Don’t Trample on Innocent Love

Ophelia’s daily life remained unchanged. She didn’t attend the jewelry auction for different reasons, but no one seemed concerned about the financial state of the Denev family. Suddenly, the thought of Robern came to her mind. That day when she coincidentally met Hugo at the coffee shop, it was a rather casual encounter, but something he had said haunted her.

“Don’t fake your smile anywhere. It looks forced.”

After she had signed the contract with Hugo and asked him to pretend as if he had fallen in love with her, she left the café in hurry for fear of being seen by someone. And it had to be Robern, of all people.

“Forget about it. Don’t dwell on it.”

With the decision to proceed with the marriage, Ophelia quickly sent a letter to Hugo. Along with the preparations for the wedding, she felt it necessary to align their words before facing people who might doubt their relationship.

However, Hugo did not respond, even after Ophelia had sent him a total of five letters.

“Did I write the address wrong?”

She went to see Fabian and asked if the address he provided was correct. The answer was simple.

“It’s correct.”

“Are you sure it’s right? Could he have been away during this period? He might be busy with his business…”

“No, he’s here. I met him today, too.”

“Are you telling me he’s just sitting at home and not bothering to respond? No, more importantly, why are you meeting that man?”

“Well, he’s my friend…”

Fabian started to speak but stopped when he saw Ophelia’s expression. With a cold gaze, she silenced him.

“How can someone who intends to seize our family’s wealth be your friend?”

“But that’s just Hugo’s business. The person himself…”

“Enough. Be quiet.”

“Ophelia, let me…”

Fabian’s eyes widened in surprise as he saw his younger sister, whom he hadn’t seen in three years, had changed.

“Listen well, brother. He’s neither your friend nor someone I will consider as my husband, even if we get married. Creditor and debtor. That’s all. From now on, your friends will only be noble heirs, so don’t ever go to see that alleged businessman again.”

Ophelia had her share of darkness in the world, but Fabian added more. He was naturally trusting of others and tried not to see their flaws. Of course, that was before crossing a certain line.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll do as you say. But what about Hugo? Have you two already encountered problems?”

“You don’t need to know, brother. Just focus on receiving proper heir training.”

Since returning home, Fabian had been receiving training as the heir. Of course, it was far from ideal to entrust him with this mansion, but she couldn’t leave it to her third brother, who was locked in his room and never came out. She had no ambition to inherit the family. In the first place, it was legally impossible for a woman to inherit the family. Passing on the vengeful businessman as a son-in-law was even more out of the question.

“Because I want to be of help if I can.”

“What can you do, brother?”

Ophelia was about to retort sharply but realized her slip of the tongue and fell silent.

She felt frustrated at Fabian’s clueless expression. Anyway, her brother was too naive. That must be why he was unable to say a word, even when his little sister acted so rudely, or when was being scammed or taken advantage of.

“Brother, it’s not like that…”

“No, you’re right. If I had done better, you would have lived more comfortably. I’m sorry. You’ve suffered a lot because of me. It’s really okay. I… I have to go to my lessons. I’ll go now.”

Sigh… It’s annoying. Ophelia let out a sigh of frustration as Fabian walked away with a drooping face. Ever since the incident was caused by his mistake, she had been ignoring Fabian. No, maybe she had been doing that even before. Even if she denied it now, it would be a lie, and ultimately, any excuses would only worsen the situation.

“But if you continue like this, you’ll get hurt.”

Ophelia turned around and grabbed Fabian’s arm as they climbed the stairs on the opposite side. She couldn’t pretend not to notice him anymore.

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