The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 97
It was humiliation and shame. If Johanna had been even slightly weaker, she might have broken down in tears right then. But instead, she forced herself to take steady breaths. She thought of Daniel—her resolve to see this contract through and protect him repeated like a mantra in her mind.
What use were feelings of shame, or lingering regrets about her first love that she couldn’t entirely suppress? Johanna had learned to prioritize what mattered most in her life, to focus on what was essential. She had trained herself not to be swayed by emotions or impulses, using her father’s ruined life as a lesson in what happens when one doesn’t.
That’s how she had endured all these years.
“We have no personal connection,” she said, her voice steady despite the slight tremor in her chest.
“……”
“As you said, I owe him money, and he has something to collect from me. That’s all there is to it.”
Though her voice wavered ever so slightly, her words were calm and firm. She met Leonid’s gaze head-on, but she could see his lips curling upward slowly into a smirk. It was a mocking smile.
“No personal connection…?”
“……?”
Without warning, Leonid stood up and moved toward her, leaning in closely beside her.
“Then why does that bastard look at you like that?”
“Wha—hng!”
Before she could argue, Leonid grabbed her by the waist and effortlessly lifted her into his arms.
Leonid settled her onto his thigh, his arm tightening around her slender waist, pulling her firmly against him. With his other hand, he gripped her chin roughly, forcing her to look directly at him.
“Did that bastard offer to forgive your debt if you slept with him a few times? You should’ve taken the deal. It would’ve been a lot easier and more convenient than waiting to get pregnant with me.”
The crude insult made Johanna feel as if ice had coursed through her veins, her body trembling from the sting of humiliation. Without thinking, she shoved at him with both hands, her voice sharp with anger.
“Let go of me! I don’t deserve to hear such things from you, my lord!”
“Don’t you? That bastard’s practically salivating over you.”
“What he thinks has nothing to do with me!”
“Nothing to do with you? You really don’t know that lunatic tried to use you again this time, do you?”
The struggle inside the small carriage intensified—pushing, pulling, the space too tight for any proper escape. Naturally, it was Johanna who got tired first. Her hands slipped from Leonid’s shoulders as she gasped for breath, panting between words.
“I… I will fulfill this contract, no matter what. That’s what’s important. Whatever he tries doesn’t matter.”
“Ah, yes… the contract.”
His smirk deepened, and his gaze turned even colder, like a biting winter wind. The look he gave her made Johanna shiver, as if she’d been thrown into the dead of winter without protection.
“To you, that’s all that matters, right? The money you’ll get for giving me a child. Once you pay off the debt, you’ll disappear, won’t you?”
“How can you say that…”
“Isn’t it true? Your goal is the money, after all. Did I say something wrong?”
“……”
Technically, Leonid wasn’t wrong. The money *was* the reason for their arrangement—there was no denying that. But so what? Wasn’t that the deal from the start? They had entered into this relationship with clear terms and expectations. Why was it suddenly an issue now?
Frustration surged within Johanna. For the first time, she felt an outright hostility toward Leonid, a man she had been careful not to cross. Though she knew she was the one in a weaker position, she couldn’t stop herself from pushing back. She understood that a few apologetic words—promising to handle things properly and avoid any further scandal—could resolve the situation quickly. But she didn’t say them.
“Why did you help me?”
“What?”
“My father’s debt—why did you pay off the 40,000 rubles?”
“You think I could just stand by and watch? Let Ilian Rediess get what he wanted?”
“His plans wouldn’t have worked. This time, I was going to cut ties with my father for good. Whether he got dragged off for his debt or not, I was going to treat him like he no longer existed in my life—or my brother’s.”
Leonid paused, as if Johanna’s words had caught him off guard. A peculiar expression crossed his face, as if he had just discovered something unfamiliar in a place he had known well for a long time.
