The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 153
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In the dimly lit dawn, Johanna opened her eyes.
“…….”
Unexpectedly, Leonid lay beside her, sleeping peacefully, even though she thought she’d be alone. Recognizing his presence, her mind felt blank, unable to process any coherent thoughts.
One by one, fragments of her experiences resurfaced. When the image of Ilian throwing away her wedding ring on the roadside came to mind, Johanna’s eyes flew open as she abruptly sat up.
Her senses snapped into focus. The wedding ring… She needed to find it.
She figured it might be best to call Nella first. Hastily, Johanna climbed out of bed and placed her foot on the floor. However, as soon as she put weight on her left foot, a sharp pain made her collapse back down.
“Ugh…….”
Looking down, she noticed her swollen ankle wrapped in a bandage. She gingerly touched the injured area, nearly biting back a groan from the searing pain that followed.
Clutching the edge of the bed, she struggled to pull herself up, only to lock eyes with Leonid. He was awake, sitting up and watching her.
“……What are you doing?”
“…….”
Before she could answer his question, his hand extended swiftly. Leonid grasped her shoulder and effortlessly lifted her. In the blink of an eye, Johanna found herself nestled in his arms.
“If you’re awake, you should’ve said so.”
“…….”
Unbelievably, it seemed he was genuinely worried about her. Johanna hesitated briefly before speaking.
“I… lost my wedding ring. I’m sorry….”
“If you want, I can have someone look for it. Don’t worry about it. If it’s not found, we can just buy a new one.”
Though his words appeared sincere, Johanna couldn’t shake her worry over how much it would cost to replace the ring. It wasn’t her fault it was lost… yet, guilt crept in as she thought of inconveniencing someone else.
“The ring isn’t what’s important. Are you alright?”
Once again, she hesitated, caught off guard by his considerate demeanor. She expected he’d be angry with her, especially after another entanglement with Ilian Rediess… yet here he was, genuinely concerned.
“…I’m alright. My ankle… hurts a bit, but I’ll manage.”
“Anywhere else?”
“Everything else is… fine.”
Even as she answered, she wasn’t entirely sure of her own assessment. But she insisted to herself that she had to be alright. Forcing a smile, she tried to look composed, though her smile felt awkward.
“…First, try having some warm water. I’ll bring it, so wait here.”
“Yes….”
The unexpected kindness he showed made her heart race.
Still, knowing Leonid Neubitz as a willful, capricious, and irritable man, she reminded herself that his kindness likely wouldn’t last.
Don’t expect anything…. She repeated that to herself more than ten times, but then he returned with the warm water.
“I added a bit of honey. Try it.”
“Thank you….”
The rare tenderness he offered was as sweet as the honeyed water. Deciding to treat this moment as a fleeting dream, Johanna pushed down the hopes that began to rise in her heart.
Though she wasn’t entirely certain, it seemed the Weimar estate had been in quite a stir since her kidnapping incident.
Fortunately, there were no witnesses to the incident, and word hadn’t spread. She felt relieved. Being an Omega who’d been kidnapped and found drenched in Alpha pheromones… it would have sparked hideous rumors and imaginations. Was this what Ilian Rediess had intended all along?
A sudden chill ran through her, making Johanna shiver. Despite the sunlight streaming through the window, an inexplicable coldness lingered.
Now, she felt she understood what Ilian Rediess wanted from her. He wished to see her wings clipped, to see her broken. He wanted to own the remnants of her—a shell stripped of her will, her tenacity for life, her faint glimmer of hope. That was why…
That was why he allowed her to become Leonid’s sham wife.
The man… he had noticed. He had sensed the tenderness she harbored for Leonid, this uncontrollable vulnerability that surfaced whenever she stood before him. He had seen straight through her.
And he likely knew that this sentiment would ultimately go unanswered.
