MGN | Chapter 8

“You think you know them well, but in the end, you realize you don’t know them at all. That’s how it always ends.”

“What do you know, oppa? You’ve never even been married!”

It was a doubt he heard endlessly at work too. How could he sincerely handle divorce cases when he’d never been married himself?

But Maël knew.

Those blinded by love couldn’t truly see their partners. Those who came claiming their partner had changed after marriage were simply those who missed what they should have seen.

The blind faith of those burning with passion, the cost of which was a grueling divorce process that took at least a year.

Maël lived off the regrets of such people.

“You’ve seen too many divorced people, oppa. We haven’t seen a good couple or a happy family in so long that even when happiness comes, we’re shaken and doubtful.”

“What about people who hit others? We’ve seen enough of that. I’m not saying be happy, but let’s avoid unhappiness. Manon, someone who’s been violent once never stops.”

“Philippe treats me really well. We can live happily with the baby. I promise, oppa. I’ll never, ever be with someone like Dad.”

Promises were poison in the well of marriage. Manon stood up as if she didn’t want to hear anymore. Protectively holding her slightly rounded belly, she spoke in a wet voice.

“Philippe’s family sees me as beautiful. They don’t look down on me or see me as strange for being mixed race, like people gossip outside. They say they’re grateful. They want to live beautifully and happily for a long time, and they’re eager to see the baby. They truly accept and cherish me as family. But you, oppa…”

“If they truly cherish you as you are, why did they change your name without agreement and announce it? Why force you to use it outside? If they were really grateful, would they have given you such a prenuptial agreement?”

Words he had held back for his sister, who wanted to marry and already had a child, poured out.

Tears fell from his sister’s eyes. She didn’t wipe them, glaring at Maël with wide eyes. Yet, he couldn’t give her the words she wanted.

“Manon, please think carefully. You don’t have to get married. There’s no marriage in the world that you must do.”

Even if it made him seem cruel and heartless, he had no choice.

His sister, trembling and shedding tears for a while, wiped her cheeks with her sleeve.

“I heard you fought with Charles, oppa. Is that why? Because I’m fine?”

“What does that have to do with anything, Manon, I…”

“I’m going to get married. It’s my wedding.”

Her firm voice left him speechless.

Should he bring the photos? Should he find the victims who changed their names out of fear and ask them to say something to his sister marrying Philippe?

While he couldn’t say anything, his sister was crying again.

“Oppa, please. I don’t care what others say. I… you’re the only one who can congratulate me.”

Her sobbing was long.

Though not a drop of blood was shared, they grew up hearing how much they resembled each other. How their expressions were so similar.

Maybe that’s why. When Manon cried, Maël felt like crying too.

“Can’t you just trust my decision and congratulate me?”

Many clients made irrational decisions and were satisfied with them.

If Manon Juliette Montmatier were a client, Maël would have respected her choice. But Manon wasn’t just a client.

Bang.

Amid her sobs, the fireworks announcing noon in Nice went off. As he gently placed a hand on her trembling shoulder, his sister looked up with a tear-streaked face.

“I trust you. Silly girl.”

He couldn’t bring himself to congratulate her, but Manon finally stopped crying. Maël tore off a paper towel and pressed it against her face. At the teasing nickname he sometimes used, Manon glared with her swollen eyes.

“I’m not silly. And we have to go play tennis.”

“Yeah. Wash your face. We’re going to be late.”

Maël truly wanted to believe in his sister’s decision. That the photos were fake, the prenuptial agreement was a mistake, and everything was just a silly worry, so he could secretly apologize to Philippe a few years later.

“But probably not.”

If Manon wouldn’t change her mind, he at least had to change that damned prenuptial agreement.

There was only one way left to change the stalled contract negotiations.

To retract his words to that damn hotel executive and get the evidence.

* * *

Monte Carlo Country Club, famous for the main court of the ‘Masters 1000 Monte Carlo’ tennis tournament. In front of the lounge bar inside, a light blue sea spread out.

As the only country club near Monaco, it was usually bustling with people flocking from all over on weekends, but today it was empty except for a group in the middle with a few bodyguards.

There, sipping coffee and drinks in polo shirts and chino shorts, were the grand duke’s sons and Charles.

“You’re late!”

Felix, the crown prince at the center of the group, openly scolded the siblings for their late arrival.

“There was traffic because it’s the weekend.”

Philippe barely listened to Maël’s response, taking Manon to sit beside him and handing her his orange juice.

“Manon, did you have to go all the way to Nice? I said I’d take you. You didn’t leave late, did you? Your eyes are swollen…”

“I dozed off in the car on the way.”

Manon answered naturally. Felix squinted his eyes as he lifted his coffee cup.

“You’re late because you live in a place like Nice. I told you to move. Hey, Philippe, give Maël a house.”

“Should I? You can use it anywhere. Where’s close to work?”

I don’t need a house. Just please don’t hit Manon and treat her well. Swallowing the words, Maël roughly replied.

“It only takes thirty minutes by car from my house to Monaco. Besides, I’m attached to the house I live in now.”

“How can you be attached to that old house?”

It was Charles who suddenly interjected.

He was someone Maël had encountered countless times in similar gatherings. Yet, under the guise of a secret relationship, he had never spoken to him like this in front of others.

“What’s this, Charles, are you two…?”

Felix’s teal eyes narrowed instantly. The crown prince enjoyed romance and gossip, liking to pair people up.

“No, actually, I’m quite close with Maël. We often see each other at the casino, and we’re colleagues. I even asked Manon to invite Maël yesterday.”

“Hmm, really?”

His thin lips twitched.

Felix and Charles were the same age and had been classmates from kindergarten to university. They spent countless hours together and were nominally friends, but as with everyone with the crown prince, it wasn’t an equal relationship. Still, they had spent enough time together.

‘Felix knows that Charles has only ever dated women.’

So Felix was assessing. Was his friend, who he had fun with, now gay? Such a peculiar curiosity.

“Shall we play tennis right away? Doubles?”

He didn’t want to become a spectacle with rumors of breaking up, cheating, or keeping secrets. Maël hurriedly spoke, and Philippe waved his hand.

“I’m… not going to play. I want to stay with Manon. She doesn’t look well.”

“What, you’re not playing?”

“It’s no fun. You… you’re too competitive to play with. I’ll just watch.”

Philippe deliberately called a waiter to order a cocktail mixed with alcohol. Manon, seemingly tired, didn’t say much, and the crown prince cracked his neck and gestured to Maël.

“Maël, are you good? Playing with Charles for so long is boring. Should we rotate singles?”

“I’m just average.”

He wasn’t bad at tennis, but the unspoken rule was to lose to the crown prince. The rumor that a tennis player who won the US Open didn’t let Felix win and still hadn’t gotten the Monaco residency he wanted was well-known.

Unimpressed with Maël’s answer, the crown prince tapped his coffee cup. Meanwhile, as he lazily scanned the surroundings, his face suddenly lit up.

“Yves!”

The crown prince stood up, raising his hand with a grin. Turning around, a rogue in a stark white polo shirt was just entering.

“You said you didn’t want to come?”

Instead of answering, he squinted as if the sunlight was too bright. Despite the brazen reaction, Felix, unaware that the man in front of him was his half-brother, laughed excitedly.

“Great. Maël and Yves can be a team. Charles and I will be a team. Let’s bet on something. What should it be?”

“Ah.”

Charles, who had barely spoken, opened his mouth.

“How about I team up with Maël? The lawyer team.”

“Charles, you’re too predictable, so it’s no fun even if you’re on the opposing team. You both okay with that?”

The crown prince’s frown silenced Charles. Swallowing a sigh, Maël smiled faintly and glanced at Yves Hervé Valois, whom he didn’t want to meet today.

And their eyes met. Somehow noticing this, the crown prince laughed.

“Oh, and Yves. Did you know Maël is gay? Just in case.”

As if subtly announcing a contagious disease. Maël gritted his teeth. There were countless things to endure in this disgusting group. As he braced himself to hear whatever nonsense Yves might say, the man faintly smiled.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

At Yves’ unexpected question, Charles frowned. Felix, too, opened his mouth wide in shock.

“Huh? …What? Yves, are you gay too?”

“Didn’t I mention it?”

“Ugh.”

Felix laughed and reacted only like that, then stood up.

“Then the team names will be the gay team and the non-gay team.”