Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 43

Adeline spent a torturous time waiting for Genevieve.

She had to fill her stomach with a dinner she didn’t even want to eat and endure Edwin’s persistent chatter, trying to pry into the last five years of her life.

Most of all, Shane wouldn’t leave her side.

Is this what I’m supposed to be doing on the wedding day?

It was nice not having to worry about how to avoid the first night, but it didn’t seem right either.

Maybe I should have a drink.

“Alcohol…”

“You’ve already had a glass. No more.”

“Ugh, why. There’s still some left.”

When she glared at him, thinking it was stingy to withhold a bottle of alcohol, Shane let out a hollow laugh.

Then he placed his large palm on Adeline’s forehead and said. Shane’s eyebrows furrowed as he removed his hand.

“You have a slight fever. You haven’t slept, have you?”

“Whose fault is that?”

“Alcohol is poison when you’re tired. I’ll brew you some tea instead, so be satisfied with that.”

“I’m tired of tea. Do you know how many cups I’ve had today?”

“I’ll add a little milk.”

Though she thought he would call for someone, Shane got up himself.

Adeline opened and closed her mouth awkwardly, unable to either stop him or tell him to hurry up.

Edwin watched quietly and then spoke.

“It seems you’ve gained a servant, not a husband.”

“Should I do it instead?”

If you take this offer right here and now, I’ll give you a 99-percent discount.

“I’ll pass. No matter how high-ranking I am, I couldn’t use such a domineering servant.”

Adeline coldly thought about how Edwin, whose cheeks were slightly flushed from the alcohol, laughed alone at his own joke, which wasn’t at all amusing.

Her feelings were complicated.

She decided to stop asking Shane what he was thinking.

Things had already reached a point of no return, and she clearly understood his determination not to let her go easily.

Still, it wasn’t as if she wasn’t angry, so whenever she faced Shane, all the cattiness would just automatically slip out. Of course, if they were to measure anger, Shane would have more, but that didn’t mean she had to graciously take the blow.

‘I can understand the resentment, though.’

Shane’s emotions right after she was kidnapped were easy to understand.

The betrayal he felt upon learning that the person he thought dead was actually alive and had faked her death right in front of him.

Resentment towards someone he genuinely worried about and cared for.

His anger indicated how genuinely he had felt towards her.

Despite being kidnapped, confined, and forced into marriage through threats, Adeline couldn’t truly resent Shane.

She couldn’t understand why his version of revenge was in the form of marriage… but the resentment she received from him was deserved.

So, she planned to either become so hated that he would abandon her—or, persuade him to divorce.

But that smiling face didn’t look like someone who resented her at all.

Even when she softened her sharp attitude, Shane responded as he did before.

Just like when he was kind and devoted to his fiancée, who constantly tried to push him away.

It was even more troubling.

Adeline still couldn’t live beside Shane Blanchard.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind, Adeline.”

“You’re being very insensitive to a bride who just got married today. I’m a new bride who just had a forced marriage. Of course, I have a lot on my mind.”

“If you were a ‘truly’ married couple, I wouldn’t have come. Aren’t you grateful? For the interruption.”

“Ah, yes. I’m soooo grateful I could die…”

“I’ll add it to your tab.”

“You even force debts onto people.”

Edwin chuckled.

Adeline was about to snatch his glass and drink it when Shane, who had just returned, stopped her. The impeccable timing seemed to be yet another protagonist buff.

Genevieve arrived just before midnight.

“I’m very late, aren’t I?”

“Late? We wouldn’t have slept anyway.”

Shane, who had been trying to kick Edwin out since around 10 PM, raised his eyebrows. Adeline pretended not to notice and hugged Genevieve.

“My goodness, Genevieve. You’re eating properly, right? Why are you so thin?”

She had a figure like a Korean pop idol from a past life.

Her frail body, which now fit effortlessly in her embrace, made Adeline feel sorry for her.

“They said you were attacked! And then went straight back to work! Is that true?”

“Oh, who told you that?”

Edwin raised his hand. Genevieve scrunched her nose as if she had expected it.

“It was only a threatening poison arrow. I wasn’t hurt…”

“You can’t say ‘only’ about a threat and poison next to each other!”

“Well, yes, um, I was startled, but…”

“I can tell you’re just saying that out of courtesy.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t even startled, and nothing happened afterward. The security increased unnecessarily, making things more troublesome. That’s why I’m late today too, trying to shake them off.”

“…And they still haven’t caught the culprit…?”

“Well, yes…”

“Even so! You didn’t feel scared and even slipped away from the safety of your guards on your own!”