Chapter 57
After what felt like an eternity of kissing, sucking, and grinding, the couple finally finished their business and left the lounge. Damian thought he had safely weathered the storm.
He assumed Shirley’s shocked expression was purely due to the sudden, unexpected situation. But it didn’t take long for him to realize—it wasn’t just that.
Ever since the coming-of-age ball, something about Shirley had changed.
For example—
“……”
Damian’s gaze remained fixed on Shirley. Her expression was anything but bright. It bothered him, so he kept watching her.
After dancing with him earlier, she hadn’t danced with anyone else.
Several times, young nobles had approached her, but each time, she refused them all.
Even if she wasn’t dancing with others, her darkened expression weighed on his mind.
It was obvious she was avoiding him, and he had considered leaving her be. But in the end, he set down his champagne glass and walked toward her.
“Shirley.”
“Hm?”
She was sitting in a corner of the garden, barefoot, lightly kicking the wall with her heels.
Dressed in a white silk gown, her hair loosely tied, and a violet flower crown resting on her head—she looked like a fairy straight out of a myth.
She was staring at her slightly swollen feet, lost in thought.
At Damian’s call, she lifted her head.
“Damian.”
Her gaze held a hint of flustered confusion. Why that expression? Damian clenched his fist, resisting the urge to ask outright.
Truthfully, she had been like this ever since the coming-of-age ceremony—ever since she saw those idiots going at it.
She was lost in thought, stealing glances at him, sighing quietly to herself, sometimes startling at nothing. Even when they were together, her mind seemed elsewhere.
My Shirley.
The girl who, since childhood, had known no one but him—who had never kept a single secret from him.
“Why did you come out here?”
Damian’s voice was dry as he spoke. Shirley avoided his gaze, looking back down at her feet.
“Does your foot hurt?”
He knelt on one knee in front of her.
“Ah—you don’t have to—”
Shirley quickly curled her foot back, tucking it beneath her dress. But Damian’s swift hand caught her ankle, pulling it toward him.
“Stay still.”
Her foot, which had been wriggling in the air, finally went limp under his grip.
“It does hurt.”
His long fingers pressed firmly into the arch of her foot.
“Ah—!”
A soft whimper escaped Shirley’s lips.
“Gently…!”
She squirmed, and a faint smirk tugged at Damian’s mouth.
“Bear with it. You’re being dramatic.”
“I’m not…!”
She grumbled, but as Damian’s fingers worked in slow, firm circles, she quietly shut her eyes, savoring the relief.
“I really hate high heels.”
“Then don’t wear them.”
“Then I’ll be the only one left looking like a little kid.”
Shirley’s eyes widened as she retorted.
“I absolutely hate that idea. Standing next to you, I’d probably look like a bug clinging to a tree.”
“You don’t like that I’m tall?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, but…” Her voice trailed off into a mumble.
“I just hate feeling small next to you. You’ve always been like that.”
There was no one who knew her better than him. That was how it should be. He had always been by her side—the only man in her life. And that was how it would stay.
“……”
“I said you don’t have to!”
Shirley yanked her foot out of his grip, raising her voice.
“……”
Embarrassed by her own outburst, she quickly glanced at him, gauging his reaction.
“I—I think I’ll head back now. You don’t have to walk me. I’ll take my family’s carriage.”
Shoving her foot back into her shoe haphazardly, she dashed off like Cinderella fleeing the ball, leaving Damian with no choice but to watch her go.
What is it?
What am I missing?
What shook Shirley like this? What’s putting cracks between us?
Could it be…
Did another man appear in her life?
No.
He shook his head. That can’t be. Shirley’s surroundings were under his thorough surveillance.
There had never been anyone lingering around her, nor had she ever shown interest in anyone else.
Then why?
No matter how much he thought about it, the only thing that could have affected Shirley this deeply was witnessing that shameless couple entangled like cockroaches at the coming-of-age ball.
And clearly, it left a very negative impression.
His suspicions were confirmed a few days later.
“Wouldn’t you know if you just tried sleeping with him once?”
The moment he raised his hand to knock, Melissa’s voice froze him in place.
What the hell is she saying? He had never liked Melissa.
She was too blunt, too honest—her words had the potential to wound Shirley or plant harmful ideas in her head.
But she was also one of Shirley’s few friends. Shy and reserved, Shirley struggled to make connections, and as his brother’s fiancée, Melissa was someone he couldn’t just cut off.
And now, today, she had dropped this bombshell.
“Wouldn’t you know if you just tried sleeping with him once?”
The statement itself was shocking enough, but the fact that it stemmed from Shirley agonizing over whether she could fulfill her marital duties with him—that was enough to make his vision go red.
Still, he wanted to hear it from Shirley herself. Not eavesdropped, not secondhand—straight from her lips.
But—
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