Given her mental state after Hailo’s sudden appearance, Adeline’s response seemed aimed at easing Cassis’s anxiety.

Adeline offered a gentle smile, seeking to further reassure Cassis.

However, her smile only amplified his sense of betrayal.

Feigning with such a despicable expression.

‘Lovers? What a joke.’

There was no way they could be in such a relationship.

‘You planned to deceive me till the end, didn’t you?’

Watching Adeline with her innocent gaze, he felt his blood boil.

Feeling like a dagger was plunged into his heart, he closed his eyes.

‘Would she do anything for her house?’

Her presence in the hidden villa of Torpeo must have been related to her father Severus, a close aide to the Crown Prince.

Her father, who willingly served the Crown Prince, seemed now to use his only daughter.

‘There was never any sincerity from the start.’

The situation became clear.

As the last thread of hope snapped, Cassis’s patience ran out.

If she continued to deceive him, he would imprint himself on her, even if he couldn’t have her heart.

She would never be able to escape from him.

The Duke pressed Adeline harder, curious to see how far she would allow him for the sake of her family.

He gripped her hands with one of his, just like when he had tried to kill her.

His lips, heatedly descending, lost restraint and delved deeper.

“Then prove it.”

With those words, his lips never seemed to leave hers.

Perhaps driven by the thirst for her heart he could never have, the Duke tormented her relentlessly.
In the study, the furniture that concealed the entrance to the basement had failed to fulfill its role, leaving the basement entrance conspicuously exposed.

‘Could it be in the basement…?’

Adeline hurriedly descended into the basement.

The basement still housed only the tender portrait of a mother and child, along with canvases covered in cloth.

Adeline began to feel anxious.

If the Duke had discovered this basement, he surely would have seen the portrait in front of her.

The portrait depicted a boy with black hair and red eyes, presumably with his mother.

‘Did he remember something after seeing this photo?’

Adeline couldn’t guess what might have happened while she was unaware.

She returned from the basement to the study.

Her mind was in turmoil.

She couldn’t determine who had moved the furniture, but it was possible that the basement had gone unnoticed.

“Hopefully… I’m just worried that he might have seen it and remembered something.”

Adeline moved the furniture back to conceal the basement entrance.

Emerging from the musty space of the basement and breathing the air of the study, Adeline tried to calm herself.

Although a sense of unease began to rise in her, she couldn’t be certain of anything yet. It might just be her undue concern.

If the Duke had regained his memory, she thought he wouldn’t have left her unharmed.

Looking out the window, she saw the sun was setting.

‘He’ll return before it’s too late.’

Adeline decided to wait for the Duke, hoping he was still Mel.

Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me

One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.

Synopsis:

Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.

But this is still far from enough.

He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.

_____

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