ha was glaring at him. ’You like them older? What was wrong with me, then?’

"Oh, by the way," — Julia looked up from her cup — "have you seen my husband around? I couldn’t find him."

Hyerin spat out her tea on the defenseless flowers at her feet.

Coughing and hiccuping, she barely managed to make eye contact with her friend.

’Husband?’ She was appalled. ’She has a husband?’

"Are you alright?" asked Julia.

"Yes, I’m sorry."

Min-Ha, too, could not recover from the revelation as she looked at her actor with a bit of disgust.

A number lit up on Julia’s phone.

"Oh, excuse me. I need to take it. My little girl is calling."

As she moved away, Hyerin’s head whirled to look at Averie. ’She is a mother?’

Min-Ha leaned back. ’No way. This is a dream, right?’

In their eyes, Averie had made a wrong choice in the heat of the moment.

’Or is he really that messed up?’

As the call ended and the woman returned, they were suddenly joined by a staff member, who looked to be in a hurry.

"Excuse me. Is Mrs. Julia Kim here?"

His breathing was laboured, and his gaze was frantic.

"What’s the matter?" Julia asked.

"It’s—" He held himself. "Would you mind?"

He took her some distance, and Averie watched as the color faded from Julia’s face.

Suddenly, while listening to the man, she lost her balance and fell to her knees.

"What’s going on?"

Hyerin and Miin-Ha rushed to her side, propped her up on the chair, and fed her a scone.

She didn’t want to eat, but Hyerin insisted.

"You need sugar."

The man left after making sure she was fine.

Averie had a bad feeling about it.

"What’s the matter?" he asked.

"I—he..."

The woman stuttered for a moment.

"He—Jonathan—my husband’s..."

Averie could guess what she was about to say, yet he prayed to the devil, hoping it wasn’t so.

"He’s dead."

The dead man that Averie had seen floating in the pool the previous night was Jonathan Kim, Julia’s husband.

’I will be a suspect, won’t I? Until I left for London, they called me for questioning so many times... Will I have to keep up with that again?’

And yet, his biggest worry was how to escape the situation he had found himself in. Celli and Mrs. Nakamura had joined them in consoling Julia at some point.

And now, he was surrounded by ladies, each and every one sympathizing with Julia. It was like a women’s support group.

Celli was beside herself, worrying about a murderer on board. And the others shared that sentiment.

Averie was the only one feeling awkward, being the only man around.

He spotted Hideo Nakamura, but the good man turned right away after noticing the actor’s pleas.

’Damn bastard. Your wife’s here too.’

The sudden shift in atmosphere made Averie wish he were back in Gene Conti’s time.

’It was a weird time. We wore weird clothes.’

He was reminiscing, as the present was too depressing for him.

’Perhaps one day, they will think today’s standards to be too conservative. But even back then, I was ahead of time.’

He looked at the beautiful sky through the glass dome.

’An attire of white shirts and black dress pants was both classy and chic. It still holds. Ladies liked me. The devil’s act I was called. Men hated me for it. Churches decried me. I lived a devil’s life, and I died a devil’s death.’

Yet, he was having a hard time looking a fresh widow in the eye.