Chapter 168
Read ahead of public and coin chapters ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ GoM kofi ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊
Vanessa clasped her trembling hands together, forcing them to steady.
Her request to find “River Ross” had clearly been delivered to the Duke almost immediately. As she waited for some kind of response, she desperately wished that all of this was nothing but a misunderstanding.
Even if it was a meaningless hope… at least it wasn’t entirely gone yet. She bit down on her dry lips.
It had only been two days since she discovered the Duke’s signature in her uncle’s safe. To say she had sorted out all her feelings would have been a lie. There hadn’t been time for that and perhaps there never would be.
Still, she couldn’t afford to wait any longer. According to what she had read, the signs of pregnancy became clear around twelve weeks. She had already wasted half of what she considered her “safe” time.
“I’m sorry, but the person you’re looking for is not currently staying at this hotel.”
“…I see.”
“However, they’ve sent someone to escort the lady searching for River Ross. A car will arrive shortly to take you there.”
The lady searching for River Ross. At those words—so deliberately phrased—she let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
It was as if they were testing her. Asking how much she knew… or how much she was willing to pretend not to know. Like actors on a stage, adjusting their roles to one another.
Vanessa steadied her breathing, trying to suppress her rising tension.
She was overthinking it. A hotel employee wouldn’t be relaying the Duke’s intentions in such a nuanced way.
The car sent by the Duke took her to another luxury hotel nearby. Like The Ratz, it was grand—imposing in both size and elegance. Simply standing before it made her feel small.
Just like the name Battenberg itself.
“Please wait a moment. You will be escorted upstairs shortly.”
“Upstairs… you mean to a room?”
“Yes.”
“I noticed there’s a coffee house on the first floor. May I wait there instead?”
The attendant hesitated, then checked something over the receiver before nodding.
She was soon guided to a seat by the window. A strange mixture of anticipation and unease tightened her chest. Her heart beat faster—because she had truly come this far.
“What would you like to drink?”
“Water will be fine. Thank you.”
The service was far more attentive than anything she had experienced before. As the water was set before her, Vanessa found herself checking the clock again and again.
Waiting for a man in the lobby of a hotel, it was a situation she couldn’t grow used to. Nor could she grow used to his way of making someone wait.
Even without seeing him, she felt she understood.
The Duke was noble. Authoritative. Arrogant. The idea that he could be the same man as “River Ross” was utterly absurd.
The man who casually wore a commoner’s shirt, who trimmed roses in the garden with easy familiarity… and the Duke of Battenberg?
She almost laughed. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions. But if it were true, then the man she thought she knew didn’t exist at all.
‘Maybe it really was a misunderstanding. Those luxurious items… perhaps River Ross received them as gifts from his superior—the Duke.’
Her mind whispered convenient escapes.
Leave now. Pretend you never knew. Trust the man you chose to love.
The more she thought about it, the more appealing it seemed. Did she really need to uncover everything with her own hands? She bit her lip until it nearly bled.
Perhaps she had been uneasy all along. What if—after everything she had said to the Duke, River Ross really did appear?
“Vanessa.”
The sound of approaching footsteps had made her squeeze her eyes shut. Then came a voice. It was soft. Unfamiliar and yet unmistakably familiar at the same time. Smooth like satin, yet deep and resonant, like dark water.
Her eyes flew open, shimmering faintly with tears. And then she smiled, as if nothing had ever been wrong.
“River Ross.”
For a brief moment, the man’s eyes widened in surprise. Then they settled, gleaming like the deep sea—just as they had that day she first met him.
Demons do not arrive with black wings and horns. They come disguised as everything you have ever wanted.
And if that were true, then the man standing before her was the most dangerous, most wicked creature in the world.
