My Husband Caught Me Having an Affair - Chapter 132

“How dare you bring up my father with that mouth?”

“Why shouldn’t I? If you didn’t want to hear your father insulted, you shouldn’t have barged into someone else’s house and caused a scene.”

Marlon spoke with an air of ease. Ethan glared at him with eyes that looked ready to kill him on the spot.

Marlon himself had ordered the assassination of Philip Dumont long ago, but even facing the son before him now, he had expected to feel nothing.

But that wasn’t the case. On the contrary, he felt rather good. He thought he had lived long enough to have experienced everything, but this was a first. To be the object of such intense rage and murderous intent that it made his skin prickle—and to not mind it one bit.

It must have been because the one standing before him was none other than Ethan Dumont. Though he didn’t want to admit it, Ethan was his greatest adversary, and the one who had dealt him repeated blows as of late.

“…So you’re going to keep feigning ignorance like that?”

Ethan spoke in a low voice, barely suppressing his anger.

“I’ve done nothing but state the facts. How is that feigning ignorance? If you’re going to accuse me of something, at least bring some kind of proof.”

At Marlon’s words, Ethan silently glared at him.

“You’d do well to remember what you just said.”

With that, Ethan turned around. The guards surrounding him hesitated for a moment. When Marlon gestured for them to let him go, they finally parted to clear a path.

As Ethan walked through the opening, he suddenly stopped and looked back at Marlon.

“One more thing. If Camille has even a single hair harmed—consider that day your last.”

Marlon responded with a silent sneer. This time, Ethan truly disappeared beyond the doors of Marlon’s office.

“Was the Duke of Dumont the only one who entered the estate?”

At Marlon’s question, one of the guards quickly replied, “Yes. That’s correct.”

“Follow him. Make sure he doesn’t try anything until he’s out of the estate.”

“Understood. Let’s go.”

The guards rushed out after Ethan. Marlon narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned back in his chair.

***

Ethan left the Girard estate and got into the carriage.

Inside, Mael and Jacques were waiting for him.

“How did it go?”

At Mael’s question, Ethan replied flatly, “He denied everything. Claimed he didn’t know a thing.”

It was exactly what he had expected. Even if Marlon Girard really had kidnapped Camille, there was no way he would calmly admit, ‘Yes, I kidnapped your wife.’

“What do you think? Realistically speaking, we don’t have definitive evidence pointing to Girard.”

“But there’s no one else who could have done it. There were no passersby in the area at that time. And if there had been, by now they’d have stepped forward, saying they rescued the Duchess.” Jacques offered a counterpoint to Mael’s remark.

Ever since Camille’s disappearance, House Dumont had been searching for her by every possible means—promising a large reward to anyone who provided information.

“That may be true… But didn’t you say the thunder started shortly after the Duchess went ahead on horseback? And that you didn’t see her again until you reached the bottom of the mountain? Doesn’t that mean Girard wouldn’t have had enough time to act?”

“It’s possible she pushed through the storm and made it to the trail’s entrance. If she collapsed after that, maybe someone lying in wait nearby took her.”

“Come on now. Didn’t the Duke himself say that was practically impossible?”

Jacques had made the same argument before. At the time, Ethan had insisted that Camille’s fear of thunder was so severe that she froze up after just a few steps even on the flat riding grounds—so making it more than ten minutes down a dark mountain path was unthinkable.

Jacques hunched his shoulders slightly, looking uncertain. “Still, given the circumstances, who knows. The Duchess is remarkably brave and strong—maybe she pulled off something superhuman in a moment of crisis…”

Mael and Jacques cautiously glanced at Ethan. He remained silent, his lips tightly pressed.

Since Camille had gone missing, Ethan hadn’t properly rested for several days. This was the first time they had seen him lose his composure to this extent.

In truth, Mael and Jacques were the same. Both of them believed they were the ones responsible for the situation, and the guilt weighed heavily on their shoulders.

Especially Jacques—he had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths. After learning that Ines was pregnant, his anguish had only deepened.

“Her Grace knew I was pregnant. That’s why she risked her life to save me,” Ines said, tears streaming down her face.

“What should I do? If Her Grace doesn’t return like this… what am I supposed to do?”

Jacques couldn’t answer. All he could do was hold his wife tightly with his eyes squeezed shut.

Originally, he had planned to submit his resignation once the rescue mission was over—to take responsibility for endangering the Duchess without reporting to Ethan.

It had been a desperate situation, so much so that he couldn’t think clearly, but there had also been a faint hope that the Duchess would make it work somehow.

Camille had indeed saved Ines. But he had never imagined the price would be this great.

Now, resignation wasn’t enough. If Camille couldn’t be found, there was no way he could atone for his sin.

Just then, Ethan suddenly opened his mouth.

“It’s definitely Girard’s doing.”

“Did Duke Girard leave any clues behind?” Mael cautiously asked.

“If Marlon Girard were that careless, we wouldn’t have struggled with him for this long.”

“Then…?”

“He provoked me unusually hard. Not just about Camille—he even brought up my father.”

At those words, Mael and Jacques instinctively exchanged glances.

They both knew exactly how the previous Duke of Dumont had died. And they were well aware that Ethan suspected Marlon Girard to be behind it.

Ethan had devoted over ten years to uncovering evidence that Girard was behind the assassination of the late Duke. If he ever found it, it would be the decisive blow to bring Girard down instantly.

In other words, for Marlon, that was a truth that could never be revealed.

Considering how cautious Marlon had always been, the fact that he had voluntarily brought up the late Duke was strange—especially during a confrontation over Camille’s suspected kidnapping.

“Are you saying he slipped up because he was trying too hard to avoid suspicion?”

“Of course not. Girard’s not that shallow. It might mean he no longer cares about covering his tracks.”

Ethan’s fury in front of Marlon had been partly an act. To be exact, from a certain point, he had deliberately exaggerated his response to test him.

Even showing up at Marlon’s doorstep like that had been for the same reason.

If Marlon was behind Camille’s abduction, he wouldn’t have left any evidence. The very fact that she had vanished without a trace was in itself proof that pointed to Girard. If it hadn’t been him, there would have been some trace left behind.

‘If he’d had more time, he would’ve staged it as an accident. But just as Jacques said, it must’ve been a situation where every second counted—so all he could do was erase the evidence.’

That was why Ethan had gone to confront Marlon directly. And after meeting him, his suspicions had only grown stronger.

If Marlon had kidnapped Camille, his motive would be completely different from when he kidnapped Ines. He had to know better than anyone that using Camille as a hostage wouldn’t work.

Marlon’s goal had always been one thing: to uncover the spy’s identity and to find out how House Dumont had been able to continuously thwart his plans.

Surely, through this incident, he had realized that Camille held the key.

He would use any means necessary to extract information from her.

It went without saying—he had no intention of letting her go alive. If he had, he wouldn’t have kidnapped her in the first place.

They had to move fast. The moment Camille opened her mouth, her life would no longer be safe.