4. Admirer of A Handsome Man

As usual before bed, Inez scrolled through the photo gallery on her phone. She’d had a crush on her gym’s personal trainer, Mario Chandra, for a long time, often taking candid shots of him during their private training sessions. Her gallery was filled with pictures of Mario in all kinds of poses and expressions.

He was tall and muscular, with a broad chest and six-pack abs. She’d often imagined tracing her fingers over his firm muscles. His face was warm and friendly too, when he smiled, dimples appeared on both cheeks, making him look almost boyish.

He seemed to be of Javanese descent. Sometimes when they joked around, his Javanese accent would slip out, making Inez giggle uncontrollably.

Throughout their private training sessions, Mario had never flirted with her or acted inappropriately. In fact, it was usually Inez who playfully teased him. It wasn’t that she was being forward or pushy—he was just so endearing, and every time she teased him, his face would flush pink as he smiled shyly.

Inez had a slender, curvy figure with fullness in all the right places, which often drew inappropriate stares from men. Her skin was a warm honey-brown, and she stood at an average height. Her great-grandfather had been a Dutch immigrant, so her features still carried Caucasian traits: deep brown eyes, a high nose bridge, and hair the color of rich golden honey.

This year, Inez had turned 40. Her only daughter, Clara, was 17 years old. Inez’s husband had passed away from kidney failure when Clara was just 10.

Her late husband’s family was wealthy, with businesses in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, their well-known brand was often seen in TV commercials.

Since her husband’s death, Inez had not remarried. Many mature, wealthy men had tried to court her, but she’d turned them all down. Her priority was raising Clara, and she worried her daughter would feel left out if she married again.

In truth, Clara had encouraged her to find a new partner to replace her father, always saying her mom was too beautiful and young-looking to stay single forever.

Unfortunately, the man she’d grown to admire was already married, and much younger than she was. So Inez was content to be his secret admirer. Maybe in another life, they would be meant for each other. She would never try to take another woman’s husband.

Besides, she wasn’t sure if Mario felt the same way about her. He never responded to her teasing in an over-the-top way, they usually just chatted, and there was never any physical contact that could be considered intimate.

Inez sometimes wondered what generation Mario belonged to. He was so different from other men his age, who could be vulgar and aggressive. Most men his age would send her flirtatious messages on social media.

Occasionally, she’d get so frustrated that she’d block followers who sent her lewd messages or video calls with questionable intentions.

Inez was almost asleep, her phone nearly slipping from her hand, when it suddenly rang. It was Dewi, her gym friend. She answered right away.

"Hello, surprising to get a call this late, isn’t it?" Inez said, curious.

"Hi, Inez! I’ve got some hot gossip. I had to call you right away," Dewi said excitedly.

Inez’s interest was piqued. "What kind of gossip, Dewi?"

"Our gym was shut down today! Debt collectors seized it, and word is Mario has gone bankrupt and can’t pay his debts," Dewi explained.

"What?! How is that possible? Are you serious?" Inez pressed, unable to believe the man she admired would be the type to get into debt.

"If you don’t believe me, you can ask Mario yourself. You’re close with him, after all!" Dewi said, sounding a bit hurt that Inez had doubted her.

"Hmm … okay, I’ll ask him directly. Thanks for letting me know, Dewi. Good night," Inez said, hurrying to end the call.

"How could this happen? Just this morning, our session was completely normal. Mario was joking around like always," Inez said to herself, pacing back and forth in her room.

She decided to call her private investigator, Mr. Rahardian.

"Hello, Mr. Rahardian. I need a favor … I want you to look into why Chandra Empire Gym was closed down. Please get to the bottom of this and find out everything you can. I’ll be waiting for your update as soon as possible," Inez instructed him.

Mr. Rahardian had originally been her late husband’s trusted associate, and to this day he handled tasks like investigating competitors’ weaknesses or new projects for the Jansen family business.

Asking him to look into a gym was outside his usual scope of work, but Inez was desperate to know why Mario’s business had suddenly closed. Just that morning, she’d trained with him, how could everything fall apart in half a day?

Inez didn’t feel comfortable asking Mario directly. She knew men could be proud, and this must have been incredibly embarrassing for him, having his business shut down because he couldn’t pay his debts.

In recent months, Inez had noticed that Mario’s relationship with his wife Rosita seemed strained. Rosita would often smile at her phone instead of at her handsome husband.

Inez couldn’t help feeling envious of Rosita, she was married to such a perfect man. He was attractive, muscular, and handsome, with a kind, polite, and loyal nature. On top of that, he was hardworking and had built his own business at a young age. Rosita was so lucky to be his wife, she should have been grateful. What more could she ask for?

As the night grew later, Inez lay down in bed. She needed to get some sleep. She had a company meeting the next day to review monthly financial reports with the controlling shareholders.

She hoped Mr. Rahardian would soon give her accurate information about what had happened to Mario’s gym, and whether the rumors of his bankruptcy were true. She felt genuinely sad for him, she’d always thought he was a good man.

Finally, close to midnight, Inez drifted off to sleep, hugging her pillow. She was eager for morning to come so she could learn the truth about what had happened to the man she admired. Maybe she could find a way to help him, or at least ease his burden.