The Male Lead isn't Following the Script!
Chapter 105: You Are Pathetic

Chapter 105: You Are Pathetic

In the game between the Duke and her, she was certain she would be the ultimate winner.

Adeline didn’t flinch. For a second, she felt bad bringing up his dead mother to use him, but that feeling stopped as soon as it began.

She didn’t care that she was resorting to underhanded methods, she was in the body of a villainess after all, and she ought to act like one. And for someone who planned to hurt Dimitri, she didn’t care if she was toying with him.

For a moment she felt a presence... It felt like she could feel the old Adeline... No, not the young one, but the soul of adult Adeline from the story...

She did not know what to feel but she did not want to experience old Adeline’s feelings anymore. They were filled with bitterness and resentment. She wanted to focus on the present.

With resolute eyes, she said, "Take a seat, there is much to discuss." She could see the flicker of doubt in his eyes. But she was sure that everything was under her control.

Everett took a deep breath before joining her. For Everett, this conversation stirred painful memories. His mother had always been a touchy subject, and not for the reasons people might expect. She was a money-hungry woman. She always was.

But he didn’t expect that he would be handed over to his father who was practically a stranger for just some money. No matter how greedy she was, he thought she wouldn’t do this to her own blood. But he was wrong.

What he thought he would hear from Adeline was some information about her. His father refused to tell him anything about her and warned him to forget about her.

He would say, ’Why bother asking about a woman who abandoned you? Are you that weak?’ Each time his father said it, it was like twisting the knife.

And that was enough for him to shut up. He didn’t want to admit that he was weak. He didn’t want to admit he still yearned for her presence.

He sat there patiently waiting for Adeline to speak. He wanted information about his mother, information that his father kept from him. He just wanted some closure.

She didn’t get to the point right away, she started by laying out her scheme.

"I’m very saddened by Dimitri’s recent behaviour." She sighed deeply. Her tone was deliberately soft and contemplative. She turned to look at him, "How would you feel when someone you trusted so much... Betrayed you?"

Everett frowned, he didn’t understand what she was trying to hint at... Soon, it will become clear.

But her words struck a chord. He thought of his father, of his mother, and with a hint of resentment in his voice, he replied, "I guess, I would feel bitter... I would want revenge."

Adeline smirked, "You truly get me, Everett." She moved closer to him and spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper, her eyes gleaming with an unsettling intensity. "I made Dimitri the heir, and I can make you one too."

He gulped and narrowed his eyes, he finally understood what she meant. Was she really suggesting what he thought she was? Was she willing to abandon Dimitri, the very boy she had fiercely protected?

As enticing as that offer was, he didn’t feel like he could trust her. She kept him here with an offer of information about his mother and he got none of that.

"I am leaving." He got nothing out of this interaction, he didn’t want to waste any more time.

"I am not done talking, Everett." Just as he decided to leave he heard her voice. It was no longer pleasant. It was cold and calculating. Her tone was enough to make him freeze. She was many years younger than him, just how was she this imposing?

He nervously turned around to see what she had to say.

"I brought up betrayal because you were betrayed too. Your mother didn’t leave you and run away with money..." She had his full attention now.

His eyes widened in surprise... He didn’t know where she got this information from but he desperately wanted to believe her. He wanted his mother to love him, he didn’t want to think of her in a bad light.

He didn’t want to believe that she sold him off to his father and abandoned him.

"Your father lied to you. He took you by force... And tied up the loose end that your mother was." Each word of hers was full of implied meaning. He knew what she meant, he just couldn’t believe it.

If what she said was true...

"Wh- What do you mean?!" He couldn’t keep his voice low. He was practically shaking. The colour drained from his face as he began to realise what she was implying.

"The Duke killed your mother and dropped you off in the orphanage so that no one would be able to trace your lineage." With that, Adeline turned to leave. She had just witnessed his entire world crumble, but that had no effect on her.

She found it amusing for some reason... Why? Before she could realise Everett interrupted.

He yelled hoping to stop her, "How do I know that you’re telling the truth?!"

Adeline paused, glancing back at him with a faint smile, "You are a smart child Everett, and you must know your mother better than me... Do you think she was that kind of a person?"

Was...

She used the word ’was’... His mother... The truth was clear in her tone. His mother was gone, and it was his father’s doing.

As Adeline walked away, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction. The cold, calculating side of her had come naturally, more naturally than she cared to admit.

This was the kind of game the old Adeline would have played, manipulating people with whispers and half-truths.

She left the scene and let Everett make his choice. Once he did, she would turn him into her spy, whatever the Duke planned, it would not escape her.

Her head started hurting... She was... worried. Just what came over her? She wanted to turn him against his father... She wanted to use the truth to do that.

But her way of talking, the demeanour, the coldness the pleasure she derived from watching his struggle as he came to terms with the truth... This was not her...

Her breathing quickened. She needed to get to her room and lie down. If she lied down, everything would be okay, she told herself.

This is all for my survival... It is necessary. This thought kept running through her mind. She was stumbling through the hallway to reach her room.

In this world, you have to be cruel Adeline, otherwise, you will be the one who ends up gettingkilled. This voice... It was almost like a sneer, taunting her for her cowardly behaviour.

After manipulating one person you are falling apart, how pathetic...

Adeline quickly collapsed on the bed. She closed her eyes, wishing for the voice to go away.

This was not her... She repeated. This couldn’t be her... Her heart felt heavy but she tried her best to push those feelings away.