~Chapter 40~
After finishing his conversation with the hospital director, Egbert went to visit Lady Barnaby’s hospital room.
He hadn’t visited this room once since the marriage.
Actually, he hadn’t even come before that.
The only time he’d ever met Baron Barnaby was when he visited the mansion before Anais’s wedding and exchanged a few words.
Who knew such a weak connection would become useful now?
Egbert twisted his lips and entered the room. Even though it was a luxurious private room, the hospital’s stuffy smell stung his nose. Egbert frowned and clicked his tongue.
If not for Anais, he would never have set foot in a place like this.
He looked around the room with clear annoyance.
A man who had been reading a book in a chair stood up, startled by the sudden visitor.
“Who…?”
“It’s been a while. Don’t you recognize me?”
Baron Barnaby stared at Egbert, then bowed his head deeply.
“Marquis Graham…!”
Egbert glanced briefly at Lady Barnaby, who looked surprised, then stepped further inside.
Egbert sat across from the baron and placed his hat on his knee.
“Sit down.”
It looked like the guest was taking charge, but no one in the room cared. The baron sat hurriedly.
“Th-thank you for coming, Marquis.”
Lady Barnaby said, trembling. She couldn’t get up, so only her eyes and head moved busily.
“Stay lying down. It’s fine.”
Egbert’s gaze turned back to the baron.
“It’s good to see you’ve been doing well.”
They exchanged a brief greeting. Egbert crossed his legs the other way.
“As you can see, I haven’t been doing well.”
“Ah…”
“I think you know the reason without me saying it. It’s your daughter’s fault.”
“M-Marquis…! Please let me apologize on her behalf.”
The baron hung his head low.
“When I visited before, I tried to guide her, but it seems she wasn’t taught properly. I’m truly sorry.”
“Do you even know that Anna betrayed us?”
Egbert fiddled with his hat.
“What do you mean…?”
“I mean Graham Bank is now in Anais’s hands. You weren’t hoping to take that bank for yourselves, were you?”
“N-no, of course not!”
Baron Barnaby waved his hands in denial.
“If I ever forgot Graham’s kindness, I’d be no better than an animal. Even after I die, I must repay the Graham family’s grace…”
“Anais doesn’t seem to think so.”
Egbert gave a cold smile.
The baron stared at Egbert with frightened eyes, then remembered Anais visiting a little while ago.
He also remembered that Anais had married Duke Constantine.
‘I knew this would happen!’
He had heard that wretched girl took the bank for herself without knowing her place.
Now, because of Anais’s greed, the trouble was about to fall on the Baron and his wife.
Lady Barnaby’s illness was not something that could be treated anywhere. Even at Cesares Hospital, she was only being treated because of the imported medicine funded by the late marquis.
The medicine was expensive and hard to get, so only Cesares Hospital could treat her.
If they were kicked out of here, Lady Barnaby could die at any time.
‘Ungrateful brat. Who does she think raised her?’
Baron Barnaby’s legs shook with anxiety.
Then he slowly slid down to the floor.
“It’s my fault for raising my daughter badly, Marquis! Let me beg for her. I’m sorry, Marquis! Please, please forgive us…”
Egbert wiped his face with his hand.
“Shouldn’t Anais be the one to beg for forgiveness, not you?”
His chest felt tight.
It was so easy to make someone kneel. Egbert had always been the one in power.
But now, Anais kept going against him. The woman who should have understood and loved him the most.
She abandoned Egbert.
And even worse, she went to Baldwin, the man Egbert hated most!
Anais should have apologized to him for hurting and humiliating him.
“I’m truly sorry, Marquis!”
Baron Barnaby bowed his head to the floor. Lady Barnaby’s faint sobs became the background music.
Egbert enjoyed their fearful gazes.
Of course, it was Anais’s fault.
“Your apology isn’t enough to make me feel better. You know my grandfather gave the Barnaby family so much kindness. Even Anais becoming a marquis’s wife was because of us.”
“Yes, you’re right!”
“But this is what I get in return.”
“Marquis…!”
Baron Barnaby looked up at Egbert with tearful, frightened eyes.
“I don’t know why Graham should keep showing kindness to Barnaby.”
“No, Marquis! Please have mercy. If we’re kicked out, she’ll die!”
Lady Barnaby’s desperate sobbing grew louder. Egbert let out a sigh.
“That’s not really my concern, is it? Not now, after all this.”
“…What should I do? I’ll do anything you ask! Please, just let my wife live…”
Baron Barnaby begged, his face full of tears. Egbert narrowed his eyes.
“Since you’re so desperate, I’ll think about it again.”
“Th-thank you…!”
“But nothing comes for free, does it?”
“Yes, Marquis!”
“Wake your daughter up and bring her back to the Graham family. Isn’t it a parent’s duty to correct a child who’s gone astray?”
“Are you saying you’ll forgive Anais?”
“Who else would accept my wife but me? I can forgive a little mistake like that.”
Egbert nodded.
His dark, dead eyes glimmered. Egbert was planning to use every move he could.
Baron Barnaby was his most powerful card.
“One month.”
Egbert said, his voice full of strange excitement.
“I’ll give you one month. No matter what, fix this in a month. If you don’t…”
Egbert shook his head.
“Your wife will end up on the streets. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes…! Marquis, I understand. I’ll do my best, whatever it takes…”
Baron Barnaby panted as he spoke. Egbert stared at the woman lying in the bed, looking like a skeleton.
The only thing she had in common with Anais was her eyes.
But Lady Barnaby’s eyes were cloudy like a dead fish, while Anais’s eyes sparkled like pebbles.
He wanted to see Anais’s eyes.
He wanted to see her.
Egbert clenched his fist.
A honeymoon, was it?
Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!
Just imagining Anais and Baldwin tangled together made Egbert feel sick. That’s why he hadn’t eaten properly in three days.
With a shaking hand, Egbert rubbed his face.
“Hurry up, as quickly as you can.”
Even his voice trembled. Egbert planned to put pressure on Anais from every direction.
‘You can look forward to it, Anna. But don’t be too sad. You brought this all on yourself.’
Egbert stood up, pulled out his wallet, and tossed some bills on the floor.
A wad of bills scattered on the floor like fallen leaves.
“Use it if you need money.”
“Th-thank you!”
Leaving Baron Barnaby scrambling to gather the money, Egbert left the hospital room.
The smell of alcohol in the hospital was still suffocating. Egbert quickly left the hospital.
It was time to go home.
A home without Anais.
That fact felt especially horrible now.
“Mmm.”
After a long trip, my body was stiff.
The villa built on the seaside cliff was breathtakingly beautiful.
Below the cliff, the blue sea stretched wide, and the white building was as dignified as the years it had stood. The brick wall decorated with embossed laurels shone brightly.
All the nearby sea belonged to Constantine, so nobody could enter without permission.
As expected of Constantine.
“It’s really beautiful, Baldwin.”
Baldwin laced his fingers with mine.
Since we left the capital, he also seemed more free. He gently squeezed my hand.
“Let’s change and go to the beach. Together.”
I made sure to emphasize together.
I didn’t want to be alone here. Baldwin nodded lightly.
His agreement made me happy.
It was just a business marriage, but I found myself wanting more and more.
Suddenly, I started to worry.
Desire always grows.
That desire becomes expectations, and as expectations grow, so does disappointment.
That’s a breach of contract, isn’t it?
I gripped Baldwin’s hand tightly.
Just this once.
Just for this honeymoon.
I kept repeating that to myself.
