Chapter 31: Chapter 31

DAHLIA:

The chilly look in my husband’s eyes was so frightening that I involuntarily took a step back away from the door.

But all of that was just in a split second. Perhaps realizing who I was, his face lit up into a smile.

“Dahlia, why are you here,” he said in a warm tone as he clicked the door of his study room shut, letting my final chance to see his guest escape into the air.

I didn’t know what to make out of his demeanor. He was like a ghost one moment and then he had become warm and inviting the next… Was his mood really this fickle?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was disturbing something important,” I said. Was this kind and grinning Tristan before me the same Tristan I had seen a few seconds ago? It was a disturbing thought that I just couldn’t erase in my head…

“No, it wasn’t a bother. My business partner and I are about to end our meeting. Shall we go now?”

“Go? But, um… weren’t you just talking with someone,” I said. I could hear my own heart beat race in nervousness. Tristan took another step towards me, and I unconsciously stepped backwards.

“My, my, Dahlly… were you frightened by what you just saw?”

“By what I saw,” I said, trying to feign innocence, “Um no, not at all.” I took some more steps backwards until I hit the wall. “Shouldn’t you… Shouldn’t you get back in there?... I mean, your business partner must be waiting for you…”

The truth was I just cannot forget the cruel look on Tristan’s face that I saw a while back. For a second, he reminded me of the king back in the gardens when he told my papa to kill me…

“Your right, love, I should go back,” he whispered, coming closer to me, trapping me by the wall. “But didn’t you come here to give me these treats? I thought they were for me, or are you just looking for a way to spy on me?”

“S-Spy on you? Why would I do that?” Despite not being guilty at all, I gulped down the fear that was rising to my throat. Goddess, why do I feel so nervous after seeing and hearing all of that?

“Alright then, I’ll satisfy you this once… I’ll take a bite,” Tristan said in a rough tone that made me want to cringe.

He raised his hand over my head. For a moment, I thought he was going to hit me, so I moved my face away.

“No, please!”

It turned out that his hand would land on my chin. He brushed his thumb across my lips, as if to tease me further before he lowered his hand to the plate of cookies and raised a piece to his mouth.

Tristan looked at me with a curious expression. “Dahlia, just now, why did you suddenly look frightened?… Did you think I shall hit you?”

I laughed nervously, hating the way I just behaved in front of Tristan. “I-I’m sorry… It’s just that I was reminded of someone…”

“That someone, did he hit you?... Was he your father? Did I remind you of him?”

I looked back at him with a frightened face. How the hell did he know that?

“Don’t worry, Dahlia… I won’t let him near you again,” he whispered before he kissed my cheeks lightly. “Now, please come back to our room. I’ll wrap up my meeting and join you a in a while.”

I couldn’t look back at him in embarrassment. Did he read my mind, or did he saw it through our mind-link how papa had slapped me on the wedding day?

Either way, there’s no use staying there now. Not wanting to embarrass myself further, I left with the tray of lemonade and cookies still in my hands.

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TRISTAN:

As soon as Dahlia walked away, I turned around towards the door of my private study.

I knew that wretched old man was listening. I could smell his stench right across from where I stood.

Darn, why the hell did Dahlia have to be there at that exact instance? How much did she hear? Judging from how she behaved, it didn’t seem like she didn’t hear much, maybe just the last few lines that I said.

Either way, I have to check later how much she knew. If she had heard more, I need to make a way to silence her.

When I strode back into the study, that trash of a duke was already seated back in his place.

“Just now… That was my Dahlly, right?”

I grinned sarcastically back at him. “Yes, that was my Dahlly.” That’s right. Dahlia is my wife now, and not just her daughter anymore. “It seemed she’s still suffering from some trauma after you slapped her a few months ago… My poor Dahlia isn’t really doing so well…”

The proud duke look dejected. He stayed seated in complete silence.

“I… I never wanted to be a bad father to her,” he mumbled.

“Well then, you can still be a good father to her if you do as I requested. I’ll make sure her secret stays safe, and that she’s safe from the very person who could hurt her the most…”

We eyed each other for a while before I walked away from the duke and went towards the door. Before I turned the knob, I spoke once more. “I was being sincere when I said I would take care of Dahlia. If you cooperate well, she’ll have a wonderful life here, but if you cross me or seek her without my permission, they know that it will be you who put your daughter’s life in grave danger.”

After I finished talking with duke, I called Gideon over via mind-link and instructed him to see that the duke leaves my study and the villa without delay.

Before I was even conscious of it, my feet had already taken me to the person I was concerned the most.

Earlier, I had seen the strange look in Dahlia’s eyes, and I knew she had been frightened. I needed to know how much she heard and what she thought about the piece of information she had known through that conversation.

I didn’t want to start becoming the vile husband that Dahlia deserved so soon, but I guess that this incident had left me with no choice. If there was even a sliver of chance that Dahlia will ruin my plans with her mistrust, I’ll make sure I nip it to the bud…