The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 220
Nina flinched. The ash-gray eyes and that chillingly cold voice, full of grim resolve, made her feel restless.
“Ah… I already intended to be careful.”
She rubbed the back of her neck, which was slowly heating, and avoided his gaze. Somehow it felt embarrassingly intimate… And his earlier words had landed like a fierce confession.
If he kept doing this at every turn, what was she supposed to do?
‘If I’d known, maybe I should’ve just said it later…’
Because they shared a common enemy, they’d exchanged information. But looking at him urging an answer with that clear, steady gaze, she suddenly regretted it. It felt like her movement would be restricted all day.
‘No, on second thought, something could happen, so I should tell him.’
They couldn’t stick together all day. She might need to slip into the cloakroom or the washroom during the party.
‘And there are a few things I want to check privately…’
Nina’s watery eyes darkened for a moment as the Beverleys, who had come out to greet them, approached with moved expressions.
“Welcome, Your Graces the Duke and Duchess.”
“It’s truly an honor that you came.”
Ash and Nina nodded, and Viscount Beverley introduced the two people standing beside him.
“This is my son, George, and this lovely young lady is my son’s fiancée, Sophia.”
“Come and greet the guests.”
That man with dull blond hair and blue eyes was George Beverley.
Nina’s gaze locked on his face. His complexion was slightly pale, his eyes glazed.
In turn, George stared at her, then grinned inanely. Nina frowned at his crazed expression, which immediately made clear why there were suspicions of intoxication.
Viscountess Beverley gripped George’s shoulder and spoke,
“…George? Say hello properly.”
Her eyes trembled with unease and her mouth quivered.
‘They really did come prepared.’
The moment suspicion turned to certainty. It was obvious Viscountess Beverley knew her son wasn’t himself.
“Oh my, I don’t know what’s gotten into George today. He’s been like this all morning, saying he’s nervous to meet you both…”
The Viscountess laughed awkwardly, and Ash draped a protective arm around Nina as he spoke.
“This will do for greetings.”
Had he sensed George’s condition too? The clear displeasure in his voice made the Beverleys’ faces tighten.
Then Sophia spoke.
“I am Sophia of House Bernard. It is an honor that you attended my betrothal party.”
She was a woman with dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and a distinctive beauty mark under one eye.
‘Where have I seen her before…?’
Noble daughters crop up at parties, but something about this felt less like a chance meeting and more like memory.
As Nina watched, a vivid old recollection sprang into her mind when she noticed the deep hostility in Sophia’s gaze.
‘Oh—!’
The woman associated with the beauty mark. Nina’s expression stiffened.
‘Sophia is George’s fiancée…?’
There had been a time when women painted a beauty mark beneath the eye as a trend, because legends said a tear-dot would attract lovers and boost one’s luck in romance.
Nina remembered once spotting Sophia, with that tear-dot, lingering near Ash and, in a flash of jealousy, slapping her across the face.
“I won’t let her be. I’ll bury that girl in society. How dare she cheapen herself by trailing my husband!”
At the time, Nina herself had been flirting to win her husband, even dabbed a mark under her eye. So she’d assumed Sophia had the same intent.
But now…
“Huh…”
Another cringe-worthy episode from her past rose to the surface, and Nina felt her face burn with shame. But that wasn’t what mattered now.
‘I thought she was trying to make a move on Ash…’
Now it seemed that the tear-dot was real. If so, then that day… The way Nina had slapped her across the face… was very likely all a misunderstanding.
‘…What should I do about this?’
It looked like the fact Sophia became engaged to George might have stemmed, in part, from Nina’s earlier actions…
