Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 55
Unrequited Love, a Force of Habit
âWhatâs the point of this kind of marriage?â
The point is to keep you by my side.
âEven if you do this, it wonât make you happyâŠ.â
Shane let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
Happiness.
Adeline often spoke of happiness. Until the moment she disappeared, she left a final wish for him to forget everything and be happy if he cared for her.
Got it? If you care for me, you must be happy…
Be happy.
She pushed him into hell with those words, and now she says this.
âAt least youâll be unhappy.â
Iâm already unhappy.
Adeline slowly lifted her head.
âBecause you have to marry a man you hate enough to want to escape by faking your own death?â
The green eyes he had longed for even in dreams trembled slightly. The woman who had ignored him, deceived him, and left was now hurt by a few of his words.
Does that satisfy me, or…
âDid you hate it that much?â
ââŠâŠâ
âEnough to cry?â
Did you hate me that much?
Transparent tears silently flowed and pooled at her chin. Shane wiped away the tears with his thumb as he brushed her jawline.
Even now, Shane felt remorse for Adeline’s tears.
He wanted to hurt her, but he also wanted to wipe her tears away.
Loving her so intensely and yet resenting her at the same timeâŠ
It left him helpless.
***
He deliberately didnât visit her for a few days.
He had pushed her to the limit, so he wanted to give her some breathing space.
For Shane, it was a trap he had prepared for a long time, but for Adeline, it must have felt like a sudden disaster.
Just like the trap Adeline had prepared for him.
âIt would be a problem if she panicked and did something rash.â
Adeline needed to be startled and confused but still rational.
That way, Shaneâs leverage would have value.
Genevieve, the Bertrand family, and Lloydâs lives held value because Adeline cared for and loved them. If she abandoned them and left, the living shackles he had prepared would be meaningless.
She needed to weigh the pros and cons and calculate whether the âhostagesâ were safe.
Adeline seemed emotional, but she was actually quite rational.
She remained quietly captured because she understood Shaneâs threats were real.
If they werenât, Adeline would have already found a way to disappear from Delmuz without a trace, no matter how many days, months, or years it took.
So he had to act cautiously.
To deepen Adeline’s sense of guilt toward her family.
To make her feel pity for Genevieve.
He had to stay close and watch over her.
âStop it, thatâs enough…â
He remembered Adeline holding him back when he beat up a drunk at the ball.
Her arms wrapped tightly around his torso. Shane had stopped long ago, but Adeline seemed unaware.
âWhat if he dies…â
Shane looked up.
Most of the spectators were scared, but he could see amusement in their eyes.
Edwin and the Bertrand family seemed to understand why Shane was showing off like this, and their faces were expressionless. Genevieve smiled reluctantly, but she was indifferent to the actual victim.
No one cared about the well-being of Count Tateâs third son under Shaneâs foot, except Adeline, who seemed concerned for him.
“I havenât even had my first dance yet, right? So letâs go dance. My partner is Jeff, but youâre my fiancĂ©, so itâs okay. Letâs go dance, Shane. Let him go, okay? Let him goâŠ.”
Her hands, holding him, trembled slightly.
You care for even someone like this.
Shane thought it was a waste that Adelineâs sympathy was going to this foolish scoundrel, but he was relieved that she still had a soft heart.
The more ropes to tie Adeline down, the better.
“If you had just told me to stop, Adeline, I would have.”
â…Donât lie.â
“Itâs true. If you had told me to stop.”
Except for letting you go.
