🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 2
Betrayal (1)
Cecilia Fanning.
In the empire’s high society, she was famous for her dramatic life.
First, she lost both her parents, Count and Countess Fanning, when she was only ten years old.
After becoming an orphan, Cecilia had no relatives to turn to. In accordance with her late father’s will, she was entrusted to the care of Viscount Osburn, one of her father’s friends.
People had always felt sorry for her. Then, upon reaching adulthood, she surprised everyone once again by marrying Evan March, a commoner.
No one understood her choice, but Cecilia didn’t care.
She felt a deep sense of kinship with Evan, who, like her, was an orphan with no family to rely on.
Moreover, Rosena Osburn, the friend who had grown up alongside her like a sister, had wholeheartedly supported their marriage.
For that reason, the fact that Evan had no noble title had never been a problem for Cecilia.
Then, two years ago, everything changed.
“What? Evan is… the Duke of Hays’s long-lost son?”
“Yes. Those cufflinks Evan possesses are the proof. My son Gilbert gave them to his mother.”
At the Hays Ducal Residence, where she had been summoned without warning, Cecilia learned that Evan was the only son of Gilbert, who had been the duke at the time.
The ducal family revealed that Evan’s mother had been a maid in their household and presented a birth certificate bearing her signature.
The keepsake Evan had treasured from his mother was also confirmed to have belonged to Gilbert.
Elise, the matriarch of House Hays, immediately had Evan formally registered as a member of the family. When Gilbert Hays passed away, Evan became a duke overnight.
Naturally, Cecilia rose to the position of duchess as well.
From the daughter of a count, to an orphan, to the wife of a commoner businessman, and finally, to a duchess.
People believed that she would finally live happily ever after.
But that was a complete misconception.
“Evan, it’s already so late. Let’s go to our bedroom together—”
“Cecilia, please. I told you not to disturb me.”
After becoming a duchess, Cecilia had been living through unbearably lonely days because of her husband’s cold treatment.
Evan had always been busy with his business, but after becoming a duke, he grew even more irritable, and the time they spent together as a couple had all but disappeared.
Gathering up her courage, Cecilia had made her way to his study, only for Evan to wear the same expression of annoyance he always did.
“B-but you heard what the physician said, too. Today is an important day…”
Normally, Cecilia would have read Evan’s mood and quietly backed away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that today.
It had already been five years since they married, yet they still had no children.
Cecilia was growing increasingly anxious.
In particular, Elise, Evan’s grandmother, openly demanded a child and constantly harassed Cecilia over the matter.
“I’ve told you time and time again. What do you intend to do if you let things continue like this and that cunning Rainer Hays takes the ducal title away from us?”
Elise despised Rainer, her husband’s illegitimate son, with a passion.
Her fear that he might seize the title from them was directed squarely at Cecilia.
“It’s a serious failing for a wife to be incapable of properly supporting her husband.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Every time Cecilia heard Elise’s reprimands, she felt as though she couldn’t breathe.
Today was the day a physician she had desperately searched for and finally managed to consult had recommended that she and Evan spend the night together.
But Evan’s response was icy.
“What about the physician? Why should I have to do that?”
His indifferent attitude, as though the matter had nothing to do with him, left Cecilia feeling hurt.
Nevertheless, she swallowed her disappointment and spoke again in a gentle voice.
“What do you mean, why? Your grandmother is waiting for a child, too…”
“Hah, that again? Aren’t you tired of talking about it?”
Evan sighed and deliberately tapped the stacks of documents piled on his desk.
Cecilia immediately shrank back.
“Use your eyes and look around. I’ve got a mountain of work to do as it is.”
“A-are you really that busy?”
“Good grief. What would you know even if I explained it to you? It’s not as though you learned anything useful while living off the Osburn family.”
At his sarcastic remark, Cecilia lowered her head.
She had resolved that today, no matter what, she would get him to join her in their marital bedroom.
But standing before him, she felt utterly insignificant.
“If you understand, then go take care of Rosie. She’s struggling to raise a child on her own, and you’re ignoring your friend just so you can have a child of your own? Do you really want to be that selfish?”
“That’s not what I’m…”
Evan’s words made Cecilia’s face burn with embarrassment.
As he said, Rosena was raising her child alone.
Rosena had originally been engaged to the eldest son of a prestigious noble family related to the imperial household.
However, when it was revealed that he was a fraud who had falsely claimed to be of noble birth, her life had fallen apart.
By then, the child in her womb was already well-developed, so Rosena had no choice but to endure childbirth and raise the baby without a husband.
Thinking about how she had asked to have a child of her own while her friend was in such a difficult situation, Cecilia began to feel that she really was as selfish as Evan claimed.
“I’m sorry for bothering you. I’ll leave now…”
“Good. Please stop coming to my study. Just looking at your face makes my headache feel even worse.”
“…All right.”
Cecilia left Evan’s study as though she were being chased out.
She forced herself to ignore the grumbling coming from behind her and continued down the corridor.
“Haah…”
So today had ended the same way again.
With her shoulders drooping, Cecilia trudged toward her bedroom.
‘Does Evan not want a child?’
She felt miserable, as though she were the only one in a hurry to make it happen.
Of course, there was pressure from those around her, but more than anything, she wanted to hold a child who resembled Evan in her arms.
If only Evan could understand even a little of how she felt.
If only he had offered her a single warm word, such as ‘I understand how you feel, too.’ She wouldn’t have felt so lonely.
‘…No, he must simply be very busy right now.’
Cecilia wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and tried to comfort herself.
Evan still loved her.
He was just tired and had lost his temper for a moment.
She repeated these words to herself like a mantra, trying to hypnotize herself into believing them.
But without her knowledge, an irreversible misfortune was already approaching, one step at a time.
A few days later, late at night.
“This… this can’t be…”
Cecilia stood frozen outside Evan’s study, covering her mouth with one hand.
“Mmm, Evan…”
“Ahh, do you like that? Hmm? Tell me. I like you so much more than I like Ria.”
Evan was passionately showering kisses on a woman lying across his desk.
His usual composed appearance was nowhere to be seen. In its place was a man consumed by desire, behaving like a beast.
Clothes lay scattered carelessly all around them.
The mere fact that he had refused to share a bed with Cecilia while embracing another woman was enough to drive her mad with disbelief.
But when she recognized the woman in her husband’s arms, Cecilia felt as though she had been slapped hard across the face.
“Ah, yes… Mmm, I love it. I feel like I’m going to die from how good it feels.”
It was Rosena Osburn, the friend who had grown up alongside Cecilia like a sister since childhood, lying in her husband’s arms and letting out coquettish moans.
From time to time, Rosena would visit the ducal residence with her son, Jeremy, and stay for a while.
‘You think Evan has grown distant? Oh, come on. That can’t be it. Ria, aren’t you just being too clingy? You can be a little oblivious sometimes, you know.’
‘You think so…?’
‘Of course. Evan’s only human, too. If you keep interfering with everything he does, he’ll get tired of you. Men hate that more than anything.’
Even today, when Cecilia had confided her worries to Rosena, hadn’t her friend answered so casually?
But the shock didn’t end there.
“Should I give you another child? How about a daughter this time?”
“If you did that, it’d be perfect. Jeremy already looks like me, so our daughter can look like you, Rosie.”
Evan smiled with satisfaction and kissed the back of Rosena’s neck.
For a moment, Cecilia nearly collapsed to the floor.
‘Jeremy… is Evan’s child?’
All strength drained from Cecilia’s legs.
Although they weren’t related by blood, she had cherished Jeremy, Rosena’s son, as though he were her own nephew.
Jeremy, too, had always greeted her with a bright smile and eagerly followed her around.
That innocent little boy who had happily snuggled into her arms…
He was her husband’s son?
“Ah…”
Cecilia staggered backward and fell, the heavy thud echoing through the room.
At once, Evan and Rosena, who had been shamelessly entangled with each other, froze.
Only then did they notice Cecilia sitting on the floor through the gap in the open door.
“C-Cecilia?”
“Eeek!”
Evan, who had been sprawled over Rosena, sprang to his feet in shock.
In his panic, he tried to snatch up his trousers and put them on, only to lose his balance and fall flat on his backside.
“Ugh!”
“Evan! Are you all right?”
Even as Evan lay sprawled on the floor, groaning in pain, Rosena didn’t know what to do.
She was practically naked, huddled on top of the desk and barely managing to cover herself with her arms.
Faced with this ridiculous yet utterly miserable sight, Cecilia couldn’t utter a single word.
Clutching the doorframe, she struggled to pull herself upright on her trembling legs.
“H-how… How could you… How could the two of you…”
Cecilia forced the words out in a trembling voice.
Her heart felt as though it were being torn apart. She thought she might actually vomit blood from the agony.
“How could you do this to me?”
