It’s no use regretting it. (2)

“Ari, it’s no use regretting it.” He said huskily. “I have no intention of letting you go again.”

Once again, he crushed his lips against hers. It was gentle contrary to the fierce promise he made. As his fingertips skated down her spine, he clutched a handful of hair and pulled it backward. As if proving that he had endured a lot of hardships, a clotting, lengthy scar was seen on Deon’s left arm when he gripped the headboard. Sohee had no idea what angered Deon all of a sudden. She didn’t know what kind of expression she made when she looked at the piece of newspaper rolling on the floor. In the end, she just closed her eyes at the inescapable kiss. Her brain felt like it was on fire and all of her thoughts seemed to burn away.

The spring had gone and summer had arrived. The summer in Latvea, located in the northern part of the continent was much cooler than in any other region. Nevertheless, Brix kept the buttons off his shirt due to his sensitivity to heat. He was sweating profusely as he climbed the stairs, cursing all the way to the third floor.

“Joshua, who’s going to fail?”

* * *

The documents in his hand were crumpled with anger. For as long as two weeks, he had sent people asking for a steady review of the documents, but there was no reply. Everyone in the world knew that he had suffered from a broken heart. But no matter how awful he felt, shouldn’t he be doing his work properly? Brix thought that Joshua’s news a few months ago was interesting, but he didn’t dare visit him in person. It was obvious that his temper would have changed into something fierce.

However, his efforts were overshadowed by the projects that eventually had to come here on their own. Before the maid, standing in front of the office announced Brix’s appearance, he opened the door roughly. As soon as he entered the room, Brix grimaced at the strange smell.

Various scents were mixed in the air. In addition to the smell of old papers mixing with Joshua’s musk, inhaling the scent of strong alcohol and cigarette smoke seemed to trigger.  The sight in front of him was even stranger. Empty bottles of liquor were lined on one side of the table. A pile of cigarette butts and ashes also bloomed on the steel ashtray.

At the corner of the leather sofa across it, Brix noted a pile of random clothes thrown everywhere. Brix let out a sympathetic chuckle.

“Amazing! I can’t believe that a time will come when you would act like this, Joshua. I thought you were some kind of superhuman who wouldn’t bleed a single drop even if I were to stab you.”

Joshua, who was roughly handing the papers over with one arm on his back, raised his head. He had a cigarette in his mouth and Brix could see the bloodshot whites of his eyes over the smoke. He must have not slept for days.

“It’s really nice to see you act human for once,” Brix confessed playfully.

“Get lost.”

“Why don’t you go over these documents before I do that?”

Brix walked towards Joshua and put down the bundle of papers he was holding on the desk. He chose to be kind instead of his initial plan to throw it in his face as soon as he arrived. He wanted to be careful and considerate after confirming Joshua’s bad condition. The crown prince inhaled and exhaled a long puff of cigarette smoke before rubbing the cigarette end on the ashtray. Then, he rummaged through the bundle of documents Brix had put down. The papers contained detailed descriptions of various products made by the Arcent family. This project was created to target a large trade he himself had organized. Within seconds, Joshua checked the last page and spoke.

“Things are too slow to get on the merchant ship.”

“What do you mean?”

“How many times will you send this same document? If there is no response from me, I will organize it on my own,” Joshua said in a low voice. Brix was speechless for a moment before cursing. ‘F*cking son of a b*tch.’ Of course, he made sure not to be heard.

“You should have written a response that you won’t approve it, sir.”

Brix took a cup of water on the tray and drank a lot of it at once. The boiling rage in his heart seemed to subside a bit. Next, he picked up the business-related documents and put down the empty cup.

“Let’s see how amazing things are up there.”

Brix stopped moving when he found something unexpected among numerous items. The Pearson family’s trade items were on the list. Soon after, Brix blurted out in shock.

“The Pearson family’s poorly made luxury goods can go up and ours can’t?”

Joshua, who wasn’t even paying attention to Brix, suddenly raised his head. Then he jumped out of his seat and snatched the documents out of his sight. His blood-red eyes were filled with embarrassment. In front of him, Brix was full of sarcasm.

“What? Is this your last present for your ex-wife who ran away?”