The Villain's Sister - Chapter 30

When I smiled brightly, the man looked confused.

I asked Tristan sweetly—so sweetly even I got goosebumps—speaking with saccharine affection, “He seems like a friend. Won’t you introduce me?”

When Tristan frowned, I pinched his arm out of sight.

Then he relaxed his expression and said, “This is Daniel Humphrey. We went to high school together. Hey, Daniel. This is my girlfriend, Giselle Rodriguez.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Giselle.”

“Nice to meet you too, Miss Giselle.”

Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off me.

It was a familiar reaction.

At first, men would just stare blankly at my face, then later try to show off in all sorts of ways to impress me.

Even if they had a girlfriend next to them, they’d still look dazed.

Tristan glanced between Daniel and me, then smiled. “What brings you here? You used to live in another neighborhood.”

“Ah. I moved into an apartment nearby after getting hired at Daily Issue. Emma got a job at a law firm nearby too.”

Tristan’s arm tensed.

So the ex-girlfriend’s name was Emma. Judging by that, it seemed they were living together.

Daniel emphasized Daily Issue repeatedly and kept sneaking glances at me before asking, “Are you an aspiring actress by any chance? It’s just that I work in the culture department at Daily Issue, and I feel like I’ve seen you during coverage.”

“I’ve never had such aspirations myself… Oh. Mrs. Lindbergh does, though.”

Tristan gave a small cough.

His eyes twitched slightly, as if saying, What the hell are you talking about?

I scrunched my nose and smiled.

“Aren’t you going to propose to me? How long are you planning to keep me waiting?”

Daniel looked shocked, mouth slightly agape, seemingly unaware of his own expression.

Tristan, too, was frozen, unsure how to respond.

Judging by his reaction, he really must be a relationship novice…

I pouted at Daniel and said, “Tristan’s always like this. Is he like this with his friends too?”

“He can be a bit indifferent, yeah. Ha, haha…”

Daniel awkwardly changed the subject.

“Keep in touch, will you? Everyone’s curious how you’ve been.”

“Is that so?”

“Everyone was surprised when you suddenly dropped out of school to become a police. And then you disappeared.”

“I was busy. Crazy busy.”

“Ah. Of course, I’m sure you were. Emma and I are getting married this weekend. Will you come?”

“Didn’t I already say I would? I sent a vacuum cleaner through Emma. Didn’t you hear?”

“We’ve been so swamped with the wedding plans. We’re throwing a bachelor party on Friday, by the way. Come join. Dylan’s coming too.”

“Ah. If he’s going, I’m not. You know I don’t drink with that guy. How many times have I had to clean up after his drunken mess? Anyway, it was so nice seeing you. We’ve got to get groceries and head home to cook. See you at the wedding this weekend.”

“Sure. Go ahead. Uh… Miss Giselle, you take care too.”

“Yes. See you on the weekend.”

After waving goodbye to Daniel, I affectionately pushed the cart alongside Tristan.

Gritting his teeth, Tristan muttered, “What was that? Are you coming to the wedding too?”

“Were you planning not to take me?”

“You’re not even my real girlfriend.”

“Are you an idiot? You seriously want to go alone to the wedding of a friend who cheated with your ex, leaving this beauty behind? Are you out of your mind? Didn’t you see him gawking at me just now?”

“Still…”

“Are you a sucker? Or just stupid?”

“……”

“Once you go to work tomorrow, we need to go shopping. The clothes I packed in my trunk aren’t suitable for a wedding, so we’ll need shoes, a bag, accessories…”

“Ha.”

With a heavy sigh, Tristan placed three kilograms of beef into the cart as if resigned.

After shopping so much the bags were about to burst, I began cooking while Tristan organized the refrigerator.

Thanks to finishing the unpacking quickly, he carried the dishes and then sat in the attached chair to watch me cook.

“This is my house, but you seem more at home here. Do you cook often at home? I thought you wouldn’t, seeing as you even have a bodyguard. That’s unexpected.”

“I used to come from a really poor household. My father had a lot of debt. Thanks to my brother, we had a housekeeper before I graduated high school, but now I do it myself. Once I started, I found it fun.”

“No matter how I look at it, your brother must be a unicorn or just a figment of your imagination. Where in the world does a brother like that exist?”

“That’s crazy. I think your ex-girlfriend is the unicorn. With that personality, I thought you’d never held a woman’s hand in your life.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with me?!”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?” I shook my head and wrapped up the cooking.

“What was that look just now? Hey, I said what was that?”

Ignoring Tristan’s words, I finished setting the table.

“Whoa. The table legs might break.”

“If it’s not enough, I can make more. Enjoy your meal.”

“And if it tastes bad?”

“Even if it tastes bad, you still have to eat it. Don’t be shy and eat it all.”

I picked up my fork and began eating first.

Tristan looked at the food with suspicion, then followed suit.

He tried a piece of the pork, and his eyes widened in surprise—an expression that didn’t suit him.

“Tasty, right?”

“What the… this is actually good. Shockingly good.”

“You could’ve just said it’s delicious.”

“Fine. I admit it. It’s really delicious.”

After sampling various dishes, Tristan silently focused on eating.

I had made a variety of dishes that filled the small table, and he polished them off in no time.

The most rewarding thing about cooking is when someone eats your food like it’s the best thing in the world.

I’d been feeding Raphael, Liam, and Maria every day, but having a new recipient was fun in its own way.

My shoulders perked up, and a pleased smile slipped out.

“Want to eat like this tomorrow morning too? What time do you go to work? Should I aim for 7:30?”

Excited, I asked the question, but Tristan just stared at my face with a strange expression instead of answering.

His slightly parted lips made him look like a real fool.

What’s with him?

I tilted my head slightly, and he cleared his throat, turning his gaze to the empty plate.

“I asked what time you eat breakfast.”

At my question, Tristan moved his lips silently, then suddenly stood up and began clearing the table.

When I tried to help, he pushed me back by holding onto my clothes.

“I’ll take care of the cleanup.”

“Still, I’m a guest. I should have some decency.”

“What kind of host makes a guest do this stuff? You cooked well. That’s enough. Go over there and watch TV or wash your feet or something.”

Tristan busily cleared the table without even glancing my way.

While he was tidying up, I looked around the room.

Albums of once-popular bands, a dried-up cactus, and a family photo sitting on the table.

In the picture, Tristan looked younger than he does now.

On either side of Tristan stood a young Linda and a smiling middle-aged man.

“Is the man in this photo Mr. Lindbergh?”

“Ah. Yeah. My dad. I think that photo was taken when I was fourteen or fifteen.”

“He has a very kind face.”

“Yeah, my dad used to smile a lot.”

“But…”

I was about to speak but closed my mouth.

Saying he didn’t quite resemble his parents might come off as rude.

Mr. Lindbergh, unlike Tristan, had a small and slight build, and his features were also quite different.

‘Not all family members have to look alike, anyway.’

Even my sibling and I looked quite different.

We each took after different ancestors so distinctly that, aside from the eyes, our body types and builds were entirely different.

“What? You were about to say something.”

“Ah. I just didn’t see your younger sibling.”

“He was living apart at the time.”

“Ah. I see.”

Could the sibling also have a hellish mouth like Tristan?

I looked closely at the shelves to see if there were any more pictures, but none were displayed.

It felt awkward just sitting around, so I decided to take a quick shower while Tristan did the dishes.

If two people are sharing one bathroom, one of them has to be efficient.

***

When I came out after washing up, I saw Tristan watching a sports game.

He was in a short-sleeved T-shirt, sipping from a can of beer.

It wasn’t even a new model color TV—more like one of those old junk TVs that were around when color TVs had just started becoming popular when I was a kid—but he was watching it with such focus it was like he was getting sucked in.

Even though he didn’t seem to like baseball or drinking, seeing Tristan drink and watch TV so happily made me want to join him.

“Do you have more beer? I want one too.”

“Uh… there should be one can left in the fridge.”

I rummaged through the fridge and sat next to Tristan with the beer I found.

Beer tasted quite good after a clean shower and in crisp pajamas.

“Ahh.”

Tristan glanced at me at the sound I made and asked, “You can drink beer? I thought you only drank wine.”

“I normally don’t drink anything, but I wanted to enjoy the mood today.”

“Then hand it over. I’ll drink it for you.”

Tristan tried to snatch the beer from my hand.

I quickly pulled the can toward me.

“Don’t be greedy.”

“Didn’t you say you don’t drink? One sip should be enough to get into the mood. Give it here. One can isn’t enough for me.”

“I feel like I’m on a trip right now, and I’m loving it. I’ll share a cup, so don’t kill my vibe.”

“A trip, huh?”

“Leaving home always feels like a trip.”

Huh.

Tristan let out a dumbfounded sound, then reached his long arm to grab the can from my hand.

“Let go.”

“No.”

“I’ll just drink a few sips and leave you one.”

“I said no.”

While we were squabbling like that, I ended up getting pulled toward him due to the tug-of-war over the can.

“Whoa.”

I toppled right over onto Tristan.

His arm brushed against my wet hair.

Maybe because of his muscles, his body felt hot and firm.

I could see his silver-gray eyes up close.

If I had been a bit taller and he a bit shorter, we could’ve even felt each other’s breath.

The moment our eyes locked, silence fell.

The atmosphere was subtly strange—hard to define, yet palpable.

When a grown man and woman are that close in a space, there’s bound to be a certain tension.

Tristan was a handsome man in his prime, and I was a beautiful woman used to drawing attention.

Both of us were acutely aware of each other right now.

Whether from holding my breath or nerves, the hair sticking to my cheek started to bother me.

The hand not holding the beer slowly reached out and touched my cheek.