Bondage and Marriage - 72

“I-Ian… It’s been a while… No, has it only been three days…?”

Noah awkwardly took off his mask and sunglasses, greeting Ian, but Ian didn’t respond. Not only did he not respond, but the corners of Ian’s smiling mouth trembled and slowly twisted into something so frightening that Noah couldn’t help but shudder.

What did I… what did I talk about with Mikhail earlier? Trembling from the intimidating atmosphere of Ian, Noah hesitated and took a step back. Ian’s mouth, which had been smiling, twisted further and slowly sank into an expressionless face, which, if possible, seemed even scarier than before. While Noah clutched the box Mikhail had given him tightly and swallowed nervously, Ian finally spoke.

“Mikhail.”

Noah, who had flinched at first, realized that Ian was calling Mikhail, not him, and turned his head. Mikhail was casually blinking his eyes, glancing at the counter where the adult product samples were scattered, and then slowly swept them off with his arm. Ian spoke in a chilling tone.

“You know, later, when I’m done with you, I’ll… kill you.”

Each word from Ian was full of the real intention to kill Mikhail. Noah trembled and watched as Mikhail, making a noise, ran into the office located behind the counter. Noah then realized that Mikhail had distracted him on purpose by giving him all those samples. That… bad person!

“Uh… Ian…?”

Ian didn’t respond, just staring at Noah. Noah hesitantly called his name again, but there was no answer. Noah looked like he was about to cry. Why did this have to happen today? Why did it have to happen like this?

Meanwhile, Ian was still in disbelief about the situation. He knew that Noah had come to the adult store, and it wasn’t by chance. He had put people on Noah to follow him, so of course, he would know where Noah was going.

The first thing Ian did when Noah suggested divorce was leave the mansion and avoid seeing Noah. It wasn’t just because Noah hated him and wanted to leave. Ian knew that if he saw Noah and realized that Noah was trying to get away from him, his temper might cause him to do something he’d regret.

However, avoiding Noah didn’t mean he could avoid the divorce. Even if he wasn’t there, the divorce proceedings could still happen. And if Tanner found out that Noah wanted a divorce… or if Noah left the mansion and returned to the Frost family, then it would be even harder for Ian to do anything about it. That’s why Ian had people following Noah to keep track of him.

Of course, it wasn’t a good or right thing to do. In fact, it was like stalking Noah. But Ian wasn’t a person who felt guilty about these kinds of things, and he would rather endure something like this than do something foolish and risk losing Noah.

For three days, Ian stayed in his hotel room, ignoring Mikhail, who was babbling nonsense about Tear being Noah’s home. He sat there, regretting how he ended up in such a pitiful situation. For a few days, he did nothing but think about Noah, and on other days, he researched how advantageous it was for an alpha during an omega’s divorce and sought legal advice. He had to figure something out.

On the third day, Ian received word from the person following Noah that Noah had visited the company and then come to the store. At first, Ian was shocked and jumped up. It wasn’t surprising that Noah came here. After the unpleasant incident with Alex, Noah must have learned about Tear. But Ian, who thought Noah didn’t know what Tear was, became anxious and walked around the room.

He hadn’t decided how to deal with Noah’s request for divorce yet… He didn’t want to divorce, but living apart like this was no different from being divorced. So, until he figured out a solution, he tried to avoid meeting Noah. But this wasn’t just any company or villa Noah used to visit.

Tear wasn’t an ordinary hotel. It looked like one on the outside, but inside, it was a high-end, members-only SM club. Ian was furious just thinking about the possibility of someone else taking advantage of Noah, and the jealousy burned inside him.

Unable to hold it back, Ian stormed out of his room, but then he received another message from the person he had following Noah. It was about Noah entering the adult store. Ian didn’t know why Noah went there, but he immediately decided he needed to get Noah out of that place.

Ian had been watching Noah choose products from the display and talking with Mikhail, and that conversation… Noah was a VIP here. Becoming a VIP at Tear was a difficult process… and that meant Noah had been coming here for a long time. Ian realized in an instant what that meant.

Watching Ian’s rage build, Noah became even more terrified. He would have preferred Ian to throw a tantrum and destroy everything in sight. As Ian finally stopped smiling and silently approached, Noah unconsciously took steps back until his back touched the counter.

With a twisted smile that seemed to squeak, Ian grabbed Noah’s shoulder. Noah flinched, and as he looked up at Ian with wide eyes, Ian bared his teeth and smiled coldly.

“So… you’ve been looking for me, Noah. Then… let’s go home, just like you want.”

As Ian’s hand gently caressed his shoulder, Noah recoiled, glancing nervously between Ian and the counter. He thought, We have a lot to talk about. Ian spoke with the same tone he used when he threatened Mikhail.

Arriving at the mansion, Noah finally realized. Ian had been calm and composed, not because he wasn’t angry, but because it was the calm before the storm. Like the quiet before a massive wave crashes onto the shore, Ian’s anger was about to erupt like a tsunami.

“What? You like it rough? You liked it before, but now it’s too much?”

“Sniff…”

“Can’t you raise your arms properly?!”

As Ian shouted loudly, Noah flinched and raised his arm again, which had been lowering. Noah sniffled a little. No, he had enjoyed it until now… even though he had been a little deceived… they had been getting along well, helping each other out… Although Noah had made some mistakes…

After leaving Tear, Ian pushed Noah into the limousine waiting outside the building, slammed the door shut, and entered the car himself. He came in so roughly that Noah could feel the wind blow as soon as he got inside. The limousine headed straight to the mansion, and throughout the ride, Ian stared at Noah fiercely.

The intense atmosphere from Ian, who didn’t say a word, made Noah shrink into a corner, just like a rabbit in front of a tiger. Noah knew well how Ian’s temper was. Moreover, as time passed, Ian’s anger seemed to multiply, becoming more overwhelming, to the point where Noah worried Ian might explode like a bomb once they arrived at the mansion.

The employees were all shocked when they saw Ian dragging Noah by the arm, but when Ian ordered everyone to leave with a fierce expression, they hesitated but scattered. Ian dragged Noah so roughly that one of his shoes fell off as they entered the sitting room, and Noah, in this situation, found himself slightly resenting his own lack of self-control. Now is not the time for that.

Ian shoved Noah into the sofa in the sitting room. At first, Ian seemed like he was trying to restrain himself, but soon, his long-suppressed anger exploded all at once. He yelled and raged at Noah until Noah became utterly deflated.

“You’re sniffing like that on purpose, aren’t you?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

How did he know? Noah, who had almost forced the tears back, looked at Ian, and his shoulder started to hurt a little. He glanced at Ian, but Ian’s anger seemed to show no sign of calming down. Ian trembled with fury, his face full of betrayal.

“I always thought something was off. It was like you were begging me to torment you.”

Well, it wasn’t that Noah didn’t feel that way, but he hadn’t outright asked to be tormented… He had been indirectly provoking Ian, but since he felt guilty, Noah didn’t deny it and only glanced around nervously. Ian gritted his teeth in frustration.

“You wouldn’t feel anything about it, even if you were a hopeless pervert.”

What Ian said was true, and Noah couldn’t argue. Raising his arms to stand in punishment was definitely not his preference. Similarly, Noah disliked human furniture or military roleplay (things like corporal punishment or forced kneeling). He felt a bit wronged, and his shoulder and arm ached, so Noah meekly protested.

“I’m not a pervert… I’m a masochist, there’s a difference…”

“Shut up. You think I don’t know what a masochist is, because I’m the boss here?”

In that case, Ian was a pervert too… Noah muttered to himself. If masochists were perverts, then sadists were too. But why was he standing in punishment because Ian ordered it? Of course, he had done something wrong, but still… he wasn’t a child, and standing with his arms raised like this… However, Ian’s atmosphere was so tense that Noah didn’t voice his complaints. But what could he do? He had been caught deceiving Ian all along.

“Well, divorce? Divorce?? Tell me honestly, you want a divorce because I didn’t cater to your preferences, right?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

Noah couldn’t completely deny it, though. He had asked for a divorce for both his and Ian’s sake, but trying to explain it was complicated, and as he hesitated, Ian seemed to misinterpret Noah’s reaction, becoming even more furious. Ian raised his hand, and Noah flinched, thinking he was about to be hit. But without hesitation, Ian’s hand smashed a vase on the table.

“Damn it, damn it!”

The vase shattered loudly, but Ian was still far from calm, so he kicked the table over. The expensive antique table cracked loudly, and soon after, the sofa and decorations were knocked over and broken in Ian’s rage. With every loud noise, valuable furniture and items turned into trash, shattered.

Noah winced at every item Ian destroyed, trying to gauge the situation. Ian’s previous outbursts seemed tame compared to now. As the sitting room became a wreck, Noah slowly lowered his arm. He was gently rubbing his shoulder when Ian, after destroying nearly everything, exhaled roughly and looked away. Noah quickly stopped rubbing his shoulder.

“You… then, what you said you liked about me, wasn’t that true?”

After a while of heavy breathing, Ian asked, and the sound of the broken lamp being crushed underfoot seemed unusually loud. Noah felt a pang in his chest. I didn’t… like him… but if I had to say, I liked him… in that way… Thinking that Ian would get angrier if he said this, Noah hesitated, and Ian wiped his face in frustration.

“Ha…! So, everything was an act, huh?”

Ian’s words, spoken through his fingers that were cut up from the glass shards, seemed full of hurt, and Noah couldn’t find the words to say. Though he had never directly told Ian he liked him, he had made Ian think so, and that was a fact. After exhaling a heavy breath a few times, Ian dropped his arm. His head tilted slightly as he stared at a corner of the room, and there was something unsettling about it…

“It was all an act.”

As Ian clenched his teeth and said it again, Noah flinched. Ian, with his mouth tightly shut, continued to breathe heavily, his gaze shifting between the broken shards of glass and wood scattered across the floor, Noah’s bare foot sticking out awkwardly from the edge of the sofa, and the single shoe that had fallen off earlier. Finally, Ian glared at Noah. Noah tensed up under the gaze, and Ian started to sweep the shards from the sofa with his shoe.

“Ah…”

Noah, feeling slightly awkward, noticed his chest aching again as he watched Ian. Ian, still staring at the floor, suddenly picked Noah up and held him. It hurt where Ian’s arm gripped his side, but Noah couldn’t show it. Whether it was because Ian wasn’t using much effort or if he had some strength from his rage, he lifted Noah and carried him out into the hallway. He then shoved him toward the door and shouted.

“Walk.”

Noah felt as if a gun was pointed at his back as he took off his remaining shoe and walked quietly. The hallway, which was always kept spotless by the employees, wasn’t dirty, so it didn’t matter. Ian led Noah to an unexpected destination: the dining room.