Chapter 28

– Chapter 28 –

“Isabella, it’s not like that……”

I was just asking because I was worried about you.

But Logan’s lips didn’t continue any further.

With every word she said, the pain she felt became a nail and pierced his heart.

“The child had you and me. Obviously, he had us…… he needed help, yet he didn’t tell his parents. What do you think that means?”

She looked like she was about to cry.

Tears were about to fill the corners of her eyes, but she continued without letting the tears fall.

“In any case, even if he tells us…… I assume he thought we wouldn’t help him.”

Hearing the words that sounded like a sigh from her, Logan chewed the inside of his lips.

The pain of the body was easier to bear than the pain of the heart.

“That’s how we made our child feel so alone and unloved.”

Isabella, who had poured out all the words she had been holding back, cut off her breath as if she had vomited.

Her face was red and pale.

“I’m fine. Because I’ve gotten used to it.”

“But even to Aiden……. how could you do that?”

“You’re really indifferent till the end.”

Logan had been lowering his head since a moment ago.

He couldn’t even raise his head.

“I know that there’s no point in conveying all these words. Despite knowing that…… I ended up saying it. I’ll leave now.”

Isabella just left like that.

He wanted to reach out and grab her hand, but he couldn’t get close to her.

Left alone, he had no excuses.

She was gone, but it was as if her presence was still there, looking at him with contempt.

‘I’m always late, huh.’

He wanted to bring Whitney in right away and hold her accountable.

However, he held in.

Now, he thought he didn’t deserve to meddle in.

He must follow the Duchess’s methods.

So he backed away. He gave her everything to her will.

All he could do was deal with the remaining problems behind the scenes.

In the meantime, those who followed Whitney and helped keep the Duchess’s ears out of the mansion were filtered out and dealt with quietly.

At the same time, through his direct aide, the reporting system was overhauled to prevent the same thing from happening in the mansion.

It also alerted employees to what would happen to them if Aiden faced any problem.

But all of this was like fixing a lock only after losing the jewel.

A belated resolution could not heal the wounds Aiden and Isabella suffered in the slightest.

That made him even more distressed.

***

Logan had frozen like that for a long time.

In the end, deep night came, dawn passed, and it was only in the morning that he was obliged to start the day.

Logan was anxious the whole time.

Things that happened in the past kept coming to his mind.

All the times before he met Isabella when he was still young

The position of the heir to the family was not an easy one.

In the front, it would look like you have everything, but it was a position where you had to be patient and endure a lot of things.

Moreover, it was even more so in his childhood.

As an heir, Logan had more anxiety that could not be compared to Aiden.

The former Duchess was not his biological mother. He was an illegitimate child.

Although not known to the outside world because he joined the family when he was young, Logan was the child of the Duke’s affair.

If the former Duchess had a successor, he would never have crossed the threshold of the family.

Under these circumstances, Logan could not disappoint the former ducal couple.

He did everything he could to satisfy them in any way.

He couldn’t even comment on their commands.

Because he was in a position where he had to unconditionally follow their commands.

However, he didn’t have any complaints.

If he didn’t live here, his life would have been rolling in the mud.

The position of heir to the Leinster family was a position he had to protect at all costs.

So, one day, even for a marriage that was suddenly decided on, he willingly followed

She is an unknown wife and it is an arranged marriage anyway, so he tried to treat her as a means necessary to become a true heir to the Leinster family, as he had done until now.

But the moment he saw Isabella, Logan’s determination was shattered in an instant.

He fell in love with her at first sight. It was his first love.

He strongly believed that it was the first happiness in his life.

Until then, obviously.

But he didn’t have the power to protect her.

To protect her, he had to be perfect as a successor.

So he just focused on that.

Meanwhile, the former Duchess tried to rule Isabella through authoritarian actions, and she was swayed helplessly.

The realm was valid not only in the mansion but also in external activities.

She had asked him for help several times, but not knowing the details of what was going on with her, he asked her to hold on for a while.

That was his most painful mistake.

He didn’t know how much despair that had left her.

So she stopped relying on him and that was how she was closing the door to her heart.

Logan could only think of taking care of everything carefully until he could protect her completely.

While he closed his eyes and ears to gain power as quickly as possible, and only nurtured his power, he missed her.

When he realized the fact, her eyes had already turned cold.

She was no longer looking at him.

For her, and for the sake of her son, the power he had gained through hard work was already in vain.

That’s how the time has passed till now.

Even if she turns away from me, we’re a couple, and family to Aiden.

I thought it would be okay to protect Isabella and Aiden from the side.

‘But did I really protect them?’

He had that one question.

Perhaps he is unable to protect his wife or son or anyone.

There was a time when everything felt futile.

Erin appeared in his mind.

His young daughter-in-law was completely different from the Duke’s childhood.

She was so lovely. She was honest and straightforward.

Aiden had changed because of that child, and the Duchess seemed to be changing little by little as well.

So he liked it.

He knew that a child, who was still too small for him, was coming to him on purpose.

She showed curiosity to himself and accepted it knowing that he was talking this and that to her.

So I just thought she was fascinating but……

Instead of me knowing nothing, that child was protecting Aiden.

It was all thanks to Erin that I found out about Whitney’s matter even now.

‘That child is better than me.’

He felt overwhelmed.

I don’t know how to repay the feeling of gratitude and debt to that child.

Like it was her natural routine, Erin came to the pavilion, a famous place in the backyard.

“Father. Today too, good morning!”

Today, too, she greeted the Duke who sat in the same spot with enthusiasm, and the Duke stuck to the side to the point that it was burdensome.

Logan glanced at Erin, then opened his mouth.

“What do you want from me?”

Logan couldn’t hold it and asked impatiently.

Recently, this child has not left his mind.

When he saw Erin today, he wondered whether he should say thank you, or whether to apologize for not playing his role properly as a father and making it hard for Aiden, or to apologize for making her do what he was supposed to do.

But when he saw Erin’s face today, he was more curious than that.

Just what the hell is this daughter-in-law expecting from me?

She purposefully came to me every day, and she continued to talk and be kind to me.

In the meantime, I even got the illusion that we had become really good friends.

So, sometimes, I even wondered if I was that pitiful in this child’s eyes for not being able to do what she does for my wife and son.

‘However, that mustn’t be the reason, right?

That being said, Erin’s smile is bright and spotless.

Logan wondered what Erin was thinking.

At his question, Erin smiled, bending her eyes into a half-moon shape without showing a sign of surprise.

“I want to get along well with Aiden.”

“With Mother, too.”

Erin’s eyes widened more and more.

Erin continued her hopes with a confident look.

“I want to get along well with Father as well.”

Logan’s eyelids quivered.

Erin, with her round eyes wide open, was staring at Logan to the point where it felt burdensome.

“I think it would be nice if we could all have tea together and go out to play.”

Erin’s eyes twinkled.

This made Logan even more embarrassed.

Logan couldn’t say anything.

Truthfully, it was just what Logan had been wanting

It was like a fantasy that he had always dreamed of from the depths of his heart, but couldn’t achieve.

“We have to do anything with the person we love, you know. That’s how we get closer and grow fond of each other!”

Erin said in an excited tone.

“That tone again. I don’t know why you thought like that but……”

“Is that really not like that?”

Erin cut off the Duke’s words and asked, staring at him with her head sticking out.

“You’re really ……”

The moment he saw those eyes, he was speechless.

The Duke’s look was eventually ripped apart.

Erin opened her eyes widely and watched everything

“Father. You’re embarrassed.”

Erin slapped him in the face with an innocent face.

It was as if she was telling him not to give any excuses because that alone was true.

His face stiffened.

His thought circuit was stopped, just a blink of an eye.

“You like Aiden too, right.”

Erin asked naturally.

“Of course you like me too, right.”

Logan’s throat rumbled loudly.

– To Be Continued –