The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 186
Chaotic thoughts swirled in her mind, coming together piece by piece to form a horrifying picture she could hardly face.
A woman who had married the Marquis of Neubitz but was divorced for infertility, demoted to his mistress. And it wasn’t even a real marriage, but a scam…
It was the kind of scandal that would set society aflame, an ugly spectacle that would bring nothing but contempt and disgust. Just imagining those scornful, hateful glances was enough to make her feel suffocated. Could she endure such a hellish situation?
No… It was impossible.
She already felt as though she might lose her mind.
“I…”
Johanna pulled herself away from Leonid, her voice barely more than a breathless whisper. Cold sweat trickled down her back like rain. She staggered slightly, and Leonid reached out to steady her.
But Johanna recoiled as if his touch burned her, pressing herself against the wall, her breathing ragged. Trembling, a stifled sob slipped from her lips.
“I… don’t want this.”
“Johanna.”
“C-Countess Rinke, I… I don’t want to be the Marquis’s mistress…”
Johanna instinctively understood that there was no way she could persuade Leonid on her own. So, paradoxically, she turned to the one person who could help her escape this situation—the one person who wanted her gone even more than she did.
Hermia Rinke Elderique was her only chance to get out. As the one who wished for Johanna’s disappearance the most, she was the only person who could truly set her free.
Hermia paused, an unexpected expression flickering across her face as she heard Johanna’s plea. She was just about to respond when—
“Leave, Mother. I need to speak to Johanna alone.”
Leonid pressed his hand firmly on Hermia’s shoulder, guiding her toward the door. Being an alpha, he overpowered Hermia, an omega, without resistance. Stumbling slightly, Hermia was pushed toward the doorway, her face twisted in indignation.
“What are you doing? I’m your mother!”
Ignoring her protests, Leonid opened the door, grabbing her arm to escort her out of the room.
At that moment, Johanna dashed forward, slipping past Leonid and bolting into the hallway. She hid behind Hermia, who was standing just beyond the threshold. Leonid turned to her, stunned, his gaze hardened with shock. Hermia was equally surprised by Johanna’s sudden move.
But Hermia, recovering quickly, seized Johanna’s trembling shoulders and asked her swiftly, “I’ll pay you the money you were supposed to receive from Leonid. If you take that and leave, will you go?”
“Mother!”
Leonid’s shout burst out, but Hermia ignored him. She had assessed the situation quickly and was now playing her hand. It was clear that Leonid was trying to keep a reluctant Johanna by force.
The irony was staggering. Contrary to all of Hermia’s worries, it was Leonid who was the desperate one.
He had lost his mind… utterly. After years of restraint, he had succumbed, intoxicated by an omega’s allure, abandoning all reason.
As his mother, it was Hermia’s role to pull him back from this delusion. Once Johanna was gone, Leonid would return to his old self—she was sure of it.
My son had never been one to indulge in pleasures nor foolish enough to lose sight of what truly mattered in life.
“Johanna, come here.”
Leonid commanded, his tone threatening as he glared at her with a look that could devour her. Hermia, standing as Johanna’s shield, waited for her answer.
With her lower lip caught firmly between her teeth, Johanna held Leonid’s gaze and shook her head with conviction. The spark of fury ignited in his sunset-colored eyes, a clear response to her defiance.
“I’ll say it nicely. Come here.”
“…Countess Rinke, can you really give me that money? That money… it’s a matter of life or death for me.”
“If you promise to leave. I’ll give you as much as you need.”
“Then… yes, I’ll do it. Please… let me leave.”
Leonid’s eyes were far from normal.
Johanna felt the storm brewing, an ominous foreboding prickling her skin, as she clung desperately to Hermia. She wanted no part in a life of ridicule as a mistress; it was not the life she deserved.
No matter how much she loved him—or perhaps, because she loved him—she couldn’t stay. If he eventually took a proper wife, she would be condemned to a shadowy existence, always suffering silently. That was the fate of a mistress, and it was an unbearable cruelty to the future woman who would stand by his side.
Johanna looked directly into Leonid’s eyes, her voice breaking, yet her words unwavering.
“I refuse. Please, let me go.”
And then, everything happened in an instant.
Leonid strode forward, shoving Hermia aside as he grabbed Johanna. There wasn’t even time to scream as he lifted her off her feet, the world spinning around her.
Her vision blurred, the door slammed shut, and she could hear Hermia’s outraged cries echoing in the hallway, but Leonid seemed oblivious.
He threw Johanna onto the bed, and she scrambled back, trembling like prey cornered by a predator, but his massive frame blocked her escape.
Lifting her wrists, he pinned them to the headboard and quickly bound her struggling legs with a rope he’d grabbed from somewhere.
As Johanna panted, catching her breath, Leonid gazed down at her, his voice chilling.
“Know this—you won’t be taking a single step out of here.”
This was the breaking point. Disaster had truly struck.
