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chapter 60
Linette’s hand trembled as she held the paper at Cian’s words. The paper, which contained an address she hadn’t memorized yet, slipped from her hand.
“Why…”
“I’ve fulfilled the responsibility you asked me to take on last time.”
She had once complained to him, soaked by the rain. And even though he had told her to find her mother at his house, she remembered soon asking him to forget about it.
“I…”
“I remember you asked me to forget about it, Linette. But your expression back then… it was so desperate…”
At that time, Linette had looked as if she were about to die. That’s why Cian had deliberately gone to find Marsha.
It would have been easier if she hadn’t known, but now that she even knew the address, Linette felt her mind had gone completely blank.
As Linette fidgeted, unsure of what to do, Cian gently held her hand and embraced her.
“When you don’t know what to do, just do what you want right now. If you want to kiss me, my lips are always yours.”
Cian’s words calmed Linette’s anxious heart. Instead of a full kiss, she tiptoed and lightly pressed her lips to his.
“Thank you for thinking of me enough to find the address. But this… it just leaves me more confused. My father said he wouldn’t look for my mother.”
Cian gently stroked her lips, still tinged with the memory of their brief kiss, and continued in a soft voice:
“Don’t you want to meet your mother in your lifetime? If not, that’s fine. But if you do, come with me. I won’t interfere; I’ll just watch from behind.”
At Cian’s tender words, Linette swallowed hard and looked down at the paper at her feet. Whether she stepped over it or unfolded it to read the address was entirely her decision.
“I…”
“Then let’s go. I know the address.”
Before Linette could hesitate, Cian spoke. Even though it wasn’t closing time yet, she closed the door and followed him. At first, they were on the main street, but gradually they headed into a back alley.
The back alleys on the far outskirts of Indigo were filthy beyond words. All sorts of trash littered the streets.
Yet no one bothered to clean it up. As Linette carefully walked past the debris, Cian briefly explained:
“Your mother came to Indigo a couple of months ago.”
“I see.”
It seemed he had done more than just find the address. Cian went on to explain a few more details:
“Don’t be shocked when you see her. That house at the end is where she lives, and she’s currently living with a man.”
Kenneth and Marsha hadn’t divorced yet. Even if one party had left due to infidelity, both had to sign the divorce papers.
Since Kenneth couldn’t find Marsha, they hadn’t divorced. Marsha likely couldn’t marry the man she was living with either.
Technically, she could have married him if she hid her identity.
“What’s the man’s name?”
“William. He was a knight in the Adrian Viscount family.”
Adrian Viscount—Linette vaguely remembered they were close to Conrad’s family. But as the door of the house Cian pointed to opened, Linette had to stop thinking.
“Ahhh!”
A woman let out a sharp scream and was pushed outside. Before she could even stand, a middle-aged man appeared, accompanied by a young woman.
“William, is that woman really your wife? She isn’t, right?”
The young woman clung to him playfully, speaking in a coquettish tone, only for him to mockingly respond while holding her waist tight:
“Wife? She’s just a housekeeper. Who’d live with an old woman who’s already had three kids?”
“Really? But when I came here, that woman scolded me.”
“Oh, Emily, that’s on me. We’ve been together so long that I got carried away without knowing my place. I need to teach her a lesson this time.”
Hearing their conversation, Linette realized the woman who had just been shoved was Marsha. Bleeding and stumbling to her feet, Marsha faced William and Emily:
“William, what do you mean by that? At least you shouldn’t treat me this way!”
“Haha, what did I do? I’ve fed and sheltered you for 15 years, what more do you want? Women just nag more as they age. Our young Emily doesn’t nag like that.”
Marsha’s hands trembled violently. She clenched her teeth.
“If you seduced me, you should take responsibility! Why seduce me if you weren’t going to? You whispered love, promised to escape with me, and left me with the children!”
William scratched his ear and smirked.
“You were beautiful back then. But 15 years later, you’re old and ugly, so I don’t like it. If you want to live with a younger man, you should at least make an effort to look nice.”
“You didn’t even give me time to do that! I spent all the jewelry I had, and now that the money’s gone, you treat me like this?”
“Consider it the price for leaving your husband and children. Even if I seduced you, I would have rejected you if you had no feelings. You came because you loved me, didn’t you?”
William gently touched Emily’s soft cheek as he spoke. Seeing this, Marsha cried, realizing she had abandoned her loving husband and children and now faced the consequences.
Before marriage, Marsha had been dating William, but under Conrad’s strict orders, she had to marry Kenneth. It was a noblewoman’s duty to marry the man chosen by her family.
She bore children with a man she did not love while leaving the one she truly loved.
After her first child, William approached her again. She shouldn’t have met him, but couldn’t resist. They occasionally met, which led to the current situation. Because of her shameful appearance, Marsha couldn’t visit the Prunina estate.
When she heard Linette was running a shop nearby, she went there to see her daughter. She wanted to see her up close but was soon discovered. Linette’s words hurt, but she could only apologize and leave.
Then William found the money Marsha had gotten from Linette and spent it, playing and drinking with Emily. Marsha demanded only that money back, but William ignored her and even struck her.
“Ugh, bad luck! If you don’t want to get kicked out, don’t interfere with whatever I do, got it?”
Spitting on the floor, William dared Marsha with contempt. Her eyes, filled with anger, glared at him.
“What are you going to do? Just earn money, or go ask your daughter for charity. I hear she’s a successful businesswoman.”
“Why should our daughter give money she earned with her own sweat to you?”
“Then go to your son. I hear he’s a palace knight. I don’t know about the second, but the eldest is a knight, the youngest a successful CEO. You followed me despite that—impressive.”
“Oh my! Are her children really that successful? No way, hohoho!”
Emily laughed, amazed by William’s words.
“What’s even more amazing? That woman’s husband, he—”
“Shut up! Don’t you dare say my husband’s name with that filthy mouth!”
Marsha, unwilling to hear “Prunina” from William’s lips, rushed at him. He raised his hand.
A loud smack should have followed, but William couldn’t bring his hand down further.
“A woman isn’t struck even with flowers, you scum. But since you’re a man, I guess it’s allowed.”
Thud—
“Ugh…”
Cian, who had promised to watch from behind, intervened, grabbing William’s wrist and striking his solar plexus. As William gagged from the blow, Emily screamed and fled.
Marsha, both grateful and shaking her head at Cian, said:
“I-I don’t know who you are, but thank you for helping. But please, stop now. This is our problem. We can handle it…”
“Handle it? While getting beaten like this?!”
Linette, who had only been listening, shouted.
Startled, Marsha looked at Linette. She was embarrassed and scared that her daughter had seen everything.
“Li-Linette…”
Even more shocked than when William hit her, Marsha could barely speak.
Linette grabbed Marsha’s arm. Seeing her frail arm, Linette bit her lip, anger rising at the sight of Marsha bowing her head.
“You’ve wronged me a lot, huh? Seeing you tremble like this… Enough! Let’s go inside and talk!”
As Linette dragged Marsha into the shabby house, William, staggering, pointed at Cian.
“You think I’ll let this slide? The guards will come soon, then we’ll settle this. Or pay me for the assault!”
As the pain in his solar plexus subsided, William stood tall and spoke. Though he had aged, he still carried traces of his youthful handsomeness. But years out of service had left his belly protruding.
“If you don’t want to die, keep your mouth shut.”
Grabbing his collar, Cian whispered ominously, smiling, looking at William as if he were trash.
Just then, guards—likely called by Emily—arrived, and Cian released William’s collar.
Freed, William rushed to the guards, shouting:
“Help me! That man, he—”
One guard, seeing Cian in his hat, remarked:
“Ah, a regular at The Pull of Desire.”
