After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 221

A shadow fell across his head. Night had crept in before he realized it, and Dehart felt the sudden drop in temperature. His eyes glinted in the darkness.

This place…

He recognized the signs all around him—places mentioned repeatedly in intelligence reports.

As Dehart swept his gaze over the familiar area, Roden came to a stop. Calmly, Roden surveyed his surroundings, but of course he couldn’t spot Dehart and Eli that were hidden in the shadows.

“Hm.”

Roden ran a hand through his hair and opened the door to what looked like an ordinary tavern. As the door swung open, a rush of noise and warmth spilled out into the damp street.

But the moment the door closed, all of it vanished like a mirage.

“Aha.”

Dehart, hidden in the shadows, let out a cold laugh. He felt he had done a good thing when he hadn’t just sat around waiting for reports and had decided to act himself.

“Did you see that?”

“I did.”

Dehart replied tersely, immediately turning away. He slipped into a narrow alley and soon found the back door of the tavern Roden had entered.

Gripping the handle of the rusty iron door, he recalled what he’d just seen inside.

A man sat near the entrance, a woman draped over his arm, drinking without a care. But as soon as the door opened, he instantly sobered, turning to Roden with an expectant look—as if he’d been waiting all along.

That man was none other than Nathan Wheddon.

* * *

It was well past evening, and Dehart still hadn’t returned.

At first, Sebelia had tried to stop Claude from tearing through the documents in the study out of guilt, but as time passed, she found herself growing more and more inexplicably irritated.

Ironically, it was Claude’s training that had instilled the value of brazenness and boldness in her in the first place.

“I never imagined Nathan was doing things like this.”

“You okay, Bella?”

“I’m not exactly shocked. I just can’t believe someone who claims to value honor could act like this.”

Sebelia recalled how Nathan once came to her and tried to hit her for ‘tarnishing the family’s reputation.’ It was ridiculous.

He treated me that way, and meanwhile he was going around doing all these filthy things…

The documents Claude found didn’t reveal Dehart’s whereabouts, but they laid bare just how much of a hypocrite her brother really was.

He specifically targeted naïve young ladies from the countryside, seduced them, then abandoned them cruelly.

The spy called it rumor, but if it was being reported as a serious matter, there had to be some truth to it. Sebelia rubbed her temples, groaning.

For girls just entering society, the heir to Wheddon Marquisate would have seemed an attractive prospect. And sadly, Nathan was a handsome man despite his awful character.

She couldn’t help but feel heartsick, thinking of those girls who’d fallen so easily into his trap.

But the next part was even worse.

“It’d be bad enough if that’s where it ended… but this seems even more serious. If the girl’s parents pushed back, it says here the victims simply disappeared without a trace.”

How did this all stay hidden for so long? Claude muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sebelia let out a deep sigh. If a parent had confronted the man who had abused their daughter and demanded Silas that their daughter and Nathan marry, there was only one possible outcome.

And soon after, their daughter vanished—without a word, like a ghost.

She clutched her aching head, struggling to piece it all together. Something clearly didn’t add up. They must have done something, some trick…

But what?

As Claude moved closer, worried, Sebelia suddenly looked up, a realization dawning on her.

“That d**g.”

“What?”

“The d**g they tried to make me take—they must have used it on others first.”

The colorless potion that stripped away one’s will and compelled them to obey a specific person’s orders… To make something that effective, they’d need many tests.

And those tests would need subjects.

If they’d given those girls the d**g and ordered them to kill themselves… Sebelia clenched her teeth and tried to stand, only to stumble.

Claude caught her just in time, with an anxious voice.

“If I had known this, I wouldn’t have let you in here.”

“No, it’s fine.”

She shook her head firmly. If Claude hadn’t dragged her into the office, she would have never learned the truth.

Sebelia decided not to regret coming here. As Claude said, sometimes they have to be bold, even reckless, if you want to discover the truth.

Brazenness and courage are dangerous, but…there are things you can only know if you’re willing to take risks.

Sebelia teadied her breath and turned to Claude, her voice full of conviction.

“Thanks for giving me that push, Claude. I almost missed this entirely.”

“You sure have a way with words. But I like it.”

While mentor and student found their resolve in the study, not far away, in a dark alley, Dehart made his way back to the manor, hauling a sack big enough to fit a grown man.