King of Pride

Kai is captivated by Isabella’s presence at the bar, as usual, which aggravates him. Kai attempts to drag his attention away from her by telling Dominic about the call he got today. Alongside five other candidates, Kai is in the running to become CEO for Young Corporation—his family’s business, which he’s been the presumptive heir to since birth. Kai is confused as to why his mother, Leonora Young, would cede her power as CEO so early and why she has not given him a straightforward answer. Though the other five candidates are solid, Kai is sure that he will win the vote purely because he is the best option.

When Isabella’s shift ends, Kai makes an excuse to Dominic that allows him to tail her. Kai discovers Isabella playing Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” on piano. Her ability to play the challenging piece well impresses Kai, who has been practicing complex piano pieces himself since childhood.

Kai has played this piece dozens of times before. However, there is something he witnesses in Isabella’s interpretation that pulls at his heart strings. When Isabella is done, Kai surprises her by complimenting her performance but notes that she was too aggressive at the start of the second theme when it’s supposed to be lighter. Isabella challenges Kai to do better, and he accepts. 

He plays the piece to technical perfection, something he is proud of, but Isabella insists that hers is better. Though it bothers Kai to be labeled as lacking, he cannot disagree, admitting to himself that “the piece inspired…nothing. The ebbs and tides of emotion that’d characterized her rendition had vanished, leaving a sterile beauty in their wake” (21). Before leaving the club, Isabella suggests that Kai loosen up a bit, as it might help with his piano playing.

Isabella’s older brother, Gabriel, calls her to check in. Rather than express concern, Gabriel chides Isabella for moving to New York to chase her dreams yet continuing to live “in a rat-infested apartment and slinging drinks at some bar” years later (25). Gabriel insists that she move home and figure out an alternate plan since she’s been working on the same book for over two years with no success. Bristling at Gabriel’s lack of faith in her, Isabella lies and says that she is almost done with her novel. Though Gabriel is skeptical, he insists that she bring it to their mom’s birthday party in four months’ time. He adds a stipulation that if she’s unable to produce the full manuscript by then, they’ll need to sit down and have a serious chat. After the call, Isabella’s mind is awash with self-criticisms and the fear that she’ll always be a failure.

At work, Kai meets with Tobias Foster, the head of the Young Corporation’s Europe division and Kai’s biggest competition for CEO. Tobias mentions that Richard Chu—the Young Corporation’s longest-serving board member—invited him to lunch with Peter Lugar to discuss the rapidly expanding Europe division. The conversation suggests that Tobias might have a real chance at the CEO position, but Kai is unconcerned, as he feels that he has the vote regardless.

After the meeting, Kai’s mother calls to tell him that his childhood acquaintance Clarissa Teo—who comes from a wealthy family that owns one of the biggest retail chains in the UK—is moving to New York. Leonora suggests that Kai show Clarissa around and take her as his date to the Valhalla Club’s fall gala. Though Kai is not keen on the idea, he reluctantly agrees. Leonora believes that Clarissa would make a wonderful wife befitting high society. Kai isn’t as sure, as he has dated many women like Clarissa, and the connections were either nonexistent or quickly fizzled out. 

Later, Kai goes boxing at the Valhalla Club with his friend Dante Russo. He grabs a drink at the bar afterward and looks for Isabella, but she doesn’t seem to be working. Kai walks toward the same piano room and runs into Isabella on her way out.

When Isabella jokes that Kai should be practicing more piano to catch up to her talent, he challenges her again. He picks the piece “Winter Wind” by Chopin. Isabella goes first, but Kai distracts her by sitting close to her on the piano bench, which throws her off balance and disrupts the piece. Isabella tells Kai about her late father who was a music teacher and who taught her and her four older brothers the piano from a young age. Playing well was one of the few things in Isabella’s life that she ever received praise for. Kai mentions having a younger sister named Abigail who lives in London. 

They share a romantically charged moment before a sound outside the piano room door jolts them apart. Isabella flees the room before she can do something she regrets—such as break the no-fraternization rule between Valhalla staff and patrons. Upon leaving the piano room, Isabella runs into her boss, Parker, who congratulates her on her upcoming work anniversary. Though Valhalla Club is only a temporary steppingstone in her career, Isabella feels pride at someone being impressed with her work.

Isabella watches a Christmas rom com with her friends, Sloane Kensington and Vivian Lau, at Sloane’s apartment. Vivian speaks about her relationship with Dante. Sloane is single and complains about the unrealistic romantic ideals perpetuated by rom coms. Vivian invites Sloane and Isabella to dinner with her and Dante at the Monarch, an extremely exclusive restaurant in New York. Sloane can’t attend because she’s picking up her new client, Xavier Castillo, tonight at the airport; she runs a boutique public relations firm with an impressive client roster. Isabella agrees to go, if only to tell her brother Romero about it afterward because he loves food. 

Thinking of Romero jogs Isabella’s memory. Romero works at a leading adult toy manufacturer as a senior design engineer and has sent a new sex toy for her friends to review. She is attempting to convince them to try and review it when the doorbell rings. Isabella answers the door with the toy still in her hand and discovers Dante and Kai on the other side. The tension between Isabella and Kai reaches a high as they join Dante and Vivian for dinner.

Kai and Isabella are stuck in the backseat while Dante drives the group to the Monarch. In an attempt to avoid his attraction to Isabella, Kai answers a work email on his phone. He has been attempting to acquire the video-streaming app DigiStream for over a year but has been encountering pushback with its owner. When they arrive at the Monarch, Kai runs into Clarissa Teo. She tells him about moving to New York to help with an upcoming exhibition at the Saxon Gallery, where she’s in charge of artist relations. When he introduces her to Dante, Vivian, and Isabella, Clarissa is perplexed by Isabella, whose appearance does not fit in with the sophistication of the others’. 

Afterward, Isabella comments that she must be an ex-girlfriend. Kai clarifies that she’s a childhood friend and teases Isabella about being so interested in his love life. They exchange witty quips while Dante and Vivian observe with smug, knowing expressions. Vivian and Dante share their Christmas plans of heading to St. Barts. When asked, Isabella mentions that she’s headed home to California in February to celebrate her mother’s birthday, Christmas, and the Lunar New Year all at once. When their hands accidentally brush at dinner, Kai is thrown so off-kilter that he takes a bathroom break to catch his breath. Upon exiting the bathroom, he runs straight into Isabella just as the power goes out in the restaurant.

Kai pushes her against the wall, using his body as a protective shield in case the power outage is due to more nefarious reasons. When the lights come back on, they awkwardly step away from each other to break the sexual tension that’s occurred between them. They return to the dinner table where Vivian and Date wait.

Isabella does not see Kai for another week after the Monarch. He usually shows up for a drink at Valhalla Club on Thursdays but is absent this week. Isabella visits her brother Felix, who is putting the finishing touches on his sculpture for a big art show next month. While there, she attempts to finish chapter 10 of her novel while ignoring Gabriel’s insistent calls. When Felix asks if she’s bringing a boyfriend to their February family get-together, Isabella remembers her past relationship, which digs up “memories long buried beneath piles of guilt and shame” (72). She admits that she hasn’t dated anyone seriously for two years. She promises to attend Felix’s upcoming exhibition before rushing to work. 

Victor Black—the CEO of media company Black&Co—waits for Isabella at the bar. He flirts with her shamelessly, but Isabella is uninterested. When Victor continues to pursue her, Kai arrives and puts a stop to it. When Victor leaves, Isabella asks Kai why he’s been disrupting his usual schedule. Kai explains that he showed up last Monday when he usually doesn’t because he’d learned that his company’s CEO vote is happening earlier than expected. Kai is worried that his mother is sick, as he can’t imagine another reason why she would give up the company.

When Isabella admits that she is writing an erotic thriller, Kai asks what she’s stuck on. Isabella claims that it’s the characters and plot, but really, it’s her own impostor syndrome and pressure to succeed in finding purpose in her life. Kai encourages her by saying that he has confidence that she will finish the novel.