“Live as my wife.”

He spoke as if requesting something simple.

Yvonne lifted her head weakly and looked at the man standing before her.

Hugo Wenner.

An illegitimate child born between a foreign mother and a nobleman’s legitimate son.

A man who rose from being despised as vulgar to becoming the continent’s greatest tycoon through his own efforts.

A lover who resembled a stray dog—full of wounds and wariness, unable to be tamed anywhere—who had seemed both pitiful and entirely lovable. And……

The man she had cruelly stabbed and abandoned.

Hugo’s face was too emotionless to believe he was a man who had just proposed.

Yvonne was convinced her mind had gone strange from being confined in a mental hospital, but his proposal continued.

“This will be quite an enjoyable deal for both of us. You can use me to get revenge on the Greenwood family, and I……”

“……”

“I’ll be able to watch your downfall up close—you who once abandoned me.”

A cold smile spread across Hugo’s lips.

Yet Yvonne merely stared at him listlessly, without showing even a trace of indignation.

Displeased with her attitude, Hugo instantly closed the distance between them.

He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“If your apology to me was sincere, then you should give me ample time for revenge—that would be fair, wouldn’t it?”

His pitch-black eyes, like those of the grim reaper, grew even colder.

“It would be too unfair to let you go peacefully after everything I’ve suffered.”

She couldn’t tell if what lay in those dark eyes was vengeance directed at her or obsession born from a fragment of affection.

Yvonne squeezed her eyes shut against his persistent gaze that scrutinized her features.

She felt his warm breath touch her frozen nose tip several times before pulling away.

“So, Yvonne Rosier, once a noble lady and mistress of your household. Accept me as your husband of your own volition.”

His deep voice resonated through the frozen air around them.

“This Hugo Wenner—an illegitimate child, a vulgar and crude businessman with nothing but money to his name.”