We're in a Contract Marriage, But I've Imprinted - Chapter 82
Lewis finally revealed his true colors when there’s no longer ears to hear.
“After feeding and raising you, it seems you’re ungrateful.”
Melissa covered her stomach with both hands to the unwarranted slander.
“Please don’t speak so recklessly.”
“Huh, a wretched illegitimate child who couldn’t even retort properly now thinks they can say anything?”
“…Even if it’s still in the stomach, it has ears to hear. Stop it, Brother.”
Lewis erupted with the anger that had been building up after listening to her words.
“I’ve never considered a vulgar omega like you as my sibling!”
“…”
“Why should a wretched illegitimate child like you become my sister? Hah, absurd.”
Such humiliation was nothing new. The line from the County was still intact.
Melissa was more concerned about the child in her belly than this ordeal. She glanced at the mansion’s main gate.
If the maid understood correctly, she would be coming out with the butler. Melissa decided to endure until then and keep her mouth shut.
However, Lewis was seething with rage. Even if it wasn’t today, he had been subjected to various humiliations for months, and now he had a target right in front of him.
“You should be grateful to Monica. Do you know what kind of trouble she went through because of you?”
“…”
“It’s because of her that you’re treated this way just because you’re pregnant. Even if people point fingers at you, you should be thankful to Monica.”
“What is that…”
She tried to ignore it, but Melissa unknowingly responded to Lewis’ remarks.
“Just as I said! Without Monica, you would still be living miserably.”
Melissa’s heart was beating so fast that she couldn’t even catch her breath. Despite being a one-sided imprint, the baby was a precious creation between her and her alpha. But why was Monica mentioned in their relationship?
She was unaware of how wrong it was for Monica to forcibly give Ian an estrus inducer. In the first place, what she had drunk together with Ian was also an estrus inducer.
“Ian and Monica have a connection that Father arranged.”
In reality, Lewis didn’t possess exceptional talents like his father or son, especially in swordsmanship. That was his complex, but he excelled in one thing—handling people. He had a way with words, especially when dealing with those of lower ranks, to the point where he could easily manipulate and shake them.
Melissa showed a puzzled expression at the mention of her father. Seeing her like this, Lewis thought he had got her.
“Ian suffered abuse when he was young. Moreover, it was from his own mother.”
“…What?”
“Well, you probably don’t know this story. No matter how much you bear Ian’s child, you’re still not up to par.”
Upon hearing Lewis’s words, Melissa was shocked. It was unbelievable that Nicola, whom she considered a mother, was the one who abused Ian. While it was challenging to find noble qualities in her, this was not something a mother should do to her own child.
“The important thing is that Father personally chose the spouse for his granddaughter, and you, his daughter, dared to intervene. Do you realize how shameless you are?”
Stunned and dazed, she found it difficult to fully comprehend Lewis’s words. His words, spoken with a razor-sharp edge, felt like poisonous thorns. She had learned that Alex had Lewis’s nature, but the greater shock was Ian’s past.
She barely managed to cover her mouth and nose with trembling hands. If she had another hand, she would have wanted to cover her ears as well, but due to the stench emanating from Lewis, she couldn’t breathe properly.
“You’re acting so foolishly because you don’t know Father. Do you have any idea how terrifying our father is?”
She wished she had listened to Ian’s words and just gone into the room to wait for him. Even if she wanted to regret and leave the place, the aftermath of her imprinted alpha’s past made her body unable to move.
“Do you even know why you and your mother ended up living in the mountains?”
“…Do, don’t.”
“It’s only natural that an omega who couldn’t even bear an alpha would be driven away. Father must be so displeased. Giving his seed just to bear an omega like you must not have been his intention.”
“Stop it…”
“So, to ensure that you and your mother never find a place, I spread the rumors of your disgrace throughout the entire empire. Bearing an omega child with the seed of County Rosewood? Even thinking about it now, it’s truly disgraceful.”
Lewis couldn’t forget the hardships he and his mother faced back then. Witnessing his happy father guarding his omega with a full belly, Lewis felt the curse of being a beta for the first time.
That’s why he spread lies and malicious gossip. However, afterward, his mother began to fall ill.
His mother left a dying wish to his father before her passing—to let go of the omega mother and daughter and to grant this wish if they shared a genuine love as a couple.
Lewis felt a sense of relief as he laid bare all the shame he had suffered from Ian. Memories of his mother resurfaced, and the longing for her returned. While lost in his own thoughts, he failed to see Melissa gasping for breath and collapsing.
Not even Ian running from a distance.
“Ian! Ian!”
Alex tried to catch up somehow, but a beta couldn’t match the speed of an alpha.
Ian belatedly realized that something was wrong with his omega. Sensing an unusual atmosphere, he stepped out of the reception room.
Through the window, he saw Lewis saying something to Melissa. It wasn’t a considerable distance, and as a swordmaster, Ian could hear everything. However, instead of the insults Lewis was spewing, all he could focus on was Melissa’s face turning pale.
How could he not have noticed earlier that his omega was in danger?
As his mind echoed with anger towards himself, he sprinted with incredible speed and confronted Lewis. He punched him in the face.