To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 109

Andrew checked the headline of the newspaper delivered to the hotel early that morning.

[John White, Disbarred and Resigns from Office after Hearing]

Andrew’s face stiffened at the headline. Below it was a black-and-white photo of John with his usual gloomy expression.

[…After five hours of hearings, John White’s license to practice law was revoked. As a result, he closed the free legal office he had been running… He then announced his resignation from office. The Republican Party he belonged to…]

What on earth is going on…

Andrew couldn’t hide his dismay at the never-ending stream of incidents. Just then, the door opened, and Peter appeared.

As always, Peter carried a stack of documents neatly arranged overnight for the morning briefing and knocked on Noah’s bedroom door.

“Come in.”

Noah gave permission from inside. Peter began his report in Noah’s room, and Andrew, outside, continued organizing documents while listening closely to their conversation.

The two of them didn’t fully trust Andrew—and understandably so.

Andrew wasn’t a citizen of Natalia, and he was only working temporarily as Noah’s secretary. So, he was left out of sensitive matters and only allowed to do menial work.

Looks like they did a background check on me.

Even if it was just a temporary job, assisting the Emperor of Natalia was no small thing. Of course, Andrew had prepared perfectly falsified documents for a man named Jack Campbell in anticipation of being investigated.

Being part of the White family made that kind of task relatively easy.

“…So from the Cotra Banco side…”

Faintly, he could make out parts of the conversation. Andrew stopped what he was doing.

Cotra Banco was the name of the mafia group that operated a casino with Aaron. Hearing Noah mention Aaron caught Andrew’s attention.

He carefully silenced his footsteps and leaned closer to the door to listen.

“…Using the bonds… For that, the White Bank must… In the end, it’s bound to fall apart…”

No matter how hard he tried to press his ear to the door, the conversation was even less audible than before. He tried to guess the content from a few words here and there, but it wasn’t easy.

When it sounded like they were about to check the hallway, he quickly returned to his original spot.

After Peter left, Noah began his late breakfast.

“Jack. Come eat with me.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“You’ve been working since dawn. You haven’t eaten yet.”

After persistent persuasion, Andrew finally sat across from Noah and joined him.

Objectively, Noah was kind and a good person. He could understand others’ struggles, and he was generous and considerate.

Andrew had met Noah in his previous life.

After Wifland won the war against Natalia, Noah was imprisoned for the murder of Scarlett White and sentenced to death. While he was in prison, Andrew visited him several times.

“Is there something on my face?”

When their eyes met, Noah touched his cheek. Andrew smiled faintly and shook his head.

“No, nothing.”

Even in that life, Noah never seemed like someone who would kill Scarlett. Among the prisoners, he was known for being kind, humble, and calm.

How could someone like him commit such a brutal murder? He had thought about that often. And that doubt remained even in this life.

“Is the work manageable?”

“Oh, yes. Thanks to you.”

“I’m sorry for hiding my identity. I had no choice.”

“I understand.”

“And as you know, my relationship with the White family isn’t exactly good. You might face some difficulties because of that, so thank you for working with me.”

“No, not at all. I’m just grateful to gain experience.”

It was well known in both Wifland and Natalia that Noah grew up as an illegitimate child of the White family.

But only a few knew that Scott White might have been the one who killed Noah’s birth mother.

“Did Scott White say anything?”

“He probably doesn’t even know I’m working here.”

“Once I leave for Natalia, he’ll try to get information from you. I feel bad for putting you in such a difficult position.”

Noah moved his utensils busily. But if you watched carefully, you could tell he was just fidgeting rather than actually eating.

“Actually, there was some unpleasant incident between me and Scott White. That’s why I’m worried about you.”

The unpleasant incident must have been referring to the murder of Julia Ashford.

Andrew didn’t believe Scott had killed Julia Ashford. His brother might have been rough and ruthless, but he wasn’t evil to the bone.

“By the way, our work here is quite different from what we did in Cravitz, right?”

“Oh, yes. It’s a different field.”

“I figured. What kind of work did you usually do in Cravitz?”

Noah asked in a casual tone, like asking someone’s favorite food, but his eyes were carefully observing Andrew.

“I was a low-level employee, helping with chores for the White family members.”

Andrew knew Noah was testing him, but he played along. Since Noah had hired him to gather information, Andrew felt he had to cooperate to some extent.

In truth, Noah also knew that Andrew had approached him with a motive.

The whole of Wifland knew he was an illegitimate son of the White family, and yet someone who had worked under Scott suddenly wanted to be his secretary? It was clearly suspicious.

“Chores? No way. Someone with your talent?”

Andrew shrugged, dodging the question. For some reason, Noah said nothing more and just poked at his salad with a fork. After a while, he asked cautiously,

“Then… you must’ve seen Scarlett White up close.”

A question about Scarlett was not what Andrew had expected. He thought it would be about Susan or Aaron.

“Yes.”

“I heard she has… a nephew now.”

“Oh, yes. There’s a child named Theodore White.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. He recalled the sound of the child crying for his mother echoing in his ears.

“She must really love the boy, right? Like a son?”

“She does. She loves children. She dotes on her nieces and nephews.”

“I see. Then… um…”

As Andrew stared at Noah, unsure of his intentions, Noah quickly explained,

“Oh, we’re friends. I met her recently… but she didn’t say anything about her health. I’m just a bit worried.”

“Friends…?”

How could they be friends when they had a child together? What happened between them that made Scarlett want to hide Teddy’s existence? Andrew felt his head growing heavy.

“I know. How could a child born out of wedlock and the legitimate children ever be friends? But Scarlett was different. Yes… she was different…”

His purple eyes seemed to search for a past he missed. Seeing the quiet sadness spreading over Noah’s face, Andrew quickly responded.

“She—Miss Scarlett White—is doing well. Her health has also improved a lot.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Well, she must be healthy if she’s preparing for an engagement with her boyfriend and dreaming of happiness.”

Noah crushed a red cherry tomato with his fork. For a moment, Andrew felt like Noah’s eyes flashed.

He wondered if the word ‘friend’ had been a lie, and if they were actually bitter enemies like the other siblings.

In his past life, Noah was the one who killed Scarlett. So maybe in this life too, something terrible had happened between them.

That thought brought a wave of unease over Andrew.

A vague but certain fear of another war that must never happen again, and the fall of the siblings—something he could almost see coming.

“…Jack?”

Noah called his name, noticing Andrew’s pale face. Andrew quickly loosened the grip on his fork.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“You don’t look well.”

He bit the inside of his cheek hard.

Since returning to the past, he had buried all his bitterness toward Noah deep inside. Noah hadn’t done anything wrong yet. There was no reason to hate him.

So this unease must be nothing. But still…

‘I have to stop them from clashing.’

He must not let the White family and Noah become enemies again. If he failed, the same tragedy as before would repeat.

“I forgot to give this to you.”

Andrew pulled an envelope from the stack of papers as if he had just remembered. It was a letter from Victor, telling him to go out and meet the woman he had mentioned earlier.

“He always does things his own way.”

Victor respected Noah, but when it came to matters of starting a family, he did whatever he wanted. Noah threw the letter aside and tried to calm Andrew.

“Everyone makes mistakes like this, so don’t be so surprised.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Andrew decided that he would visit Scarlett soon and ask her about Noah.

And to prevent another tragedy, he would secretly investigate the murder of Julia Ashford, to try to resolve the hatred between Scott and Noah.

Because he was sure the real killer was someone else.

Meanwhile, at that time, Aaron was smoking a cigar and giving an interview to a reporter in his usual careless tone.

“Yeah, it’s true that the kid’s mother was one of the mages who caused the Night of Slaughter. Her name was… what was it? Mai? Maya?”

“Maya Ivanov.”

Scott stood beside Aaron with his arms crossed, listening to his brother reveal the truth about the Natalia emperor’s bloodline.

In the previous life, the identity of Noah’s mother, Julia Ashford, was a secret kept until the day Noah died.

But in this life, Scott had discovered the truth about Noah’s identity on his own and confirmed it through John. So now, all the White siblings knew.

And now it was time for the entire world to know.

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