Chapter 7
**Chapter Title: The Night She Crossed the Line**
The fact that he was sick hadn’t occurred to Adeline at first. She stood frozen for a moment, then crouched down as if she’d only just realized. At her impulsive action, Noah forgot his act entirely and snatched her wrist with a surprisingly light grip.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Young Master, don’t do that. Go lie down. I’ll clean this up….”
“Who told you to do something like this?”
That had been an act. Now it was real.
This woman would probably demand he pay her back if she got even a scratch from picking up the glass, or worse, cling tighter out of that same reason.
Honestly, Adeline was utterly sickening to him.
His earlier act had shattered. Her eyes went wide at Noah’s sudden change in behavior.
Noah forcibly pulled her up and set her a step away from the shards, then finally released her hand. The woman who believed him to be a fragile invalid instead steadied him.
“Are you all right? You mustn’t overdo it.”
This woman had no pride at all.
Noah took a deep breath, exhaled, and forced his emotions back under control.
Probably because he’d become too immersed in the act.
Whether Adeline got hurt picking up shards like an idiot or tried to cling to him using a wounded hand, it didn’t matter in the end. He could simply ignore her.
“Sorry. I was too much.”
“I understand perfectly. You’re fine. Sick people become irritable when they’re in pain.”
He was surprised, but he felt no urge to scold her. In truth, her words hadn’t wounded him at all. Sick people often grew irritable easily.
The unexpectedly gentle reply left Noah speechless. Was this woman doing it on purpose? The sudden wave of emotion choked him; he slammed his mouth shut, then gave a hollow laugh.
“Want me to get a nurse?”
“……What?”
“If you want to play nurse and indulge your petty superiority while caring for a sick person, go to the orphanage. There are plenty of children there to fill that noble lady’s impoverished self-esteem.”
Every single word from him, hidden like a hidden blade behind his tongue, stabbed straight into her heart.
Adeline didn’t take his words at face value. Caring for every single word of a sick person was simply too cruel.
“How am I supposed to be left alone?”
“……”
“I clearly told you I don’t want this. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is for a noble lady to see me acting like this? I’m suffering enough as it is.”
She’d already gone too far to say something like “You’re too disgusting—stop clinging and get out.”
To admit now that his illness was nothing more than an excuse to drive her away would be unbearable.
When breaking the engagement, at least he should have been gentle, tender, and let her down easily. That way there would be no backlash.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“……”
“I don’t love you, but I want the last memory to be a good one. As someone who was once your ‘friend.’”
But Adeline wasn’t someone who would simply be pushed aside no matter how much Noah acted out. This truth had struck Noah clearly after days of his own tantrums.
***
From then on, for several days, Adeline pretended to be sick, rejected the soup, and refused to take her medicine. Noah’s childish pranks left her completely unmoved.
Even more shocking was what Noah witnessed.
“Ugh—!”
Noah deliberately let it out. No matter how seductive the woman was, she was still a noble raised with a silver spoon.
He calculated that, since she wasn’t some lowly maid, she wouldn’t stomach someone else’s vomit.
“It’s fine. Do it more.”
Adeline had once again dodged his expectation. With her sleeves rolled up, she pressed the trash bin to his mouth and stroked his back with a gentle hand.
“Ugh, it’s disgusting—get away from me, you wretch!”
Yet no matter how hard he forced it, nothing came up except bile. Damn it, this felt so bad. Feeling like the act was actually hurting him, Noah pressed his stomach.
“This must all be because of the stress I’m receiving from Adeline.”
It looked like stress-induced gastritis was worsening.
“I have a very strong stomach. I didn’t even expect something like this.”
Damn it. Noah ground his teeth in his mind.
The women he’d met before would scream and run the moment they saw someone about to vomit. They were only nervous that it might splash on them. The only one who had stroked his back and said “It’s fine” was Adeline.
Who the hell was this woman?
“Young Master. As I’ve said before, I took care of my grandmother’s illness. I saw with my own eyes how much a sick person loses herself. That’s why I’m fine, and that’s why I want to stay by your side.”
Noah’s mouth twitched at her flawless act. Adeline remained composed, but her words weren’t. She paused briefly between sentences, as if her throat was catching. It was strange. Adeline had clearly led an extraordinary life. She was an act, but her grandmother surely hadn’t been. The long needle of guilt pricked at his conscience.
“Show me everything. Don’t worry. I won’t make any judgment about you as Young Master.”
Noah swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. If she wasn’t acting, but genuinely a patient, those words would have been warm enough to move even a saint.
“Mother Teresa doesn’t exist, does she?”
He desperately hoped this woman would leave him, believing she had misjudged him.
***
Night finally fell. After suffering under Adeline’s care all day, Noah felt a strange sense of liberation. He began exercising, bending and stretching his arms.
Having been unable to exercise or have sex for days, his condition was a mess.
“Hoo… hoo…”
While exercising, Noah suddenly felt a strong urge to go out. By now the mad party should have started. He thought of the women waiting for him. He could bury his face in their breasts and stay the night. But right now? He could only sweat himself to death exercising.
“I’ve never seen a guy this horny.”
Noah could satisfy his urges whenever he wanted. Sometimes even when he didn’t. Maybe because he couldn’t get it from Adeline, his condition was terrible.
“Sneak out?”
Noah glanced out the window. Adeline should be asleep by now. Even if she wasn’t asleep yet, she wouldn’t stick her head out or come looking for him.
That thought made his neck tingle, the blood vessels standing out.
“What the hell does she think she’s doing, expecting me not to notice?”
She was nothing more than his fiancée. The families had promised their futures together, but the parties themselves had been living like strangers. She was the one resisting breaking the engagement—why?
Noah had once thought Albert’s warning was right. This was the Miller family name on the line. If it got out, it would soil their name.
So he wasn’t trying to notice. He had simply changed his mind to “I’m calculating my own loss.”
“Whatever. It’s not like she’d know anyway.”
The hesitation was short.
Noah headed to the bathroom and took a quick shower. When he opened his closet, wearing only a robe, the knock came.
Tap tap.
Noah tilted his head in confusion. At this hour, the only person who would come to his room was Albert. Why had he come here?
Thinking he should resolve it quickly, Noah flung the door wide open.
“Albert, I was about to say come during the day—…”
He noticed the empty space and lowered his gaze. The woman standing there reached up to his neck.
Adeline?
But she wasn’t the same as usual. It wasn’t a tight dress. A thin pink slip dress faintly revealed her cleavage. With every breath her chest rose and fell. Her loose hair left her fair neckline exposed. Noah swallowed slowly.
“What is this at night?”
“Miller Young Master.”
Adeline entered boldly in her disheveled state. Her subtle floral scent mingled with her own body odor assaulted Noah’s nose.
Noah ground his teeth and stepped back. His lower body was reacting after days without release.
Damn it. This was disgusting.
“I asked what you’re doing.”
“I was worried.”
“Worried?”
Adeline nodded slowly. She lifted her head. Their eyes locked perfectly. She lowered her gaze, then raised it again. She moistened her lips with her tongue. Her red lips glistened with saliva.
“When night falls, people’s hearts weaken. My grandmother felt the same. I was worried that Young Master might… have bad thoughts.”
Who was worried about whom here?
Noah had intended to set her in line. Yet she had the audacity to come to a man’s room in such a slip dress. He needed to scare her so badly she’d never dare step foot near him again.
“Is that an excuse?”