Brad lay on his bed thinking deeply about Ann and Grace. Why did his cousin's boss seem to respect Ann so much? And why was the Chairman so interested in Ann?
Back in the car earlier, he had overheard Ann asking her boss who was calling her, and he had been very certain he heard her mention 'Jin' same name among the three names Ann had drunkenly mentioned that first night on the rooftop bar.
He paused when he also remembered Ann had said Tae-Joon was far beneath her. How could a poor orphan speak so rudely of someone as wealthy as Tae-Joon as if he wasn't wealthy?
Both Grace and Ann had also stopped him from mentioning that he had first met Ann at the club and the fact that Ann was lodged at the same hotel as him, in front of Mrs. Shu and Sara.
He had seen the confusion on his cousin's face when her boss had asked Sara about her boyfriend. How many bosses remembered the names of their personal assistant's friend's boyfriend? Yeah, maybe she had a good memory for names, but that was highly unlikely, considering that his cousin had seemed not to know what her boss was talking about at first. Could that be attributed to the memory loss she had mentioned?
What was going on between all of them? And what was that question she had asked about soul swap? Brad ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
He despised puzzles so much, and this one was looking like one to him. His cousin's boss had even used a family parable in the exact way grandma Rosie used it, and she couldn't have possibly gotten that word for word if she hadn't heard it from Aunt Maggie.
Was it possible that there had been a soul swap? He shook his head immediately and laughed at the absurdity of it. There was absolutely no way something like that could have happened, right?
First, he needed to know how long they had been in each other's lives, and maybe Tae-Joon was going to be the best person to tell him that.
He quickly dialed Tae-joon's number, and he didn't have to wait long before the call connected.
"Sorry to bother you, man. I'm just going to ask you a quick question and get out of your hair," Brad said before Tae-Joon could say anything.
"Okay, What is it?" Tae-Joon asked curiously.
"How long has your lady been friends with my cousin?" Brad asked, making Tae-Joon frown. Why was he asking him that instead of asking both friends?
"Why are you asking? And why aren't you asking them that?" Tae-Joon asked with a slight frown.
"I have a good reason to want to know. So please see it as returning the favor you owe me. Is there anything strange you noticed about them?" Brad asked again.
"It's a recent development, I would say. Before now, I never used to agree much with Grace. We were more like enemies and never could stand each other's presence," Tae-Joon said, making Brad quickly sit up.
"So what changed?" He asked curiously.
"Well, she was involved in a kind of accident that seemed to affect her memory, and then her attitude towards me changed completely. It was after the accident that Ann showed up, to the best of my knowledge," Tae-Joon said and paused.
"When did this happen? And how? Did your lady's car hit Ann?" Brad asked curiously when he remembered Ann had said she lost her memory in an accident and so couldn't remember much about her mother's death. Were they involved in the accident together?
"About a week ago or so, but it wasn't a car accident. Someone hit her by mistake," Tae-Joon said and then frowned.
"Are you going to tell me why you're asking so many questions?" Tae-Joon asked again.
"It's nothing. They both seem so close and all, so I was just very curious, that's all," Brad said.
"My grandfather would love to see you before you leave. That's if you don't mind," Tae-Joon quickly told Brad since he suspected Brad was about to disconnect the call.
"Everyone's family is wanting to see me. Fine, let me know the time and venue. Bye," Brad said and hung up.
This was even more strange than he had imagined. He needed to ask his supposed cousin about her own accident and then extract more information from her. He wasn't going to take her to his precious grandmother without first knowing her true identity.
He checked the time, and it was past 7 PM. He was certain she was out of work already, so he picked up his phone and dialed her number.
Maybe he needed to get her drunk so she would drunkenly tell him all he needed to know.
"You want to go clubbing?" Brad asked Grace the moment the call connected.
"Why? You can't go clubbing by yourself?" Grace asked. She had just returned from work that evening, and all she wanted to do was take a relaxing shower and sleep. It had been a really busy and long day for her.
"Of course, I can, but I figured we need to bond as cousins, and nothing would work better and faster in bonding us, like drinking and clubbing together," Brad suggested with a grin.
"I really just want to take a warm bath and sleep," Grace said, shaking her head.
"Would you rather I bring the party to your room?" Brad asked with a grin.
"I want to sleep," Grace muttered again.
"My room or yours? Considering as you're already very familiar with my room, it should be better, right?" Brad asked and then grinned when Grace hissed.
"I'm coming over to your room then. Make sure you open the door the moment I knock," Brad said with a smile before disconnecting the call. He quickly called room service to bring different brands of alcoholic wine to his room.
A few minutes later, he was standing in front of Grace's room with a waiter behind him who was holding a wine trolley.
Grace opened the door reluctantly and rolled her eyes when she saw the waiter who was standing behind Brad. She opened the door further to let them pass, but the waiter just stood there grinning at her.
"What are you smiling for?" Grace asked cocking a brow.
"Ann? You don't recognize me?" He asked with a confused and embarrassed smile, making Grace look at him in confusion.
Brad narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he looked from one to the other. He quickly looked at the waiter's name tag, Jinyong. If there was one thing he was blessed with, it was a good memory. And he knew Ann had mentioned that name earlier in relation to Sara's boyfriend.
"You know me?" She asked before looking at the name tag which was pinned to his uniform. Song Jinyong... The name sounded familiar. Then her eyes widened in recognition when she connected the dots—Sara's boyfriend, who was Tae-joon's employee.
"You really can't recognize me?" Jinyong asked again, making Grace suddenly giggle falsely.
"Of course I know it's you. I was just pulling your legs. How're you?" She asked with a polite smile.
"Oh! I was worried for a second that you were pretending not to recognize me," Jinyong said with a smile.
"Of course not. We were with Sara earlier on. Brad meet Jinyong, Sara's boyfriend. Jinyong, meet my cousin Brad," Grace said with a smile.
"I didn't know what brand of wine you would love since the last time I saw you; you were busy getting drunk on scotch... Hence I got a bottle of everything alcoholic," Brad said with a wink.
"Scotch? Ann never drinks scotch. But she is really good with cheap alcoholic wines," Jinyong said with a smile, making Grace wince.
"Oh! I see. You can drop the wines and leave," Brad told Jinyong with a smile. He was definitely going to have a talk with the young man later.
"I don't intend to get drunk when I have work to attend to tomorrow," Grace said the moment Jinyong left.
"Ah! I'm sure even you don't work on weekends," Brad said, shaking his head. It was the weekend already? Grace wondered with a frown.
"So why don't you just relax and have fun with me? Other ladies would feel really honored if I were to make such an offer to them," Brad said with a grin.
"I'm not other ladies," Grace said with a scoff before grudgingly going to sit on the far end of her bed.
'That I'm sure you're not,' Brad muttered to himself. He intended to find out exactly what was going on.