Claudia truly thinks Harry is the most cruel and selfish man she's ever met, whether in real life or in a novel. Contract marriage? Claudia wanted to laugh because she could now imagine her dream coming true of having a contract marriage with someone, just like in a romantic novel she had read. However, that doesn't mean contract marriage with this cruel character, let alone Harry's character is no joke.
Claudia extended her right hand with a confident smile. "Alright, I'll do it. I don't mind all the rules you mentioned earlier."
Harry patted Claudia's shoulder while getting out of bed. "Meet me in my office tomorrow. You have to sign the contract."
"But, why are you making a marriage contract all of a sudden? Isn't it usually people who are afraid that their married life will be ruined one day?"
Harry locked his lips again. He straightened his rumpled coat as he walked towards the door. His footsteps paused as he grasped the doorknob and turned around.
"I didn't do it because of that. But, I really hate people who betray me."
*****
All day Claudia's mind was still troubled by the clauses of her marriage contract. She was very afraid that if one day she broke one of the rules, she would be killed. Now she was also thinking of other strategies to get Harry to actually cancel the marriage contract. Her gaze was focused on the LCD monitor screen looking for all information about Harry. She even asked her assistant to help her dig deeper.
What she found on the internet about Harry was very minimal. This made Claudia even more curious about what Harry was hiding until the information about him was so minimal. Even searching for surname keywords highlighted the good deeds done by Harris.
Claudia thinks critically, trying to remember what scenes Linnon wrote that could make her attack Harry with his weaknesses. Harry is a very mysterious character and Linnon deliberately hides all his background. Why does Linnon hate Harry's character so much?
Aha! There was one thing that crossed Claudia's mind at this time. There is one novel character who is a supporting character named Alice who according to the original storyline will mysteriously disappear. Alice was one of Claudia's acquaintances, but their relationship was not close enough. Therefore, now Claudia wants to use this opportunity to save Alice. Did Alice disappear because Harry was locked up somewhere? Or did Alice disappear on her own because she committed an unexpected crime.
As Claudia recalls, Alice is not an antagonist in this novel. That said, Alice is one of the noblewomen who is adored by the common people because of the good things she has done so far. Alice is known as a cheerful and generous character. Therefore, according to the original storyline, Claudia is a little jealous of Alice so she doesn't want to be good friends.
In order to save Alice before she really disappeared, Claudia took the initiative to invite Alice to meet at a cafe Alice had subscribed to. The action carried out by Claudia and Alice is also closely guarded by each assistant.
If you look at Alice's face now, Claudia seems to be seeing the figure of one of her best friends in the office. Imagining this good woman disappearing for no reason, Claudia was getting more and more heartless and wanted to quickly pass the day where Alice disappeared in the plot of the original novel.
Alice crossed her legs gracefully. "Why did you suddenly ask to see me when you usually avoid me and say you're busy dating Harris."
Claudia responded with a faint smile. "I'm not dating Harris anymore. We broke up."
Hearing this unexpected news made Alice gasp. "What? So you're canceling the wedding?"
"I'm still getting married, but I'm changing the groom to Duke Harry."
Hearing that name, Alice's face changed drastically into nervousness. Her hands trembled as she clutched the cup of coffee while looking around her warily.
Seeing Alice's demeanor change when talking about Harry, Claudia further suspected that the cause of Alice's disappearance in the original storyline was Harry kidnapping her and locking her up somewhere. However, what was Harry's reason for kidnapping Alice when they didn't have any relationship?
"Are you sure you want to marry that jerk?" asked Alice in a stutter.
Claudia furrowed her brows. "Harry's an asshole?"
"You don't know what kind of man he is?" Alice tapped her forehead. "Although almost all the noblewomen like him, I really hate him. He's very selfish and always does dirty work for his own benefit. If I were you, I'd rather marry Harris with more conscience."
"On what basis do you dare to accuse him of that? As far as I'm concerned, Harry's not an asshole. He cares about me so much, that's why I had the courage to marry him instead of Harris."
"You really seem to have lost your mind, Claudia. But, as I recall, you've been avoiding him. I don't know what Harry did to make you his loyal dog."
"Tell me, Alice! Why do you hate Harry so much?"
Alice moved her lips closer to Claudia's face while covering her lips with her palm. "You really don't know? There are rumors about Harry killing someone every night."