Deviant 1995 - Chapter 62.2

Chapter 62.2

[That’s my business, so mind your own!]

So he didn’t know.

After a moment of silence, André carefully chose his words.

[Lorraine, it’s true that I need the Collins’ shares, as you said. But the conditions you’ve presented aren’t enough to make a deal. I don’t get to fully own those shares, and just for them to be on my side, I have to be tied to you in a fake marriage for three years. It’s just not worth it.]

And André intended to do everything he could. He planned to completely take control of the company before the shareholders’ meeting, cut out what needed to be cut, and fix what needed to be fixed. He intended to persuade the board of directors by showing them his vision.

And if all else fails…

As a last resort, he could consider marrying Lorraine, but that was a choice to be made only in the worst-case scenario when he was cornered.

Lorraine tried to persuade him in an urgent tone.

[For three years, we only have to act like a married couple in front of family or at official events. Other than that, we won’t interfere in each other’s personal lives at all. So, everyday life won’t be much different from now.]

The waiter came with the credit card and the check and handed them to André. After signing and placing the check casually on the table, she asked.

[Is it because you’re seeing someone? I don’t care. You know, it’s nothing to people like us. Your parents were like that, and my parents were—]

[Lorraine, that’s enough.]

André tapped his wristwatch and cut her off.

[Thanks for the offer, but I’ll decline. Let’s get up now.]

After leaving the restaurant, André hailed a yellow cab for Lorraine and turned away. It was time to return to the office. He would have to skip going home again tonight and catch some sleep on the cot in his private lounge.

So much to do, so little time.

To think he had wasted time being offered such a ridiculous contract marriage.

He got into the yellow cab, leaned his head back against the seat, and closed his eyes. Fatigue washed over him.

It was a late autumn night a long time ago—a cool autumn night when he leaned against a telephone pole, looking up at the sky and whistling as he waited for someone.

—

“How can he not send even a single reply for more than three months?”

Miran began to suspect that André might have given her the wrong address.

“The guidebook said that 5th Avenue is a street for shopping, so wouldn’t that be like Myeongdong or Apgujeong Rodeo Street in Korea? Would there even be a residential area in such a place?”

More than doubt, it was fear that shook her.

“Have you completely forgotten about me?”

There was no way he wouldn’t send even a single reply unless that was the case. The fact that he had never told her he loved her, not even once, fueled her anxiety.

“He acted so kindly. He made me so confused! Did I really have a one-sided crush on him?”

She resented André, missed him, hated him, and longed for him.

After agonizing over it for days, sighing deeply and wishing the ground would sink under her feet, she made up her mind that this was the last time she would write him a letter. Her tears smudged the paper, but she didn’t bother to wipe them away.

[To: Andle

Have all the letters I’ve sent so far become international orphans?

Surely not…

You didn’t give me the wrong address on purpose, did you?

I don’t want to think that André is that kind of person.

But why aren’t you replying to me?

If you weren’t going to reply, you shouldn’t have given me your address. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have expected anything at all.

André, have you really forgotten me?

The truth is, your face is becoming hazy to me also.

It’s only been three months.

Even though I’ve tried to remember every day so I wouldn’t forget.

Please…