Chapter 57

“Max, can I speak to you for a moment?”

Daisy beckoned toward Maxim, who was lounging on the sofa.

With so many eyes on them, it was safer to pull him aside.

“My wife seems to have something urgent to say. I might be gone for a while. Mind giving us a bit of extra time?”

“No, just five minutes will do.”

She was dead tired. Not a chance.

She had no desire to endure another awkward nap against his crotch. Then, grabbing his arm, she dragged a smiling Maxim back into the fitting room.

“Are you serious about buying all of them?”

“Yes.”

“That’s absurd…”

She had always known he was insane, but this was madness confirmed. Daisy sighed deeply and looked him straight in the eye.

“Don’t you remember? I promised to buy you something lovely.”

“But you didn’t choose anything yourself. What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

Next. Next.

Toward the end, he had barely moved a finger, letting staff change her like a doll.

And now he wanted to buy everything. She couldn’t make sense of his whims.

“There was no need. In fact, I didn’t want to choose.”

“What?”

“They were all beautiful.”

All of them? Every single one?

“I told you, didn’t I? You looked beautiful.”

Indeed, he had said so, one simple word. Beautiful.

It had been a brief exclamation, but still, a compliment.

However, to purchase every dress she tried on was basically like buying out the entire boutique.

To spend such a large sum merely on clothes… Daisy, who longed for divorce, found it crushingly burdensome.

“You do realize how expensive this place is?”

“You truly think so little of me, Izzy.”

He touched her hair, gazing into her eyes.

“I made the reservation. Do you really think I wouldn’t know the prices?”

“You made the reservation?”

“Yes. You said you had nothing to wear. I pulled a few strings, offered a few… incentives.”

That explained it. A boutique of this caliber would hardly accept a last-minute booking from Waldeck when they had no connections.

“This is wasteful.”

She couldn’t tell him, I’m divorcing you, don’t waste money. So she found another excuse.

“We’ll be returning to the domain soon anyway. When am I supposed to wear all this? Let’s just stick to the original plan and only get two dresses.”

“Do I look poor to you?”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant—”

“Earlier, I overheard them say when a man is truly smitten, he’ll give everything to his woman. Even bleed himself dry for her.”

“…”

“So naturally, this is the least I can do.”

Of course. He’d overheard that, and now he was proving the point.

Given how eager he’d been to flaunt their “passionate” relationship earlier, this spending spree was more about making a statement than anything else.

“So this is all for revenge? You don’t need to go so far. You saw how they acted, didn’t you? I made sure they understood, loud and clear…”

“Money is the one thing I have plenty of. Therefore, if I’m going to make a scene, it’ll be an expensive one. What’s the issue?”

…Well, if it were his money, there would be no issue for him.

But for Daisy, who planned to settle everything at the next social event, these extravagant purchases were an unwanted burden.

“There’s nowhere to put them. My closet back home is small.”

Daisy used the closet as an excuse.

Her room at the Waldeck mansion was modest, so there was no way it could hold such a trove of dresses.

“Don’t worry. Once we’re back in Waldeck, you can use my wardrobe. It’s much larger.”

“Why would I use your wardrobe?”

“Well… we’ll be sharing a bedroom. Isn’t that obvious?”

“But Max, don’t you need your wardrobe?”

“I don’t own many clothes. And as you know, I do rather prefer being undressed in the bedroom.”

He could at least try to sound convincing. His nonstop nonsense left her breathless.

“What about my rights? I’d like to be alone now and then too.”

“Then use that tiny little room you’ve been staying in as your hideout. But at night, you sleep with me.”

His reasoning left no crack for escape.

“…”

He had her cornered. And Daisy was far too tired to argue further after trying on dozens of dresses. At last, only one thought circled her weary mind.

“I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand?”

“Why do you like me so much, Max?”

She finally voiced the question that had always lingered. Maxim chuckled softly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Shall I ask you instead? Is it strange for a husband to love his wife?”