The woman’s name was Marien.
If Marien hadn’t moved rooms, would she not have died? Perhaps I would have died instead…
Useless thoughts. Sidney took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as if trying to shake off her idle musings.
“Sidney Warden?”
“Yes.”
Sidney walked past Logan standing in front of room 308 and entered the room.
The faded red sofa was covered with stage costumes, and shoes were scattered on the dusty floor.
Sidney’s gaze, which had been scanning the room, stopped on an advertisement poster attached to the wall.
In that picture, Marien was dancing in a revealing black slip, casting a seductive gaze.
“Do you know her?”
“I know her face. Looks like she worked at Cielo Strip Bar.”
Sidney pointed at the word ‘Cielo’ written on the poster.
Though she meant for him to look, Logan’s gaze remained fixed on Sidney’s profile.
“…You look unwell?”
“Someone died in the room I was using. I can’t be feeling good.”
Sidney closed her eyes with a bitter expression. Andy Spencer’s voice was heard from behind.
“Captain, you’re back?”
“The records?”
“All done.”
As Sidney slowly turned around while listening to Andy and Logan’s conversation.
“Lord Warden, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Thanks for your concern.”
“Ah, the body is this way.”
As Andy pointed towards the bedroom, Sidney held up her palm.
“Let’s check here first.”
“Alright.”
She then picked up the flashy clothes piled on the sofa one by one and examined them carefully. Logan stood beside her, receiving the checked costumes.
Sidney spoke while closely inspecting the jewels that made the costumes sparkle or feeling the fabric:
“Piling them up like this will cause wrinkles… They’ll need to be pressed before wearing. It would’ve been fine to just hang them on hangers.”
“Maybe she hadn’t worn them recently, or thought she wouldn’t wear them again.”
“Rather, it seems she stopped by after a long time to take everything away. The shoes on the floor and all this dust…”
Logan rubbed the floor with the toe of his shoe. Confirming that the dust was cleared where the shoe had scraped, he grumbled.
“This much? There are plenty of people who don’t bother with cleaning.”
It wasn’t wrong. Sidney nodded while rummaging through the stage costumes.
After briefly scanning through the costumes, she showed Logan a blue jewel attached to a black outfit.
“Captain, just this black outfit… It’s made of good fabric with real jewels.”
“I see.”
Logan fingered the black outfit before handing it over to Andy Spencer. As Andy nodded and put the clothes in an envelope, he said:
“I thought it was strange for a dancer at Cielo Strip Bar to be this poor.”
“What’s strange about it?”
“There’s a rumor that all the dancers there have strong backers.”
Andy blushed at Sidney’s interest. Logan, who had slipped between the two, gave an order:
“Andy Spencer, find out where this costume was made.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Sidney walked past Logan towards the kitchen counter. It was a distance of just five steps.
She lightly ran her fingertips over the counter. Then she turned around, showing her hand covered in black dust.
“This much dust proves Marien wasn’t living here.”
“She could have eaten out.”
“If she had money for that… she wouldn’t live here.”
Sidney grabbed the counter and pulled hard. With a scraping sound, the counter moved, revealing a dusty floor.
Andy, who had finished his hurried note-taking and approached, picked up a small green ring from the floor.
“Lord Warden, isn’t this a pill?”
Sidney picked up one of the green rings that had fallen on the floor and dusted it off. Then she touched it to the tip of her tongue to check the taste.
“This is…”
Logan, who had rushed over like lightning, snatched the green ring that had touched Sidney’s tongue and shouted:
“Sidney Warden! If you eat like that…”
“Captain?”
Sidney alternately looked at the fuming Logan and the green ring that had been taken away with a blank face.
There was no need to glare and yell like that.
“I’m sure… I told you not to carelessly touch or taste things at the scene.”
“But that pill… there are several of them.”
“What if something happens to you?”
What? Sidney stared blankly at the furiously angry Logan.
Is he worried about me rather than angry that I didn’t secure evidence?
Why would Logan Redford…
“Are you worried about me?”
“What?”
“If not… why are you shouting and getting so angry?”
“…”
Logan Redford’s face scrunched up as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.
Of course not. Sidney apologized to him with a relieved expression.
“I’m sorry. Officer Spencer, will you help me move the sofa?”
“Ah… Yes!”
Andy Spencer, who had been watching the two with a dumbfounded face, grabbed the sofa.
With a scraping sound, the sofa moved across the floor.
As space behind the sofa was cleared, Sidney picked up a black business card from the dust. She flicked her finger to dust it off, revealing gold-lettered writing.
“Captain, it just says ‘Casablanca’.”
Sidney checked the back as well and handed the card to Logan. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the dust off the card.
That obsessive cleanliness again. Sidney frowned as she looked at Logan’s black leather gloved hands.
“It means ‘White House’. A business card without a name or title…”
“Just the word ‘Casablanca’ written there will serve as the card’s purpose. Like an ‘entrance ticket to a secret gathering’.”
Sidney held out her hand, asking for the card back. But the card had already gone into Logan’s pocket.
Should I ask for it again? Sidney hesitated for a moment, then lowered her hand upon seeing Logan’s irritated face.
“What gathering… It must be some dirty meeting.”
The aristocratic society of the Asner Empire was rotten to the core. Official positions were traded with bribes and favors, and corruption was rampant.
How could such people’s private lives be clean?
Recently, nobles had even started openly forming private gatherings to engage in perverted and licentious acts.
The investigation team led by Logan Redford was created by the Crown Prince’s will to eradicate this…
Is that even possible?
Fishing out a few fish from a rotten pond… won’t make the water clean. Maybe the water was dirty to begin with.
A cold sneer spread across Sidney Warden’s face.
“Um… this looks like a box that held a ring.”
Andy Spencer said as he dusted off a box smaller than a fist. After confirming the empty box, Sidney quickly headed to the bedroom.
Ring? Sidney rushed to the bedroom to check if the victim had a ring on her hand.
The bed, walls, and even the floor were all covered in blood as if drenched, and the body was covered with a blanket.
Sidney approached the bed while putting on white gloves. When she lifted the blanket, the foul stench made her nauseous and dizzy.
Suppressing the urge to run out immediately, she completely removed the blanket, and a curse involuntarily escaped her lips.
“Damn it.”
How can humans be so cruel?
Even in a battlefield where people fight for their lives, not like this…
Sidney shook her head to shake off her anger. Then she carefully examined all ten of Marien’s fingers.
“She was wearing a ring until recently, maybe even at the time of death. If she wore a ring from her patron without reselling it and had another residence… Could they have been lovers or in a kept relationship?”
“You don’t think the victim threatened to expose their relationship and the patron killed her, do you?”
“Considering they took back the ring…”
“Sidney Warden, do you think having a mistress would be a flaw for an Asner noble?”
Logan snorted and retorted.
Marriages thoroughly calculated for the benefit of the family, where love was not a consideration.
After producing an heir to continue the family line, it was not a problem for couples to have their own mistresses or lovers.
That’s not to say all nobles are like that. There are cases where couples develop respect and love for each other after an arranged marriage.
Also, though extremely rare, there are people who try to marry driven by impulsive emotions. Something only a fool would do…
What exactly does ‘marriage’ mean to Logan Redford? Did he say those words just because it was a task to be dealt with?
Sidney looked up at Logan and tilted her head slightly.
“Captain, would you be okay with your wife having a lover?”
“How dare you say that!”
As soon as her words ended, Logan burst out yelling.
More than surprise at the unexpected reaction, she felt perplexed. Sidney calmly reminded him of what he had just said.
“You just said it wouldn’t be a flaw, didn’t you?”
“It’s unthinkable in the Redford family.”
“You never know about people.”
“Neither my wife nor I… absolutely not.”
Logan was resolute, as if there was no room for compromise.
Though somewhat uncomfortable due to his arrogance and authoritativeness, the family tradition of staying faithful to one’s spouse seemed fine.
Well, there’s no need to get so worked up about it… Sidney wrinkled her nose and continued with what she had prepared to say.
“What if the victim’s patron was in that situation? If he was a son-in-law who seduced an innocent young lady with love… There would be enough motive to kill the mistress. He would have taken the ring to destroy evidence.”
In a marriage built on love, trust and love would be everything.
Even if not, there might be people like Logan Redford who don’t tolerate infidelity from their spouse.
Logan sneered with an incredulous look.
“You provoked me just to say that?”
It’s the same look as that night. Somehow secretive and intense, like when he was seducing Marien before going to the penthouse…
Crazy. You’re on duty now, and the man in front of you is your superior, Logan Redford. Get a grip, Sidney Warden.
She shook her head lightly and put strength in her voice as if reporting:
“I was persuading you, Captain.”
“It’s a good hypothesis. But someone with money and power wouldn’t commit murder out of fear of a commoner woman.”
Fortunately, Logan no longer acted emotionally either.
Yes, this is just right. Sidney agreed with her superior’s statement and examined the victim’s injuries.
Rather than breaking a marriage entangled in complex interests, it would be wiser to silence a powerless commoner woman with appropriate compensation and threats.
Just as Logan Redford did to Sidney Warden.
As that thought occurred to her, Sidney slowly turned around. Logan’s eyes asked why.
“…I guess not. Just handling it with money or a bit of threats would suffice.”
Now she seemed to understand. Why Logan had tormented her like that.
Sidney Warden, a noble only in name.
She was in a desperate enough situation to be swayed by some money and threats. So no matter what Logan did, she would endure it… In other words, she was an easy target.
“Sounds like you’re talking about yourself.”
__________
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation (Female-dominant)
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.
Synopsis:
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.
He even had his eyes on another woman.
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.
Su Mu expressed her disdain.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
She also wanted to embrace Xie Yi, who had silently stayed by her side in her previous life and committed suicide by taking poison after her death.
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.”
[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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