Silver Lining Yesterday - Chapter 22
As he instinctively turned his head to avoid it, the object skimmed past his ear, breaking with a sharp sound.
A chorus of short screams erupted from all directions.
On the pure white marble floor, a wine glass had shattered, scattering red wine like blood.
Nix, still with his head turned, let out a soft laugh, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
Gemma Heidegger, seated on the stage, was glaring at him with a look of fury.
“Nix Heidegger! Do you truly have no respect for your mother? How dare you show up before me like that?!”
Her loud voice rang out, breaking the suffocating silence.
Yet, Nix did not retreat. Instead, he fired back with a mocking tone.
“I’m sorry, mother. I dressed up just as you would have most missed.”
Nix spread his arms as he walked forward, laughing like a madman.
“Wasn’t this how my father looked the last time you saw him? People always say that, right? Given the timing, you must have had me on your twenty-second birthday!”
In the stunned silence of the crowd, Nix pointed to a middle-aged man with a thick beard.
“Yes, you, Sir Brooks! You said it yourself, didn’t you? Ernest Garland, that filthy fop, dressed up like a woman and seduced the great Duke of Satin! So, for the great Duke, I dressed up like ‘a woman’ too, but by the look on your face, I guess you’re not pleased with the result?”
“Your, Your Excellency! No, I—”
Sir Brooks stammered, trying to deny the accusations, but a furious Gemma Heidegger slammed her hand onto the armrest of her chair.
Her eyes, burning with fury, seemed like they would tear Nix apart in an instant.
“Leave!”
“……”
“Leave now, Nix Heidegger!”
Even as the scolding command was hurled at him, Nix didn’t move an inch.
Instead, his gaze, filled with seething anger, seemed as though it would devour his mother on the stage.
Then, with a rage so intense it seemed like she might smash the table, Gemma Heidegger stood up.
“If you had left then, you should never have come back! How dare you show up like this! Does the name Heidegger mean nothing to you now? Then why don’t you take that name off your back?!”
“Who would care? I’ll live my life as a Heidegger, doing whatever filthy thing I want.”
Nix sneered, lifting the corners of his lips as his red eyes glaring fiercely.
“Mother, I’ll ruin the reputation you’ve built over your whole life. So, don’t get angry over something as trivial as this!”
“You…!”
Gemma, her eyes blazing, tried to push the table aside, but Leroy intervened urgently.
“Darling, let him go. Please?”
“Nix Heidegger! I’ve never not regretted having you, not even for a single day! Did your father tell me to suffer after his death? How long will you follow me around with that disgusting face of yours?!”
Gemma seemed completely out of control. If she had a sword in her hand, she would have attacked Nix without hesitation.
Dragged unwillingly into this chaos, Jean watched the entire scene in stunned silence.
She couldn’t understand the mad rage of Nix or Gemma, who immediately threw a drink at him upon seeing her son.
Thrust into the middle of the turmoil, she was helplessly assaulted by the absurd spectacle unfolding before her.
At that moment, Nix, who had been ruffling his hair while panting, met Jean’s eyes.
His usually controlled, sharp gaze was now wild, completely unrestrained.
Jean found herself staring at his conflicting emotions. Anger, joy, resentment, and longing.
She felt like she was being suffocated by the overwhelming rush of his passion.
In that moment, Nix’s lips curled upward as he watched her with pupils that had dilated like an animal’s.
Jean, still blinking in confusion, was suddenly swept away by the roaring voice.
“—And now, this cursed woman too!”
Despite the attempts of those around her to stop her, Gemma, red with fury, managed to push through the table and pointed at Jean with her angry, fiery eyes.
Jean, taken aback as though slapped across the face, looked at her in a daze.
…Gemma?
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