In the study, John, who was dealing with some documents from work, raised his head and asked Henry, "Where are Nina and Chester?"
"They are in the man-made forest." Henry pushed his glasses up. "Do you need me to call them back?"
"No, thanks," John said as he stood up. "I'll go there myself. Carry on with the work."
Henry was taken aback.
'You don't have to remind me so particularly, Mr. Shi.
I already know!
All you do is leave work early and push all the pending business affairs over to me.'
After John walked out of the study, Helen asked, "Where are you going, Mr. Shi?"
"The forest." He picked up his coat from the sofa just in case.
Helen stopped him in his tracks. "Mr. Shi, Mrs. Shi and Chester are by the lake."
John's grip on his coat tightened, creasing the fabric.
After a short pause, he turned on his heel and strode back to the study. "It's time for dinner."
"Yes. I'll call them back right away." Helen sighed as she watched John's retreating back.
John was afraid of water. He hadn't wanted the artificial lake in the first place, but Nina had grown up in an island. He was sure she would love it, so he ended up having it made anyway. Though it was man-made, and a lake to boot, it held saltwater, which had been acquired and transported
with, she naturally zoned in on what her husband had said. "I also think that Henry should get a girlfriend already."
"Well...I..." Henry stammered, embarrassed.
"He already has a woman he likes," Adrian interrupted, rising from his newly designated chair and walking over to Nina. He brandished his phone at her. "This is the woman in question."
Lit up on his screen was the photo he had saved. "What do you think?" he asked in a rather unnatural voice. "Is she beautiful or what?"
Henry frowned as he came closer to peer at the photo. The moment he looked into Adrian's phone, he stopped breathing.
"Blurry." John glanced at Adrian, who was trying his damnedest to act nonchalant even though his discomfort was palpable in the air.
Nina was studying the photo carefully, and after a moment, she looked up at Adrian. There was a wealth of meaning in her eyes as she looked at him.
Nina had somehow deciphered a message from that single, blurry picture, and her tone was calm when she spoke. "That is not a woman. That hair is just a wig. Those pair of eyes are very distinct. Adrian, don't you think this person resembles you very much?"
"Me?" Adrian's expression froze. He pulled his phone back to look at the photo closely himself. Those eyes really did look like his.