The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 38
When faced with such a question, Johanna’s answer was always predetermined: she would lie and say she was a beta.
She had taken her suppressant in the morning, and being a dominant omega made it easy to control her pheromones. Most importantly…
“I don’t sense any pheromones, but you look like an omega. You’re an omega, right?”
The man’s pheromones surged towards her, practically showering her in them, all in an attempt to provoke a reaction from her.
But Johanna didn’t react at all.
‘And… you’re one of those rare omegas not greatly affected by alpha pheromones. It’s uncommon, but there are some like you, Miss Lucerne.’
At that moment, Johanna truly understood what being part of that rare group meant. Until now, she had only encountered alphas who could influence her, so she hadn’t known how unaffected she could be.
“…What? Why aren’t you reacting…?”
As Johanna stood there with a calm expression, the man furrowed his brow slightly and tilted his head. “Not an omega?” he muttered to himself. Johanna decided to use her prepared response.
“I’m a beta. It was you who bumped into me, not the other way around.”
“…Huh, strange. My instincts are never wrong…”
The man muttered to himself again, then looked at Johanna with a sneering glint in his eyes.
“Well, it’s a shame you’re not an omega, but even a beta isn’t bad. As I said, my shoulder, which had just healed, got hurt again because of you. I need some compensation.”
“…”
He was clearly insane. Johanna opened her mouth in disbelief, trying to figure out what to say to get rid of this lunatic. Then, she caught sight of a familiar figure in her peripheral vision.
‘Huh…?’
Even from a distance, his presence was unmistakable. It was Leonid Neubitz. Johanna’s eyes widened.
Despite making eye contact, his expression didn’t change. He just stared at her, almost glaring.
He had something in his mouth that she initially thought was a cigarette, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was a lollipop.
…Leonid Neubitz with a lollipop in his mouth didn’t suit him at all.
“Hey, are you listening to me?”
Meanwhile, the self-injury scammer persistently tried to intimidate Johanna. Naturally, the curious onlookers’ attention was drawn to the unresolved commotion.
Johanna sent a pleading look to Leonid, hoping he would help. After all, they were supposed to act like a couple of the century, and surely he wouldn’t want to get involved in such a noisy affair either.
But Leonid just rolled the lollipop in his mouth, watching the scene as if it were none of his concern.
…Well, it wasn’t really his concern.
But still.
“At least tell me your name. We should introduce ourselves, shouldn’t we? I’m James Kestner. And you are?”
The self-injury scammer revealed his identity first, sounding exasperated. Busy looking at Leonid, Johanna registered the name ‘James Kestner’ a few beats late. Kestner… where had she heard that before…?
“…Are you Baron Kestner’s son?”
“Oh? You know my father?”
Of course, she knew. About ten years ago, her father had borrowed money from him. He was one of the few friends who hadn’t cut ties with her father until the end, but when her father failed to repay the debt for over two years, even Baron Kestner had eventually severed their relationship.
“How do you know my father? You don’t look like a noble. Oh, did you work at our estate or something?”
It made sense that he was curious since Baron Kestner wasn’t a famous figure. Johanna didn’t want to delve into her father’s story, so she gave a vague response.
“I ran a few errands there.”
She had indeed run errands there as a child, so it wasn’t a lie.
She hadn’t known Baron Kestner had such a scoundrel of a son.
“Oh… really? So, what’s your name?”
This was the third time the scoundrel persistently asked for her name.
“What are you doing in a place that demands silence, James? You’re not some common thug.”
A deep yet subtle voice sliced through the air and inserted itself between them.
Johanna turned her head to look in that direction. When had he arrived? Leonid Neubitz was standing nearby, wearing his characteristic languid and relaxed smile.
