Liar and Liar - Chapter 78

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 78

What should I press? Just as Danielle was about to ask back, a sound came from outside the door. It was the sound of something scratching at the door.

Rocky, Stop!

It was Mari. Danielle thought Frederick would pull away, but even after the knocking sound, Frederick didn’t budge.

“Come in.”

When the door opened and they faced Mari and Rocky, Frederick was still holding Danielle like a beloved stuffed animal. Mari immediately frowned.

“I even knocked properly, so don’t make me feel like an unwelcome guest, okay? Shouldn’t you come out now?”

When Mari reached out into the air to hand over Rocky’s leash, Frederick finally pulled away from Danielle. Danielle tried to calm herself by pushing out her breath. The fresh air flowing in from outside the door felt unfamiliar.

The retriever, who always seemed high-energy, raised its front paws toward Frederick again, acting spoiled.

“Such a little charmer.”

Frederick, who had vigorously petted its fur, took the leash and led the way. Instead of readily following, Mari stood next to Danielle. Then, as soon as there was some distance from Frederick, she whispered to Danielle.

“…Dani, did you see the text I sent?”

“Oh, I saw it.”

“Then… did you check the drawer? Did you have a chance?”

Mari linked arms with Danielle. Her voice was hesitant and anxious.

“Yeah. While Frederick was in the restroom.”

And Danielle naturally burst into laughter. Mari looked at Danielle with a bewildered expression.

“You did the name compatibility reading, right? ‘Riki Ryu’ – whose idea was that, exactly?”

“Ah… huh?”

Mari’s gray eyes shook back and forth in confusion. She seemed unable to grasp the context.

“I saw the name compatibility reading you did with my name and Frederick’s name. Korean style. Mari, you did that, didn’t you?”

“Ah… Yeah. Right, ah… You saw that?”

“Yeah. Wasn’t that the paper you wanted me to see?”

Wasn’t it? Now Danielle was also staring intently at Mari.

“Frederick put that paper in the drawer. Ah…”

“Were you talking about something else? What was it?”

What could it be to get this kind of reaction? Danielle’s head filled with question marks.

Or the paper underneath?

‘O.L.R?’

But Mari just awkwardly raised the corners of her mouth and pulled Danielle’s arm.

“No. Just forget it. Let’s hurry and go.”

Danielle was planning to press further to get an answer. But then her bag vibrated. The source of the vibration was her phone.

Danielle’s face rapidly hardened as she checked her phone screen.

“Danielle, what’s wrong?”

Mari, who glanced at the screen, unlinked their arms and stepped back.

“Is it an urgent call? Take the call and come slowly! I’ll tell the staff.”

The screen displayed the word ‘Dad’. Danielle couldn’t bring herself to hang up, and Mari approached Frederick, who had stopped walking. She seemed to be explaining the situation.

“…”

Danielle turned away first. Since she had no intention of wandering around someone else’s house freely, she approached a wall next to a display cabinet and answered the phone.

[…Yes, Dad.]

It was rare for Dad to call Danielle. So instead, Danielle came to remember each call vividly.

Statistically, the calls over the past few years had been surprisingly consistent.

In a negative sense.

-[Su, are you very busy these days?]

He wasn’t worried. He wasn’t asking about her well-being either. Danielle already knew exactly why Dad had asked this question.

[A little because of church…]

Dad let out a long sigh.

-[I heard from Eunho. He says Eunho has stopped studying.]

Her breath automatically caught at his stern voice. That’s why the calls remained too vividly in her mind.

Danielle covered above her nose with her hand. It was an attempt to suppress her irregular breathing somehow.

[Church work was a bit urgent.]

-[Still, there’s something called priorities.]

Sure enough, in this call too, Dad pressed the button in Danielle’s heart by uttering one word. Danielle ground her molars hard.

Priorities.

Those damn priorities.

With that one word, Danielle’s circumstances could be pushed aside. How overwhelming reality was became unimportant.

Dad used that word carelessly, and it became an indifferent notification to Danielle.

In Dad’s ‘priorities’, Danielle always stood at the very end.

You endure it.

You should understand.

You need to help.

This time too, Danielle finally closed her mumbling mouth. Then her mouth ached as if she had swallowed bitter water.

Priorities.

It was a word that was too painful for Danielle.

* * *

“…What did you talk about with Danielle?”

Mari, who had confirmed Danielle turning away to take the call, slightly leaned toward Frederick.

“Whether I was thinking of getting engaged.”

Mari reacted immediately. She blinked and urged the next words.

“She said no.”

“She said no?!”

“I said I understood.”

“You said you understood?!”

Realizing her voice was too loud, Mari covered her mouth with both hands.

“Didn’t she reject it because it was a crappy proposal? Where do you suddenly do that without even a single flower?”

“Haha, maybe so. I said I would of course do a proper formal proposal, but anyway, she said no.”

“…”

Frederick’s expression wasn’t that of a man who had been rejected in a proposal. Far from loneliness, he didn’t seem to have any regrets.

“You…”

As Mari couldn’t easily continue her words and trailed off, Frederick lowered his head and their eyes met.

Mari mumbled and let out a sigh before finally speaking.

“It’s because you said it too playfully, you fool. You didn’t even say it seriously, did you?”

“I like you, I love you – I didn’t say a single word like that. Deserved to be rejected.”

“Are you kidding? Why didn’t you say it?”

“Because Dani doesn’t say it.”

Mari grimaced. She felt like she had just heard something disgusting…

“It’s not about being prideful. I was being considerate of Danielle.”

“Who calls that kind of thing consideration! Don’t talk nonsense.”

“She does accept me little by little, but she tries not to get deeply involved with me. Not saying she likes me is probably for that reason too. So I decided to just be satisfied with the position of a toy.”

A toy? Danielle’s toy? You?

Every word Frederick said was a question mark to Mari. But she couldn’t just let the conclusion slide.

“So you’re satisfied with that…?”

“Yeah.”

Mari glared at Frederick.

So that’s why you looked up that kind of company? Finding out what it was about, even quickly getting a contract?

You really…

She couldn’t bring up the topic carelessly. Instead, Mari chose to ask indirectly.

“…How long are you planning to do this?”

“Hm?”

“Playing the ‘toy role’. You’re not planning to do that for life, are you?”

“Around graduation? When Danielle goes to a good school in New York, I’ll have to step out of Danielle’s life then.”

“….”

The two’s steps headed toward the tea room that also served as a listening room. Elegant classical music flowed from the open door.

Inside the marble hall, Sylvester and Marilyn were facing each other, dancing affectionately. For a couple of 20 years with a grown son, they were incredibly intimate. Their tender gazes toward each other were moving enough to touch Mari. Mari wanted to be just like that with her future husband.

“Be a little more mushy, Ricky. Don’t you want to be like that with Danielle?”

However, the moment Mari nudged him with her elbow and looked up, what entered her eyes was a dry and cold face.

“I don’t want to be like that, so I’m saying I’ll step away on my own.”

“I really don’t understand what you’re thinking….”

By Mari’s standards, Frederick had one of the best relationships with his parents. And yet now he was making that kind of expression again.

An expression that could be called contempt….

Mari let out a long sigh.

* * *

The call itself was short, but Dad’s words left heavy ripples in Danielle’s heart.

Danielle had to force herself to smile twice as hard so that Frederick and Mari wouldn’t notice.

-[Dad’s going back into LA now, so let’s meet face to face and talk properly when I get there.]

[…Yes.]

Even with this kind of matter, Dad never raised his voice or got angry. However, Danielle sometimes wished Dad would just get angry instead. It was a feeling she couldn’t understand herself.

Standing in front of the dormitory building, Danielle quietly watched Frederick’s car drive away. She had declined his offer to park and escort her to her room.

She hadn’t gone to a shopping mall, but had visited Frederick’s parents’ house, yet she ended up with shopping bags in both hands.

One was a gift from Frederick’s parents, the other was a gift from Mari.

After the car completely disappeared from view, Danielle’s steps headed into the building with a dragging gait. Ever since the phone call with Dad, Danielle had to hide her gloomy mood and force herself to act bright the entire time, and she was completely drained from the effort.

‘At least it didn’t show….’

Frederick’s parents had been consistently kind to Danielle. They said things like she should come visit comfortably anytime, that they should go golfing together next time, and that they would get tickets for good performances for Frederick and Danielle.

At the end, they even put these gifts in Danielle’s hands. It had been nothing but surprising all day long.

‘Do they like me…?’

Did Frederick speak well of her?

‘It can’t just be because I have good grades and I’m diligent that they think well of me….’

In any case, she desperately wanted to go to her room and rest now. Naturally, she had worn her shoes the entire time at Frederick’s house. It was like wearing heels all day long.

However, the moment she got off the elevator and realized there was someone standing with their back to her dormitory room door, Danielle’s steps stopped abruptly.

‘…What the….’

Why is he there? Danielle approached the door with a flustered face.

Cove, who had been leaning against the door, straightened up when he saw Danielle approaching him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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