Chapter 156

29

Dane looked at the man across from him with a deeply furrowed brow. Joshua Bailey was looking back at him with an expression completely unchanged from before. The awkward atmosphere continued. For a while, the two just looked at each other without saying anything. Dane, who had blinked a couple of times in the uncomfortable silence, opened his mouth a beat late.

"There was something I was going to say last time but didn't finish..."

"Thanks for worrying, I get regular psychiatric evaluations. I'm not crazy. Ashley Miller is the one who made the commission."

Joshua quickly poured out his words first. Thanks to this, Dane had no choice but to close his mouth and look at him. It was after that when he felt something strange.

"Ashley Miller? That man?"

"Yeah."

Joshua nodded and said.

"That Ashley Miller you know, Chase and Greyson's Papa."

Dane opened his mouth to speak but couldn't form a sentence at all, just moving his lips. What kind of ridiculous bullshit was this? Dumbfounded and just blinking, he pressed his forehead with one hand and belatedly frowned at Joshua.

"That man commissioned my security? Why?"

"Of course because he's worried about you."

The more he heard, the more absurd it all sounded. Was that bastard the crazy one? As he frowned while thinking ridiculous thoughts, Joshua continued.

"Ashley Miller seems to think Greyson might harm you. Anyway, he commissioned security for you. I refused at first, but..."

Joshua narrowed his eyes and stared at Dane with a suspicious gaze.

"I need to know what the hell is going on, so I came myself."

At the preposterous words, Dane was incredulous. What the hell was this bastard babbling about...

"Why would you even think that? What would me and that bastard do, fuck!"

To Dane, who was venting his frustration while repeating Joshua's words, Joshua coldly retorted.

"How do you think I knew you were here?"

For a moment, Dane hesitated. At the unexpected point, he just blinked, and Joshua still coldly added.

"The Miller family has a secretarial team that manages household affairs."

"...So?"

When Dane asked after a pause, Joshua simply provided the answer.

"The employees working at Greyson's mansion immediately reported to them that you had left. And they informed me that you were here."

Dane suddenly had nothing to say. At this point, it was no different from Joshua knowing almost everything. Should he be thankful that he hadn't grabbed him by the collar?

In this case, there was only one method.

"I swear, Greyson Miller and I have no relationship whatsoever. Yeah, we had sex. But that's all. It's all over now, everything."

Dane strongly asserted his innocence.

"Really, can't you tell from seeing me in this cheap hotel like this?"

Those words were such definitive evidence. For Joshua, who had known for a long time that Dane's wish was to catch a rich sucker and live off them, he had no choice but to believe.

"...Well, you are that kind of guy."

Joshua reluctantly agreed while stroking his chin. If there really had been something with Greyson, Dane wouldn't have missed the opportunity. He could easily imagine Dane floating an air mattress on the huge swimming pool attached to the garden, leisurely drinking beer and sunbathing on it.

To give that up and sleep miserably alone with his cat in a dirty hotel with bugs crawling around and cracks in the walls - that absolutely made no sense.

Thinking that far, Joshua reluctantly nodded and took a step back.

"Fine, then. Let's say nothing happened between you and Greyson."

"It's not 'let's say' - nothing happened."

"Anyway, Ashley Miller thinks you're in danger."

Ignoring the stubborn assertion made through gritted teeth, Joshua said. To Dane, who frowned as if he didn't like that reaction, he continued.

"Regardless of how things ended between you two, we don't know if Greyson accepted it readily. If he couldn't accept it, the situation could become dangerous - that was Ashley Miller's opinion."

At those words, Dane was completely incredulous.

"Greyson Miller might kill me? Are you serious?"

He twisted his mouth into a smile, but Joshua's face remained expressionless. Dane, who became unnecessarily embarrassed, scratched the back of his head and grumbled.

"Even if that were true, does it make sense to provide security for me? Even though Greyson is an extreme Alpha, he's still a civilian..."

Dane, who had been speaking, stopped. What he was going to say wasn't particularly wrong. Anyway, Dane had received formal training in the military. He was a veteran who could subdue opponents and take lives in an instant.

But Greyson's physical strength couldn't be ignored. If he had seriously tried to subdue Dane, perhaps...

"They're incredibly strong, those guys."

As if reading Dane's thoughts, Joshua said. At the quiet voice, Dane, who had briefly hesitated, raised his head to see Joshua looking at him with a serious face.

"I know from dealing with Chase. That guy has tremendous physical strength too... He just couldn't utilize it properly because he lacked technique, but these days even I find it a bit overwhelming."

"Why did you teach him self-defense when he's surrounded by bodyguards anyway?"

At Dane's point, Joshua sighed and shook his head.

"There was an incident. Anyway, that's why I came all the way here just in case. I confirmed he's not nearby, but..."

For some reason, he trailed off his words uncertainly. When Dane frowned, Joshua tilted his head and muttered.

"It's strange, I sent the team leader to Greyson's house. But he said the house was too quiet. When he looked inside, no one was there - maybe he went to some party?"

Pheromone party.

They thought of the same thing. It was a place extreme Alphas would naturally go to, and since he had separated from Dane, there was no particular reason to avoid it.

"It must be time to extract pheromones. Or he left to find new love."

At Dane's indifferent words, Joshua stroked his chin and said.

"That's probably it, maybe...?"

Dane looked at Joshua with an expression clearly showing annoyance. Seeing that expression, Joshua couldn't doubt anymore, so he eventually nodded. But even so, somewhere in his chest, something unknown kept writhing unpleasantly.

* * *

Haa, haa.

Ezra rushed into the house breathing heavily. The interior where everyone was asleep was quiet as death. Only his own loud breathing echoed eerily.

What have I done?

His heart was trembling unbearably. He hurriedly went to the kitchen, turned on the faucet, and put his mouth to it. Only after gulping down the flowing water without even taking out a cup did he finally calm down a little. Ezra wiped his mouth with his arm and barely managed to turn off the water.

I had no choice, I really had no choice...

He kept repeating the same words. In his arms, he tightly held a thick paper bag. On the way back, Ezra had discovered the paper bag they had thrown in the back seat of his car. Inside was the promised money. The moment he confirmed the bundle of money, Ezra wanted to scream.

Sons of bitches, sons of bitches...! The humiliation and anger from the fact that they had mocked and ridiculed him to the end, mixed with relief at obtaining the money, made his heart utterly miserable. Tears formed belatedly, and he hurriedly wiped his eyes with his arm before staggering across the living room.

Going up to the second floor and first checking Sandra's sleeping face made his heart heavy again. After staring at her gaunt face for a while, Ezra turned and headed to the children's room this time. The children, who couldn't imagine what their father had just done and returned from, were sleeping with innocent faces sprawled across their beds. Seeing his peaceful children's faces almost made him burst into tears. After covering his mouth with one hand and taking a rough breath, he kissed each of their foreheads in turn before trying to quietly leave.

It was right then that the object caught his eye. The necklace that his daughter's teddy bear was wearing. Ezra stared at the necklace that sparkled particularly in the dim moonlight coming through the window.

No way, that's ridiculous.

He shook his head and quietly left the room. If that thing really had any value, why would Greyson have told me about it? Knowing full well that I had sold him out. He was just saying it. Right, he was trying to mock me like those bastards. No doubt about it.

"...Damn it."

Ezra spat out the curse like a sigh. It had been too long a night. He wanted to lie down in bed quickly. He had to forget everything, completely.

Everything.