Bondage and Marriage - 21
“Why are you coming down so late? Mealtime is over.”
Ian said bluntly without looking up as Noah approached, rubbing his eyes.
“What? But…”
Noah opened his mouth, truly feeling wronged by Ian’s persecution(?) for the first time since coming to this mansion.
Today, Ian, who usually tormented Noah at night, had suddenly mounted and pounded into Noah from the morning, as he was still sleepily dozing off, a bit tired from last night’s play.
After Ian had satisfied his desires and left, Noah, still half-asleep and dazed, had come down thinking he would at least have breakfast now that he was awake.
Usually, he didn’t eat breakfast much, but recently, with so much being expelled(!), and doing it every day instead of just two or three times a week at most like before, his energy was lacking, so now he was hungry for three meals a day.
If they did it like that in the morning, shouldn’t he at least be fed… Noah looked at the empty plates with very regretful eyes.
Ian had already finished his meal and was drinking tea.
How could he eat so quickly?
How late did I come down, if I came down late…
Noah looked dejectedly at the table.
My food… The chef here cooks so deliciously…
As Noah hesitated, wondering if he could at least grab one of the remaining croissants, Ian raised an eyebrow.
“I said mealtime is over. Don’t you understand?”
Ruining my meal when I just want to eat alone… Ian spoke in an extremely rude and very impolite manner today as he got up from his seat.
Noah, who had been flustered, felt his anger rising and gave the middle finger to Ian’s back as he headed to the study.
Is it right to starve someone like this?
“…What?”
“Yes?”
Incredibly, just as Ian turned around, Noah barely managed to fold his middle finger.
Ian glared suspiciously at Noah, who was awkwardly clasping his hands in front.
How can he be so sharp… Noah felt cold sweat forming as Ian’s gaze persistently followed him even as he headed to his room.
Noah thought he should be more careful.
I got too worked up because I skipped breakfast…
As Noah returned to his room and looked around for something to eat, someone knocked politely and entered.
Noah thought it might be Hayden bringing breakfast, but it was just an employee, not Hayden and without any breakfast.
The employee bowed politely and said:
“Noah, Master Ian requests that you come to the company by 2 PM today to escort a guest to the mansion.”
A guest suddenly… Noah rolled his eyes, feeling a bit puzzled.
Even though they would divorce later, marriage was still marriage, so Noah thought he should probably welcome Ian’s guest and nodded.
“Okay, I understand. But where is Hayden today?”
Usually, Ian always sent messages through Hayden, and he would attend to them at every meal, but this time he wasn’t here, and seeing how Ian was treating Noah roughly today, it seemed Hayden wasn’t in the mansion right now.
The employee hesitated a bit before answering with a very apologetic attitude.
“The head butler is currently away on vacation and not in the mansion. Instead, Miriam is in charge of managing the mansion. Would you like me to call Miriam if you need anything?”
“No, it’s fine.”
The employee briefly gave Noah a sympathetic look before quickly regaining a poker face and retreating, saying to call anytime if needed.
Why would Hayden leave on vacation without telling me… Thinking about it, the answer came quickly.
Why else, Ian must have deliberately sent Hayden away without letting him know.
It’s fine to torment me more, but does this mean I won’t be able to eat meals from now on?
He didn’t think they would starve a person, but seeing how Ian acted today, Noah thought he should buy and store a lot of food on his way back from the company today.
***
Perhaps because Ian had starved him in the morning, lunch was served much earlier than usual and was very abundant.
It was evidence that even if Ian mistreated Noah, the employees felt some pity for him.
For Noah, there was nothing bad about this, so he ate his fill including dessert and then leisurely headed to the company in the limousine.
Noah didn’t think much until the limousine stopped in front of the company.
He had just assumed it would be a business-related guest since it was Ian’s guest…
Usually, when an alpha and omega got married, regardless of gender, the omega took on the role of the lady of the house, and welcoming guests was one of the duties of the lady of the house.
In such cases, the guests were usually the partners of business associates, and the omega would show them around the mansion and have tea time to build social relationships.
Of course, even for welcoming guests, there were no cases of being sent to the company to greet them like this.
But when he got out of the limousine, what he saw was a familiar woman dressed elegantly and Daniel with a very dark expression.
Noah blinked.
Oh, I see Heather here again.
Since Daniel, Ian’s secretary, couldn’t be the guest, it seemed Heather was the guest.
“Hello, Daniel. And Miss…?”
Noah casually greeted them, pretending not to know.
When Noah appeared, Daniel became very restless, busy watching Noah’s reactions, just like when they had met Heather while guiding him to the chairman’s office last time.
Heather didn’t answer Noah’s question and looked him up and down.
Then she smirked, clearly mocking, and nodded.
“Call me Heather.”
Daniel’s face turned almost pale blue at Heather’s extremely rude attitude.
But Noah found Heather’s behavior amusing and nodded.
“Good work, Daniel. You can go back to your duties now.”
“Yes, I understand…”
Daniel gave Noah the same kind of look he had received countless times from employees today.
It was a look filled with pity and concern.
Hmm… Do I look that pitiful?
Come to think of it, objectively speaking, Noah was in a situation where he had to welcome his spouse’s lover as a guest to the mansion.
Daniel was looking at Noah as if he might burst into tears and slap Heather’s cheek at any moment.
Noah felt a little embarrassed.
It’s not like that… But I can’t explain…
“If you really don’t want to, I can call another limousine…”
While Daniel was showing Noah infinite consideration, Heather abruptly interrupted.
“No, I like this car. Shouldn’t you get back to work now, Daniel?”
Daniel, who seemed to have strongly disliked Heather for a long time, glared at her once, then gave Noah another worried look before disappearing into the company.
As the limousine driver opened the door, Heather haughtily entered first, and the driver made a slightly dumbfounded face.
Noah shrugged to indicate it was okay and got into the limousine himself.
“Hello, Noah. Have you been well?”
As soon as the limousine door closed, Heather smiled sexily, crossing her legs, her face showing no trace of her earlier rude attitude.
She was a very attractive woman with still wavy dirty blonde hair, vivid red lips, and green eyes that curved into a smile.
Heather tapped the pointed toe of her shoe slightly and exclaimed admiringly.
“My goodness, I had no idea you were that Noah Frost.”
“Um… I didn’t know you were Ian’s lover either.”
Noah hesitated, wondering if he should apologize, since from Heather’s perspective, Noah’s existence probably didn’t look good if she had been dating Ian before he married Noah.
But Heather laughed brightly.
“Noah, you’re still so cute. I’m not Ian’s lover or anything like that. We’re just acquaintances. But… will you be okay?”
“Huh? With what?”
Heather examined Noah’s expression.
She and Noah had known each other for about a year.
They had met at a club through Alex’s introduction and had fun times together, but it was rare to meet people from the club outside…
When she met Noah at the company, Heather was also secretly surprised.
To think that the person who married Ian was Noah.
So now she couldn’t help but be very careful in front of Noah.
“That person is your husband.”
“Ah… It’s okay. We’re going to divorce eventually anyway. And it’s not like we married because we liked each other.”
Noah said this so cheerfully that Heather was momentarily at a loss for words.
He said they would divorce anyway and didn’t even like each other, yet Daniel had acted as if Heather herself was trying to come between Ian and Noah as a mistress or concubine.
She had been worried that she might fall out with Noah because of that attitude, but it was a needless concern.
Then again, sometimes upper-class people would act in contradictory ways that Heather couldn’t understand at all.
Heather, relieved that there wouldn’t be any issues with Noah, decided not to pry any further.
“So you don’t come to the club anymore? Other people were asking if you stopped coming.”
“I want to go, but it’s a bit awkward to go now.”
Noah hadn’t really thought about the club lately, partly because he felt a bit guilty since he was married now, and also because he didn’t feel the need to go thanks to Ian.
But mentioning the club reminded Noah of something.
“Oh right, Heather. Has a new VIP tier been added to the hotel recently?”
“No, it’s the same as before… Why do you ask?”
“I saw Ian with a black box, but there’s no black color among the boxes given out by [Tear], right?”
Ah, that… Heather murmured, smiling as she moved to sit very close to Noah.
Her well-manicured fingernails with red polish moved as if lightly tickling Noah’s chin.
Noah flinched as Heather blew a puff of breath near his ear.
“I do know, but… what will you give me if I tell you?”
Heather’s nails deliberately scratched Noah’s white neck, leaving a slight mark as they moved down and pressed firmly between Noah’s legs with her nails.
Unlike Noah, who strongly leaned towards only one preference, Heather was skilled at both inflicting and enjoying pain.
Noah reflexively made a sound in his throat, responding with a “Mm.”
It felt like it had been a very long time since someone other than Ian had touched him.
“If you let me suck you just once, I can tell you.”
Heather purred, trying to persuade Noah seductively.
But it didn’t really work.
“No. I’d rather not know then.”
Noah made a disgusted face.
Noah had once seen someone else naively agree to Heather’s request to “just let me suck once.”
Heather’s oral always started by tying the other person up…
At first, everyone enjoys it because Heather sucks fantastically.
But as time passes, that pleasure turns to pain, and soon the other person is always begging her to stop while writhing.
And Noah absolutely did not enjoy that kind of pain.
When Noah rejected her offer, Heather sighed overtly in disappointment and withdrew her hand from between Noah’s legs.
“Alright, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but since I feel a bit sorry even though you say it’s not a marriage out of love… That black box is called a Master Box.”
“Master Box?”
“That is, it’s a box that only the owner of the hotel can have.”
Noah’s eyes widened.
Ian is the owner of that hotel?
The owner of that hotel filled with absolutely amazing things from the 3rd basement floor to the 15th top floor is Ian…!
Noah’s eyes sparkled.
No, if he had known earlier, he would have stepped up and asked to be married even before Tenor arranged it…
“That hotel was originally an illegal prostitution establishment, but he bought it, remodeled it, and scouted high-class courtesans (*high-class prostitutes).
It seems he gets a lot of business-related information as well as income.
It’s sometimes used as a secret meeting place too.
Anyway, although he’s not the official master, Ian Miller is the unofficial real owner.”
Well, most of the hotel’s visitors are upper-class people, and the rest are those employed by the hotel.
Gathering information wouldn’t be that difficult.
Even Heather herself had stayed only on the top floor attending to special guests until a year ago, when her contract ended and she came down.
But what did it matter?
Noah’s resolve to divorce later was shaken a bit by the news that Ian owned that hotel, regardless of business or anything else.
No, if I ask for an annual pass to that hotel as alimony when we divorce… That might be a bit much…
Actually, I can barely afford the annual pass there.
Or if not the hotel, maybe free testing of [Tear]’s new products…
Noah snapped out of his daydream when Heather called him with an odd nuance.
“By the way Noah, I have something to apologize for in advance.”
“What apology?”
Heather, who knew Noah’s preferences very well, had a subtle expression.
Should I really apologize for this?
Noah’s ears perked up at Heather’s next words.
“Actually, when Ian sent me here… he told me to be mean to you.”