Chapter 53
“To me, it looked like you were crying out for someone to save you.”
“……”
“And I don’t think the sense of connection I felt between us, however brief, was a lie.”
“…That’s your misunderstanding.”
When I deliberately answered as though it meant nothing, Lloyd returned to his usual gentle smile as though nothing had happened.
“Alright. If you say so, then I suppose that’s what it is.”
Then Lloyd whispered quietly.
“But if you ever need help, come to me anytime, Juliana.”
His whisper was warm and gentle, like the touch of an angel.
Or perhaps sweet and dangerous, like the temptation of a devil.
I deliberately avoided his gaze and rose from my seat.
For some reason, the strange feeling that he wasn’t quite the person I remembered made me uncomfortable staying there.
Perhaps because I stood too quickly, my foot caught on the chair and my body swayed.
In that brief instant, Lloyd sprang to his feet and caught me in his arms.
“Careful, that was dangerous.”
As he spoke, he glanced somewhere before gently brushing my hair aside.
“Be careful, Juliana.”
Come to think of it, when had he started calling me by my name?
He had always called me ‘Madam,’ but at some point, he had naturally begun calling me by my name.
And until just now, I hadn’t even noticed.
When I looked up at him, feeling as though I’d been bewitched by something, he smiled at me like an angel.
* * *
Kallion’s grip tightened around the photographs Layla had given him.
The people in the photographs were none other than Juliana and Lloyd.
Lloyd was holding Juliana tenderly in his arms while brushing back her hair.
And Juliana was looking up at him as though entranced.
Feeling as though his insides were being twisted, Kallion irritably tossed the photographs onto the desk.
He spent a long while breathing heavily with anger he couldn’t explain, then finally managed to calm himself with a deep breath.
Just then, there was a knock.
“It’s me. I brought next month’s estate management budget proposal.”
Speak of the devil, and there she was. It was Juliana’s voice.
Kallion forced himself to steady his breathing, slipped the photographs of Juliana into a drawer, and spoke stiffly.
“Come in.”
At his permission, the office door soon opened and Juliana entered.
She placed the documents on the desk where he sat, then turned as though she had no further business there.
That was when Kallion’s low voice rang out.
“I’m not opposed to you taking a lover.”
At his sudden talk about lovers, Juliana slowly looked back at him.
“But if you’re going to take one, choose someone reasonably handsome and low-risk. A man who can be paid off with money without causing trouble would be even better.”
Juliana’s brow furrowed sharply.
Was he telling her to hire a male courtesan?
She had already ended whatever relationship there was with Lloyd, but Kallion’s words immediately put her in a foul mood.
“Do I have to choose my tastes according to your preferences too?”
At Juliana’s sharp, scoffing reply, Kallion’s brow hardened.
“Don’t be sarcastic, Juliana.”
The sight of him acting like a husband now after telling her not to pretend to be his wife was ridiculous.
No, it was beyond ridiculous. It was absurd.
And anger surged within her at the way he treated her like some frivolous woman who bought men with money.
“Why? Is it giving you an inferiority complex because Lloyd is the complete opposite of you?”
At her sharp jab, Kallion’s brows drew together as he rose.
His eye level suddenly towered more than a head above hers.
As his massive frame stood and took one step closer, Juliana unconsciously stepped backward.
“Juliana. You seem to be under some misconception because you’ve been playing the lady of the house lately. You’re no different from something that was sold to Baldomer.”
“You agreed to that transaction too. Considering you took a wife from a house you hate so much, I suppose Baldomer’s pride only goes that far.”
She deliberately said the words she knew would grate on him without hesitation.
The moment he’d implied that she should go amuse herself with some handsome courtesan, Juliana’s pride and patience had sunk straight to the bottom.
Just how superior did he think he was that he could say such things so casually?
And why did he humiliate her like this when he was the one sharing a room and flirting with his secretary?
She wanted to hurt him too.
Juliana twisted her lips and stared straight at him as he approached until he was right in front of her.
“The souls of Baldomer beneath the ground must be laughing at you, Kallion.”
Kallion’s expression froze as his mother abruptly came to mind.
“So stop pretending to be righteous now. It’s disgusting to look at.”
Bang—!
Kallion slammed his hand hard against the wall Juliana was leaning against.
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