The smile I had been holding all along vanished in an instant.

But that lasted only a moment, as Jenald Johan suddenly raised his voice, as if wronged.

“What does that mean? Who said that? The engagement certificate being forged? That’s impossible.”

Jenald Johan’s eyes, frantically making excuses, were fixed on the distant clock tower.

Knowing the document was fake, Jenald Johan’s actions were all too obvious.

Trust was shattered.

Jenald Johan was no longer the kind person I knew. He was just someone who approached me to swindle money.

Looking at the clock tower was his way of checking if city hall business had ended.

As if proving my thoughts, Jenald Johan, having confirmed the time, boldly pulled my hand.

“Let’s go. To city hall, right now. I’ll show you. That’ll settle it, right?”

I said nothing, and Jenald Johan’s words gained momentum.

“It’s fake? Forged? Who’s spouting that nonsense! Does city hall just let this slide without checking? Don’t worry, Latieana. I’ll go right now and…!”

Jenald Johan grabbed my wrist again, and I forcefully shook off his arm.

“Let go.”

“Latieana…”

“I said, let go.”

The pain from the wrist Hillstain Mathias had grabbed earlier lingered, and Jenald Johan’s repeated rough handling sent unbearable pain through me. My face, struggling to stay composed, crumpled.

Even if Jenald Johan didn’t love me, if he had at least felt the “I like you” he spoke of when we got engaged, he would have noticed.

He would have seen the bandage wrapped around my wrist from his careless grip.

But Jenald Johan never once asked about it. Not why my hand was bandaged, nor what had happened.

He probably didn’t even realize how tightly he was holding my injured hand.

“Why didn’t you tell your friends earlier that I’m your fiancée?”

“Well, that’s…”

“Because you never considered me your fiancée, did you? Be honest. You approached me with this in mind from the start, didn’t you?”

Watching Jenald Johan’s face, pretending to be naive, drained my patience. My voice rose without me realizing.

“Ha… damn.”

Jenald Johan lowered his head, took a deep breath, and ruffled his hair with rough fingers.

“Pleasing you is so damn hard.”

When he raised his head again, Jenald Johan’s expression had completely changed.

“I told you it’s not like that! Just because you got a little prettier, you think I’m blind to everything else?”

With a stranger’s face, Jenald Johan flashed a sly smile. He stepped closer, grabbing my shoulder tightly with his right hand. It hurt so much I let out a groan, but I held it in and stared at him.

“Let go.”

“What if I don’t? What are you gonna do? Hit me?”

“Why? Think I can’t?”

I meant it, but Jenald Johan burst into mocking laughter, as if I were ridiculous.

“Go ahead. Hit me. Hit me and hand over the money.”

“What?”

“You’ve got some money saved up, don’t you? The lord of the castle pays well, right? Feel cheated? Fine, I’ll take a hit, so give me the money you’ve saved.”

The real Jenald Johan was no better than a thug.

“Don’t you have any conscience? At least apologize!”

Now with no intention of hiding, Jenald Johan raised one corner of his mouth in a vile smirk.

“Pfft. Why should I apologize to someone like you, Latieana? You’ve got no one but me, right? A lonely orphan with no one else.”

Was this his true nature? Jenald Johan began plunging a dagger into my heart without mercy.

“You should’ve crawled when I was being nice. Why check the documents? Did you distrust me that much? You said you wanted to go to another country. I was just gonna play with you a bit since you got prettier, then ditch you. Why do you have to make a fuss?”

“Are you… done talking?”

“Not yet. You said you’d get me a birthday gift. Hand over the money you’ve saved. I’ll send you to another country as you wanted. Someone like you, there’s a line of old men who’d pay good money…”

Before he could finish, I swung my free arm and slapped Jenald Johan’s cheek hard.

It wasn’t strong, but his cheek bore scratch marks from my nails, deliberately sharpened for the strike.

His face turned momentarily, but Jenald Johan quickly straightened and glared at me.

“Have you lost your mind? I told you to hit me, and you actually did? Are you crazy? After all I’ve done for you!”

I glared back at the yelling Jenald Johan and spat out my words.

“What have you done for me? Besides forging documents to scam me and take my money, what have you done? Oh, picking wildflowers for me? Or buying me flowers earlier to show off? Or maybe sending letters to check on me for months, planning to swindle me? Which of those was actually for me?”

“You little…!”

My words must have hit a nerve, as Jenald Johan tightened his grip on my shoulder.

That’s when it happened.

“Jenald! What are you doing here!”

A familiar voice came from behind. Jenald Johan and I turned toward the sound at the same time.

There stood the woman who had been chasing Jenald Johan earlier, wearing an apron.

“Damn it!”

Jenald Johan quickly let go of my shoulder. Then he suddenly pointed at me.

As if to show the woman. Wiping away his vile, cunning look, he put on the puppy-like expression I knew and spoke.

“Honey! Over here!”

What?

More shocking than Jenald Johan’s incomprehensible behavior was the word that came out of his mouth. It hit me like a lightning bolt, more jarring than learning the engagement certificate was fake or the verbal abuse I’d just endured. My hair felt like it was standing on end.

Honey? Who? This woman?

Stunned, I gaped, looking back and forth between Jenald Johan and the woman.

The woman, now standing beside Jenald Johan, faced me. He hurriedly added an explanation for her glare.

“You came at the right time! This is the stalker I told you about!”

He was just acting like he’d kill me, and now I’m a stalker?

I couldn’t believe it, but Jenald Johan’s finger was clearly pointing at me, and the stalker he spoke of was me. I could only let out a hollow laugh. Overwhelmed by shock, betrayal, and confusion, I stood there dazed as the woman looked me up and down.

“Is this really the stalker? If you’re cheating again and hiding it, I won’t let it slide.”

“Cheating? I told you earlier! This woman came after me out of nowhere. Look at this! If I were cheating, would I have a slapped cheek? It hurts. Baby, I’m hurt.”

“…What? She slapped you?”

When Jenald Johan showed her the cheek I’d hit, her eyes turned fierce in an instant.

“Who do you think you are?”

“Huh?”

“Not only do you stalk someone’s husband, but you slap him? You want me to beat you up?”

“…”

What is actually going on here?

Speechless, I furrowed my brows and looked at the woman and Jenald Johan, clinging to her side.

His hand naturally wrapped around her waist and arm, holding her close.

I put a hand to my throbbing forehead and asked.

“Are you saying Jenald Johan is your husband?”

“Is there someone else here?”

“So… you’re saying you’re married to Jenald Johan?”

“What kind of shameless woman is this? Can’t you see? We’ve been married for years!”

“…How many years?”

“Three years this year! Three years!”

A ringing sound filled my ears, and my heart pounded wildly.

I’m the one who’s wronged. I’m not the shameless one—Jenald Johan is.

A marriage scam, swindling my money, planning to sell me to old men in another country, and he’s married?

My mind was reeling.

What have I been doing these past few months? Deceived by a married man with a living wife? Thinking we were engaged, sending and receiving letters? And now I’m a stalker?

For some reason, at that moment, Edan Dietrich’s words came back to me.

“Break off the engagement and come back.”

It wasn’t about breaking off an engagement—there was never an engagement to begin with.

The shoulder Jenald Johan had gripped ached. My wrist throbbed beneath it.

As the pain hit, my bleak situation came crashing down as cold reality.

“Hey! Are you listening? Why did a stalker like you mess up my husband’s face? This is assault. I won’t forgive you! Get ready to be sued!”

Jenald Johan’s wife was screaming her lungs out in front of me, but I had no will left to respond. Everything just felt resentful. Jenald Johan for deceiving me so thoroughly, and the foolish me who trusted him blindly.

“It’s all over now.”

With things like this, I was so angry that tears welled up in my eyes without me realizing.

Being scammed by someone I trusted was humiliating and heartbreaking, but I could just report Jenald Johan to the city officials and be done with it.

Even so, frustration and anger surged up to my throat, making it hard to breathe.

I was desperate, thinking today might be my last chance, and I had a little hope.

I thought I could finally escape.

But once again, I failed spectacularly. Today was the absolute worst.

All the times I’d failed to escape before, the fear and terror I felt each time, came rushing back. The wrist Hillstain Mathias had grabbed still throbbed, and Ivy Violet’s unexpected actions left my mind in chaos. Worst of all was Edan Dietrich’s obsessive attitude toward me. In this situation, he’d never let me go.

How can I survive without dying? As my emotions collapsed, I felt trapped in a dark, inescapable maze.

Tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision, and rolled down my cheeks.

And then it happened. Familiar footsteps sounded from behind.

Step, step.

A leisurely gait, unhurried yet approaching quickly. The shadow of a large man reflected on the ground, entering my vision.

I knew who it was without turning around.

“Why are you making her cry?”

Edan Dietrich’s long leg rose into the air and mercilessly kicked Jenald Johan’s stomach as he stood there, dumbfounded.