The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 14
Why would such a significant figure personally come to collect a debt when he could have easily sent his subordinates?
Johanna watched the man warily.
“Where have you been?”
He asked, slipping his hands into his pockets and casually approaching her in a friendly manner. Johanna almost frowned but managed to maintain a neutral expression as she responded.
“I was out trying to find money to repay the debt.”
“Oh… And did you have any luck?”
“Not yet, but I’ll try again tomorrow…”
“Where do you think you’re going to get the money?”
The man cut off Johanna’s words, muttering as if he knew everything. When Johanna bristled and was about to retort, his eyes roamed over her from head to toe, a gaze so lecherous it felt like a lick. She instinctively recoiled and took a step back. The man chuckled and teasingly said,
“Scared? I’m not going to eat you.”
“…What do you want?”
“Do you want to work at my shop?”
Johanna’s face openly showed her astonishment at the sudden proposal.
A shop… She didn’t need to ask to know what kind of shop it would be. She clenched her fists and, suppressing her anger, spoke with a voice filled with refusal.
“I’m not interested in that kind of work.”
“What kind of work do you think it is?”
“An illegally run entertainment establishment, isn’t it?”
“It’s legal.”
“But illegal activities happen there, right?”
For example, prostitution. She muttered the unspoken words to herself, and the man let out a shallow laugh, stepping closer to her.
“I won’t force you to sell your body. You can just serve. Come on. It’s one of the shops I run.”
“…No. I’ll find the money myself…”
“How?”
The man was now almost within arm’s reach. As Johanna retreated, she bumped into a lamppost and stopped.
Looking up at the man who had come so close, she swallowed hard. She reached into her bag and grasped the piece of brick, but didn’t have the courage to swing it.
He was a dominant alpha.
She had just manifested as an omega.
Even though she was suppressing her pheromones, if they leaked out without her realizing…
“Your relatives turned their backs on you, your acquaintances pretend not to know you, and your irresponsible father is missing. How are you going to find the money? Do you really have a way?”
“…”
“Do as I say while I’m being nice. It’s rare for me to offer this kind of favor. I’m offering you a job serving, not prostituting. Do you want to regret it when you get forcibly dragged back here for not paying your debt?”
Johanna glared at him with hot, teary eyes. Just serving, my foot. The lie was obvious.
He thinks she doesn’t know his sweet talk is just to lure her into his shop, where he’ll trap her and increase her debt with ridiculous excuses until she has no choice but to sell her body.
Her grip on the brick tightened painfully. She still lacked the courage, but the violent urge to strike this monstrous man as hard as she could surged within her.
The man, staring at Johanna’s reddened eyes, suddenly spoke as if he had just remembered something.
“Come to think of it, your brother is a dominant alpha, isn’t he?”
“….!”
“Was he fourteen? It’s still a while before his rut, but once he can properly perform as an alpha, he’ll be worth a lot.”
A dominant alpha born into a poor family was a prime target in the underworld, though in a different way than an omega. They could be sold to families in need of breeding studs, treated like livestock, or trained to be obedient like dogs and used as part of a crime organization.
To avoid such a life, many poor dominant alphas enlisted in the military at a young age.
Daniel had considered enlisting as well. Of course, Johanna had vehemently opposed it. Daniel’s dream was to become a magical engineer. Johanna wanted her brother, at least, to live the life he desired. That’s why she took on freelance work tirelessly, day and night.
She couldn’t let all her efforts go to waste. Her brother, Daniel, had to be happy no matter what.
“My brother is off-limits.”
Johanna’s teal eyes flashed as she suddenly lifted her head. Ilian, momentarily taken aback, found himself staring at her as if mesmerized.
“Don’t you dare lay a finger on my brother. I won’t stand for it.”
Her voice was small, and she was trembling slightly, which should have been pathetic. Yet, for some reason, Ilian couldn’t take his eyes off her.
And then there was this scent lingering in the air…
One corner of his mouth curved into a smooth smile.
“That’s strange.”
“…?”
“You said you were a beta, right? Then why do I smell omega pheromones?”
