[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-my-useless-mute-beta-wife-is-a-big-shot":3,"chapter-my-useless-mute-beta-wife-is-a-big-shot-my-useless-mute-beta-wife-is-a-big-shot-chapter-12":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","My Useless Mute Beta Wife Is A Big Shot!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1854374,2460,"Chapter 12: Don’t Keep Your Bride Waiting..","my-useless-mute-beta-wife-is-a-big-shot-chapter-12",12,"\u003Cp>The mansion’s private bar holds its breath around me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one else. Just the bottles. Just the shadows. Just the weight of a day I never wanted—pressing down on my chest like stones stacked one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The expensive liquors rest on their shelves like sleeping soldiers—untouched, waiting, gleaming beneath dim golden light that spills from fixtures shaped like flowers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whiskey from mountains I’ve never climbed. Bourbon from rivers I’ve never crossed. Cognac aged longer than I’ve been alive. Countries I’ll never visit—trapped in glass and silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their scent lingers in the air. Warm. Wooden. Familiar. The only perfume that’s ever felt like home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lean back into the couch. Let it take my weight. The leather shifts softly beneath me—quiet, expensive, yielding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wine shimmers in my crystal glass. Dark red. Almost black. Like blood held up to candlelight in a room where no one prays.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My fingers trace the thin curve of the glass—back and forth, back and forth. A rhythm I don’t control. Don’t want. Can’t stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My shirt hangs open at the collar, buttons abandoned halfway down my chest. The perfect groom outfit—disassembled. Tie gone. I don’t remember where I threw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jacket abandoned on a chair I don’t remember passing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shoes by the door—kicked off and forgotten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long performance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Smiling until my cheeks ached. Receiving congratulations from strangers who whispered my name like they knew me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing beside him while cameras flashed—fingers brushing my shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Posing for photographs I’ll never look at—frames that will gather dust in rooms I’ll never enter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My thoughts stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Midway. Mid-breath. Mid-word I never spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The memory rises without permission—uninvited, unwanted, unforgettable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His lips beneath my thumb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way our faces almost touched—close enough that if I breathed deeper, if my thumb weren’t there, we would have become something I couldn’t take back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way our breaths tangled—mine and his—becoming something shared. Something that didn’t belong to either of us anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way his eyes locked on mine—close, closer, closest—and didn’t let go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze—different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not soft. Not patient. Not the polite smile he wears like armor against a world that doesn’t understand him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did it mean?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My head settles against the cushion. My eyes close against the golden light that suddenly feels too bright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Relax, Ellis.\" My voice is a whisper. A prayer to no one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t think so much.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I take a deep breath. Let it fill my lungs. Let it settle somewhere deep—somewhere the anger doesn’t reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just this silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just this peace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The couch dips beside me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leather shifts, cushions compressing under weight that wasn’t there a moment ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fingers brush my hair back from my temple—soft, familiar, uninvited. The touch lingers a moment too long, like whoever it is wants to be recognized. Wants to be known.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t open my eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t need to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My voice comes out flat. Cold. Tired in ways I can’t explain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sum. Stop.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice arrives—surprised, almost shocked, touched with something like wonder he can’t quite hide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wow.\" A pause. \"How did you know it was me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I open my eyes, turning my head just enough to look at him without moving the rest of my body—watching him through half-closed lids.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No one else dares to do this.\" The words come out slower than I intended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Only you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leans back on the couch, spreading his arms along the cushions like he owns the place. His voice shifts—proud now, almost preening, like a cat that’s been admired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Now I feel special.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sip my wine, letting the bitterness coat my tongue, letting it burn on the way down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I thought you were gone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, I was going.\" He pours himself a glass—the wine dark, heavy, almost purple in this light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But Everic stopped me. We talked about some business.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sips, swallows, sets the glass down. Then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ellis.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m curious about something.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My eyes stay on the wine. The way the light moves through it—like something alive. The way it stains the crystal, red and stubborn, like it doesn’t want to let go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drains the glass in one long swallow, his throat moving as he sets it down with a decisive clink that echoes through the silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did you really kiss him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stay silent for a moment, letting the question hang between us—heavy, sharp, dangerous, like a blade balanced on a thread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you think?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sum studies me. His eyes narrow, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips—the same one he’s worn since we were children. The one that says I see through you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s difficult to believe.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leans forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ellis Roselle. Who’s slept with countless omegas but never given his first kiss to anyone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tilts his head, the smirk deepening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And now he gives it—easily—to a beta?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pause. His voice drops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t believe it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leans back, crossing his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can fool everyone out there—my parents, your parents, the servants, the photographers, the guests who don’t know you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He holds my gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But not me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stay silent, sipping my wine, letting the burn answer for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sum leans closer, his voice dropping—conspiratorial, curious, almost hungry. Like he’s asking for a secret he already knows I won’t give.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But one thing is true.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes drift—upward, toward nothing in particular, toward the memory of golden light and white roses and a figure walking through petals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He’s damn beautiful.\" A breath. \"The whole event—everyone’s eyes were on him. Mine too.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I couldn’t look away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shakes his head slowly, like he’s still trying to understand what he saw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can’t believe he’s a beta.\" His voice softens. \"He looks... like a rare omega.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those pink lips.\" Another pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Soft.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looks at me—directly. Without blinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kissing him...\" He weighs the words before letting them fall. \"Probably worth it. If I were in your place, I wouldn’t have waited. The officiant wouldn’t even finish speaking before I kissed him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A beat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How did you control yourself, Ellis?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My gaze shifts to him—cold, flat, empty of everything I feel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then marry him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sum blinks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When I divorce him.\" My voice doesn’t change. Doesn’t rise. Doesn’t fall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Marry him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sum goes still. For a moment—just a moment—he doesn’t move. Doesn’t breathe. Just stares at me like I’ve spoken a language he doesn’t understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he pats my shoulder—hard, almost a slap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mr. Charming.\" He stands, straightening his coat. \"Your wedding ended two hours ago, and you’re already talking about divorce?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shakes his head, smiling—but it doesn’t reach his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just calm down.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t look at him. I just sip my wine, letting the silence speak for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walks toward the door, his footsteps soft on the carpet—almost silent, like he’s trying not to disturb something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Now go to your room.\" His voice drifts back to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t keep your bride waiting. It’s already late.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glances back just before the door, his face half in shadow, half in golden light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And don’t be stubborn. Go to your room.\" A pause. \"Uncle Elias doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good night.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door closes behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A soft click.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence rushes back in—thick, heavy, suffocating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sit alone in the dim golden light. The wine half-gone in my glass. The memory still burning beneath my skin—something I can’t extinguish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His lips beneath my thumb. The warmth of his breath against my skin. The way his eyes watched me—close, closer, closest—and didn’t look away. That gaze. Something I couldn’t name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My fingers tighten around the glass—until it cracks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shatters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wine spills over my hand. Dark red. Mixing with my blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night stretches ahead of me—dark, empty, full of rooms I don’t want to enter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somewhere in this mansion, he’s waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas Stoneheart.\u003C\u002Fp>",1326,"2026-06-09T07:26:01.012Z",1,"novelbin.me","e88529d6410d2ec34ad497ac7c1ffc66580c9ab14753f611efe0c32561ea67d1","my-useless-mute-beta-wife-is-a-big-shot-chapter-13","my-useless-mute-beta-wife-is-a-big-shot-chapter-11",74,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-useless-mute-beta-wife-is-a-big-shot-cover.jpg"]