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Chapter 43
Why Are All the Ex-Husbands So Clingy?
Shubill suddenly thought of the daughter he had fathered by mistake one night and then tossed to Kalips.
‘Would she be that big by now?’
His thoughts once again drifted and flowed toward Kalips.
‘Come to think of it, Kalips kept raising a child that could’ve just been thrown away. All of that must have been to get on my good side.’
He tried to recall the child’s name but quickly gave up.
‘I remember her name started with a “K”…’
At that moment, the boy called out the girl’s name. To his shock, the child before him was indeed that very “daughter” from his memory. Shubill snapped back to his senses as he looked at the children walking away.
“You… Coral, right?”
He didn’t miss the way Coral’s face stiffened when she turned her head.
‘Coral… so it is you.’
He thought maybe Kalips had abandoned her at an orphanage, but the elegance in her clothes proved otherwise.
‘To think he’s still raising my child.’
Feeling oddly proud of himself, Shubill approached her.
“Coral.”
“……”
“It’s me. Your father.”
“……!”
Thud— Coral’s ice cream slipped from her hand and hit the ground. Kai stepped protectively in front of Coral, glaring ferociously at the stranger as he shoved him away. The hostility he directed at Shubill was unmistakable.
“Do you know this guy?”
Though baffled, Shubill restrained himself. His eyes pleaded as he looked at Coral, but she turned her head sharply away, her fists clenched tight.
“No. He’s just some stranger.”
“……!”
Shubill stood frozen in shock, but Coral didn’t care at all. All she wanted was to get away from him.
“Let’s go, oppa. Quickly.”
Kai threw hostile glances back at Shubill several times as they left, leaving him speechless.
‘Who the hell is that brat… And Coral? She called me some stranger? Who was it that raised her instead of throwing her away at an orphanage?’
Though the memories were long past, Coral’s small hands had once clung to him often. Those round, trusting eyes had definitely recognized their father. He remembered peeling off those little hands and walking away. For a moment, her reaction flustered him, but he soon convinced himself that everything could be set right again. The days of straying were over—it was time to put everything back in its place.
It was then that Shubill spotted Kalips, his face pale with shock. In those features, Shubill thought he saw longing. With confidence, he drew a smile across his face.
‘But… who is that man?’
Macaron, calm as a predator stalking prey, watched Shubill through his mask. Even through it, the crimson gleam in his eyes radiated killing intent, making Shubill flinch.
‘Is he the man Kalips supposedly remarried?’
The large hand resting on Kalips’s body bothered Shubill immensely. Still, he forced himself to ignore it and looked at Kalips with feigned affection.
‘She’ll be mine again soon anyway.’
‘How did that bastard even get here?’
But that wasn’t the most pressing issue. Coral, pale and shaken by whatever she had heard, came toward Kalips.
“Mom…”
Coral hesitated, glancing nervously at Macaron, and couldn’t finish her words. Kalips wanted to ask what she’d heard, but she didn’t want Coral to recall Shubill even once more.
“It’s okay, Coral.”
“……”
“Mom’s right here. Don’t worry.”
Every bone in her body wanted to march up to Shubill and skewer him with a spear, but reassuring Coral came first. Holding her close, she soothed her until the child calmed a little. Still, the heavy gaze stubbornly clung to her. When she looked up, sure enough, Shubill’s eyes were fixed on them—but directed past her, at Macaron. When she turned, Macaron was glaring at Shubill like a beast ready to kill. Yet when he faced her, his expression instantly softened. He was as reliable as always, but today, she didn’t want to lean on him. She didn’t need Macaron to deal with the likes of Shubill.
“Will you watch the kids for a moment?”
Macaron, as if he already knew everything, simply nodded.
“I’ll take care of them.”
“It’s been a while, Kalips.”
Shubill’s gaze was almost wistful, like a man reunited with a long-lost lover.
‘Should I have made things clearer when we parted? It should have been enough…’
She didn’t care what he thought.
“What did you say to Coral?”
“Harsh. After all this time, shouldn’t you at least ask how I’ve been? Should we start with Coral?”
She didn’t hear anything else. After seeing Coral pale in terror earlier, Kalips was every bit the battle-ready mother.
“What did you say to her?”
“I didn’t say anything. Just told her… I’m her dad.”
Dad? He spoke those vile words without the slightest shame. Coral was still just a child, even if she acted mature. She called Macaron “dad”—what if this confused her, what if it hurt her? Kalips’s heart ached. She had never planned to see Shubill again. So how had he shown up here? His presence wasn’t coincidence, and it made her uneasy, even afraid. Because as much as she hated to admit it, Shubill was Coral’s biological father. And in court, that fact gave him power. The last trial had ended in her perfect victory, but if he tried something again… The thought made her anxious.
Her silence must have looked like hesitation, because a smile spread across his face.
“You live at the Crayd estate now, right?”
“Where I live is none of your business. We’re finished.”
The word finished seemed to sting him. His face twisted oddly.
“This meeting is fate, Kalips. We should—”
“Fate? You call this disgusting encounter fate?”
“I know I hurt you back then. That’s why—”
“Then never speak to me again. You sicken me.”
She wanted to end this quickly. She didn’t want Macaron seeing it, and even less did she want Coral involved. But just as she turned away, his voice caught her.
“Rael told me you remarried.”
Rael? Memories surfaced of running into him at Kai’s sword tournament. She remembered Rael’s strained relationship with Shubill. No doubt, he’d said it just to spite them both.
“So what?”
Her coldness made Shubill falter, but he soon pressed on.
“It hurt when I heard that.”
“…What?”
“I’ve been searching for you for so long, Kalips.”
“Why?”
In the original storyline, Kalips and Shubill had never even reunited. That made this moment all the more baffling. Even worse was the desperate look in his eyes.
“I agreed to the divorce because I wanted to see you again someday.”
Had he lost his mind? Was this some new scam? Her head spun with confusion, but Shubill went on, trapped in his own delusions.
“Only after it was over did I realize… I loved you.”
As if.
“You were precious to me.”
Now, after all this time?
“I’ve repaid all my debts. I can stand before you proudly now. With the funds Kynes sent recently—”
He cut himself off, gauging her reaction.
“Anyway, I succeeded in business. I’ll restore the fallen dukedom.”
So he’d leeched off someone else again to build a business? Figures. Still, if the leech was Kynes, at least that was satisfying. Shubill stared at her solemnly.
“So marry me again.”
The first proposal she heard in this world being from Shubill—what a nightmare.
“You heard I remarried, didn’t you?”
If he knew that, how could he say this? Hadn’t she even reported him to the guards? Did he not realize it was her?
“Don’t be stubborn. I know everything.”
“You don’t know anything.”
Once again, those mournful eyes fixed on her.
“I know you were waiting for me.”
“…What?”
His nonsense drained her of all strength to reply.
“You only remarried to make me jealous.”
Her mind flashed back to their divorce day. Back then he had claimed to know she was jealous, and now he claimed she remarried to make him jealous. She couldn’t fathom what kind of brain produced such delusions.
“You don’t have to act anymore. I’ll be by your side now.”
At last she managed to choke out words.
“Wait for you? Me?”
Her scorn made his expression crumble, though he quickly put it back together.
“Coral— you kept her because of me, didn’t you? She’s not even your real child.”
“……!”
Finally, Kalips understood. Shubill had been building delusions all on his own. She had assumed he would only cause trouble once Coral was older and successful, but clearly, she had underestimated him. At least she had included a restraining clause preventing him from coming near Coral in the future.
“Don’t spew nonsense. I never waited for you.”
“…Then I’ll wait.”
His pitiful face looked ready to spill tears.
“Don’t ever show yourself in front of me or Coral again.”
“……”
“Next time, we’ll meet in court.”
Just as she turned, he grabbed her arm.
“Is he the man you remarried?”
“……”
“He’s just another one who’ll stab you in the back, I’m sure of it.”
So Rael hadn’t told him about Macaron. Clearly, Shubill knew nothing of him.
“Do you think every man is like you? Backstabbing?”
Anger boiled in Shubill’s face as he gripped her arm tighter. She tried to shake him off—when a large hand suddenly peeled his fingers away.
“Ugh!”
Shubill cried out at the crushing grip.
“Were you talking about me just now?”
