Chapter 81
For such a man to be so indifferent to his wife’s search seemed odd even to her.
“I’ll keep an eye on him just in case. Should I assign someone to watch him?”
“If you assign someone, they’ll get caught quickly… Just keep an eye on him.”
“Understood.”
“By the way, I’m planning to move soon.”
“Move?”
“Yes, as soon as possible.”
“Suddenly?”
“I’m uneasy because the investigation is closing in. They haven’t reached this neighborhood yet, but it’s only a 30-minute walk from here to the city.”
“That’s true…”
Yvonne glanced worriedly at Harriet’s belly. It hadn’t been noticeable before, but now, if one looked closely, it was slightly rounded.
“Won’t it be too much for the baby?”
“That’s… something I’m concerned about, but I don’t have a choice.”
Harriet bit her lip and cradled her belly.
“What about a doctor?”
“I was planning to go under a false name. There’s a clinic run by an elderly doctor and a nurse who aren’t interested in gossip. But…”
“But?”
“They said they don’t accept patients who can’t provide identification. They also won’t see patients without a guardian.”
“What? How can they do that?”
Shocked, Yvonne stood up abruptly, her face flushed with indignation.
“Let’s go see the doctor together.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now. When else would you go? Isn’t this part of why you called me?”
At Yvonne’s persistence, Harriet eventually nodded.
Since the topic had come up, they headed straight to the clinic. Fortunately, Harriet was able to see the doctor without having to wait.
The white-haired doctor, after removing the stethoscope, asked Harriet seriously,
“Have you experienced morning sickness recently?”
“I feel a little queasy in the mornings, but I haven’t had any major symptoms yet.”
“It’s likely to happen when you’re on an empty stomach.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“As time goes on, you may feel nausea or even vomit even when you’re not fasting.”
Harriet bit her lip at the doctor’s calm explanation. This was a time when she needed to stay hidden. She couldn’t afford to be immobilized by morning sickness.
“When does that usually stop?”
“It varies for each pregnant woman, but it typically subsides around the fourth month. In rare cases, it can last until late pregnancy, but that’s uncommon.”
Yvonne, who had been silently listening, interjected.
“Is the baby developing well?”
“Since I can’t examine them directly, I can’t say for sure, but it seems so.”
The vague answer made Yvonne frown in disappointment.
“Can’t you hear the baby’s heartbeat with a stethoscope?”
“That’s only possible after 17 weeks of pregnancy. It’s still too early.”
The doctor, speaking firmly, proceeded to give his advice.
“The exact cause of morning sickness isn’t known, but there are ways to alleviate mild symptoms. Get plenty of rest, avoid long periods of fasting, eat small amounts frequently, and refrain from overeating.”
Harriet listened intently, meeting the doctor’s gaze.
“Additionally, drink water often and take light walks. It will help.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”
“You can settle the payment on your way out.”
Nodding, Harriet rose with Yvonne’s help. As the doctor adjusted his monocle and returned to his chart, he suddenly called out to her as she walked away.
“Excuse me… What did you say your last name was?”
Before Harriet could answer, Yvonne spoke up.
“She’s Mrs. Harrington. I’m her maid.”
***
Late that night, after the last consultation, the doctor was visited by another guest. A nurse knocked on the door urgently.
“Doctor… Someone’s here to see you.”
“What is it? I’ve already finished for the day.”
The doctor frowned and sighed irritably. He had a strict policy of not seeing anyone after hours unless it was a life-threatening emergency.
“Send them away.”
Waving dismissively, he returned to his chart. He grabbed his coat from the rack, intending to leave.
But before he could touch the doorknob, it turned from the other side, and the door swung open.
“Wh-who are you…?”
Startled, the doctor watched as a man brushed past him and sat in the patient’s chair, crossing his long legs.
“I have questions for you.”
“Leave immediately.”
The doctor coughed and pointed to the door.
“I don’t see patients outside of hours. Especially not non-patients.”
“It’ll only take a moment.”
“I said no…”
As he turned to leave, the doctor noticed the waiting area filled with men.
“What… what is this…?”
Though they held nothing in their hands, their expressionless faces and sharp suits alone exuded an oppressive presence.
The elderly nurse was already crouched in a corner, trembling. The doctor, his hands shaking, turned back around.
“Who… who are you? What do you want from an old man like me?”
“I told you. I have questions.”
Lennox, speaking in a low voice, gestured to the doctor’s chair.
“Sit.”
There was no room for refusal. Terrified, the doctor staggered to his chair and sat down. Lennox got straight to the point.
“Let me be direct. Two women came to see you today. One of them was a pregnant woman with black hair and golden eyes.”
“Such a person…”
The doctor hesitated, then recalled one patient.
Mrs. Harrington.
He almost blurted it out but quickly clamped his mouth shut.
“I-I can’t disclose patient information…”
Though he spoke firmly, the doctor’s shoulders were hunched under the oppressive weight of the man’s aura.
“Even if you point a gun at me, I can’t help you. I don’t know who you are, but…”
Though his knees felt weak with fear, he couldn’t break the principles he had upheld for decades.
He braced himself, expecting the man to threaten him with a gun. But to his surprise, the response was unexpected.
“I understand.”
Lennox, observing the doctor’s pale face, nodded slowly.
The doctor opened his eyes cautiously, bewildered. Lennox signaled to one of the men in the waiting area, who handed him something. It was a thick envelope. The amount of money visible through the thin paper was substantial, nearly bursting out.
The doctor’s eyes widened in astonishment at the unexpected bribe. Lennox smiled slightly and made his proposal.
“How about this?”
“…….”
“This money… It must have been accidentally dropped it. Of course, there’s no name on it, and since this is your clinic, it would become yours, wouldn’t it?”
“And… in return?”
“You would simply forget and leave one chart behind. And I, having trespassed, would secretly read it. Of course, I wouldn’t take it with me.”
It was a tempting proposal. The doctor wrestled with his conscience. But no matter how he thought about it, this wasn’t right. He couldn’t go against his professional ethics.
Just as he was about to refuse, Lennox, who had been observing him closely, suddenly pulled something out of his coat and held it out.
“Do you know what this is, Doctor?”
“This… this is…”
It was none other than a promissory note with a substantial amount written on it. Lennox extended his long finger to point at a specific name.
“You should recognize this name.”
The doctor’s jaw dropped. His face, already pale, turned ghostly white as Lennox continued speaking in a soft tone.
“It’s your son, isn’t it? He racked up gambling debts and is now being pursued by collectors. I’ve taken over those debts.”
“……”
“If you let one chart slip, I’ll pull your son out of the abyss and even leave this money as yours.”
Lennox, interlocking his fingers and resting his elbows on the desk, whispered like the serpent that tempted humanity in the scriptures.
“This deal wouldn’t be a loss for you, would it, Doctor?”
***
The search for Harriet’s whereabouts was carried out more discreetly and silently than anything else.
Lennox put more meticulous effort into tracking his wife than he ever did when closing a massive contract involving an entire island. While the Vanetti family searched for Harriet in the public eye, Lennox sought her in the shadowy back alleys hidden from view.
He spared no means or methods if necessary. He even promised a fortune large enough for someone to live a lifetime of luxury to anyone who brought him decisive evidence.
Starting with informants and following several leads, he eventually captured the so-called “kidnapper.”
Lennox personally interrogated the man.
Normally, it would have been standard procedure to hand him over to the security forces for investigation, but Lennox didn’t. He had noticed discrepancies in the testimonies of those who claimed to have seen Harriet at the inn that day.
Some accounts pointed directly to Harriet, while others strangely described someone different.
“If the person you just mentioned is Yvonne, then the woman I took wasn’t the Duchess.”
“What?”
“The woman I took was Yvonne. It wasn’t a kidnapping; she hired me for a job.”
As Lennox stumbled through the conflicting accounts and finally confirmed the possibility he had dreaded, a massive shock swept over him like an earthquake.
He thought it would have hurt less if Harriet had been kidnapped and sold far away.
Coco had left him of her own volition.
The moment he realized this, it felt as though someone had split open his chest, grabbed his heart, and squeezed it mercilessly. At the same time, her parting words before his business trip replayed endlessly in his mind.
“Well, I’ll be off now.”
“Are you sure you don’t need an escort? Or at least a guard?”
“Yvonne is coming with me. Besides, I’ve told you repeatedly that I don’t need a guard. The coachman is armed, and I’m capable myself.”
Her firm refusal to take an escort or attendant had been because of this.
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