Chapter 12
"My husband says that he and you dated a while back," I say to her, smiling and giving her a little wink.
My heart is hurting so bad, but I have to let her know that I'm not a threat if she's going to tell me anything.
Irina's eyes go wide. "Dating?" she asks, completely surprised.
"Yes," I say.
"What’s your meaning? What? Dating? Or, your meaning?" she asks again, looking totally confused and honestly a little disgusted.
What else does she think dating means?
"Well, no, not dating, but, you know... like being intimate. He told me in confidence, so please don't tell him I told you."
Irina looks completely shocked. "I've never done that," she says.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Why would he lie?"
Now I realize Irina is in a horrible position.
She works for Danny's parents, and they are illustrious people.
If she denies it, it makes Danny out to be a liar, but if she admits it, that makes her look vastly unprofessional and terrible.
All of a sudden, I feel horrible for putting this woman in this position.
She takes me over to the corner and whispers, "I have never done anything with young master Akari. I would never do that. I have too much respect for the Akari name. I promise you this."
I quickly smile to ease her mind. "I'm not gonna get you in any trouble, I promise. I'm sorry if I made you scared. I just..."
Irina cuts me off and says, "No, listen, listen to this. I never, ever, not one thing with him, ever. I'm married. I have children," she says proudly.
She pulls something out from her apron pocket and shows it to me. Good Lord, her husband looks even more beautiful than she does. He's very handsome. It makes me wonder why she would ever cheat, but then again, she's here so often.
"It's a beautiful family," I tell her.
"Yes," she says, looking at the picture lovingly. "That's my Bjorn. He's the only man for me. No other eyes but him."
I feel so sorry for the woman, because that's exactly how I felt about my husband… or how I feel… and he's out there looking at other women. But the good news is, it's not her. Though, why did he say the name Rena? Maybe he just fantasizes about her.
"Has my husband ever made any passes at you?" I ask.
Irina thinks about it for a second. "He winks at me sometimes. Says I pretty, my hair pretty, like that. But nothing past that," she says.
Looking into her eyes and seeing the way she actually thought about it for a minute, I believe her honestly. Plus, I don't think she would ever risk upsetting her lords. That makes me feel a little bit better, but only for about half a second before reality hits me.
My husband is around hundreds of people on any given day, and many of them are beautiful women.
Any of them could be called that name. Or it could be one of his porn stars that he apparently gives money to and spends a lot of time chatting with.
Like, who even does that when you have a whole wife waiting for you at home?
Maybe it's just my insecurity, but out of all the women I've seen hanging around him, even though there are only a few, the ones he pays the most attention to in a platonic way (or so I thought) never look like me.
They're all bleach-blonde, or blue-eyed, and really tall.
I know that at 5'5", I'm not the shortest person, but I'm also not Victoria's Secret pretty either.
Of course, when I do my makeup and everything, I feel like I could go out and every single head would turn when I'm fully decked out.
But other than that, in a world of the wealthy where gorgeous women are a dime a dozen, my self-esteem is just completely shattered.
The rest of the evening is spent with Danny and his parents talking about business. The mother joins in, speaking Korean, and his father does as well. At one point, they're all speaking fluid Korean together, and I just sit there feeling stupid because I'm completely left out.
You know what? It's my own fault. I married a half-Japanese, half-Korean man, and I didn’t do my due diligence in learning either of his languages.
And now here I am, sitting at this table, feeling completely stupid.
Knowing what the hell his mother was saying would be my biggest weapon right now.
I feel like it would make things a lot easier, especially when it comes to us connecting.
But unfortunately, I don't speak the language.
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