Dark clouds could be seen beyond the large window that took up the entire wall. The dark clouds, occasionally flashing and revealing their displeasure, made another ominous sound.
Ashley Juliet Dawson visited Dominic’s penthouse three days later. Unlike last time, he didn’t bother to check his identity this time. The security guard who opened the door greeted him with a friendly smile, and the lobby staff naturally guided him to the elevator without asking anything. And now he was sitting on the sofa in the reception room, playing chess with Dominic across from him.
“Do you only stay at home during your vacation? That’s unexpected.”
He brought up the topic in a smooth tone.
“I thought you would go to your villa overseas.”
Dominic said, looking down at the piece he had moved.
“I decided not to go this time.”
He asked nonchalantly at the indifferent tone.
“Because of me?”
Dominic whispered, gazing at his narrowly folded smiling eyes.
“Check.”
“Oops.”
He hurriedly lowered his gaze and looked for his next move, and Dominic advised.
“If you lose, the scout offer is off the table.”
He glanced up and then moved his piece.
“It’s not over until it’s over.”
He easily moved his king out of the way and smiled. He had easily escaped the brief crisis. Dominic also seemed to have expected it and readily moved his piece. As he looked at the chessboard and searched for a piece to move seriously, he picked up a pawn. Just as he was about to block the rook’s path, Dominic suddenly opened his mouth.
“Why Juliet?”
“Ah.”
In an instant, his hand slipped and he placed the piece in the wrong position. Ah, Dominic took the knight in front of Juliet, who was looking down at the chessboard with a deep sigh, as if to show off.
“How did you know my middle name?”
He asked in a voice that was hard to tell whether he had barely swallowed his annoyance or a sigh. He didn’t miss the question he hadn’t been able to ask last time, but Dominic placed the knight he had taken in the place where the other pieces were and answered nonchalantly.
“My Secretary is competent.”
“It’s only natural since he specializes in background checks.”
It was more of a resigned tone than a sarcastic one. A lawyer’s job is to exploit the other party’s hidden secrets to catch them off guard, and it’s the Secretary’s job to dig up those secrets. Dominic chuckled and opened his mouth.
“How did that happen?”
He muttered as if he didn’t care about that.
“I didn’t want it to be this way.”
Juliet answered indifferently.
“It was the name my parents were going to give to a daughter, but since I was a son, it ended up that way. My mother didn’t want to have any more children.”
Juliet moved his rook as if he was thinking deeply.
“Didn’t you think about changing it?”
Dominic asked again, scanning the chessboard after Juliet’s decision to retreat. His strategy was already set, but he didn’t intend to rush. Juliet let out a short, deflated breath as if he was dumbfounded as he deliberately took his time to think and speak.
“My middle name? Why bother?”
Indeed, who would care about that? Middle names can be omitted, and in many cases, only initials are written. This man was also easily avoiding it by putting initials in the place of his middle name. Dominic was probably the first to call this man by his middle name.
“To name your child after the protagonist of a tragedy, your hobby is terrible.”
When he moved his queen in the opposite direction, Juliet fell into thought again. Dominic could tell that he had blocked his move from his seriously distorted brow. Now that the path he had been thinking about was blocked, he had to come up with another move.
“Tragedies touch everyone’s hearts.”
Juliet said absentmindedly as he calculated his next move. Dominic said leisurely, leaving him to quickly scan the chessboard.
“I don’t call self-destruction a tragedy.”
Juliet raised his eyes and stared at Dominic, who had moved a pawn. He smiled, leaning back leisurely in his chair.
“I call it touching to watch a self-destructing human and feel a sense of relief that that’s not me.”
Juliet looked at him as if he was dumbfounded and retorted in a light tone.
“I don’t think they thought it was self-destruction. There are many people who follow after their loved ones because they can’t overcome the despair of no longer being in the world, right?”
Dominic almost burst into laughter. Fortunately, he had never laughed like that before, so all he did was twist the corners of his mouth.
“So, he dies? A child who isn’t even fourteen?”
“Yes. Perhaps he loved more purely and passionately because he was young.”
Juliet answered without hesitation, but Dominic only frowned with an ambiguous expression. He didn’t understand the emotion of despair itself. And such deep despair that he would take his own life? It was absurd nonsense. There was no way a human could feel such an emotion. It was just a weak individual unable to cope with the situation in front of him, prettifying his escape.
“You don’t seem to empathize.”
Juliet smiled awkwardly. It was an effort to ease the atmosphere, but it was a big mistake. Taking advantage of the brief lapse in concentration, Dominic moved the Queen again and said,
“Checkmate.”
“Ah!”
This exclamation came from a deeper place. He quickly scanned the chessboard, but there was no way out. Completely blocked. One mistake had led to such a big defeat.
Dominic watched, anticipating his reaction. Distracting his concentration earlier had clearly been intentional. Juliet would be aware that it was the cause of his defeat, so how would he react? Would he reluctantly accept it, or would he point out Dominic’s cowardly move and ask to take it back?
Of course, it wouldn’t be the latter. If he was going to point it out, he should have done it earlier. So, what was left…?
“Oh, I lost.”
Juliet admitted defeat with a bright smile. He lightly raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and continued with a cheerful expression.
“As expected, Mr. Miller, you don’t miss your opponent’s weaknesses even in court, and it’s the same when playing chess. This is the most aggressive chess I’ve ever played. You’re amazing, I can’t possibly beat you.”
Dominic narrowed his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth at his incessant praise.
“You’re good at saying things you don’t mean.”
Juliet replied playfully to the relaxed voice.
“I’m doing my best to please you. Have I improved a lot?”
Unlike his seemingly delicate appearance, he had a sly side. Seeing his playfully sparkling eyes, he seemed even more out of place as the protagonist of a tragedy.
If he was an immature person who couldn’t imagine himself dying like that, it was understandable.
“How about the next game?”
Juliet’s voice cut through his thoughts. Dominic looked at the man sitting across the table, waiting for an answer. He clearly wanted to play the next game right away, as if he wanted to settle the score as quickly as possible. Of course, Dominic’s thoughts were completely different.
“In a week.”
He whispered leisurely, in a soft voice as if whispering sweet nothings.
“The next match is in a week, Juliet. I hope you’re not late.”
“Um, yes.”
Juliet let out an exclamation that seemed somewhat hesitant, but soon nodded.
“Then I’ll see you at the same time in a week. Thank you for the game today.”
He didn’t lose his politeness until the end and said goodbye.