Simone paused, the page she had been turning left unable to complete the journey on its own as she looked at her husband. More casual, but fashionable, with a style that gave her a few years less than her true age, she displayed true surprise on her calm face this time, her soft smile fading with the distance the shock had put between her lips.
The amusement in Sigurd's smile grew as he leaned back and teased after a sip of water:
"Why the surprise? You should have seen it coming, shouldn't you?"
Simone regained her bearing, though her incredulity failed to completely leave her face:
"I know he has been designated as the main successor, but isn't it too early for him to take over? Moreover, he has always shown a lack of interest in the Group before. Did something happen?"
Sigurd's smile grew, along with the amusement it was carrying:
"No matter how much of a wildcard a child can be, his mother will always know how to deal with him. But he is only the acting chairman for now, and it is difficult to say if he will come out on top or if he will lose to his mother at the end."
Sigurd looked thoroughly entertained, to the point where even the water in his hand seemed more tasty than it should have been. Only, his wife couldn't bring herself to share his casual, almost uncaring attitude. Her hands stopped what they had been doing, and she shifted all her attention on him:
"You don't seem to care. Even if you have no desire to fight for that seat, shouldn't you be feeling worried? No matter what, Alex is too young, isn't he?"
Sigurd lowered his eyelids slightly. His smile turned meaningful, before he replied after a moment letting the question hover in the air:
"Don't look down on my nephew, dear. My father might have had his flaws, but blindness was not one of them. And he couldn't have lacked foresight, to build upon the broken foundation the Lenner have been left with almost a century ago. Trust me when I say there is no trash in the Lenner family, not even our son."
Sigurd raised his eyes to meet his wife's at the end of his words, something unusually deep in his otherwise casual gaze striking her as foreign, as a depth he usually kept to himself. The fleeting but decidedly real light in the modest blue eyes of the second son of Arland Lenner brought a veil of unusualness over the atmosphere, before it was shattered by the sound of the entrance door opening at that moment, followed by high heels striking the smooth ground toward the living room.
"Mom… Dad…"
By the time a smooth, velvety but restrained voice lacking the dependency a rich family daughter should have had resounded, the atmosphere in the living was already back to the casualness expected between spouses, but also between friends. Only, it was now difficult to determine what was the illusion, and what was the reality.
Simone finished turning the page that had remained frozen in the air for the past minute, and turned to the entrance with a smile.
"Celine, you are back."
_ _ _
_ _ _
Alex walked out of the giant mall where he owned a café. His face carried the characteristic smile he had on most of the time while exchanging flirty smiles with members of the opposite gender. Only, there was a quiet undertone to his smile as he glanced at the dimming sky of the ending afternoon.
As it was the time when the day ended for most, there was a surge of the crowd arriving at the mall, whether to resupply in groceries, to find places to sit down and relax like bars, cafés, or other beverage shops, or simply to unwind. There were also those coming for places to eat, so as to avoid the trouble of cooking after a tiring day.
Of course, there were those coming to find gyms and sports centers to vent their excess of energy or the vexation accumulated throughout the day. For as many kinds of shops there were in the giant mall, there were that many reasons motivating the arriving crowd, showing the allure of the place.
Alex didn't linger. He kept his breath light and moved through the crowd to reach the parking lot where the Bentley was parked. As he unlocked it and sat down behind the wheel, his phone rang.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
Alex took his time to buckle up, before he took his communication device out, and read the name of the caller displayed on the screen. He started the car and picked up the call:
"Mark."
Mark's voice came from the other side, resounding in the car, deep with maturity, and calm:
"Alex. The last details for our entry in the snow sports market have been taken care of. I have sent the reports to you."
Alex nodded slightly as he checked the road and drove into the traffic:
"I saw them. Nothing out of expectations, you can go ahead with the plan."
"Understood. The tentacles trying to reach for our strategic project have been cut off. Since you saw the previous reports, you must have seen the conclusion I sent you. If only you have not found me a new job, I would have assured you that I can take care of that trouble within the week."
The complaint in Mark's tone was evident despite the unchanged steadiness of his voice. Alex smiled, unbothered, amused, even:
"Is that so? Don't mind that for now. You can actually resign if you want to. No one can force someone else to go against his own will."
Mark's eye roll could almost be felt through the phone, and from his voice, he did not look impressed at all:
"If I couldn't smell the trap from here, I would have been sold by you long ago somewhere along the way while growing up."
"How can you think like that? I'm only giving you the choice to get some time away from Ga-yeong, your mother, and my mother. See, everything for your own good, no bad intentions involved at all."
Alex's display of a half smile full of impish meaning was all it took to show how insincere his words were. It was like a little devil stoking the fire that would burn the world, full of anticipation at how chaotic the spectacle could be.