The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 45
“Stop playing games and find a mate for yourself. How long are you going to keep trailing after me?”
Saying this, Leonid wrapped his arm around Johanna’s shoulder. It was a deliberate action. Viscount Bantwood, who was looking back and forth between Johanna and Leonid, had an expression of disbelief in his eyes. He hesitated, then asked in a confused voice.
“Su-Surely, this woman here… is Marquis Neubitz’s rut partner…?”
His eyes seemed to be asking if Leonid didn’t have a rut partner. He looked as if he had been betrayed. Leonid seemed to see right through Viscount Bantwood’s thoughts and let out a short, derisive laugh, speaking in a cold voice.
“No, she is more than that.”
“What do you mean…?”
Viscount Bantwood was practically gasping. The pheromones leaking out of him were unstable. At this point, Johanna almost felt sorry for this Omega.
“It might not be a bad time to introduce her. Johanna, meet my fiancée, Miss Johanna Lucerne. We’re planning to get married soon… Would you like to receive an invitation?”
The last question was laced with cruel malice, meant to hurt the other. It was as if he were mocking him, asking if he could come to his wedding and smile while offering congratulations.
“…”
Viscount Bantwood stood frozen, and tears seemed to form in his eyes. He quickly turned around, covering his face with his hand.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I just remembered something urgent, so I must be going. I’ll greet you properly next time…”
He couldn’t even finish his sentence properly and fled the scene. His pitiful retreat left a lingering impression on Johanna.
Inside the moving carriage, Johanna sat quietly, reflecting on what had just happened.
Her thoughts were complicated. The pitiful image of Viscount Bantwood kept resurfacing. That was the fate of an Omega who had fallen in love with Leonid Neubitz. This man, who barely seemed to consider Omegas as fellow humans, would not offer them even a sliver of kindness.
“How did you come to despise Omegas?”
Johanna blurted out before she knew it. The question that had been swirling in her mind slipped out unintentionally. Leonid met her eyes and raised an eyebrow skeptically. Johanna worried that she might have crossed a line.
“What do you think made me despise them?”
His calm response showed he wasn’t upset. Johanna glanced at him and cautiously replied.
“Did you have a lot of trouble… because of Omegas?”
“Oh, to a tiresome extent.”
His lips curled into a cynical smile. In the depths of his eyes, momentarily unfocused as he reflected on the past, lingered a deep-seated, old anger.
“It’s a story you might be familiar with, Miss Lucerne. Think about the context of my traits. Even that Omega back there… he’s been chasing me for over six years now.”
Johanna widened her eyes in surprise at the fact that Viscount Bantwood had been harboring a one-sided love for six years. He too… had been in love with this man for so long.
“Ever since our academy days, he’s been annoyingly persistent. But Lucas Bantwood’s obsession is still cute by comparison. There have been some crazy ones who’ve tried to drug and attack me.”
The raw revelation shocked Johanna to her core. She had thought that the worst thing Omegas might do was persistently court him, but she hadn’t imagined that he had gone through such extreme situations.
“They don’t know who I am, what I think, what I like or dislike, nor do they care to find out anything about me as a person.”
“…”
“Just because I’m a hyper-dominant Alpha, the heir to the Elderique family, they think they’ll benefit somehow if they manage to seduce me and cause a scandal. Many have approached me with such disgusting motives, treating me like a stallion with good genes rather than a human being.”
