Kovishik's voice was almost cut off abruptly. Amid Mei Sinan's faintly smiling remark, he felt as though his silence carried splattering flesh and blood.
"...What do you mean, your pen? Th-this is a gift... a gift Jane gave me."
Mei Sinan's expression turned puzzled. "You mean this pen had been with Jane all along?"
"Cut the crap!" Kovishik snapped in humiliation, his cheeks flushing red. "What makes you say this pen is yours?"
Mei Sinan smiled and took the pen. He lightly pressed a button at its tip, and the somewhat old ballpoint pen suddenly began playing a nursery rhyme.
"It was a gift from the church," Mei Sinan said. "I used it back when I was in District 14... Maybe Jane took it by mistake."
Kovishik snatched the pen back in a furious rage and crushed it beneath his foot right in front of Mei Sinan.
Mei Sinan failed to react throughout the whole thing. He stared in stunned disbelief at the man who had suddenly fallen apart before him, frozen where he stood.
People nearby had already noticed the disturbance. Conversations began to quiet down, and more or less everyone turned to look. Kovishik's remaining shreds of reason kept him from causing another scene, but he could no longer endure this evening.
He casually tossed the plate in his hand onto a nearby table, stumbled back two steps, then dashed for the exit as though a defeated dog fleeing the center of a fight.
"Mr. Kovishik..."
Mei Sinan stood there at a loss, his gaze following Kovishik until he vanished through the doorway.
Oh dear.
It seemed he had done something wrong.
"So how much did you donate, exactly?"
In the terrace lounge area, Hesta sat beside Sophie, while Stella sat on the girl's other side. The