At the end of a rather fierce but outwardly calm discussion, the two women of steel stood and shared a handshake, putting behind them the unpleasantness of the earlier deal.
Yui was of course very happy to have Shuri on her side. Her own teams of lawyers were no slouches. But most of them mainly worked for her families rather than herself.
This was a great step in becoming completely independent and taking her own route without caring about other thoughts of her.
"To a happy cooperation."
"To a happy cooperation."
They shared a smile and Yui turned toward Adam who had stayed silently in the corner and simply observed them.
She was quite happy as he once again proved his maturity in knowing his place and simply observing to absorb the knowledge necessary for his growth. People who were willing to learn without falling into the illusion of arrogance were always very attractive.
"Well, miss Shuri, since we are sharing such a moment. I believe this needs to become even more memorable."
"Oh?"
"My dear Cinder made me understand that you were a wine connoisseur."
"Well, I would not say a connoisseur but I do have some amateurish knowledge about the topic."
"This is marvelous." Yui clapped and gave a smile at Adam, "Cinder, please. Could you please bring that bottle?"
"Ohhh!?"
If before, Shuri was only mildly interested, now she immediately sat straighter in her seat, her eyes shining as if she was a school girl about to receive a treat for working hard.
She had to fight all instincts in her body to stop herself from gulping down loudly.
"The Romanée-Conti?"
"Indeed."
"Ah…"
Shuri let out a deep sigh, her instinct and reason fighting but Yui forestalled any refusal.
"This is me sharing a great moment with what I hope is a new friend. I hope you will drink with me."
Shuri struggled for a moment before finally nodding.
Just a small sip couldn't hurt, right?
Adam smiled as he saw Shuri act in such an uncharismatic childish way. It was fun seeing the other side of her.
—-
The rest of the night in a relatively calm way if it could be called thus. Hae-Won had a fun time with Cinder and while she could still not see his face, she was happy to have given the gift she prepared with such care.
In a way, it was like giving a gift to her idol and she found this emotion to be quite interesting.
Stepping out of her car after she reached her lavish but nearly empty home, Hae-Won walked in the large living room and could only sigh at how devoid of warmth everything seemed to be.
Her husband had always been against bringing people in this house and only the strict minimum of employees necessary were brought in. All of them were part of his gang.
"Welcome Madam."
"Thanks, Fabrice."
Fabrice was a relatively old man who worked as something of a butler in the mansion. She knew that he did not have much respect for her. But at the very least he had always been very professional.
"Is my son asleep?"
"The young master is spending time with the master?"
Hae-Won frowned. It was nearly two in the morning and while her son did not go to school, he was home-schooled and should have class in the morning.
In the past, her husband had always been rather disinterested in her son. As if he could not be bothered to care for him.
But now, it seemed like it was all the opposite and he couldn't wait to have him on his side.
'What is going on?"
She should have been happy that the father-son pair were now becoming closer but she couldn't help but feel a little worried.
In the end, all she could do was sigh and nod.
This was a good thing. Who knows? Perhaps the two would become even closer.
'Perhaps I should start thinking of divorce?'
Waving her hand at Fabrice, Hae-Won started to walk toward her room. It had been a long time since she had slept in the same bed as her husband and she did not really want to do so anymore.
Not just because of her relationship with Cinder but because of what he finally made her husband.
She was someone awesome.
She was someone who did not need to bow down and accept any form of abuse, even if not physical.
If it wasn't because she knew a friendly divorce was impossible, she would have already served her husband.
Sadly, there was no such option for her. His pride would never accept that his wife could leave him.
If she insisted, there were high chances that he would discover her story with Cinder and then the young man might get harmed because of her.
Knowing this, she could not in good conscience do such a thing.
'Perhaps I should start a new business alone?'
One without the support or funds from her husband. A business she could build all alone and look at it with pride knowing that it was the fruit of her own hard work rather than the money of a man she did not love anymore.
'How long will this last?'
Sooner or later he would discover the truth. All she wanted was to savor this time a little more before finally being found out.
"Mother. You seem to be in a good mood."
Hae-Won stopped at the sudden appearance of her son. He was a small boy with beautiful short black hair and equally black eyes. He was wearing a small sleeveless suit above a white shirt and a pair of shorts.
"Oh my cute boy, why are you awake at this time?"
She approached her son and took him in her arms, "Ouf, you are becoming heavier by the day. It seems like soon, I won't be able to lift you anymore. Also call me mom."
"Hehehe. Father, I mean Dad called me. He has been teaching some verse of the Bible."
Hae-Won frowned, this was another reason she was contemplating leaving her husband. At first, the 'church' of her husband had seemed grounded in actual Christianism. So while it was a small cult, she had not been worried. After all, everyone was free to have their own interpretation of religion.
But as time passed, this small cult became more twisted.
She had begged her husband to at least not indoctrinate her son but he had been adamant about him needing religious knowledge.
After a while though, he had stopped and she thought that he heeded her pleas but it seems like it was nothing more than wishful thinking on her part.
"And what did he teach you?"
"He said that on Thanksgiving, I would have a new name and start a new life close to our lord."
Hae-Won frowned, 'Does he want to baptize[1] him?'
She grimaced lightly, remembering that rather than water, he used a sort of red wine for this ceremony on a few believers.
Hae-Won had always found this to be pretty creepy so avoided it.
"Do you…Do you want to go through it?"
"Yes! Dad seems so happy when he speaks about it. I want to make him happy."
"Ah…"
She nearly teared up and hugged him tighter, "My little boy is becoming a big man."
She was still uneasy but she knew that the ceremony in itself was as harmless as any other baptism. Even though she would have wished for him to go through a Christian ceremony.
'Hum…Perhaps I can try?'
She had been a rather fervent visitor of the church and had donated quite the amount of money over the years.
Thanksgiving would be in a few days [2]. So perhaps she could work some deal with the church and perhaps do some swift baptism on her side.
"Say…Do you wanna go out with mom tomorrow?"
[1]: So for Christians, at least Catholics, and also for Muslims, we have a ceremony during which the child or the believer is given a new name as a sign of faith.
In Christianity the ceremony always involves water. A reference to a certain act of Jesus. Either sprinkling water onto a person's forehead or immersing them in water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church. In many denominations, baptism is performed on young children and is accompanied by name-giving.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶