The Tension in a Family
After a period of discreet communication in the sauna room, the group came out. Next came the activities Gepu had arranged for them.
As a relatively obscure second-tier city, Sabine City naturally could not compare with a metropolis in certain ways. In others, however, it was not necessarily much inferior.
They had chosen to discuss things here mainly for the sake of secrecy. Between the private club and the near-naked encounters in the sauna room, along with the steam and distorted voices, it would be difficult for anyone to successfully leave anything behind, even if they wanted to.
After ending the conversation that might cause certain problems, the group left the place. They were about to return to their normal nightlife.
The beauty of the city lay in the money everywhere and the dazzling nights, things the countryside could never see. That was precisely why so many people gathered in cities.
In just a few years, the populations of cities across the Bayer Federation had at least doubled, and in some cases had increased several times over.
The club was nice, but it was only suitable for talking or relaxing a little. It provided no other services. Maintaining their status was one of the most important duties of these private clubs, and they would never casually violate the rules they had set for themselves.
After the driver reminded him, Gepu, sitting in the last car, glanced back at a vehicle trailing them and suddenly frowned.
If not for the driver's reminder, he would not even have noticed that someone was following them.
Private detectives were not part of the Bayer Federation's judicial system. They were a profession that had arisen among the populace. However, as long as they were registered and licensed, any evidence they collected could be used in various cases if it met judicial standards.
There was actually a misunderstanding among the public. Most evidence in the hands of private detectives had not been collected legally, but they knew how to fabricate false testimony to prove that the evidence had been obtained legally. Sometimes even local judicial bodies needed their help to fill in gaps in a case, so few people seriously investigated the origins of evidence held by private detectives.
Besides that, the biggest difference between private detectives and police officers was that police would not help you keep an eye on someone, would not rummage through trash cans for you, and would not call you "boss" just because you gave them money.
Private detectives would. They had become, alongside lawyers, accountants, and dentists, the four most famous professions in the Bayer Federation—specifically, in terms of their ability to make money.
Vera had her own private savings. After all, she was a Certified Public Accountant at an accounting firm, and Gepu also gave her an additional allowance every month for the household's daily expenses. She had managed to save some money.
She hired a private detective from a detective agency connected to the firm to investigate the matter. Cases involving infidelity interested not only lawyers but private detectives as well.
As long as the photographs were suitable enough, each one could sell for an astronomical price. Regardless of whether the client wanted to do anything with them, they would have to buy both the photographs and the negatives.
The car he was following suddenly turned off the main road and chose a remote side street. Although he found it somewhat strange, he still followed.
A moment later, the vehicle Gepu was riding in emerged from the alley. Sitting in the back seat, he toyed with the Film Roll in his hand. No one knew what he was thinking, but naturally, his expression was far from pleasant.
As for the private detective, he was lying in the garbage heap in an utterly miserable state.
A little after one in the morning, Gepu returned home with a slight drunken sway. He tore off his tie, took off his coat, and pushed open the bedroom door.
The bedside lamp was still on. Vera had not gone to sleep. She sat against the headboard, a complicated expression on her face—some hatred mixed with a trace of anticipation.
"You're back?" The moment the door opened, Vera came to herself and stood up. She could tell Gepu had been drinking; he had been like this lately. She went to the door to support him, but Gepu brushed her aside.
He walked to the chair by the window, pulled a Film Roll from his trouser pocket, and slapped it onto the table. Then he looked at Vera unhurriedly and said softly, "You sent someone to follow me and take pictures of me!"
He shook his head. "You suspect me? That's so despairing, darling. You actually suspect me?"
Vera was silent for a moment before looking up into Gepu's eyes. In them, she could no longer find the outstanding young man he had once been—only endless lies, arrogance, and deception.
She suddenly felt disappointed as well. The fact that Gepu was taking this matter so seriously essentially confirmed her suspicions. She suddenly found the whole thing meaningless.
"Last night, there were several lipstick marks on your butt..."
With that single sentence, the atmosphere in the room changed at once. Gepu had been full of righteous indignation, as though he intended to "put Vera on trial," but his momentum weakened until it was almost invisible. A moment of realization flashed through his eyes, and then he patted his forehead.
"If you had a problem, you could have told me directly instead of doing this. Besides, don't you know me?"
He began making excuses and explaining himself. "Do you know that when you had that bastard follow me, I was with one of the company's directors? He was extremely displeased. You almost ruined our future!"
The driver of the sedan he had been riding in was a company employee. That director already knew what had happened, and Gepu had only managed to gain his trust after explaining for quite some time.
The director had told him with a half-smile that he needed to handle his family affairs properly and not let private matters affect the group's operations. He had also warned Gepu that this was the last time.
That was also what had finally made Gepu decide to talk to Vera. If Vera continued sending private detectives or doing similar things, she might very well make the situation worse. She had to stop! Vera was deeply disappointed. Looking at Gepu, she asked in return, "Which is more important—your family or your career?" She paused, then continued, "Besides, this isn't an excuse for you to cheat. If you think your work requires you to sleep around, what do you take me for?"
Gepu did not answer. He remained silent. Vera turned, picked up the blanket and pillow, and walked to the bedroom door. She glanced back at Gepu from the side without saying anything, one hand already opening the door.
She realized that she had shown more courage than she had imagined. At the very least, facing Gepu's infidelity had not given her the unbearable, earth-shattering feeling she had expected, nor had she felt overwhelming rage.
At that moment, Vera even suddenly felt that she was somewhat frightening. Or perhaps... she did not know how to describe the feeling. As a wife, after confirming that her husband had cheated, she was not nearly as furious as she had imagined. That made her realize she might not love this man as much as she had thought.
In fact, most families were like this. When love fermented through marriage and became familial affection, intense feelings gradually grew mild, eventually turning into an emotion entirely different from love.
Some people described this as familial affection, while others believed it was merely numbness.
"I'm at a critical stage right now..." Gepu brought up that excuse again. "Don't you want it? A bigger house, higher social status, more money, a better life!"
He spread his arms, his face filled with anguish. "I'm not doing this just for myself. I'm doing it for this family. Some social interactions really are filthy, but they can't be avoided!"
"If I want to fit in with them, I have to pay a price. Vera, you're taking this too seriously!"
Vera pulled open the door and stood outside. The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Vera shook her head. "You make me sick!"
Watching the door slam shut, Gepu tugged at his hair. Then he swept everything off the bedside table and sent it crashing to the floor.
That bitch must have deliberately left those marks on his butt. It was too late to say anything now. That bitch!
Bitch!