CWMBR 54

Chapter 54

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*Present

“I don’t need that sort of thing.”

Of course, Bridget already knew that her meager fortune wouldn't amount to much of a reward for Ain. But this question was merely a formality. To gauge how best to manage the assets in her name, she needed to understand all the variables as much as possible.

Bridget nodded and replied.

"Then I'll trust your word and not sell the mansion just yet."

"Bridget, what you said earlier..."

"Have you chosen my legal representative?"

Bridget immediately cut Ain off again. Ain let out a hollow laugh at her stubborn demeanor.

Regardless, Bridget continued without even glancing at him.

"I told you to choose whoever suits your preference. Or you could just appoint anyone Mr. Rogers knows; that would make communication easier. If any documents are needed, I'll prepare them. Just decide as quickly as possible and let's proceed."

"Does it really not matter to you how our marriage turns out?"

Bridget, who had been distractedly flipping through the papers on the desk the whole time, paused.

"That sounds incredibly strange."

She looked up at Ain with a vague expression, as if she’d heard something peculiar.

"You're the one who made our marriage worthless in the first place."

It was truly ridiculous that he was now trying to salvage something. Bridget didn't even want to know what lay beneath Ain's sudden change. At the same time, she hated seeing him like this and wanted to sneer at him somehow. Her desire to avoid him and her urge to lash out fiercely clashed.

Bridget suppressed her turbulent emotions and averted her gaze once more. She chose a silence bordering on resignation.

The royal investigators mentioned they had other cases to look into, but promised to prioritize the lawsuit and wrap it up quickly. It might just be empty words meant to sound good, but still, they were officially dispatched by the royal court—would they lie outright? Facing Ain like this would end soon enough if she just endured it a little longer.

There was no reason to stir up unnecessary trouble.

When Bridget fell silent, a heavy quiet descended on the office. Perhaps realizing she had no intention of discussing that night's conversation, Ain didn't bring it up again either. Instead, he shifted the topic.

"I heard reporters have been lurking around here. It seems someone deliberately summoned them... Those bastards don't give a damn about the Wise family or the royal court."

Of course, Ain didn't believe he could silence all the press. In fact, Bridget had found it odd that since returning to Glynford, she had carried on with her daily life as if nothing had happened. Like it or not, the Wise couple's story was a topic newspapers covered frequently. In that sense, Ain’s remark about reporters appearing in the area wasn't surprising at all.

However, the explanation that followed did give her pause. His suspicion that someone had deliberately summoned them. Loitering nearby meant they were targeting Bridget. Since Bridget was an easier target than Ain, anyone in this situation would go after her, but...

Lost in thought, Bridget let out an involuntary gasp.

"Ah, Donna."

"Donna?"

Ain looked puzzled. Bridget glanced at him and said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Donna knows a lot of journalists. She's close with a few media company presidents too."

Donna often boasted about her connections to Bridget. The contacts she flaunted fell into two main categories: influential local figures who couldn't be ignored, or loyal fans who wouldn't hesitate to do risky or even illegal things for her.

"You think she bribed the reporters? Why would she do that?"

That was precisely what Bridget wanted to know most. Why would she go to such lengths to push Bridget down a bad path?

"Would you ask her for me? Why does she hate me so much?"

When she asked the question in a matter-of-fact tone, Ain narrowed his brows. As if her question was strange.

"I had no connection to her. We had ties in the past, and it's true I listened to her words."

He was spouting excuses when he suddenly stopped. He probably realized Bridget had no intention of listening to his justifications.

But then again, even if Ain and Donna had done something wrong, Bridget had no talent for digging up evidence. Hiring someone to investigate? The moment she asked someone to look into Ain Wise, he'd rush straight to Ain and confess everything. Or Ain would pay extra and bribe them instead.

But did that mean she believed Ain's claim that the two had no relationship? Well... she had already seen how many times Ain had judged her based solely on Donna's words.

Bridget rubbed her forehead and let out a short sigh. The fatigue amplified automatically as the past time spent agonizing over the two of them came flooding back. Ain, misinterpreting her expression, frowned and pointed out.

"Shouldn't you get proper treatment?"

Bridget glanced at him, still touching her forehead.

"If you collapsed on the street, shouldn't you at least go to a large hospital with proper equipment for a thorough examination?"

The words "If you're going to talk nonsense, just leave" surged to her throat. But Bridget suppressed her irritation and reminded herself once more that Ain hadn't abandoned her when she collapsed.

Even though he was her legal husband who had abruptly demanded she stop lying after her miscarriage and subjected her to outrageous insults, he had saved her life once... So she decided to tolerate his nonsense just for today.

"I already saw Magnus."

"I don't consider him a skilled physician."

"He was the doctor who looked after me at Breford Manor. He knows my condition best."

From Bridget's perspective, Magnus was the most comfortable choice either way. Since he knew her situation better than anyone, she didn't have to give him a long, detailed explanation.

"There were other doctors in Breford. Why insist on that old doctor? Because of personal connections?"

"You really don't know why?"

Bridget paused, looking at Ain with a half-smirk. Staring intently into the blue eyes fixed on her, she murmured softly.

"Wow, you really don't know."

Good heavens, Bridget was genuinely astonished. Ain was asking this because he genuinely didn't know?

Bridget chuckled in disbelief, then let out a hollow sigh.

Ain didn't know this. It was both absurd and irritating, but in that moment, she felt physically drained as she realized just how different worlds she and this man lived in.

"I was refused treatment."

That happened not long after she arrived in Breford. It was the height of the newspapers' sensational coverage of the tragic marriage of Ain Wise, who'd stopped by the small town and gotten his life ruined by getting caught up in a scandal. Ain, who usually managed his own stories with obsessive care, hadn't blocked the news of their disastrous wedding at all. Thanks to that, news of Bridget Wise had spread quickly to every corner of the small town.

Journalists, after all, were a breed that treated grabbing attention with sensational stories as some great achievement. Bridget felt a slight disappointment that Ain hadn't even issued a proper warning to the newspaper, but remembering the contempt he had shown her, she silently accepted the situation. Unfortunately, however, Bridget hadn't fully grasped the influence that newspaper would wield over the local community.

"Everyone refused to treat me, worried that getting tangled up with me might lead to trouble with Lord Wise later. Plus, the mansion being so isolated in the mountains provided a perfect excuse."

It wasn't just doctors. Bridget couldn't personally find a single person in Bredford willing to serve her. First, they doubted whether Bridget could even afford to pay a proper wage. To them, she was a mere figurehead wife who couldn't even get proper allowance from her husband. In fact, Bridget had no record of receiving separate money from her husband, so their eyes were accurate.

"If Magnus hadn't kept coming to see me, ignoring the neglect from the estate's servants, I would have died there long ago."

Bridget hadn't taken proper care of herself, and the servants were too busy looking down on her. If Magnus hadn't deliberately come to see her, how could she have endured?

Bridget, lost in thought, tilted her head slightly and murmured to herself.

"Perhaps that would have been easier for you."