We’re in a Contract Marriage, But I’ve Imprinted - Chapter 136

After months, the pheromones of my imprinted alpha felt intoxicatingly sweet. My fingertips trembled involuntarily, overwhelmed by the ecstasy.

I couldn’t lift my head while looking down at the child. I was unsure of the expression I was wearing.

For a moment, we just exchanged pheromones without speaking. Only after confirming the child’s breath had eased did I finally lift my head and met his intense golden gaze.

He looked down at me with a numb expression.

A fact I had forgotten rushed back to me—it was the day our contract expired.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“…Yes, of course.”

I tried to hide it, but my voice trembled slightly. Though my heart was a mess, I managed to mask my facial expression.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall beside the bed. I sat on the opposite side of the bed, looking up at him.

“You know what day it is, right?”

“…Yes.”

He seemed to contemplate before continuing a beat later.

“I’ve thought a lot about it. Still, I can’t irresponsibly send away the omega who bore Dia out of the mansion.”

“….”

“If it were strictly according to the contract, I should send you away today, but we haven’t found a mansion yet.”

“A mansion…?”

“Your own mansion, where you’ll live from now on. You didn’t think just having money would be enough to live well anywhere, did you?”

“….”

I couldn’t say I hadn’t planned to leave at all.

“Rich noblewomen often become easy targets for those of lesser quality.”

“….”

While I knew I should be grateful, I couldn’t bring myself to say thank you.

I realized once again that his intentions to send me away hadn’t changed, his show of kindness was not for me but for Diers’s mother.

Although I am Diers’s mother, I wanted to be seen as a woman to him.

I thought I wasn’t expecting it. As foolish as it was, I laughed at my own naive hopes.

“…I’ll take that as an agreement.”

Ian looked at me strangely as I responded with just a laugh. Did he realize that he was looking at me the same way he used to look at his mother?

“You should go back to the annex. If there’s anything, I’ll call you. I’ll be staying here.”

“…Yes.”

Although I was worried about Diers, I simply didn’t have the energy to argue with him.

As I staggered to my feet to leave, Ian called out to me. I turned back, puzzled, and he pointed at my head.

“You might have rushed here, but try to keep yourself a bit more put together.”

“Ah…”

I hadn’t realized how disheveled I appeared. A laugh escaped me again. His penetrating gaze followed me until I left the room, but I didn’t have the strength to look back.

When I went out, I trudged down the stairs. I ignored the murmurs and burning stares as I descended.

Reaching the ground floor, I saw Monica entering the mansion, as radiant as ever.

I saw her striking silver hair—a stark contrast to my dull green locks. Recalling my father, who barely existed in my memories, I was about to pass by when Monica suddenly grabbed my arm roughly.

“What is this appearance?”

“…”

“You might mess around with your body, but at least don’t embarrass me too.”

“…Why are you embarrassed when you’ve never even considered me family?”

“You’ve gotten really bold. How long do you think Ian will protect you?”

Maybe. Was there ever really protection? Perhaps it was my fault for forgetting my place because his support felt so comforting.

I couldn’t understand Monica’s sharp gaze. She was going to take her place beside Ian anyway.

Probably, just the thought of sharing the man she loves even momentarily would have been too much for her pride.

Yes, it was always like this. It was my great mistake to think otherwise because he had treated me kindly.

I jerked my arm away forcefully. I didn’t want to listen to her anymore because I didn’t want to think about anything right now.

As I aimlessly left the main house and headed toward the annex, all I wanted was to lie down and rest. Passing by the green rose garden, I paused and stared at the roses.

Ian, who had planted these roses resembling me, crossed my mind.

“…Was I really so charmless?”

Without realizing it, I had been happy, thinking he had redone the garden for me.

“Huh.”

I took a sharp inhale. Emotions I couldn’t contain exploded from deep within. Overwhelmed by despair and degradation, I began to tear at the green roses recklessly.

“Aaah! Ack! Hah!”

Crushing, mashing, destroying, and tearing them apart, I trampled the entire garden, and no one came to stop me.

A resentment of unknown origin finally engulfed me and submerged me completely in pitch darkness.

* * *

After that, I stopped going out. Not just outings, but I stopped leaving my room altogether. Actually, I stopped thinking altogether.

Occasionally, I desperately missed his pheromones, but by halting all thought, I managed to endure. The young maid who used to visit the annex had also become a rare sight recently.

It seemed better that way. Everything became bothersome and faded away. As the boundaries between reality and dreams blurred, snow began to fall.

I stared blankly at the snow, thinking to myself,

I should have left on the day the contract ended. I had no idea that having no promise could be so terrifying. Ian, who had promised to find me a mansion, gave no further signs.

It had been a very long time since his last visit.

As if he had forgotten that I was even here.