And Estelle didn’t expect that Cristofer, a famous young talent in Hadale and a legend in the business world who always hit the headlines, would be willing to give up his pride for her and be the substitute for another man.
And she was lost in thought, ‘Pride may be the most important thing for a person. At that time, I gave up my pride because I was dying and thought that pride was nothing compared to Yohan’s life. In contrast, nothing is worth giving up your pride for a person like you, who has had everything. Cristofer, will you regret the decision you made one day?’
“Star, I’m serious. As long as you don’t leave me, I’m willing to do anything. I can be the substitute for Mr. Mysterious. I can imitate his voice, tone, habits, and everything else about him. I’m good at learning and will grow into my new role as soon as possible,” Cristofer said, pulling Estelle’s mind back to the present.
Estelle had never seen Cristofer like this. When he spoke, he was unprecedentedly gentle and humble. Then she remembered that Mr. Mysterious had ever said similar words to her countless times in such a pleading tone.
Shaking her head with a helpless smile, she suddenly felt that her life was like a TV series with ridiculous plots. ‘What will happen in the following episodes? Will I forget about Mr. Mysterious, forgive Cristofer, who ever hurt me, and fall in love with him again? And, like other conventional stories, will our story also have a happy ending? No. I don’t need such a happy ending. I’m just pretending to be reconciled with Cristofer for the sake of our children and Grandpa Gary. I will never forget Mr. Mysterious.’
Seeing her silence, Cristofer continued, “You dislike me smoking. But every time I talked to you after smoking, you would get teary-eyed or gaze at me with mixed expressions. So I guess Mr. Mysterious’s voice is husky and sounds like mine after I smoke. Am I right?”
“Every time you saw me in the daytime, you were indifferent to me. But on the night you mistook me for Mr. Mysterious at the Grand Hotel in Hadale City, you asked me to stay and didn’t forcibly drive me away. I was all in black that night. So, Mr. Mysterious likes black and nighttime, right? Tim’s motorcycle is a black MV Agusta 800. You were interested in it and couldn’t take your eyes off it because Mr. Mysterious has the same one, right?”
“Besides, you asked Tim to take you to Mount Cloud before…” Speaking of this, Cristofer lowered his head with a depressed look. “That day, you stayed there for a long time and didn’t leave until it rained heavily. Mount Cloud means a lot to you and him, right?”
“Are you using your negotiation skills to speculate about what Mr. Mysterious is like, similar to what you do in business?” Estelle asked with a choked voice.
“That’s different,” Cristofer explained. “I deduce things about my rivals or clients for business purposes. But now, I’m trying to understand Mr. Mysterious because I want to keep you by my side.”
Estelle sniffed and managed a smile. “You know what? Now, your appearance and your way of speaking and tone are similar to Mr. Mysterious.”
Cristofer shrugged and said, “Perhaps that’s because my emotions have overtaken my logic. These two things are often in conflict. My logic tells me to hold onto my pride, but my emotions push me to let it go and be willing to be Mr. Mysterious’ substitute.”
When Cristofer said this, he gazed at Estelle with burning eyes and looked very gentle. Then, he struggled to stand up.
Seeing his movement, Estelle was startled and asked, “What do you want to do?”
“Don’t be afraid. I just want to turn off the light,” Cristofer said. Due to his movement, his left arm hurt, and he gritted his teeth against the pain.
“Let… Let me help you,” Estelle said and also stood up. Seeing him stagger to his feet, she stretched out her hand, wanting to take him by the arm. But the next moment, she hesitated, thinking, ‘You don’t look well now. If I don’t help you, will you lose your balance and fall? But if I help you, the bath towel around your waist is a little loose and might drop.’
The room suddenly fell into darkness when Estelle was torn between helping him and not helping Cristofer. Cristofer had turned off the light.
“Cristofer?” she called out at once, feeling a bit flustered by the sudden darkness.
“What’s wrong?” Cristofer asked in a low, deep, and husky voice.
Judging from his voice, Estelle could tell that he was nearby and was much relieved.
“What did Mr. Mysterious often call you?” Cristofer asked.
“Estelle.”
“Okay, Estelle,” Cristofer said. His voice was much clearer, and Estelle knew that he had walked to her side.
Cristofer then sat down on her right. “Estelle, come here.”
When Estelle heard the familiar voice and words, her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t help but think of the night when she and Mr. Mysterious first met at the Grand Hotel in Hadale City.
“What… What did you say?”
“I said, ‘Come here.'”
‘What a familiar conversation!’ Estelle thought. Her heart was pounding, and she didn’t move.
Cristofer continued before she could say something, “Estelle, stay here with me tonight, okay?”
“But I…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you. I’m not a shallow person who only cares about carnal desire.”
Putting her hand over her mouth to restrain herself from crying out loudly, Estelle nodded repeatedly and said in a sobbing tone, “Okay, I’ll stay. I’ll stay here with you…”
“Do you know, for the past three years, I can’t sleep every night,” Cristofer said in a low voice, “The sleeping pills don’t work. If you stay here with me, I may be able to have a good sleep again.” He said in a bitter tone.
“Okay…” Estelle struggled to contain her emotions, too.
“What a pity,” Cristofer said as he turned his head to look out of the window. “It’s raining heavily, and we can’t see the beautiful starry sky. I really want to watch the stars with you.”
With tears running down her cheeks, Estelle tried to make her voice sound normal and said, “There will be sunny days soon. There will be. I’ll check the weather. I’ll check it now…”
“You don’t need to check it,” Cristofer said gently, “You’re right. Eventually, there will be sunny days. As long as I keep waiting, sunny days will come, and you will also come to my side.”
Right after Cristofer finished his words, the rain poured down without pause, lashing at the window.