To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 119

One good thing about living together as a family is that you can see each other whenever you want.

After washing off all the dirt, Isaac changed into clean clothes and went straight to look for Scarlett.

Knock knock.

When he knocked, she spoke from inside.

“Who is it? Come in.”

As the door opened and Isaac appeared, Scarlett looked up in surprise.

She remembered their last moment together. When she and Noah had hurt each other in a mix of love and hate, Isaac had been hiding in the dark, overhearing everything.

She was worried that Isaac had learned their secret. But more than that, he was her nephew—someone she loved dearly, like a younger brother.

So Scarlett quickly set down her teacup and welcomed Isaac with open arms.

“Isaac! Oh my gosh, what happened? When did you come back?”

Isaac awkwardly shook his still-damp hair. The atmosphere between them was slightly uncomfortable.

It was their first meeting since that day, and neither of them knew what to say.

What made it worse was that Isaac had unknowingly told Noah about Teddy, not realizing Scarlett was keeping him a secret. The guilt weighed heavily on him.

“Come in. Let’s dry your hair first.”

Scarlett grabbed a towel from the corner of the room—a towel she always kept around because of Teddy—and placed it over Isaac’s head. But when she reached out to dry his hair, he stepped away.

“I can do it myself.”

“Oh, okay. Sure. How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing this and that. I even earned some money on my own… I can’t tell you the details, but it wasn’t anything illegal.”

Only then did she really notice how much he’d grown. His voice had almost fully changed, he was taller than her, and his bones had grown stronger.

It wasn’t Isaac who had stayed the same—it was her, still seeing him as a boy.

With a mix of pride and sadness, Scarlett gave a small smile.

“Are you back home for good?”

Susan had lost sleep over Isaac’s disappearance. He meant everything to her.

Watching Susan waste away day by day had worried Scarlett, too.

“Not really. Mom probably thinks so, but… I came back because things at home seemed a mess, and I was worried about her.”

“So you’re going to leave again?”

“It’s not running away. It’s independence. And I still plan to work my way up from the bottom.”

“Alright, alright. As long as you’re happy, I don’t care what you do. But more importantly—did you have dinner?”

“I’m not hungry. Actually, Auntie… did you see the newspaper?”

“Ah…”

That meant he knew Scott was in jail.

Seeing the news confirm how much their family had fallen apart must have been a shock to him.

On top of that, what Scarlett was about to say wasn’t going to be easy, and she felt uncomfortable.

“Isaac. Let’s sit down first and talk.”

“Okay.”

Isaac also had a lot to say, so he quietly sat down at the table.

Scarlett took a sip of the tea Marie had brought, choosing her words carefully.

“Our family’s in bad shape right now.”

“I know. Mom’s being audited, and Uncle Scott’s in jail.”

“Aaron’s also had a falling out with the mafia, so… ahem…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say that if anyone left the house carelessly, they could be kidnapped or worse. She just cleared her throat instead.

Luckily, Isaac understood what she didn’t say.

“I’ll stay home until things calm down. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate you understanding. Also… my engagement is next Saturday. So please, don’t run away that day. I really want you to be there for a happy occasion.”

“Engagement?”

Isaac’s face darkened. Scarlett quickly tried to explain, thinking he didn’t understand why she was doing this while the family was in chaos.

“There are complicated adult matters involved.”

“Yeah, adult matters are so important.”

His sarcastic tone made Scarlett frown.

Isaac looked at her bitterly and asked,

“You’re getting engaged to Mr. Bill, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re really going through with it? This isn’t just talk?”

“Would I joke about something like that?”

Isaac shut his mouth tight and said nothing. His lips twisted, and his eyes were full of rebellion and frustration. It was clear he was holding back his emotions.

He truly wanted his aunt to be happy—but not like this.

If he didn’t know about her and Noah, maybe he could’ve genuinely supported her.

But in his young eyes, he couldn’t help but side with Teddy—someone as young and powerless as himself.

Isaac had lost his own father before he was even born, so he wanted Teddy to at least grow up loved by his.

“Please tell me this is a joke.”

“Isaac. If you have something to say, speak up. Don’t make that face.”

Before Scarlett even finished speaking, Isaac burst out.

“Why did you break up with Teddy’s father?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Maybe not, but now that you’re getting engaged, isn’t it kind of important?”

“This isn’t something I need to talk about with you. Why would I even bring that up now?”

Scarlett forced herself to stay calm. She didn’t want to yell or scold him.

But Isaac couldn’t hold it in anymore and finally said it out loud.

“…Mr. Grisham is a good person.”

Hearing that name, Scarlett’s face twisted like she’d heard something wrong. Then she realized who he meant—Noah. Her face turned pale.

She stuttered in shock.

“Y-you… How do you…”

“He still loves you.”

“Be quiet if you don’t know anything.”

“I do know what happened between him and our family! Why did you say he was dead when he wasn’t? No one believed it anyway—so why lie?”

“You don’t know anything! Forget everything you think you know!”

“I do know! You’re trying to take Teddy’s father away from him!”

“Isaac Brown!”

Scarlett raised her voice, and Isaac shouted back with disgust.

“He even saved me when I almost got kidnapped!”

“Kidnapped? Did you just say kidnapped? When? Are you okay? What happened—”

“This isn’t what we’re supposed to be talking about!”

“Isaac!”

“You said you felt sorry Teddy doesn’t have a dad! But he’s not dead! Why are you ignoring Mr. Grisham? He still loves you! And don’t you still love him?”

Scarlett jumped to her feet, pointing at him.

“Shut your mouth. Don’t say another word.”

“You know exactly what it’s like to grow up without a father—”

“You don’t know anything! Nothing!”

Scarlett didn’t even have the strength to shout anymore, but she forced the words out. Her glare toward Isaac was piercing, as if she might slap him or push him any second.

She grabbed both of his shoulders, her nails digging into him as she shoved him against the wall. Thunk. His head hit the wall.

Isaac was stunned. Scarlett had always been like a sister and friend to him.

“Who else knows?”

Her grip was so tight that Isaac grimaced in pain as he replied.

“What?”

“Who else knows that Noah is Teddy’s real father?”

Scarlett growled like Scott. The change in her scared Isaac, and his anger wavered.

“Only me.”

“Did Noah say so himself? That Teddy is his son?”

“…They look alike. Teddy and him.”

“Of course. Haa…”

Scarlett took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart.

“You have to keep it secret. No one can ever know who Teddy’s real father is.”

“But—”

“No buts! Do you want to see Teddy taken away by Natalia? She’s healthy, I’m a sick, unmarried woman, and Noah’s the emperor and the biological father! Who do you think the court would side with?”

Fear crept into Isaac’s wide eyes. He didn’t want Teddy—like a little brother to him—to be taken away. And taking Teddy from Scarlett would be unforgivable.

Finally, Isaac gave a hard answer.

“…Okay. I promise I’ll keep quiet. I swear.”

“Thank you for understanding. Now go get some rest.”

With that, Isaac had no choice but to go back to his room. By the time he lay down, his damp hair had mostly dried.

“What are you trying to do…?”

Isaac didn’t know Noah was partly responsible for their family’s downfall. To his young mind, Noah was just a kind, unfortunate man.

He couldn’t imagine Noah trying to take Teddy away. To him, Noah was the kind of adult who would even help a homeless stranger.

So he vaguely believed that Noah would handle this wisely. More than anything, he wanted Teddy to at least have the chance to know his father.

That’s why Isaac jumped up and began to write a letter.

“Mr. Grisham,
Auntie’s engagement to Mr. Wilhelm is going ahead as planned.
I thought you’d want to know.
I truly hope this ends happily for everyone.”

Isaac sent the letter express.

And that night, someone broke into Scarlett’s room.

She woke up in shock, feeling a gaze on her.

A large hand covered her mouth.

“Shhh.”

The voice she missed and hated at the same time calmed her down.

It was Noah.

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