Get Lost
Even if he was a bewitching devil, Chloe was more than willing to let herself be enchanted by one this handsome.
“I heard you weren’t feeling well. I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. Business kept me swamped.”
At Ray’s tenderly whispered words, Chloe stammered out a reply.
“I-it’s fine. I understand.”
Stop stuttering. Get a grip.
“Thank you. I knew you’d understand.”
Ray flashed a bright smile after his honeyed whisper.
If he smiled at her like that a few more times, her heart might just stage a dramatic runaway.
She was busy screaming What kind of blessing is this? inside her head when—
“It’s been a while, Lady Chloe.”
Chloe, who had been completely lost in Ray’s face, snapped back to reality at the cheerful voice that finally registered.
The owner of the voice was the beautiful woman standing behind Ray.
Her brilliant golden hair, reminiscent of sunlight, and her pink eyes, like cherry blossom petals, brought to mind sweet ice cream.
“Who…?”
Chloe asked, trying not to sound intimidated.
Even Chloe’s reflection in the mirror had been strikingly pretty, but the woman standing across from her now transcended mere prettiness.
“Oh my, have you forgotten me already? It’s me—Erma.”
“Erma?”
Erma’s hand rested possessively on Ray’s shoulder.
The sight was far too intimate for anyone to mistake them as mere colleagues, and Chloe’s eyebrows shot upward.
The fluttering excitement she had felt toward Ray cooled in an instant.
“Erma is my secretary and an old friend. We’ve known each other for ages—why the sudden surprise?”
Ray smiled, bright as sunshine.
Secretary and old friend.
In other words, they were practically glued at the hip.
Noticing Chloe staring at their joined hands, Erma let out a soft laugh and withdrew her fingers.
Oh, I see how it is.
The dreamy haze in Chloe’s mind cleared as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her.
I never could stand this kind of nonsense.
Chloe gave a crooked smile, relaxed her rigid posture, and leaned lazily against the back of her chair. She crossed her legs and picked up her teacup again.
It had cooled a bit, but the fragrance was still lovely.
“You came to see your fiancée, yet you brought your secretary along?”
Chloe’s voice had grown noticeably sharper and colder, but Ray seemed oblivious as he answered with the same radiant smile.
“I came straight from work. My apologies.”
His expression showed not a shred of genuine remorse.
Erma—or whatever her name was—confidently took the seat beside Ray. The two sitting side by side were blindingly well-matched.
“What exactly did you come for?”
The heart that had been fluttering moments ago froze solid by the second.
“What else? I came to collect on the promise you made last time.”
“What promise did I make?”
A sense that something was off made Chloe’s voice sharpen automatically.
“You said you’d invest in my business.”
“I did?”
Chloe pointed at herself as she asked.
“You were pretending not to know in front of Erma earlier, but this joke is getting a bit much. Still, it’s amusing, so I don’t mind. When it comes to anything involving you, Chloe, I’m fine with everything.”
I’m not so sure I am.
Instead of answering, Chloe fixed him with a cold stare and waited for him to continue.
“I heard money has been circulating nicely in the Grace Territory lately. Maybe it’s all a sign that our endeavors are meant to succeed. I was just thinking—”
“What kind of business is it?”
“What?”
It was the first time Chloe had ever cut him off mid-sentence, so Ray’s eyes widened in shock.
“I asked what business it is. My memory’s been a bit fuzzy lately.”
“Chloe, your forgetfulness has gotten really bad. How could you not remember my business?”
The situation was more serious than she’d thought.
The truly dumbfounded one was Chloe, yet Ray was the one chuckling as if he couldn’t believe it.
“You promised to invest without even knowing what the business is?”
“Because you trust me. My success is your success, after all. Right, Chloe?”
Ray whispered in a sweet, coaxing voice.
This crazy bastard!
He’d run the territory into the ground and decided to leech money off his fiancée?
And from someone who clearly saw her as an easy mark?
She didn’t even need to see it to know how pathetic the servants must have found the original Chloe.
Completely unaware of the rage boiling inside her, Ray continued in a voice dripping with honey.
“I don’t need that much. We originally agreed on fifty gold, but since the Grace Territory is apparently flush with money these days, just invest five hundred gold. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have a fiancée like you, Chloe.”
Ray suddenly stood, moved to sit beside her, and spoke in that same sugary tone. The moment he sat down, a heavy wave of perfume assaulted her nose.
He reached out with his long, elegant fingers and gently stroked her cheek.
Everywhere those pale fingers touched, Chloe felt goosebumps erupt.
The cloying scent of his perfume nearly paralyzed her sense of smell.
“Can you give it to me today?”
His lips drew closer and closer to her cheek.
Ignoring the man putting on his little performance beside her, Chloe fixed her gaze on Erma sitting across from them. The woman had been scowling in clear displeasure, but the moment their eyes met, she beamed as if nothing had happened.
I’m not letting these two snakes get away with this.
Stupid Chloe. Idiot Chloe. Pathetic Chloe.
No words seemed sufficient to describe just how much of a pushover the original Chloe had been.
But that pushover Chloe was gone now.
“When can you give it to me? I’d like to take it today,” Ray whispered, his lips hovering so close they nearly brushed her cheek.
Chloe couldn’t hold back any longer. She grabbed his plump, roe-like lips with her hand and clenched her teeth.
“Get lost.”
Ray, who had been smiling leisurely while leaning into her cheek, now had his snout seized. His eyes bulged as if they might pop out.
Even his beautiful green eyes looked like cheap plum-flavored candy right now.
“?”
Caught completely off guard, Ray blinked rapidly, his lips still trapped.
The wet, squishy texture against her fingers disgusted Chloe. She wrinkled her nose and yanked her hand away. Whatever he had on his lips made them slick and sticky.
“I said get lost.”
Without even glancing at the dazed Ray, Chloe stood up.
She turned to Erma, who wore an equally stunned expression, and asked,
“Who do you think you are, following him here?”
“Pardon?”
“Not only shameless, but stupid too. You two really are perfect for each other. I’ll step aside, so go ahead and enjoy yourselves. And stop coming here to beg for money like beggars.”
“Chloe! How can you say such harsh things!”
Ray shot to his feet and protested.
Every time he moved, the cheap perfume stabbed at her nose until she thought her sense of smell might actually die.
Chloe scrunched her face in utter disgust, whirled around, and jabbed a finger into his chest as she warned him.
“I have no intention of investing in you, and I have no intention of marrying a man who sees me as an easy mark. So why don’t you and your precious friend get lost? Butler!”
“Yes, My Lord!”
Handsome, who had been waiting outside the door, burst into the room at the sound of Chloe’s voice.
“Never let these people in again.”
At the sharp edge in his lord’s voice, Handsome’s eyes darted around, trying to make sense of the situation.
Everyone employed at Grace Castle knew about Lady Chloe’s obsessive love and attachment toward her fiancé.
Yet the scene unfolding before him now was completely different from anything he had known.
“Chloe! There must be some misunderstanding. Erma and I are nothing to each other. I only have you. What am I supposed to do if you act like this now!”
“Ray!”
Shocked by Ray’s desperate words, Erma grabbed onto him and cried out.
But Ray shook off the woman approaching his side and moved toward Chloe, pleading.
The force with which he shoved her made Erma lose her balance and tumble to the floor.
Large tears quickly filled Erma’s wide eyes.
Sprawled on the floor like a tragic mermaid, she looked exactly like the pitiful heroine of some melodrama.
“Ray!”
“Shut up! Why did you follow me all the way here and cause this mess!”
Ray roared at Erma, who was still calling his name from the floor.
Chloe had no desire to deal with the repulsive pair any longer and strode out of the drawing room. But Ray followed right after her, wrapping her in a desperate hug from behind.
Chloe never imagined she could come to hate a romantic back hug this much.
“I didn’t know you hated Erma so much. I’ll come alone next time, okay? So please don’t go. Let’s go somewhere quiet, just the two of us…”
The whisper in her ear sent shivers down her spine.
Ray’s hand slyly caressed her stomach and slowly traveled upward. Has this bastard lost his mind?
Shuddering, Chloe violently tore his arm from around her waist.
She turned to face him, smiled sweetly, and asked,
“Is Erma really nothing to you?”
“Of course! I only have you.”
“Then what a shame.”
“W-what?”
“You’re nothing to me either.”
“Chloe!”
Ray’s eyes flashed with anger as he seized her arm in a tight grip.
He squeezed so hard that a cry of pain escaped Chloe’s lips.
“Ow!”
“My Lord!”
The butler, who had been hovering anxiously nearby, rushed forward and pried Ray off her.
For all his slickly handsome face, Ray apparently had no strength; he was easily pulled away. In both build and height, he was far smaller than Handsome.
“Butler. Get rid of them immediately. They’re making my eyes and nose rot.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
The moment the order left her lips, Handsome sprang into action, summoning other servants to drag the pair away.
“Chloe! It doesn’t have to be five hundred gold—fifty is fine! You promised to give it to me today!”
That level of shamelessness must have been nurtured by the old Chloe.
Chloe shook her head in disbelief and shouted,
“Anna! Bring the salt! Use the coarse kind!”
“Huh? Where would we use that expensive salt…”
“Expensive? The salt? Then just throw them out.”
Chloe had been yelling, but quickly changed her mind at the mention of salt’s cost.
Even salt felt too precious to waste on those two.