All the Wrong Places

by Jerilee Kaye

  “I don’t know. Nobody made my picture a wallpaper before.”

  He laughed. “There’s a first time for everything, ma belle. I’ve never done it before either.”

  “Okay. Just don’t leave your phone lying around for everyone to see. Anyway, I need to go. The kids want to go to the beach tomorrow.”

  “Are you going to be accompanied?”

  “Adrienne and Justin will be there.”

  “Good. Send me pictures once in a while, okay?”

  “Promise.”

  “When I come back, I want us all to go on a small holiday.”

  “Who?”

  “The three of us,” he replied. “You, me, Jared.”

  “Well, that can only happen after we tell everybody about us.”

  “Yes. So, do what it is you need to do. When I come back, we won’t delay this any longer.”

  She sighed. “Okay.”

  “Good night, ma belle,”

  “Good night, Jin.”

  That night, she slept with a big smile on her face. In her dreams, she was in cloud nine. Well, she could very well be.

  Days zoomed by quickly. Julianne had been so busy with work. Justin was working on a new strategy to supply their products in Asia and other emerging markets.

  Two days after she moved back to the Adams Mansion, she received a delivery from ‘Immortal Gardens’ in her office. It was a huge, beautiful flower arrangement encased in a glass container with a wooden base. The arrangement contained immortal roses, hydrangeas and other smaller flowers in different colors. The front of the wooden base had a message engraved on it, “You are incandescent.”

  She smiled from ear to ear. She knew exactly who sent her the flowers. She took a photo and sent Jin a message.

  “Now, this is a gift I won’t say no to,” she wrote on the description. “So beautiful! Thank you!”

  He replied after two minutes, “You’re still going to get diamonds once in a while, you know. But you’re welcome.”

  She was practically glowing, and she was scared that people were beginning to notice. Justin was looking at her in a weird way when he told her that about a business trip she might soon go to. After briefly giving her the details, he stayed in her office, just looking at her with a raised brow.

  “What?” she asked.

  He shrugged. He walked over to the shelf where she placed the immortal flower arrangement.

  “These are very pretty,” Justin remarked.

  “I know,” Julianne looked back at her computer screen, pretending to read something.

  Awkward!

  “Immortal flowers?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Where did you buy them?” Justin continued. “I want to get one for Adrienne. She loves roses… more than jewelry and designer clothes.”

  He’s fishing! Aaarggh!

  “Umm… Immortal Gardens. They have many different arrangements.”

  Justin stared at her for a moment. It was as if he was waiting for something. Julianne held her ground.

  He’s not gonna get anything from me.

  Finally, Justin gave up and said, “Okay. I’ll go check out the store. Maybe I’ll get more information from the cashier.”

  Julianne faked a smile and then went back to her computer screen.

  Shit! Justin has his ways! He can investigate and he will know who sent me the flowers!

  She bit her lower lip nervously. As soon as Justin was out of her office, she grabbed her phone and texted Jin.

  Her: Busy?

  He replied after a minute, ‘For you, never.’

  Her: Justin was asking about the flowers. I think he’s gonna go to Immortal Gardens.

  Jin: So? Those are beautiful flowers, you have to admit. I’ll bet Adrienne would love to have that.

  Her: I know!

  Jin: So? Let Justin get one. He’ll score points with his wife. He loves spoiling her.

  Her: That’s not what I was worried about.

  Jin: What is it then?

  Her: Justin can pry, investigate, even pay for information. He can ask them who the sender of these flowers was!

  Jin: I doubt they will give that information easily.

  Her: Hello! We’re talking about Justin Adams here? One of the most powerful men in Chicago!

  Jin: Don’t worry. He won’t find anything. Gatwick paid in cash and didn’t record any sender’s information.

  She breathed in relief.

  Her: Thanks. That was good forward thinking of you and your assistant.

  Jin: Him more than me. Me, I don’t care if Justin finds out about us. Better if he does.

  Her: I still have more than a week to go, remember?

  Jin: Of course, I remember.

  Her: By the way, I need to go to Detroit next Monday.

  Jin: Why?

  Her: Business. I’m meeting the owners of a huge Japanese conglomerate. They have a huge project for next year. They’re interested in making Adams Industries their steel partner for the stadiums they’re building in Asia.

  Jin: You speak Japanese?

  Her: No. I’m hoping they speak English well. Do you speak Japanese?

  Jin: Of course, I do.

  Her: Conceited!

  Jin: What? You asked! I’m surprised your father didn’t invest in sending you to language schools. Didn’t you have businesses around the globe? You have a glass factory in Paris but you didn’t know how to speak French.

  Her: Gian does. Gian is fluent in at least six languages.

  Jin: So, your father thought Gian would need it, but you won’t?

  Her: Spot on!

  Jin: Weren’t you supposed to inherit half of your businesses?

  There was a twist of pain in her chest again.

  Her: Gian was going to inherit our businesses. Me, he was hoping I would marry a rich guy who can enhance our business connections.

  It took a while for Jin to reply. She was afraid he would change his mind about them once he found out that she had been disinherited, and she had nothing to show for under her name.

  Finally, her phone beeped.

  Jin: I gotta go, ma belle. Speak to you later.

  She stared at his last message for a long time. For the first time since she met him again, she thought how stupid it was for her not to tell him about her standing in her family. During that time she made this decision, she was convinced that nothing could happen between her and Jin Starck. Thus, he didn’t need to know any significant detail about her life. But now that she’s officially dating him, she was worried that part of the reason he was with her was because he thought she was still a woman of good standing in the A-list society they were living in.

  She sighed.

  I guess that will be the first thing I need to tell him when we see each other next week. And he can decide whether to take me as is or leave me the hell alone.

  Before the weekend, she received a call from Janis asking to meet with her briefly in her house.

  When she arrived in her home, she noticed that the renovations on the next-door still hadn’t finished yet. There were trucks and workers on the backyard.

  Janis arrived a few minutes after.

  “I’m so glad you are able to make some time to meet me,” she said.

  “Don’t think about it,” Julianne said. “What’s up?”

  “Well, I was going to ask if you’re going to be around here the next three or four days?”

  “Why?”

  “We’ll do some major works, mostly on the walls. You might hear even louder sounds. Also, major landscaping is going on in the backyard next door. I was afraid it must cause a major disturbance.”

  “Oh, you mean it’s going to get worse than it already is?”

  Janis nodded apologetically.

  “But the owner is willing to compensate this. Next month, you can stay rent free.”

  Her eyes widened. “What?”

  “We’re truly sorry for the inconvenience. We hope you can accept our offer.�
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  “That’s too generous. No need for that,” Julianne said. “I’m not here anyway. I have a business trip next week. My son will stay with his uncle. So, it’s really no big deal.”

  “But we insist,” Janis said.

  “Oh, okay. Then, tell the landlord that I thank them for their generosity. But please, we cannot extend further. I need to get on with my life. Here. In this house.”

  “Okay. So, since you’re not going to stay here for a couple of days, might I suggest you don’t leave anything valuable behind?”

  “Why?”

  “Just a precaution. We have workers coming in and out. I don’t want to take any risks for loss or damage to valuable property.”

  Julianne nodded. “I totally understand. I will make sure of that.”

  When Janis left, Julianne cleaned up the house a little bit. In the bedroom, she smiled at the sight of her bed, as memories of her nights with Jin flooded her mind. They spent two nights together. They used that bed more than half a dozen times.

  She took a selfie of her and sent it to Jin.

  She wrote, “Back at the house for a bit.”

  She waited for his reply. Usually he responds within a minute. But for the past two nights, he’s responded to her messages less. Sometimes, he barely read her messages at all.

  He called her two nights ago, but they did not talk much because he was tired from an event he went to. She remembered that short conversation.

  “I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” he asked.

  “No, that’s okay,” she replied. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanna say goodnight.”

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “Paris. Home. I just got back from a charity gala. My father forced me to attend.”

  “Must be a long party. It’s already five in the morning.”

  “It’s a Round Ten event. And it’s in our hotel. I had to stay after the party to oversee the breakdown on the ballroom.”

  “Don’t you have an assistant who can do that for you?”

  “Gatwick is… er… indisposed.”

  “Oh, so how was the party?”

  “Boring,” he replied. “But I had to pretend I was enjoying it.”

  “Well, what’s important is that you survived it.”

  “I did. I always do. And I always will.”

  Julianne thought she heard a bit emotion in his voice. It sounded like weary or sadness, she couldn’t quite place it.

  “Are you okay, Jin?”

  “I’m just tired, I guess,” he replied.

  “Okay, then you better rest.”

  She heard his sharp intake of breath. “Arabella, when I get back, we need to talk. I have to tell you something.”

  She suddenly felt nervous. “Can’t you tell me now?”

  “No. This is not something we can discuss on the phone,” he replied.

  “What’s it about?”

  “About us. About our arrangement in the future,” he said. “It’s something we need time to discuss and think about.”

  Well, that doesn’t sound bad, does it?

  “Of course,” she said. “We need to tell everybody first.”

  “Well… maybe we can do that after we talk.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Well, goodnight then.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Are we okay?

  But she didn’t ask that question before she hung up. And now, she wanted to beat herself with a hammer for not doing so.

  His tone of voice wasn’t as jolly as it used to be the previous days. And his text messages had been lesser, his calls almost non-existent in the following days.

  He’s probably just too busy.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of a doorbell. She ran downstairs to answer the door. She thought it could be Janis again.

  When she opened the door, her jaw almost dropped to the floor when she saw who was outside, ringing her bell.

  She wore a white faux fur coat over her skin tight black sequined cocktail dress. She wore at least a five-carat diamond on each ear, a diamond choker necklace, and matching diamond tennis bracelet. She was sparkling all over. Julianne thought, all she was missing was a crown and a petal-covered red carpet on her feet.

  “Leave us,” she told the man beside her.

  Julianne stood in front of her, tongue-tied.

  “Judging from your shocked expression, I take it that you know me,” she said. “May I come in?”

  Julianne recovered from her shock and opened the door for her. She walked inside in her sparkling crystal-studded stilettos and Julianne watched her thinking, ‘What the fuck is Vanessa Bernard doing in my living room?’

  Vanessa looked around her house, scrutinizing it. Julianne had a few ideas about what’s going on in her mind and she’s guessing none of them were good.

  “Why are you here?” Julianne asked.

  Vanessa raised a brow at her. She looked at her from head to feet, unashamedly scrutinizing her look.

  “Miss Bernard, please. Can you get down to business? I have places to go.”

  “Of course, you have,” she said in a heavy French accent. “You’re working extra hard to support your son, aren’t you?”

  “Excuse me. I don’t see why that’s any of your business.”

  “You made it my business when you started seducing my fiancé!”

  Julianne blinked back at her. “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”

  “You know well what I’m talking about, Miss Sanders,” she said. “You’re my fiancé’s other woman. Ever since I met Jin Starck, he’s always been focused. Nothing can get his eyes away from his goals. The only thing that mattered to him was Starck Corp. That’s why I know I would be the perfect wife for him. I am the only one who could give him his much-coveted goal of being the number one hotel group in the world.

  “And then recently, he looked distracted, out of focus. So, I had him followed, investigated. And your face came back in the reports. You are his current distraction. I had you checked out. You’re related to Justin Adams. You came from a wealthy family too. But… not anymore, right?”

  Julianne bit her lower lip, refusing to answer.

  “It doesn’t matter if you’re not rich anymore. Jin Starck doesn’t need any more money,” Vanessa continued. “But it’s power and influence that he needs.”

  “Doesn’t he have that too?” Julianne asked, raising her chin.

  “Yes. But who doesn’t want more?” Vanessa raised a brow at her. “We all do. Especially Jin Starck. His ambitions have been around longer than he’s known you. He can easily forget you after he’s tired of your body. But his family’s goals will always be there.”

  “Why are you really here? You want me to stay away from him?” Julianne asked. “Shouldn’t you be asking him to do that instead? Or don’t tell me you don’t have a hold of him?”

  “Oh sweetheart. I have him on a leash now,” Vanessa said in a sultry voice. “We were together the other night, did you know? He left my apartment late. Like almost early morning. We’ve sealed the deal. I’ve seen the ring he was going to give me once we announce our engagement to the public.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “He didn’t propose to me at the party, yes. He wanted to make it more intimate, rather than public. I agreed. And now, I’ll be wearing my heirloom engagement ring as soon as Starck Corp. makes the big announcement on the papers. Do you know that ring was worn by his grandmother and was passed on to all the brides of the first-born Starck sons? I thought, I should tell you this in person.”

  Julianne shook her head. “If what you’re saying is true, Jin would tell me himself.”

  “He would,” she said. “I’m sure about that. And he’ll probably leave it up to you if you want to maintain this tryst of yours or not. He would offer you to stay. I’m certain he’s smitten with you. But I guarantee you, he wouldn’t offer you marriage. He probably wants to. But he won’t. Because he can’t.”

 
“Because he had already proposed to you?”

  “Because our families had already sealed the deal. And if he backs out, my father will move to get Starck Corp. out of Round Ten. That’s not a good blow to their numbers because Round Ten was built by his ancestors. It would be quite shameful to lose that privilege and title… and what? Over a has-been heiress who had been disinherited by her own family for giving birth to a bastard son.”

  Julianne’s blood boiled. It took every ounce of her control not to punch Vanessa Bernard’s thickly made-up face.

  “You call my son a bastard again and you won’t live long enough to make it to that wedding you speak so proudly of! You won’t even make it to your own engagement party!”

  Instead of being threatened, Vanessa merely smiled at her. “As I was saying, Jin Starck will never choose you over me. At least never legally or officially. If he does, he stands to lose every bit of their competitive advantage in this market. They may incur so many losses. Starck Corp. prides themselves of being completely family-owned. And Jin Starck is a genius. Maybe even better than his predecessors. Would you want him to fail, because of you? Are you worth it?”

  Julianne closed her eyes. She wanted to curse and shout at Vanessa. But how could she? Vanessa just asked her the very same question she’s been asking herself.

  Was she worth it?

  Jin would lose everything over her. Was she really worth all that trouble?

  “I have no ambitions over my future marriage with Jin Starck. He doesn’t love me. I know that much and I have accepted it a long time ago,” Vanessa continued. “That man is incapable of falling in love. Don’t fool yourself and hope that if you’re good enough, he’ll fall head over heels for you eventually. He won’t. In the end, he’s still a servant of his family legacy. I understand this very well. I am sure he will have a mistress or two in the future. I will allow that. I intend to take on lovers myself too. It will be an open marriage.”

  Julianne narrowed her eyes at her. “What the hell are you trying to tell me?”

  “I’m telling you that you have to accept the fact that I am going to be Missis Jin Starck, while you… you will never be worthy to wear that name! And I’m telling you now, what our arrangement is going to be in the future. You will become my husband’s mistress! That’s the farthest you will reach. He will provide you with a nice home, even take care of your child! But legally, you will have nothing! Only I and our future children will have the right to wear his name and have access to his fortune. That’s what our future arrangement is going to be. And if you cannot accept that, you better leave him now. Because he will only be yours in bed. But never in name and never in paper!”