The next day was Wednesday, September 30th.
When Jean woke up that morning, he automatically reached out to the other side of the bed for the warmth of her body. But his hands only reached for empty air. He turned and opened his eyes a little. Jean sighed when he saw the empty bed. He immediately got up and washed his face before going downstairs.
But unfortunately, the figure of his wife was nowhere to be found. He entered the kitchen and saw Sister Mei who was preparing breakfast.
"Ah, good morning, young master!" Greeted Sister Mei with a big smile as usual, "Have a seat, I will prepare your breakfast soon!"
The man sat obediently at the dining table, "Where's Lilia?" Jean couldn't stop himself from asking.
Sister Mei's hand, who was scooping soup from the pot, stopped for a moment. But the woman immediately continued her activities, saying, "Oh, Madame has been leaving since earlier, around seven o'clock!"
Sister Mei put the bowl of soup in front of Jean.
"Madame said there was a sudden matter that she needed to take care of, so she left first. Young Master needn't to worry about it." Sister Mei continued with a reassuring smile.
Jean frowned, but he finished his breakfast without commenting further. After getting ready, Jean went to the office as usual.
*****
That afternoon, at the Genesis Company building, inside the president's office, the owner of the room was grappling with a pile of documents. His computer screen was filled with various complex data and graphics. The cup of tea that had been sitting on the edge of Jean's desk had cooled off without being touched.
At that time, Jean's cell phone vibrated and broke the man's attention. Jean turned his gaze from the document in his hand to the screen of his cellphone. The man decided to take a break from his job. He leaned back in the chair as he opened the notification.
Jean found a chat group that had just been formed in the Other application. There were 6 people in the group, including Jean himself.
[Chris]: "@Jean, what are your plans for tonight?"
Jean's friends knew that today was the man's birthday. They couldn't possibly forget it because it was only 5 days after Sasha's birthday, a fact that the woman tirelessly repeated every year until Jean got bored.
[Tom]: "Bro, do you want to celebrate at that five star restaurant that just opened? Yesterday I ate there, you know! The food is delicious and the atmosphere is good! You should try eating there!"
[Chris]: "Why are you so excited about recommending that restaurant? Are they paying you how much to be in the marketing team, huh?"
[Alex]: "@Tom, you mean that new restaurant in the West Surabaya area?"
[Tom]: "Yeah, that restaurant! The view from the top floor is awesome, you know!"
[Sasha]: "All of you, be quiet for a moment and listen to me."
At that time, one of the chat group members who had been silent suddenly appeared. Jean raised his eyebrows when he read Sasha's name. The woman disappeared without a word since the fundraising event at any time. What did she want now?
But the next message didn't come from Sasha, but from the sixth member of the chat group.
[Samuel]: "Jean, I'm not in Surabaya right now. So I'll send you the money to buy your own gifts."
While Jean was reading the message, another notification appeared on his cellphone screen. The notification stated that Samuel Hiroshi had transferred 200 million Rupiah to Jean's account. However the man did not seem surprised. He knew that kind of money meant nothing to the Hiroshi Family.
Meanwhile, their chat group became silent after Samuel's appearance. Finally, the first person to break the silence was Chris.
[Chris]: "@Jean, are you listening? Where are we celebrating tonight?"
[Jean]: "I can't go tonight."
[Samuel]: "Oh? This is a rare occurrence. Are you having your birthday party privately, Jean?"
[Alex]: "?"
[Tom]: "Huh?"
[Sasha]: "Why?"
In previous years, they always celebrated Jean's birthday by gathering and eating together even if the man didn't personally plan it.
[Chris]: "@Jean, don't be so mysterious and hurry and tell us!"
The corner of Jean's mouth automatically lifted into a faint smile.
[Jean]: "Because I have a family now."
When Chris read the sentence, he nearly slammed his cell phone on the floor. He could already imagine Jean's arrogant tone when he said that. Didn't his best friend know that it hurt a lot for single men to read it?!
After that, no one responded to Jean's words in the chat group.
Chris sent the contents of the conversation in the chat group to Lilia. He added a few words.
[Chris]: "Success! Jean doesn't suspect anything!"
Only a few seconds later, Lilia replied to Chris's message.
[Lilia]: "Good. Then, see you tonight okay."
Chris put his cell phone on the table before leaning back on the sofa. He folded his legs and looked at the two men sitting opposite him.
"You two don't have any events tonight, right?" Chris asked to make sure.
Alex adjusted the position of his glasses as he replied, "Of course not."
But Tom returned Chris's gaze in confusion, "Huh? What's on tonight?"
Hearing that, Chris and Alex exchanged tired looks. The two of them both shook their heads and let out a long sigh. Sometimes, their friend's intelligence was questionable!
"Didn't Lilia already tell us all from yesterday? The conversation in the group just now was just a pretend!" Chris was clearly upset.
"Oh! You mean that one!" Tom clasped his hands together with a bright expression, "Of course I wouldn't want to miss it! This is the first time we've planned a surprise for Jean's birthday, right!"
Chris sighed again while Alex laughed dryly.
*****
Jean came home much earlier than usual. He arrived home at about half past six in the afternoon. His quick return home wasn't because today was his birthday, but because of a request from Lilia. Jean didn't want to make his wife wait, so he left the office at five sharp.
The car stopped in front of the house gate. Kenny got out of the car and opened the door for his boss. A pair of polished leather shoes trod the ground. The tall man walked straight to the house without saying a word to Kenny. Normally, Jean would still convey instructions and assignments to prepare for tomorrow, but this time Jean didn't even turn his head at him. Jean's assistant knew that Jean rushed home for Lilia's sake, so he didn't comment and got back into the car.
When Jean reached the steps that led to the front door, he lifted his face and frowned automatically. He saw three men standing at the door as if waiting for someone.
The three of them wore casual clothes such as T-shirts and comfortable jeans. Their faces were adorned with big smiles which made Jean even more annoyed. Normally, he wasn't bothered by the presence of his friends, but tonight Jean felt that their presence was really unwelcome!
Jean took off his jacket while giving his three friends a sharp gaze, "What are you doing here?" He asked coldly.
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