The End of a Fake Marriage

Chapter 10. The Domain of the Contract Wife



“Shh.”

Mrs. Andrea and Gabriel quickly put out their lights, and listened to the faint voice, stopping their steps.

One voice was very familiar—the distinct, sharp tone of Melinda, Nina’s personal maid.

“You… how much is it? Around 110,000 Renins? …How about this much?”

“……”

“Don’t like it? Not going to do it?”

“……I-I’ll do it.”

“But who is the other one?” No matter how much the two middle-aged people listened and squinted their eyes, they had no idea who was hiding at the end of the dark hallway.

Though they couldn’t hear everything clearly, but somehow the conversation was suspicious. When money talks in the dark, it’s never a good thing.

In situations like this, direct confrontation was usually the best option. “Shall we get closer?”

Andrea asked with her eyes, and after a moment’s hesitation, Gabriel nodded. They muffled their footsteps and slowly approached the source of the sound.

However, as if sensing their presence, the hushed voices of the two people abruptly ceased. “Have we been caught?”

Mrs. Andrea and Gabriel looked at each other and then nodded.

“Is anyone there?”

As Gabriel turned on the oil lamp and quickly ran to where the sound came from, two shadows hiding in the darkness ran in the opposite direction.

Despite Gabriel and Andreas hurrying after them into the left wing where they had vanished, the two had already hidden themselves away.

The corridor was structured with eight servant rooms facing each other, and at the very end was a shared bathroom and toilet.

“Oh dear, we missed them. Should we check inside the rooms?” At Andrea’s suggestion, Gabriel shook his head.

While they had indeed overheard a suspicious conversation in the dark, it wasn’t serious enough to warrant waking up all the sleeping servants to interrogate them. Acting recklessly based on mere suspicion could lead to unnecessary backlash from the staff.

“Let’s give up for now. Searching all the rooms doesn’t seem like a good approach.”

“But we definitely heard Miss Nina’s maid’s voice. I believe she doesn’t sleep here but rather stays in the room next to the lady’s.”

“But we can’t just go to the lady’s room and ask her to give you up…” Gabriel said. “It’s not something that’s clearly bad enough to cause a fuss.”

He was right. But Andrea couldn’t shake off her uneasy feeling.

She stood there for a long moment, then turned to leave with a sigh.

‘It shouldn’t be anything serious…’

She hoped it was just a light-hearted exchange or a harmless prank among the servants.

Her steps were heavy with worry, and she kept looking back.

Hoping that whoever was hiding behind the tightly closed door wouldn’t commit any wrongdoing.

***

That night, as Rene expected, Alexander did not come home from work. And it was the same the next day.

Renee wasn’t that surprised, as it often happened when work was busy.
Renee, who didn’t really know anything about being a businessman or the car business he was putting a lot of effort into, could only guess that he was too busy to even come home.

Because he was so obsessed in his work, she had once asked him about it. She casually inquired if the business was going well.

He scratched his forehead and responded with an ambiguous smile, giving an unexpected answer: “It’s just something I do. It keeps my mind from wandering.”

Just.

How can he pour so much passion into something he just does? He reduced his sleep, worked during meal times, and even engaged in work-related activities during his leisure or days off.

He acted like if he didn’t work, he would die. Of course, even when he wasn’t working, he was doing something crazy.

For example, he was preparing for a sailing competition, going hunting, going to boxing tournaments, or playing polo.

“Sometimes I don’t even know if Alexander is a human being. He’s on a whole different level from me.”

Renee, carefully walking alongside Josie Chambler with her arms crossed, finally voiced the question that had been bothering her for years. The elderly woman playfully patted the back of Renee’s hand, offering her support.

“Oh, Renee. He’s probably human. I remember the day that little bundle of joy came into the world, and luckily, he didn’t have a tail or scales. Sure, he looked a bit like a monkey, though,” Josie replied, whispered it in a low voice as if sharing a secret. The two women exchanged a giggle, their laughter brightening the air around them.

Their joyful moment was abruptly interrupted by the entrance of the now handsome man who had once resembled a monkey—the King of the Monkeys himself.

“Ladies, please tell me you haven’t been talking about me like this every time I’m not around,” he said with a mock-serious tone.

“Oh, Alexander! Are you just getting in?” Josie exclaimed. Renee startled as she turned to see Alexander lazily yawning and approaching.

As Josie scanned him from top to bottom, she sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. “What on earth happened to you, Alexander?”

His hair was untidy, and the two buttons on his shirt had been undone. He had his shirt rolled up three or four times and looked like a reveler who had stayed up all night at the gambling den. Not to mention the faint smell of alcohol wafting from him.

He smirked and took a quick spin around the room with his hands spread out as if to show off his appearance. “Behold the face of a businessman who has faced back-to-back business trips and late nights. What do you think, am I handsome?”

Josie, still exasperated, placed her hand back on her forehead and replied flatly, “You look like a charming vagrant.”
“Well then, I must be the richest vagrant in the world,” he replied with a smirk.

“Good for you,” she replied dryly.

The languidly smiling Alexander naturally walked over to the opposite side of Renee and linked his arm around his grandmother’s wrist.

The old woman’s knees were getting worse, and she couldn’t walk or stand for long. But sitting causes muscles to degenerate and bones to harden, so she had to take a little walk every day, even if it was hard. Rene often accompanied the old woman on her morning walks.

Before long, Josie Chamberlain, walking with Alexander and Renee on either side, smiled with wrinkles forming around his eyes. The old woman had been laughing a lot more recently.

“…It’s nice. I feel very supported. Walking with my painful legs isn’t difficult at all. I’m so grateful to Renee.”

Alexander raised one eyebrow in disbelief at Josie’s comment.

“Why Renee and not me?”

“Well, that’s obvious. Would you come over and link arms with me like this if it weren’t for Renee?”

At Josie Chambler’s words, Alexander pretended to think for a moment before smiling and agreeing.

“I suppose you’re right.”

“Right?”

Every time this happens, Renee finds herself confused about whether the relationship between Josie and Alexander is good or bad.

It was certain that Josie loved Alexander. However, she never approached her grandson recklessly or demanded anything from him. Instead, she watched him from a distance, interacting with him as if they had greeted each other the night before whenever he came close.

What about Alexander? Like with everyone else, he treated his grandmother with a charming smile and a moderately polite demeanor. He wasn’t rude, but his behavior wasn’t particularly intimate either. It was that kind of attitude.

It wasn’t formal, but the lines were drawn strangely and subtly. And Josie Chambler didn’t seem to know that either.

‘…I simply can’t understand them.’

To understand them, you need to know what they’ve been through in the past, what they’ve built up.

But Renee didn’t go there. No, she didn’t, because that was not the domain of a contract wife with a fixed term.

It would be rude to step into that territory out of mere curiosity. It was like stirring up someone else’s feelings without taking responsibility.

“By the way, you look thin, Alexander.”

“Is that so?”

“Cut back on the drinking. And if possible, on the cigarettes too.”

“Of course.”

Alexander chuckled at the lighthearted nudge, as if to say hello.

“I take it from your blunt answer that you have no intention of cutting down on alcohol or cigarettes?”

“You know me too well, so stop nagging me when we haven’t seen each other in a long time.”

“I’m the only one who can scold you and not get sarcastic remarks in return. I have to push you a little.”

Renee chuckled softly at how true that was, and Alexander glanced over at her to see how she knew. Renee looked away, pretending not to laugh.

Just then, they arrived at the annex where Josie Chambler was staying. The Chambler mansion is located a little outside the center of town, and since it was not possible to build a large mansion in the city, his grandfather deliberately built it a little further away.
They bought two buildings and demolished the middle to create a stunning garden, and the entrance to the building was lined with cherry trees and sculptures to create a grand, flowing feel. It was said to be in the style of Lowellton, the hometown of his grandmother.

It was a place where his grandfather’s love for her was evident in every detail. It was for this reason that Josie Chamberlain stayed here rather than return to the country house on the estate. Part of it, of course, was that “she” was in control of Rivernell.

As Alexander handed his grandmother’s wrist over to Mrs. Randy, who was helping with the work while staying in the annex, he replied, “Grandmother, you need some company. Don’t just sit alone in the shadows.”

“I was going to do it anyway. My legs are tired these days, and it seems rude to leave everything to Randy. I’ve told Andrea.”

“Hmm, it’s a nice change.”

“By the way, how can it be gloomy? Where is there an old person as cheerful as me? Josie glanced at Alexander with an annoyed expression, scolding him.

After handing his grandmother’s hand over to Mrs. Randy, Alexander playfully pulled Renee’s arm towards him, chuckling softly.

“I guess my audacity resembles that of my grandmother. Please go inside. We’ll follow shortly. At this rate, I might fall asleep standing.”

His hot, hard fingers dug deep into the softest joint of my arm. The soft, pure white forearm was gently crushed as the large hand grasped it, and it quickly turned red.

Renee tried not to notice her skin becoming more sensitive, but it only felt like it was burning more each time. In that moment, his fingertips gently stroked that sensitive area.


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