Chapter 62

“Unbelievable….”

Her thoughts slipped out as words.

“Unbelievable, right? It really is unbelievable. That money should have gone to me instead.”

It seemed Selina Dunn’s thoughts had also turned into words.

Her thinking itself didn’t seem quite normal.

Yet, paradoxically, her muttering actually proved that everything she had said to Diane so far was true.

When she said it was unbelievable and that the money should have gone to herself, her expression looked more genuine than ever.

“Ms. Selina Dunn?”

“Yes?”

“But why did you suddenly tell me about Viscount Anton?”

Diane felt a bit uneasy.

Whatever happened to Viscount Anton surely had nothing to do with her, but still, there must be a reason why this stranger came to her and brought up such stories.

And the unknown reason made her uncomfortable.

“Why? Is there really no connection between Viscount Anton and you, Ms. Diane Lina?”

Diane’s body trembled slightly.

Strangely, Selina Dunn’s words sounded almost as if she was saying, ‘It’s directly related to you.’

But that couldn’t be….

She did have unpleasant memories of the Viscount and disliked him, but what could those terrible incidents possibly have to do with her!

Just imagining such a thing made her frightened.

In fact, the only person who knew she had been harassed by Viscount Anton was Duke Adrian Wale.

“No, what connection could I possibly have!”

Diane spoke with force.

“Ah… Is that so? I just thought, it’s the kind of story most women like to hear.”

“Ah….”

“Especially beautiful women. That Viscount was always chasing after pretty women.”

“…….”

Diane’s body lost all strength.

Such a hollow reason.

Anyway, the Viscount was always that sort of person, and if she wasn’t particularly involved, she didn’t need to feel so uneasy. Fortunately.

“By the way, how did you end up working at Edward’s house, Ms. Diane Lina?”

Diane wanted to stop talking to Selina Dunn, but unfortunately, the riding instructor seemed to be especially free today.

How did she end up working here?

Well….

Thinking back, even now it was hard to understand why President Edward Wale had offered her the position of home tutor.

He wasn’t a humanitarian, nor did he particularly value her abilities, and even….

Ah!

Could it be….

Suddenly, Diane remembered that President Edward Wale was the prince she had met at Lina Orphanage.

Maybe he had known from the beginning that she was that girl from Lina Orphanage and offered her the job because of it?

No, that was probably just her imagination running wild.

He hadn’t shown her any particular kindness.

Then did he simply want to make her some sort of professional beauty?

No, that wasn’t it either.

She used to think so—until the day she realized the President was the prince.

But somehow, that thought grew fainter over time.

Maybe it was because she didn’t want to taint her memories of the prince any further.

Besides, she wondered if that was just her ego talking.

It wasn’t as if she was the only one offered a job; Gale and the old man had also been offered positions.

“Ms. Lina?”

Selina Dunn called out to Diane, who had fallen silent, lost in thought.

“Ah… I was just offered a position as a reading tutor.”

“To live in?”

Though Diane’s mind was tangled, trying to figure out why President Wale had offered her the job, there was no reason to discuss any of it with this woman.

“At the time, I’d just separated from my family and didn’t really have anywhere to stay. So I chose the live-in tutor position.”

Diane thought she’d picked the safest answer.

“Ah… I see. You had nowhere to stay….”

“Yes.”

“Then if you leave here, do you have anywhere to go?”

Diane wondered why Selina Dunn was asking such things.

She regretted mentioning she had nowhere to stay.

“Not really… I’ll think about it when the time comes.”

“Hmm. That crazy bastard….”

The riding instructor trailed off mid-sentence.

Diane was a little curious about who she kept calling crazy, but didn’t ask.

She had a feeling it wouldn’t be good to know.

If, by any chance, that ‘crazy bastard’ was connected to the Viscount, and also to herself….

Yes, it was better not to ask.

“Well, I’ll be going now. See you next time.”

At last, it seemed Selina Dunn was going to leave.

“Yes. See you next time.”

“Um, but before I go, can I ask one favor?”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“I’m supposed to receive something from Edward in a few days. But to get it properly, I think it’s best not to mention that I met you today. Please keep our meeting a secret from Edward.”

Diane couldn’t understand why her story had to be a secret between Selina Dunn and President Edward Wale.

But she didn’t need to know the reason, and it wasn’t a difficult favor.

She hadn’t even made eye contact with President Edward Wale lately.

She certainly didn’t want to talk to him, let alone mention meeting his friend.

“Yes. I won’t tell him. Don’t worry.”

“In return, I’ll promise you something too.”

Selina Dunn, who had just asked for a promise for no apparent reason, was now offering a promise Diane hadn’t even asked for.

“What is it?”

“If you ever find you have to leave this house and have nowhere to go, you can stay at my place. Of course, not forever—just until you find somewhere else.”

“…….”

Diane looked at Selina Dunn.

Why was she making such an offer?

They had just met, and hardly knew each other.

But Selina Dunn was waiting for an answer.

“Yes. If that ever happens, I will. Thank you.”

In the end, Diane replied that she would.

It was easy enough to say.

She wasn’t likely to accept the offer from this woman who was Edward Wale’s friend and kept talking about some crazy rich guy.

* * *

“Crazy bastard.”

On her way home, Selina kept repeating the same words.

When she’d been offered the riding instructor job last time, Edward had sent a secretary to call her to the hotel, so this was the first time he’d come to her house in person.

He showed up without warning, asked about what had happened to that woman, and even agreed to play Amy’s uncle—a deal she never thought he’d accept. After seeing Edward’s behavior, Selina had wanted to meet Diane Lina herself.

What kind of woman could make Edward Wale so obsessed?

But after she told him about Viscount Anton, and then saw Anton suffer a string of misfortunes starting the very next evening, Selina changed her mind.

At that level, he wasn’t just obsessed—he was crazy.

A crazy bastard obsessed with a woman….

She couldn’t help but be curious about the woman.

She abandoned her plan to approach slowly and decided to get to know her quickly.

First of all, she really was beautiful.

No wonder people called her a professional beauty.

She hadn’t realized Edward was so weak to appearances.

But then, why hadn’t he fallen for her?

It made no sense.

Aside from being pretty, Diane seemed a little guarded and cautious, so it was hard to get a clear read on her.

But one thing was certain: either Diane was completely clueless, or Edward was an incredible fool.

Or maybe both.

Diane Lina seemed totally unaware that Edward liked her.

They’d lived in the same house for months—how could she not know?

Maybe she was just slow, and Selina considered telling her, but felt that might lead to disaster, with Edward grabbing her by the collar, so she barely restrained herself.

As far as she knew, Edward Wale was the smartest man in the world.

He’d graduated from university in just two years—something others took four or even eight years for—and with top honors.

Yet, in front of the woman he liked, he acted like the biggest idiot.

What the hell was he doing?

It wasn’t just Viscount Anton.

When Diane Lina appeared at the opera house, Edward had apparently thrown a fit and tried to shut down the newspaper that published the article.

The article hadn’t even mentioned “professional beauty” or anything like that—just listed the facts.

Edward had never once spoken kindly to her, or even used common sense in his words, so she expected as much, but to think he was throwing money around even for the woman he liked.

‘If you like someone, you should say so—express it!’

Well, expressing it isn’t always the answer.

Considering Edward’s way of speaking, it was highly likely that expressing his feelings would backfire.

Not just likely—almost certain.

“Crazy idiot.”

To Selina, Edward had now become not just a crazy bastard, but a crazy idiot.