Chapter 270 - Betrayal (1)

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-Berlin-

He has been in the laboratory until the wee hours of the morning. And right after, instead of going home, he hit the bar. He went to his usual bar and drank a little—just to release the tension and stress from work. 

Although his idea of a little drink might be different from other people's. Because after drinking a little, the owner of the bar, who was also his friend, didn't allow him to drive. He let one of his employees call a taxi for him. 

He wanted to see his daughter before she went to her school. Nicole - his wife has enrolled Lucille in an all-day school already. She insisted that their daughter can catch up and it would be a waste of time if she would just join regular kids at her age when she was clearly more advanced than the other kids. 

He has no problem with their daughter being in a regular school and doing those activities for her age instead of being introduced to advanced math.. He knew Lucille had a high IQ. He was there when she got tested. But he believes that IQ isn't everything. It would be nice for Lucille to experience just being a kid. Because that's what she is. A kid. No matter how smart she is.

But then, Nicole was adamant about her idea and they ended up just fighting over it, thus, he let her do her way. Their fights and disagreements nowadays are getting frequent. Not just with how to raise their daughter but also because of work. 

The research they are currently working on was challenging and quite time-consuming. They had started working with just the two of them. But after it showed potential and he was able to convince his grandfather to finance the study, they were able to get more people to work on it.

However, that didn't lessen their workload. He and Nicole are both perfectionists and hands-on. The research was their first work together after all. After so many fights, that involved a lot of screaming and broken glasses, they ended up agreeing to be in the laboratory alternately. 

The agreement was quite useful since when the two of them weren't in the laboratory at the same time, the fights because of work, lessened significantly. Also, another reason was their daughter. Both of them agreed that one of them must be with Lucille at all times. 

She has a governess but they have to be hands-on with their daughter too, not just with work. And hence, their schedule was efficient and effective. 

Today, he was supposed to be still on duty at the laboratory but then, they already have some other researchers on the study and they are trustworthy. 

The current schedule was useful for them as parents, and to avoid the incessant argument at work between the two of them. But it doesn't give them any chance to be together anymore. It's been months since the two of them were at home at the same time. 

In the lab, they saw each other during meetings which were mostly on the first Monday of the month. And if there are no other meetings, it means that they just see each other outside once a month. 

That's why today, after having a little drink, instead of returning to the laboratory, he decided to go home and surprise Nicole. He asked the taxi driver to drop him two blocks away from their house. He has to get something for her and also sober up a little. 

There is a small flower shop a block away from their house. He could get her favorite flowers there. It's been a while since he bought her flowers. 

"Two bouquets, please." He handed the money to the young clerk of the store after picking up the flowers he wanted. He asked for two bouquets; for Nicole and Lucille. He loves giving his daughter flowers, without any occasion. He wanted to make sure that Lucille would grow up knowing that she deserves all the flowers in the world from a man. 

The young clerk gave him a shy smile when she returned his change and the two bouquets he wanted. 

Seeing how the young girl blushes. "Keep the change." He smiled widely at her, pulling a rose from Lucille's bouquet, and handed it to the young girl before he bid her goodbye. The girl's cheek flushed in happiness. That even he couldn't help but smile. 

The remaining distance to their house didn't take long for him to take. He hurried his steps to make sure not to miss Lucille. He was a few steps away from their house when he saw the SUV that Lucille uses with her governess pulled out from their driveway.

He cursed himself for giving attention to the young girl at the flower shop. He missed his daughter. He looked down at the bouquet in his hands, maybe he could drop by at her school after he takes a nap at home. 

He was still feeling a little down for missing his daughter, that when reached their main door, he didn't give much attention to find the door unlocked. Nicole must have forgotten to lock the door when she went inside the house after saying goodbye to Lucille. 

He locked the door behind him before he walked further inside the house. He was about to call Nicole when he caught a glimpse of a brown tweed jacket draped at the back of the chair in the living room. 

His eyebrows furrowed. He doesn't have a brown jacket. Let alone tweed. He always wears a suit and on days that he doesn't, a leather jacket is his personal choice. 

There are only six people in their household, him, Nicole, Lucille, and her governess - a thirty-something woman, a stay-out cleaner who was in her fifties, and the personal driver. 

The personal driver who also served as  Lucille's security doesn't step inside the house for him to leave a jacket in their living room. And just like him, Jin prefers a leather jacket to wear. 

With apprehension in his chest, he put down the bouquet of flowers on the console table that he passed by the hallway to their bedroom. The house was so quiet that when Nicole laughed from their bedroom, it echoed to the whole house. Her laughter stopped him on track.

She sounded so happy. And not alone.