The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 109
***
The next morning.
When Nina opened her eyes, her entire body was burning with fever.
She had gone to sleep feeling unwell, but now she was no different from a bedridden patient.
“Madam, are you alright…?”
Marsha asked, dabbing her sweat away with a damp cloth.
“…My whole body feels heavy, my head is spinning, my stomach burns, I feel like throwing up, and I can’t remember things properly here and there, but… I’m fine. I can handle it.”
It wasn’t like she was dying or anything.
As Nina spoke between ragged breaths, Marsha’s face crumpled with worry.
“Madam, most people would call that feeling like death…”
“I know, I was just joking…”
She couldn’t even remember the last time she had been this sick.
She had been frail as a child, so she had made a habit of consuming all sorts of health-boosting foods to strengthen herself. She had thought she had become fairly robust.
But after the long journey, the stress and pressure of the charity event, and the overwhelming mental strain—
The moment she set foot back home, her tension snapped, and all the exhaustion she had unknowingly accumulated seemed to come crashing down on her at once.
“Madam, I’ll bring you some soup and medicine, so don’t fall asleep, alright? You must take your medicine. Understood?”
“Mmm…”
She answered, but her consciousness wavered, drifting in and out.
“I have to take my medicine…”
Clutching onto that one thought, she forced herself to move, sluggishly propping herself up.
If she stayed lying down, she would surely doze off again.
Leaning against the headboard, she felt her head grow foggy, like hot mist was filling her brain.
It was as if her consciousness was short-circuiting every five seconds.
She had no idea how long she spent nodding off like a sickly bird.
Then, something pressed gently against her lower lip, making her reflexively part her mouth.
“…Say ah—”
“Mmm…”
Opening her eyes felt like an unbearable task, so Nina simply kept them shut and parted her lips. A thick, warm spoonful of soup slipped into her mouth.
But… was Marsha’s voice always this deep?
A flicker of confusion made her force her heavy eyelids open. Through her blurry vision, a man’s figure wavered like an afterimage.
‘A dream…?’
Was she so sick that she had started seeing things?
Unbelievably, her husband was there.
Even after blinking several times, his form did not disappear.
But Marsha was the one who had gone to fetch the soup and medicine, right? Then why was someone else here?
She had heard that high fevers could make people hallucinate. Could her condition really be that serious?
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she began to sob weakly.
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Yeah… it hurts…”
Cool fingertips brushed away the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.
Marsha… What do I do? I think I’m in trouble.
I keep seeing things… and hearing things…
There was no way her husband would be here, tending to her, wiping her tears away.
Nina nuzzled her cheek into the cool palm resting against her face, seeking comfort like a child.
A quiet sigh brushed past her ear. Then, bitter liquid slipped past her lips.
The acrid taste spread across her tongue, as though she had bitten into pure absinthe mugwort.
The overwhelming bitterness made her tears spill over even faster.
***
Ash let out a slow breath as he gazed down at Nina, who was now fast asleep, completely defenseless.
He had been informed that his wife’s condition was serious from the morning.
At some point, her fever had suddenly spiked, leaving her barely responsive and unable to swallow medicine properly.
At first, the servants had hesitated to tell him. But when she stopped responding entirely, Marsha had no choice but to seek his help.
After managing to feed her the medicine, he had taken a damp cloth and gently wiped the sweat from her face and neck, over and over again.
Thankfully, her fever had gone down significantly.
…When they had just arrived home, he had thought her complexion looked unwell—but was it all leading to this?
Ash gazed at her flushed, peach-tinted face, still damp with moisture.
Just how much pain had she been in to cry so sorrowfully, nuzzling into his palm like that?
But, rather than thinking of her pain, for some reason, it was her tears that kept looping through his mind.
As if he wanted to see them again.
The sight of her weeping… The sound of her soft sobs…
A strange, twisted desire slithered into his thoughts.
He wanted to make her cry himself.
A peculiar, cruel impulse, the likes of which he had never felt for anyone before.
Ash’s gaze drifted downward to his own fingers.
His thumb twitched as the memory of her lips yielding beneath it resurfaced—the way they had parted so effortlessly, the fleeting glimpse of soft pink just beyond…
He wanted to see it again.
“…….”
Slowly, he leaned in.
His thumb pressed into Nina’s plush lips, sinking in with gentle pressure. He traced along her neatly aligned teeth, fingertips lingering over their smooth ridges.
The warmer her lips became, the deeper the carmine hue in his ashen gray eyes grew.
All those times he had lied to himself…
All those times he had insisted it was absurd to be conscious of her…
Now, it all felt pointless.
A quiet laugh slipped past his lips.
How ridiculous.
Somewhere along the way, a certain emotion had started to take root within him, going beyond how he would feel for just a friend.
Because if he could look at her flushed face and feel something this close to hunger…
Erica
WOW just Wow! How totally awesome and unexpected is this?! Then again, after last chapter I was sure this was coming. Now that he’s confirmed his desire for her, the balls really started to roll. First, she’ll probably avoid him being embarrassed by the kiss and being so vulnerable in front of him while sick, and the avoidance will probably start driving him crazy, further pushing him into the role of “obsessive, regretful male lead”. Than, he’ll start getting even MORE jealous, (which doesn’t even seem possible), and he’ll probably get upset whenever she brings up the divorce that HE originally pushed for. I gotta admit, im super excited to see thus arrogant, honestly kinda mean male lead get what’s coming to him! Besides in past, he’s made a point on a constant basis, to tell her there’s NO WAY IN HELL he would ever be attracted to, or want her, so there’s no way she’ll believe he has feelings for her and will probably just be completely confused. Sigh. Sorry Ashy boy, but you brought this on yourself, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of your sorrow!
PS: DEAR TRANSLATOR, YOURE AMAZING!! I mean, “Carmine Hue”?! Not many people would have chosen to describe passionate eyes in such a way. Colour me very impressed! Keep up the great translations! Thank you