CH 69

After that,

The members of the delegation scattered around the banquet hall and began to enjoy the celebration. At that moment, Ines let out a little sigh. ‘Still, the atmosphere of the celebration seems to be quite good.’ It was fortunate.

However, she did not forget to watch the banquet through the eyes of a hawk.

Food and drinks were plentiful, and the people were dancing with happy faces.

The royal couple, who chatted with each other, seemed satisfied.

Ines, who was paying close attention to people’s reactions, glanced around.

‘And the Duke…’

He was having a conversation with the delegation representative.

Ines smiled softly.

‘Okay, I think this is good enough.’ 

The delegation seemed to be satisfied with the conversation with Enoch.

Most of all, she liked that Ryan was out of sight right now.

The last thing she saw was how angry he was when he couldn’t join the conversation between her and the delegation earlier, and his face was stained red…

“Ines.”

“…”

At the voice calling her, Ines frowned.

‘Oh my gosh, he’s persistent.’

Ryan came as if he was conjured.

Ines clicked her tongue inwardly and looked back at him.

Ryan was looking at her with a desperate gaze.

“What’s up?”

“Let’s talk.”

Ryan fervently pleaded. But…

“No.”

Ines flatly refused.

“Don’t you think you’re too shameless? It’s not like we’re in a friendly relationship to talk to each other.”

Ryan was furious at the answer.

“How many times have I apologized for being wrong! How long are you going to be this angry?!”

Ines was just astounded.

As if his apology would of course force her to forgive, Ryan was just too sure of himself.

Rather, he started arguing with Ines as if he had become a victim.

But he was worried that the people around him would hear it, so he lowered his voice and cursed. It was ridiculous.

“It’s just filing a divorce case. But are you really getting a divorce?”

“Ryan, what do you think the purpose of the divorce case is? Of course, it’s meant to be a divorce, is it not?”

“Now you say that…… … !”

Ryan, who had raised his voice without realizing it, wrinkled his brow and suppressed his voice again. 

“Yeah, we’ll talk about divorce later. Then why did you suddenly withdraw all of your investment?”

“I am the head of my family, I have the right to collect and invest money as I see fit.”

Ines shrugged her shoulders.

“What’s the problem?”

“Are you crazy? Do you know how much damage my family has suffered?!”

Ryan’s face turned red.

“Aha, so let’s get to the point.”

Facing such a Ryan, Ines smiled crookedly.

“The Gott’s family business is faltering, so now it seems like the fire has gone out, so you came to me?”

“……Ines.”

At that blatant sarcasm, Ryan bit his lip hard.

He felt like he wanted to scream and threaten Ines right away. Ryan barely suppressed his anger.

“I know you’re angry, so let’s stop.”

“What the hell are we going to stop doing?”

“This time, I will be a faithful husband. I’m not going out or doing anything, so let’s stop this emotional fight…”

“Stop………”

At those words of pleading, Ines’ eyebrows twitched and hardened.

She shot coldly.

“Whose way?”

Ryan felt speechless for a moment.

Ines continued.

“Now that this has come to this, I will make sure of it here.”

“Make sure of what?”

“Ryan, the marriage with you was terrible.” 

Ryan went blank as if he had been hit in the face.

Ines nailed the last nail.

“So, don’t ever say such nonsense again, like a reunion or something.”

“Unbelievable, we…… !”

“Because the only way I can be the happiest is to live my life free from entanglement with you.”

In an instant, Ryan lost his temper.

‘How dare Ines reject me?!’

Once she looked at him with affectionate eyes, but now that person was nowhere to be found.

No matter how much he pleaded, she didn’t waver in the slightest.

She drew the line coldly.

And Ryan couldn’t believe it at all.

‘How could Ines not love me?’

She once vowed that her love for him was unchanging.

And now she denied it in front of his face.

It was embarrassing as his pride had been torn to pieces and trampled on. And anger surged over that shame.

‘We’ll see!’

Ryan, possessed by evil, gripped Ines’s wrist tightly.

At the rushing pain, Ines let out a gasp.

“This, let go…!”

Ines tried to shake Ryan’s hand somehow, but she couldn’t.

The grip of a grown man whose eyes were turned over in anger was something that a slander woman could not shake off.

And that moment.

“…… What the hell are you doing?” A voice as cold as a sharpened blade resounded.

“Ugh!”

A suppressed moan erupted from Ryan’s mouth.

Enoch, who came closer to Ines in an instant, grabbed Ryan’s wrist with strength.

The grip was so strong that he felt like his wrist was going to break at any moment.

“Ugh…!”

Ryan, whose eyes were turned over in pain, raised his claws and tried to remove Enoch’s hand.

It was all in vain.

On the contrary, the force that tightened his wrist only became stronger.

“I think I need to hear some explanation about the current situation.”

Although his demeanor was calm, he wasn’t even calm with the emotions in his voice. 

Ryan shouted in a cracked voice.

“My wrist…!”

But Enoch was as cold as ice.

“Why should I let you go?”

“Oh, ugh!”

Ryan, who was trying to make an excuse in a hurry, could not bear the pain and twisted his wrist.

It was because the force applied to the wrist was getting stronger and stronger.

“Is it okay for Young Master Gott to treat the Countess this rudely?”

“Ha, Your Excellency!”

“Isn’t it fair to return what you did to the Countess?”

It was a terribly cold tone.

“You had once threatened the Countess at my art exhibition the other day. You never showed any respect for her.”

Enoch finished his speech.

He grabbed Ryan’s wrist and strode towards the door.

‘Are you trying to kick me out?!’

Ryan’s eyes went wide.

He tried hard to shake off Enoch’s hand, but to no avail.

“Ha, I got an invitation too!”

Ryan clenched his teeth.

“It’s not polite to my family, the Gott Viscount, that you 

drag me out like this!”

“Not polite?”

“Yes! Go, the Gott family are nobles of the kingdom! So…!”

At the same time, sparks bounced off Enoch’s eyes.

He didn’t want to hear Ryan’s bullshit anymore.

And above all else.

‘The Countess of Brierton.’

Behind him was Ines.

Because of that, Enoch could no longer stand to watch Ryan hanging around Ines.

“Wasn’t you who was rude to the Countess first?”

“Duke!”

“You have to be a guest to be treated with courtesy. Don’t you agree?”

Up until now, Enoch had maintained respect with minimal courtesy.

Now, he had skipped using honorifics.

“I can’t have a bastard like you by her side anymore.”

At the end of those bloody words, Enoch pulled Ryan’s wrist roughly again.

‘It hurts!’

Ryan clenched his teeth.

A sharp pain rose from the wrist held by Enoch, as if cut by a piece of glass.

It looked like the bones were broken.

‘What the hell? Does he mean he’ll even be a bodyguard for Ines?’

Ryan, who was bitter, looked at Enoch with murderous eyes.

‘Ines’s husband was me, and the man Ines loved was me…… !’

But Ryan had no choice but to curl his tail right away.

“Besides, is Viscount Gott aware of what you have done?”

Enoch shot sharply again.

“My, what did I do…… !”

“At the celebration hosted by the Queen, attended by Kaldorov’s delegation.”

It was a low-pitched voice, similar to the growl of a wild beast.

“You were trying to intimidate the Countess, one of the staff of the exchange, and bringing shame to the nobles.”

For a moment, Ryan felt his stomach grow cold, as if he had swallowed a whole chunk of cold ice.

“Oh, no. I…… !”

As cold water poured over his excited head, he suddenly came to his senses.