Chapter 24

***

***

But now.

“I don’t have anything to say to mother.”

“What…?”

“Go back before I really get angry.”

Ines drew the line coldly.

The Viscountess, who had her eyes wide open and looked at Ines, soon grimaced.

“I’m trying to say good things here!”

Ines, who looked at the Viscountess, sighed deeply.

“Because of the old relationship, I was trying to be nice.”

“What?!” 

But Ines, not paying any attention to the Viscountess, glanced at the half-open door.

“Now it’s time for mother to go…”

As soon as Ines mumbled, there was a knock on the door.

“Countess Brierton, this is the hotel guard. Do you need help?”

“Yes. The door is open, come in.”

As soon as Ines’ permission was granted, strong men rushed inside.

The Viscountess looked at Ines and the hotel guards alternately with a look of amazement.

“Who, who are these people?”

“Who? The guards at the Hamilton Hotel.”

Ines answered bluntly.

There was a reason Enoch insisted Ines stay at the Hamilton Hotel.

If there was a disturbance in the room, the hotel guards would be dispatched within 5 minutes.

Ines parted her lips with a cold face.

“Please take my mother outside politely.”

“Yes.”

The hotel guards, nodding their heads, approached the Viscountess.

Even though it was just narrowing the distance, there was a lot of pressure as large men flocked.

The Viscountess hurriedly turned to Ines with a pale face.

“Are you forcing me out?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I am your mother-in-law and I am an elder! How could you do such a terrible thing!”

“Well, it was mother who rushed into the hotel where I stayed first, and said such rude things.”

Ines, whose eyes slightly bent, turned to the hotel guards.

“And I’m going to make a formal complaint to the Hamilton Hotel.”

“That’s…”

At that sharp voice, the guards had a rather difficult face. 

“Whether it’s a reporter or someone claiming to be my friend or relatives. No matter who they were, everyone who came to see me would need my permission.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. But the Viscountess insisted so firmly that she was your family…… ” 

“I don’t need any excuses, so take her away now.” 

With those words, Ines folded her arms and walked away as if she was not going to talk any more. The hotel guards hurriedly spoke to the Viscountess.

“Let’s go, Viscountess.” 

“I, I am a noble! I’m her mother-in-law! You can’t drag people like this!”

The Viscountess tried to stretch her out a few times, but to no avail.

“If you keep doing this, I have no choice but to call security forces.”

It was because the hotel guards had issued an ultimatum.

“!”

The Viscountess glared at Ines with deadly eyes, but Ines remained motionless.

Rather, she just smiled brightly and asked.

“Aren’t you going?”

So the series of commotions ended.

Ines, who was alone in the suite, touched her forehead.

“Whooo.”

A long sigh escaped her lips.

She was terribly tired.

‘It’s okay. After divorce…… ’

Ines tried hard to comfort herself.

***

Meanwhile, after finishing the conversation with Edward, Enoch went to the Hamilton Hotel.

‘Why the hell did my brother talk about Countess Brierton…?’

He grumbled, but on the other hand, he was concerned about Ines.

“Hmmm.”

Enoch, who was sitting in the carriage, narrowed his brow.

Through the window, reporters could be seen encamping like clouds from the hotel entrance.

“Go back! Didn’t I say no interviews?”

“At our hotel, the privacy of our guests is our number one priority!”

The hotel staff were sweating coldly to beat the crowd of reporters.

“What the hell is going on?”

“It’s because Countess Brierton is staying at this hotel.”

Some of the guests were watching the reporters with their eyes wide open.

“The Countess must be quite tired……”

Meanwhile,

Enoch’s eyes widened a little.

Far away, from the hotel entrance, a middle-aged lady, surrounded by guards, was being escorted.

In fact, if that had been the case, Enoch would not have been particularly interested.

“Let’s see, Ines! Do you think it’ll be okay if you treat me like this?!”

The lady’s shouting was so loud that it echoed around the surroundings.

Ines.

Enoch paid attention to the familiar name stuck in his ear. Judging by the familiar way of calling Ines, it seemed that the woman was related to Ines.

“How can this be, let’s see!”

The woman was angry and disappeared in her carriage.

Enoch, who was watching the scene, gave a command.

“Stop the carriage.”

The carriage stopped gently on the side of the road.

Enoch got off the carriage and looked in the direction of the woman who had disappeared.

‘I should investigate that woman.’

Rather, the reporters who blocked the entrance to the hotel were very annoying.

If Enoch appeared here, it would be enough to attract everyone’s attention in an instant. 

‘It’s not going to work.’

Enoch clicked his tongue and went to the back door of the hotel.

It was a place used by some VIPs when they moved secretly.

Fortunately, the reporters did not seem to have found this door. Enoch reached Ines’s room and knocked gently.

“It’s me, Countess Brierton.”

“…”

After Enoch had said so, the door clicked open. Ines poked her head out through the crack in the door.

Then she smiled broadly as if she was relieved.

“Are you here?”

“Yes. How are you?”

“Uh…well..”

Ines turned away, avoiding Enoch’s gaze.

At the same time, Enoch narrowed his eyebrows and asked. 

“Come to think of it, a woman came out calling the Countess’s name loudly.”

“…”

‘Oh, you’ve seen it all.’

Unable to overcome her embarrassment, Ines tightly closed her eyes.

But isn’t that already spilled water?

“She’s my mother-in-law. Viscountess Gott.”

“I see.”

Enoch, who once nodded his head, quickly asked back.

“So, why did the Viscountess come to you?”

“That….” 

Feeling the burning sensation on her face, Ines fanned her face with her hands and took a couple of steps back.

“Hey, would you like to come inside?”

“Thank you.”

Enoch entered the suite without hesitation.

Enoch was sitting in front of her, but Ines hesitated for a while.

‘I feel like I’m revealing my humiliation.’

Of course, with Enoch’s personality she had seen so far, he wouldn’t ridicule her or laugh, but…

‘I just want to show the Duke only my good side.’

Ines clenched her fists tightly on her lap.

If she had to pick the person she admired the most, that person was definitely Enoch.

The one who gave her a chance to change her life.

Wasn’t it natural that she didn’t want to show her shameful side to him? 

‘Anyway, I never thought my mother-in-law would push into the hotel so recklessly… ’

Her face was hot. How much silence passed.

Enoch, who was looking at Ines in agony, suddenly opened his mouth.

“If it’s hard to say, you don’t have to.”

“But…”

“I can see the Countess is uncomfortable, and you don’t want to dig it out.”

Enoch was really fine.

Ines somehow felt her heart soften.

‘The Duke of Sussex… is on my side.’

He was the only one who supported her when everyone was interested in consuming her work.

She didn’t want to hide anything more from this person. Although it would be shameful, it was not polite to make a secret.

“No, I will tell you.”

Ines, who had made up her mind, opened her mouth.

“Actually, the Viscountess came to protest about the divorce…”

It was very difficult for her to open her mouth at first, but once she started speaking, words came out naturally.

Somehow she felt like she was complaining or telling on him, but it didn’t matter.

And during that long story, Enoch never once tried to speak or stop Ines.

Rather, he just listened to Ines silently.

‘If it was Ryan… It would have been…’

“Anyway, my mother is older than you, right? So you should have bowed down a bit more.” (Ryan)

“If you love me, you must take good care of my mother as well!” (Ryan)

……as if he was her teacher, Ryan used to teach Ines about manners. 

Ines felt her stomach churn.