An Incomplete Divorce (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
He lazily cast his gaze out the left window and lit a cigarette he’d taken from its case. Between the tall and short hotels, the Leopold Hotel—still in the final stages of construction—was clearly visible.
So it’s opening soon, then.
Its proud, skyward-reaching silhouette was unmistakably Johann Leopold—arrogant to the core.
Just as Edgar chuckled softly and reached to open his lighter, the door, which had previously slammed shut rudely, now cracked open cautiously. Edgar turned around.
[This is the timeline separator]The woman, dressed in a neatly buttoned blouse and a flared skirt as if to atone for her earlier mistake, looked every bit the prim and proper lady.
“Please forget my rudeness from earlier. I was expecting a guest.”
Her desperate tone, clearly aimed at eliminating any unnecessary misunderstanding, only made the whole thing more absurd. Hadn’t he already seen half of what there was to see?
“She must be quite a special guest.”
Edgar asked with an unruffled smile.
“A lady I met here.”
The woman, who had deliberately stressed the word “lady,” blushed furiously and widened her eyes.
“What brings you here?”
She showed no intention of inviting Edgar inside, standing stubbornly by the narrow gap in the door as if entrusted with a solemn duty to guard it.
“Let’s speak inside.”
Edgar gently smiled and slipped his impeccably polished black shoe through the crack in the door. The tip of his shoe touched the front of her slipper. The woman jumped back with a startled gasp.
Was she really that flustered over something so trivial?
Where had the bold woman from moments ago disappeared to? Suppressing a laugh, Edgar lifted his gaze from her tiny feet and met her wary blue eyes, hardened by suspicion.
“Please tell me here.”
Olivia quickly reestablished eye contact and spoke firmly, though anxiety gnawed at her—worried someone might pass by and witness this absurd situation, especially those noblewomen.
Edgar adopted an apologetic expression.
“It concerns internal hotel matters.”
He lowered his voice as if it were something important, making her hesitate.
Her bright blue eyes, like clear beads, deepened with suspicion as if trying to gauge the truth of his obvious lie. Her eyelashes slowly fluttered down and up several times before she finally parted her lips.
“In that case, could you perhaps come back later? My maid is currently—”
Olivia, who had been politely asking for his understanding, suddenly froze—just as a loud *ding!* announced the elevator’s arrival in the corridor.
Familiar voices echoed down the long hallway. They were Elaine’s friends.
“…P-Please come in.”
Panicked, Olivia impulsively grabbed Edgar’s arm and pulled him inside.
She wasn’t even fully aware of her own actions—only terrified that if those women saw this, the resulting rumors would be unbearable.
Edgar, whose arm she’d seized, swallowed a chuckle. So this was the woman who’d so meticulously erected an impenetrable wall moments ago.
“Are you sure this is alright?”
Now that she’d pulled him in, he deliberately resisted, planting his feet firmly on the ground.
A scandal with the wife of Johann, of all people. As Edgar’s lips curled into a mischievous smirk, the chattering voices drew closer.
“Yes. It’s fine.”
Her tense, fluttering blue eyes were strangely captivating.
“Hurry.”
Frowning faintly, she tightened her grip on his wrist. Of course, her strength was laughably insufficient to move him—but Edgar decided to play along and let himself be dragged in.
Bang! The door shut.
Her heart pounded from the near miss. The noise passed by the room and began to fade.
Still gripping the doorknob, Olivia pressed her forehead against the firmly closed door and let out a sigh of relief.
Once composed, she slowly turned around. The man she’d momentarily forgotten stood right before her.
Alone together in a room with no Anne in sight.
Suddenly, the air felt thin.
She wasn’t planning anything improper, yet his presence made it feel as though they’d secretly met to commit some misdeed.
Sharply alert now, she braced herself against the tension and discomfort that always came with being alone with an unfamiliar man.
Olivia cautiously stepped behind the sofa and placed her hands on its backrest—
as if the sofa itself could protect her, or perhaps as if she might heave it up and hurl it at him in an emergency.
Edgar found her both amusing and baffling. Where was the seductress in this timid woman? He couldn’t reconcile her with the photograph he’d seen—of her entwined with Johann on a lounge sofa in the ballroom.
“Speak.”
There was no invitation to sit. Then again, given how she was acting, he didn’t expect one.
“I heard you sent our staff member away. I hope Lady Blanchet wasn’t offended in any way.”
“No, not at all. If anything, I should apologize. Please thank the Lancelot Hotel for its kindness, but I truly prefer things as they are now. It’s sufficient.”
It was exactly the bland, predictable expression of gratitude he’d anticipated.
“She was apparently quite shaken. I’m told she even shed tears in front of the general manager.”
It was a lie.
“What?”
But the woman’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.
She bit her lip tightly before releasing it to ask, “She cried?”
Her expression was far more troubled than when she’d been wary of him—a sight so comically pitiful that he couldn’t quite bring himself to laugh.
“She’s a veteran staff member who’s worked here for thirty years—a lady deeply proud of her service role. They say she couldn’t compose herself because this was entirely unfamiliar territory for her.”
“I didn’t mean to…”
“There’s no clearer judgment than a client’s refusal.”
“I wasn’t judging her.”
She looked genuinely distressed and apologetic.
“She even said she wants to resign—claims she can’t face her juniors. Losing such a capable employee would be a tremendous loss for our hotel.”
“Resign?”
She repeated the word in disbelief, clearly never having considered such an outcome. Push her a bit more, and she’d likely reverse her decision.
As he looked down at her, Edgar recalled Gerald’s words.
‘There was nothing particularly unusual, except that the bottom of her travel trunk had a double compartment—we didn’t have time to inspect it properly.’
What could possibly be inside?
The odds it contained confidential Leopold Corporation documents—something he hadn’t even hoped for—were slim.
Edgar wasn’t the type to suppress curiosity. Moreover, he’d intended to discreetly plant a maid under the guise of thoughtful hospitality—just to uncover what he wanted—but apparently, inserting a spy was more difficult than dealing with rival companies.
“She was perfect.”
“Really? Then why—”
Edgar tilted his head slightly, feigning deep concern.
“It’s simply that I’m uncomfortable with strangers coming and going. So if someone must leave this hotel over this issue, I’d rather it be me.”
The conclusion delivered by the woman hiding behind the sofa was refreshingly clear. Edgar felt utterly outmaneuvered by her sharp perception.
She was subtly, yet gallantly, threatening him: if he didn’t quietly accept service, an innocent maid might lose her job—all while prodding his sense of guilt.
Yet here he was, the one being threatened.
“That doesn’t sound like a wise approach. A maid driving away a guest? That’d be disastrous.”
Despite her calm demeanor, her blue eyes churned with inner conflict.
“What do you think will happen if this gets out?”
Edgar regarded her with intrigued amusement.
Beneath her round, fair forehead and perfectly arched brows, her dense brown eyelashes blinked slowly.
Each flutter of her lashes seemed to intensify the scent of roses.
“Will anyone take her in?”
He leaned into her compassion. Olivia Blanchet was gentle and kind—so much so that she’d once shared her bed with a maid.
“…Let me meet your staff member. I’d like to clear up the misunderstanding.”
After a long silence, she spoke calmly. The corner of Edgar’s mouth twitched upward.
“You’re truly kind, Lady Blanchet. It’s also a great honor to have you staying at our hotel.”
With a courteous smile, Edgar bowed slightly, then straightened and extended his hand.
After a visible pause, she slowly reached out and took it. Seizing the moment, he pressed his lips to the back of her hand. The motion was swift and precise.
The contact felt soft and cool against her skin.
Suddenly, Olivia’s memories surged uncontrollably.
Back to the moment she’d first met her husband.
Lately, unbidden flashes of Olivia’s memories had begun invading Ji-an’s mind.
Some were vivid, others hazy.
But the moment she’d fallen for Johann Leopold at first sight remained especially sharp—as if it had happened just yesterday.
Olivia Blanchet made her society debut at the age of eighteen.
Once a powerful family dominating Rhondos’s political scene, the Blanchet Count’s household fell into ruin due to Elena Blanchet’s infidelity scandal.
A string of business failures left the count with nothing but an empty shell—his only remaining heir was the illegitimate granddaughter Elena had left behind upon her death.
Olivia Blanchet. Thus, she was thrust into the marriage market.
And just as she was about to be ensnared in the count’s scheme and dragged into a scandal with the Crown Prince, her savior appeared: Johann Leopold.
Johann proposed, and when his lips touched her hand, her heart fluttered.
Olivia firmly believed it was love—because without that belief, she had no reason left to live.
It had to be love.
When the man who evoked memories of her husband straightened his back, their eyes met up close.
‘He really… looks like him.’
Something about that clear, simple conclusion made her uneasy.
Was it his gray eyes that reminded her of Johann? Their appearances were clearly different—the only overlap was that one small trait. So why did she feel this way?
“Oh, by the way—I happened to see you playing tennis.”
As the man turned to leave, he suddenly spun back as if remembering something, making Olivia—who’d been lost in thought—jolt and stare at him.
“You seemed to play for quite a while.”
“Not that long. Just occasionally.”
Olivia glanced pointedly toward the door, hoping he’d take the hint and leave. If only Anne would hurry up and arrive.
“Care for a match?”
“I’m not good enough for that.”
Without hesitation, Olivia gave a firm, unequivocal refusal.
“You seemed quite skilled.”
“Not skilled enough to compete with you.”
“I see. What a shame.”
She was about to politely ask him to leave if he kept talking—when, fortunately, the door opened. It was Anne.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
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This story deserves more hype. People should know more about this.
Sounds like someone is planning to make a misunderstanding between our couple
Here we go again, poor Olivia always getting hurt by men