To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 73

When Noah arrived at the villa where Scarlett was living, it was already past late night and heading toward dawn.

Hiding in the darkness, Noah quietly climbed over the wall and went inside without waking anyone. He walked down the familiar hallway and stopped in front of a door he missed dearly. Noah grabbed the doorknob and was about to twist it open but hesitated for a moment.

He couldn’t go in while still covered in sweat and the smell of the sea. He hurried toward the bathroom to wash up. As he passed by an open door in the hallway, he heard the voices of the servants.

“What will happen to us if the young lady passes away? Will they at least give us a good severance pay?”

“Don’t worry. They’re a family that was born to spend money.”

“How much time does she have left?”

“No one knows. It’s so sad. She refuses medicine and just waits to die. She acts so cold sometimes, but when you think about it, she’s still just a kid. She’s legally an adult, but it’s barely been a year since she became one.”

Noah clenched his fist tightly. Scarlett’s death had already become something everyone took for granted.

Just how much worse had things gotten while he was away… and why had she stopped taking her medicine?

His chest tightened. Noah swallowed the tears rising up in his throat and quickly walked to the bathroom.

Then, another part of the servants’ conversation made him stop again.

“Will the young lady make it to her nineteenth birthday?”

“They said it was already a miracle she survived past eighteen. They were sure she wouldn’t live to become an adult.”

Noah held his breath and hurried away. If he stayed any longer, he might end up showing an embarrassing side of himself.
Even after he left, the servants’ soft voices continued in the empty hallway.

“Rumors will spread like wildfire, but honestly, I hope Noah Ashford comes back soon.”

“Why?”

“She keeps watching the door all day.”

“Like father, like daughter… The father fell for that woman, and the daughter fell for her son. What a mess.”

The servants’ chatter went on deep into the night. They even gossiped about the inheritance after Scarlett’s death.

With a heavy heart, Noah entered the bathroom to take a shower. As he washed under the flowing water, he let his tears fall freely.

He only wanted to show Scarlett a bright and cheerful face. But he wasn’t confident.
They said she was dying.
He desperately wanted her to live, but it felt like it was just his selfish wish.

Noah let out a quiet cough. He couldn’t tell if it was a breath escaping or fear of losing her.

He leaned his forehead against the tiled wall, letting the endless stream of water soak him.

It felt like he had fallen into a river of mud, being swept along without being able to fight it.

But Scarlett was in this river with him. Because she was here, he could endure the heavy pressure of the swamp.

After finishing his shower, Noah didn’t even bother drying his hair properly. He headed straight to Scarlett’s room.
He quietly opened the door so as not to wake her and walked toward the bed. Then, a clear voice cut through the darkness.

“Get out.”

There was anger in her cold voice. Noah answered with a hoarse voice.

“It’s me.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to get out.”

“Why are you awake? You didn’t sleep?”

“I said, get out.”

Scarlett had already been awake before Noah even touched the doorknob. She could have taken medicine to avoid nightmares, but she had long stopped doing that and spent many sleepless nights.

At this hour, there was only one person who would come to visit quietly. Scarlett ordered Noah again.

“Don’t make me say it twice. Get out.”

“I’m sorry. I had my reasons.”

“Reasons? Your reasons can’t possibly be worse than mine. At least you have a tomorrow to look forward to.”

She had thought he had left with Victor Lebedev and Natalia. But Victor was still in Wifland, and the ones who disappeared were Julia Ashford and Noah.

Their disappearance only meant one thing — they had run away. In other words, they had fled.

Noah had abandoned her.
She waited every day, hoping he might come back. But her patience didn’t last long.
No — she was never good at waiting.
She didn’t have much time left, so keeping up hope was painful.

That pain turned into sadness, sadness turned into disappointment, and disappointment turned into anger.
And that anger only fed the hatred growing inside her nightmares.

When the magic orb lit up, Scarlett’s furious face became clearly visible.
The air around her felt freezing cold. Noah bit the inside of his cheek.
Her face was so pale that it wouldn’t have been strange if she died right then and there.

“How dare you come back now?”

“If I cared about shame, I wouldn’t have been able to love you.”

“Stop saying nonsense and leave. There’s no place for you here.”

“I heard you stopped taking your medicine. You must be feeling awful. Are you okay? Any seizures?”

“If you leave, I’ll feel just fine.”

Scarlett didn’t realize it.
Her crooked smile looked like a dried-up, painful cry.

“Your face looks terrible.”

“None of your business.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry! Is that the only thing you can say? If you’re really sorry, then disappear from my sight!”

That was the one thing he couldn’t do.
No matter how sorry he was, it was truly impossible.

Noah knew well just how selfish he was. Even though he acted like he would give everything to Scarlett, he never gave up the one thing he wanted most — to stay by her side.

“Get out before I call someone.”

“Don’t get upset. First, have some water. Calm down.”

Noah took a step closer to her. Scarlett, frowning, grabbed the magic orb on the bedside table and threw it.

The orb grazed Noah’s side and shattered on the floor.

The light went out, and darkness filled the room.
The only light left was the faint moonlight.
The cold night air touched Scarlett’s pale skin.
Her face, hidden in darkness, looked like a flame about to flicker out but never truly dying.

“I’m never leaving you again. I’ve taken care of everything.”

“It doesn’t matter if you stay. I don’t need you.”

“Really? You really don’t need me?”

Noah took another step toward her. His footsteps sounded as soft as his voice.

Scarlett could smell him — the faint scent of the villa’s soap and a sticky smell hidden beneath it.
It smelled a bit like sweat, and a bit like the sea.

“I need you so much. Don’t you need me too?”

No — what was sticky wasn’t the smell. It was Noah’s voice, soaked with deep affection.

Scarlett clenched her cheeks tightly.
Even though she was angry and resentful, tears welled up in her eyes.

She clearly hated him — yet she felt so happy to see him she could scream.
Relief mixed with heat rushed to her thin, hollow cheeks.

What had he been doing all this time? What had he gone through to come back looking like that?

“Scarlett.”

Just hearing her name made her body tremble.

Even though his voice was calm, it was full of desperate pleading.
Just a single word held countless emotions.

Yes. Noah was like a devil tempting a maiden.

A being that led a pure woman into sin, devouring her body and mind — and eventually her soul.

Scarlett instinctively gripped her blanket tightly.
She clenched her teeth to stop the trembling, to hold back her emotions.

But even so, the faint outlines of Noah under the moonlight left her breathless.

The soft scent from him, the tiny sounds of water dripping from his still-damp hair, his overwhelming presence — all of it made Scarlett’s heart ache painfully.

“I…”

I don’t want to be swayed by you anymore.
But that thought scattered away like meaningless dust in the air.

“You don’t want me to disappear, do you?”

“…”

“And besides, that’s not something I can do anyway.”

“You really are…”

Cunning.

Noah Ashford, so shameless and sly.
Her cunning Noah.

She had to admit it — she had lost.

No matter what Noah had done while he was away, her anger could never outweigh her love for him.

In the end, it didn’t even matter.
What truly mattered was that her anger came from love.

Scarlett White loved Noah.
She feared him.
Maybe she loved him even more than she feared him.
And she hated him.

From those contradicting emotions, a single hot tear slid down her cheek.

She took a shallow breath and opened her arms.
Noah, as if he had been waiting, rushed into her embrace.

Her hand brushed against his damp hair.
He wanted to hug her so tightly it would crush her — but he couldn’t even do that.
Instead, he trembled as he hugged her with all the strength he could give.

Soon it became unclear who was hugging whom.
Noah buried his face in the crook of Scarlett’s neck, breathing in her scent.
Only when he felt her so close did he finally feel like he could breathe again.

“I missed you so much, Scarlett.”

You’ll never know what I gave up to come back.
And that’s fine.
I’ll carry that burden myself.
You just stay by my side.
That’s all I want.
Don’t go anywhere — stay with me…

“I missed you so much.”

Noah kissed her again and again — her head, her cheeks, her neck, her shoulders…

Each kiss was filled with overwhelming love, as if worshiping her existence.

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

“I resent you.”

“I know that too.”

“I’m scared of you.”

“…I’m sorry.”

The Noah in her dreams wasn’t Noah.
But at the same time, he was Noah.

“Promise me again. Promise me you’ll protect Isaac.”

“And you? What about a promise to protect you?”

“…”

She never thought she would live long enough for that to matter.

Noah was afraid that if he loosened his hold even a little, Scarlett would crumble away.

He hugged her tightly, feeling her warmth, pressing his forehead against hers — as if declaring to the world that she belonged to him and no one else.

“Alright. I promise that too.”

Scarlett gently patted his back as if soothing him.

“You should have run away while you could. You should have never come back. This place is dangerous. Victor Lebedev is still here.”

“I couldn’t run away.
Because you’re here.”

“Don’t you want to leave with him?”

“I don’t. I don’t want to leave you.”

Noah didn’t tell her that he had been kidnapped by Julia.
If Scarlett knew, she would only worry more.
It was better to let her misunderstand.

Noah whispered, to her and to himself.

“Everything will be okay. Don’t worry.”

Scarlett hesitated to speak for a moment.
In the dark, she repeated his words silently.

‘Because you’re here.’

‘I don’t want to leave you.’

Each word made her want to smile from happiness — but at the same time, her chest felt painfully heavy.

If she wasn’t here, Noah would have gone with Victor Lebedev.
She heard the Wizard Alliance was chasing after Victor.

Scarlett’s arms tightened around Noah.
Her thin eyelids trembled.

She needed to make a decision.

She suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.

“I want to see the stars. Let’s go look at the stars.”

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