To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 111

“You… Do you even know what you’re saying?”

“Of course I do.”

Noah’s lips curled up like a witch casting a curse.

Even though summer had begun and the air was hot and sticky, looking into Noah’s eyes felt like standing in a freezing early winter wind.

“…Crazy bastard.”

He had said she should’ve died just a few days ago. With his sudden change in attitude, Scarlett bit her lip and glared at him.

Her heart beat so hard it felt like it would break at his words—saying he couldn’t let her go. A thrill, or a rush of emotion, spread from her stomach to the top of her head, making her fingers and toes tingle.

And yet, Scarlett still couldn’t understand Noah. How could he say such cruel things if he felt that way? Noah, noticing her tension, confessed.

“Loving you drove me mad. Or maybe I loved you because I was already mad.”

“Noah Ashford!”

“Maybe you were the crazy one.”

He whispered softly into Scarlett’s ear.

“If you weren’t crazy, how could you sleep with me?”

Scarlett blushed in humiliation. She didn’t regret that night. In fact, she was happy she could meet Teddy.

The love she had felt for Noah in that moment was pure, unlike anything else. She couldn’t forgive him for tarnishing it.

Overcome with rage, Scarlett slapped Noah without hesitation.

Smack.
With a sharp sound, Noah’s head turned from the force. He rubbed his cheek with a sarcastic smile.

“Your hands haven’t changed.”

“Shut… your mouth.”

“Neither has your temper.”

“Shut your mouth, Noah Ashford!”

If this continued, she would feel like the biggest fool for having ever loved him.

The love that once burned like fire now felt like it was being poisoned, turning even the memories dull.

Though those moments felt like a fleeting dream, Scarlett had always cherished her days with Noah.

Noah’s expression turned cold. In a harsh voice, even colder than his face, he asked:

“Why did you do that to me? Why didn’t you tell me you were alive?”

“It was over anyway. We ended that night. Why should I have told you? Don’t act like you had the right.”

“…I…”

You know how much I loved you.

Noah suddenly remembered the day he kneeled before her and cried.

He had been attacked and discovered Scarlett was behind it. Still, he had gone to her.

He missed her, he needed her, and he still felt the same now.

Even if he tried to deny it or ignore his heart, he knew better than anyone:

He still missed her, wanted to touch her, and his mind was full of her.

If he could go back to the way things were, when they looked only at each other and defied the world, he’d kneel again without hesitation.

But that was just his heart stuck in the past.

Now, Noah was the Emperor of Natalia, Scott White had killed his mother, and Scarlett was dreaming of a future with another man.

In the end, his love was just an impossible dream. Still, he desperately wanted to quench this thirst—this agony of not having her.

Even if it meant making her hate him, draining her soul… as long as she became his, that was enough.

“I guess… I was out of line.”

Six years ago, he was the one closest to her, worried about her condition. After confirming their feelings, it was his right—and duty—to worry she might collapse.

But now… it was “out of line.”

How could caring about her be out of line?

Noah couldn’t accept it. He didn’t even want to understand it.

“Then what am I to you?”

“…”

“Scarlett, answer me. What are we now? Still siblings? Friends? Or enemies?”

“…”

Noah, slouched like a delinquent, looked down at her and suddenly burst out laughing.

He rested his forehead on her shoulder and laughed like a madman.

Even now, it felt unreal that she was standing in front of him—it made him feel like a fool.

“Hahaha… haha…”

Was that laughter or sobbing?

Noah grabbed Scarlett’s arms and leaned so close their noses nearly touched. In the darkness, his violet eyes gleamed.

“Carly, my Carly, my Scarlett. You were always so willful. Yes, that’s just like you. Ending love however you want…”

Noah took a breath that sounded like a sigh and continued.

“But Scarlett, even now, I’m still the fool groveling like a dog in front of you, so let me say this. I still love you.”

Scarlett gasped. Her heart beat like it was about to stop. Her chest ached, and her breath caught from the overwhelming emotion.

“Yes. Even now, I love you. That’s why I want to be a good friend to you.”

What kind of face should one make, what words should one say in response to something like that?

Scarlett’s face twisted with a strange mix of emotions. She looked ready to cry. She was melting into an unidentifiable mix of joy and sorrow.

Noah brought one trembling hand up to her cheek, lightly brushing it. His gentle but cold voice reached her ear.

“Why do you look like that? It’s not like you’ve forgotten me.”

“…You… always…”

She bit her lower lip hard. She knew Noah would never truly understand her heart, but his sarcasm even now made her furious. Or maybe it was the situation itself that made her angry.

This twisted, doomed relationship—one she had created but could no longer control.

“I want to give you a gift. Since we’re old friends. I don’t know if we are, but… we were siblings, became lovers, and after love ends, friends sounds right. Anyway, I want to give you something.”

Noah didn’t even know what he was saying.

In front of her, all his thoughts and logic vanished. He was like a fool blindly chasing the moon in the sky, not even knowing what was before him.

And when he realized what he held was just the moon’s reflection on the lake, he howled like a beast and raged without filter.

Yet the next night, when the moon rose again, he would run back to the lake, wanting it once more—never realizing there was a cliff ahead.

“…Then forget me.”

Noah’s eyelids twitched. He blinked slowly and asked:

“What?”

“The Scarlett White you loved no longer exists. She was an illusion. A mirage. A woman who died in the past.”

His face twisted in horror, and Scarlett’s eyes wavered. But she forced strength into her expression, enduring the lie.

After a long silence, Noah swallowed something thick in his throat and spoke.

“You’re truly… horrible.”

“I know.”

“You really should’ve died back then.”

“…”

Before Scarlett could respond, Peter came out to the balcony, his face pale.

Peter stepped between them, tense from the emotional pressure in the air. He didn’t seem to understand what had happened between them.

“Your Majesty. You need to leave right now.”

He whispered in Noah’s ear.

“An article just came out about your mother’s background.”

Even at Peter’s whisper, Noah’s gaze stayed locked on Scarlett, full of resentment and hatred. He stared at her for a moment longer before turning his head sharply.

Without a word, as if she didn’t exist, he walked away.

When Noah disappeared and even his scent faded from the air, Scarlett collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

Isaac, who had entrusted the fallen Scarlett to their uncle John at the ballroom, marched furiously toward Noah’s hotel.

He couldn’t calm his boiling anger. His ragged breathing and stormy expression showed he was a White through and through.

He couldn’t forgive Noah. His beloved aunt—who was like a sister and mother to him—had collapsed because of him.

“Died? He said she should’ve died? That lunatic!”

Having shared a room with Noah’s secretary for a while, Isaac knew the guards and easily got in to see him.

Though Noah was in trouble because of the article about his mother Julia Ashford, it was Peter who seemed the most panicked. Noah, calm and composed, agreed to meet Isaac.

When Isaac entered the room, he clenched his fists and glared at Noah. He tried to stay rational despite his anger.

“Did you play with my aunt?”

“So you were the rat hiding in there. I thought it was Wilhelm.”

“Was it revenge for what Uncle Scott and my mother did? Is that why you threw my aunt away like that?”

“Threw her away? Ha. Whether it’s the half-Whites or the older ones, you’re all the same—full of yourselves.”

“Answer me! Did you throw her away?”

Isaac finally lost control and yelled, and something about him struck a nerve in the calm Noah.

“She’s the one who threw me away! Even after that bastard Scott White killed my mother, I still loved her! But she’s the one who left me! Scarlett did!”

With a twisted face, Noah shouted like a man left alone in a ruined world.

He looked like he’d scream from the pain of facing reality, but Isaac didn’t back down and shouted right back.

“Then what about Teddy?”

“Who abandoned who?!”

“How could you leave her—pregnant and barely alive! You’re trash! You’re not even human!”

“…What?”

Noah squinted, not believing what he had just heard.

“P—Pregnant?”

“Yes! Teddy misses his dad so much! You have no idea what she went through having that baby alone… how hard it was…”

Isaac collapsed to the floor in tears, unable to hold back his sorrow.

He couldn’t bear seeing his cousin grow up without a father, or his aunt give birth alone like his own mother had.

Noah, unable to handle the truth he had never even imagined, stared down at Isaac, completely stunned.

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