After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 90
Time flashed back to the moment of their reunion. Sebelia, who had been waiting in the dining room first, reminded herself not to be startled when facing him. She vowed not to bow down before him or act like a weakling like she did in the past.
I am not Sebelia Inverness.
She died with a grand funeral. So it was not the Duchess who betrayed him twice and fled who stood here.
Sebelia took a deep breath. She heard someone coming down the stairwell. Her shoulders stiffened at the sound of those steady footsteps, but her expression didn’t waver. She’d already spent many sleepless nights rehearsing the scenarios and learning how to handle them.
If he’s angry, ignore him. If he’s hostile, ask Dr. Watts for help. If he cries and clings onto me…
Would he really do that? Sebelia doubted it. But that thought didn’t last long.
She heard the tinkling of chimes from the door that separated the dining room from the living room. Sebelia, swallowing hard, lifted her head.
He was there—Dehart, his face pale from illness but his golden eyes still shone brilliantly. Sebelia clenched her hands that were placed on her lap.
Calm down.
She breathed carefully. Dehart then suddenly turned to look at her and their eyes met.
“….”
A fragile silence hung in the air, like thin glass. Dehart approached her, his golden eyes fixed on her. Sebelia’s heart began to race wildly.
Thump, thump. It felt like her heart was pounding in her head, not her chest.
Finally, he extended his hand. Sebelia, almost unconsciously, flinched and squeezed her eyes shut.
Now, what will you say to me? What do you want from me?
Her feet, hidden in her shoes, shrank back. Her mind brought forth every possible move.
However, what he said to her rendered all her strategies useless.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Dehart.”
What?
For a moment, she almost screamed. Sebelia stared at him, astonished and forgetting her manners. His extended hand remained untouched. His smile was innocent and endearing.
Is this some kind of joke?
The heart that had been speeding like a racehorse stopped for a moment.The blood that had been rushing through her veins turned cold. Panic rose to the back of her throat and seeped into her body.
But she needed to know what was going on first. Cautiously, she called his name.
“Dehart?”
And a beautiful smile, like a flower in full bloom, graced his face. For a moment, Sebelia almost lost herself in his smile. But the reality of their situation quickly snapped her out of it.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know if you recognize me. I’ve lost my memory recently, and I’m not sure if I’m…”
Dehart claimed to have amnesia. He looked away with a melancholy gaze, suggesting that intense mental shock and physical pain might have caused his memories to evaporate.
“How painful must it have been to erase my own memories… It’s honestly quite frightening.”
Sebelia’s blue eyes hardened into ice as a weary smile crossed his face. Memories of what had happened in the Nightmare Forest flashed through her mind. The thousands of lightning bolts that had whitened the sky enough to turn night into day. And him, wandering through his own tormented visions and on the brink of death.
Impossible.
Her blue eyes sank beneath the surface. Then, as if sensing her confusion, Dehart laughed softly and held out his hand once more.
“In any case, I am in your care.”
Sebelia’s golden eyelashes fluttered lightly. She slowly blinked her eyes, then turned to face him. He had on a smile that seemed to prove his innocence and sincerity—it was an expression she had never seen on him before.
Ah.
Goosebumps broke out all over her body. At the same time, the fog of confusion that had been clouding her mind cleared at once. The person in front of her wasn’t the Dehart who had scorned her and pushed her away. This Dehart had no memories, no connection to the past—a perfect stranger. It was a man who looked at her with unfamiliar eyes and reached out to her with an unfamiliar smile.
In that case…
Whether this is a lie or not doesn’t matter.
Sebelia realized that the current situation wasn’t bad for her. If Dehart knew the truth about her identity, he wouldn’t be acting this way. If he was faking it, she thought, then she could play along with him.
But if his amnesia was real, of course, she intended to help him appropriately. The disappearance of the head of House Inverness would cause everyone a great deal of trouble. If he truly lost his memory, she could leave him a letter detailing his identity once her treatment was complete and safely left the research facility.
So I will treat him as Bella.
Whatever his intentions may be.
Sebelia unintentionally smiled. Dehart’s hand trembled subtly, but Sebelia, lost in thought, didn’t notice. She calmly organized her thoughts.
Yes, what matters is not his condition, but mine. I must not waver. I shouldn’t be entangled in the past.
So it doesn’t matter if he was deceiving her, or if he really has lost his memory. She just has to do what she must, and walk the path she has set for herself.
And I’m not helpless anymore.
Thinking of her illusions that had deceived him twice, she smiled kindly. If necessary, she could create another copy of herself and then leave.
Sebelia felt a sense of relief in her heart. And cautiously, she placed her hand on top of his.
“I ask for your cooperation as well. Please call me Bella from now on, Mr. Dehart.”
Thus began the days of deceiving and being deceived, guarding and suspecting each other.
