As If I've Never Loved (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“Eloise.”
“…….”
Her sapphire eyes shimmered with light. A soft gasp escaped her involuntarily.
“Miss Bailey.”
At the calm, continued voice, Eloise snapped her head up.
Foolishly, she had thought he’d called her by name alone—just as he used to in childhood.
‘I waited for you.’
But now it was nothing more than meaningless past—trivial memories from a time long forgotten by him.
And she, too, would gradually let them fade away.
“Hello.”
Eloise gracefully dipped into a curtsy, keeping her gaze lowered to hide her undoubtedly flushed face.
“What should I do? My sister and parents aren’t here right now.”
Thankfully, her voice sounded composed enough. Now it was his turn.
‘Please say you’ll come again next time—and leave. Please…….’
But, regrettably, he stood perfectly still, unmoved.
Though it was the height of a bright midsummer afternoon, an icy silence alone hung between them.
Unable to bear the situation any longer, Eloise parted her lips once more.
“My sister and parents aren’t here right now…….”
“Wait.”
“……What?”
“I said I’ll wait.”
Was she imagining things? He seemed slightly annoyed.
Though he couldn’t be pleased by his fiancée’s unexpected absence……
Just then, the black horse tethered to the garden fence let out a soft snort and stamped its hoof.
He must have ridden here at full gallop without even a carriage. By now, the intensity of his devotion no longer surprised her.
‘He must be upset from the wasted trip. He must’ve missed her terribly.’
She’d never know his true feelings—he remained intensely cold.
Completely unlike how he behaved around Sarah.
She’d thought she’d grown accustomed to his treating her like a total stranger, but apparently not.
Biting her lip helplessly in hurt, she swallowed hard.
“May I wait inside?”
Ansel added this sentence then. Behind him, summer blazed in full glory, yet his voice was as cold as ice.
She had no right whatsoever to turn away such an esteemed guest.
He surely knew this—which made his words an unmistakable nudge.
Eloise absently rubbed the bridge of her nose with the back of her hand.
After all, she couldn’t very well leave him standing indefinitely in this shabby garden littered with stray goose feathers.
“Yes, of course.”
She barely managed the reply before hastily turning away, afraid their eyes might meet.
For a moment, she thought she heard a scoffing breath.
No—it must’ve been the wind.
She really needed to stop overanalyzing everything about him. After all, he was going to marry her sister……
Eloise swallowed a silent sigh and stepped inside. The door soon closed behind her.
[This is the timeline separator]Eloise led Ansel to the dining table.
Though the table was worn, the fresh roses placed there that morning prevented it from looking too shabby—a small relief.
Of course, if he’d truly found this old house and its furnishings distasteful, he wouldn’t have visited so frequently. So her worry was pointless.
Yet Eloise felt she had to think such thoughts anyway.
Alone with him in the quiet house, her nerves were frayed to the breaking point……
“He said he’d find the fabric and return right away, so it shouldn’t take long.”
She tried to sound nonchalant, but her voice trembled unintentionally.
“He took the carriage, so it’ll be faster than walking.”
……Why on earth did she add such a foolish remark?
Annoyed with herself, Eloise clutched the faded poplin of her dress tightly.
The sharp sting of her nails digging into her palms jolted her foggy mind back into focus.
But he acted as if he hadn’t heard a word she’d said.
He didn’t even glance her way—just stared blankly at the flowers on the table.
No, Eloise couldn’t even tell whether he was truly looking at the flowers or had his eyes closed.
Such arrogance was infuriating.
“I’ll bring tea right away. I’ll go wake Mrs. Hurst……”
“No need.”
“…….”
His icy refusal made her unsaid words dissolve uselessly in her throat, her face flushing hot with frustrated humiliation.
Why was he being so harsh to her? Now that everything was proceeding as planned and he was to marry her sister, did he consider her—mere younger sister—beneath his notice?
‘But you’re a gentleman…….’
However she thought about it, such coldness remained incomprehensible.
Perhaps it was absurd of her to wonder this at all, given how desperately she’d been avoiding him.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a sudden, uneasy suspicion rose like smoke.
Could he have noticed the faint emotion in her gaze when she looked at him?
That was an emotion she must never, ever allow herself to harbor.
Not merely because it had no hope of being returned—but because he now belonged to her sister……
Yet if he truly had discerned her feelings, Ansel would surely have reported everything contemptuously to their families without hesitation.
After all, wasn’t he the disciplined heir of a strict military house?
‘Maybe I just looked pathetic—unable to meet his eyes properly, stammering like a fool. I’d feel the same if I were him.’
Whatever the case, one thing was clear:
Even if she liked him, it didn’t mean she wanted him treating her carelessly.
She almost wanted to confront him directly—but couldn’t bring herself to—so Eloise let out a faint sigh.
“Then you’ll wait like this? Alone and bored……?”
“…….”
“……Fine. Do as you please.”
She turned to leave for her room, but a sudden, deep voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Play.”
Had she heard wrong?
“Yes?”
Her pale lashes fluttered faintly. His reply froze her where she stood.
“It seems I’ve unwittingly interrupted you. Why not continue?”
“Why……?”
“At least it won’t be boring.”
Could he possibly be mocking her?
Her skill was admittedly nowhere near Sarah’s—but the playing and singing that had filled the parlor before his arrival had been laughably poor.
“Ask my sister when she returns.”
Cold disbelief numbed her mind. Eloise added stiffly,
“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of making a laughingstock of myself.”
“…….”
He gave no reply.
She immediately regretted her overly sharp reaction—but words once spoken couldn’t be taken back.
Eloise squeezed her eyes shut and turned away limply.
“……Then please make yourself comfortable.”
“I seem to be making you uncomfortable.”
“…….”
His words struck the core of the matter, freezing her legs in place once more.
He seemed to be teasing her knowingly—nothing else crossed her anxious mind.
‘But his voice sounded slightly unsteady…….’
Had she imagined it? He looked perfectly at ease as he gazed down.
Perhaps taken with the summer roses in the vase, his gloved hand slowly traced an open petal.
His raven-black hair remained impeccably neat.
His utter composure—while she’d been struggling so hard to conceal her agitation—made her stomach burn with helpless frustration.
“If you know it makes me uncomfortable, then don’t come anymore. Just invite my sister instead.”
“That’s not possible.”
He smiled. Eloise’s brow twitched—the smile bordered on a sneer.
“It wouldn’t be proper to trouble my fiancée.”
And that statement sounded unmistakably like: “Anyone who isn’t my fiancée is utterly irrelevant.”
“If you know it’s uncomfortable, then why……?”
“To tell you exactly this.”
“…….”
“Get used to it. I have no intention of changing my mind.”
He rose slowly to his feet.
“In future, we’ll meet so often it’ll feel as if we live under one roof. We might even truly live together someday.”
“…….”
What was he talking about? Could it be that Mother, Father, and I are to move into Fairmont House……?
“Isn’t that expression a bit excessive? It’s entirely your family’s decision.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
At that moment, Ansel turned to meet her gaze directly.
“It’s advice—prepare yourself mentally.”
“…….”
His low voice carried such force that her body locked in place, unable to move.
Yet his eyes held such unnerving calmness that her anger faded entirely.
He truly looked as if Sarah were the only one who mattered to him.
His noble-born arrogance seemed to say plainly: “If not for your strikingly beautiful eldest sister—a miracle born into this insignificant household—I wouldn’t deign to acknowledge someone like you.”
‘Those are definitely the same eyes I once loved…….’
Her head spun again. Love and resentment swirled together into muddy chaos.
Even so, she felt she’d go mad with the urge to step closer and press her cheek gently against his.
If only she could bump noses playfully and meet his eyes as in childhood, he’d surely burst into that familiar, ticklish laugh as if he’d been waiting all along.
It would all be just a game—and the Ansel Blaine she knew would return.
Eloise desperately bit down on this turmoil inside her, afraid that if she opened her lips, everything would spill out at once.
All the while, the man’s beautiful eyes remained heavy and distant.
Though they held the clarity of summer, Ansel was piercingly cold.
“Eloise, there’s a horse outside…….”
As if summoned by fate, the door opened—and Sarah’s voice rang out. Her surprised tone followed once she spotted Ansel.
“……Sir Ansel?”
“Good heavens, Ansel!”
With Mrs. Bailey’s unmistakably delighted voice joining in, the house finally came alive with commotion.
Oddly enough, it felt like salvation.
“Sit down, Ansel. Oh, Eloise! Where’s Mrs. Hurst? Haven’t you served tea yet?”
At her mother’s urging, Eloise took a deep breath.
The oppressive tension that had hung in the air had already vanished without a trace. All she wanted now was to rest.
“I’ll go wake Mrs. Hurst.”
The younger daughter replied in a small voice, then fled the room as if escaping.
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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Chapter Comments (1)
Inline Comments (53)
Archibald’s face, when she looked down at him, was faintly flushed for some reas
He likes her! I had my dubts, but not now.
Let’s see how the story develops.
“And I’d prefer it if we didn’t see each other after the wedding.”
What a fucking asshole Ansel is!! 😬🤣 How could Eloise have feelings for him?
Since childhood, Bianca had never hesitated to openly declare what she wanted.
That’s ok… But she’s soooo annoying and desperate 😒🤨
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Where is the 100 and 101 chapters 💔💔💔😭😭😭 why it is not here