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Chapter 3
Betrayal (2)
Her arms trembled uncontrollably, and tears streamed endlessly down both her cheeks.
These were the two people she had trusted and loved more than anyone else in the world.
How could the very people she cherished betray her together?
“Say something! Both of you, say something!”
Cecilia couldn’t bear their prolonged silence any longer.
She wished Evan would tell her that it wasn’t what it looked like, even now. She wanted him to fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness.
If only he would say that he had lost his mind for a moment and that Cecilia was the only woman he truly loved.
Perhaps she could even forgive him if he said that.
But the response she received was completely unexpected.
“Haaah.”
After adjusting his trousers, Evan stood up, roughly scratching his head.
With an annoyed expression, he approached Cecilia.
“Hey, did I or did I not tell you to stay out of my study?”
“…What?”
Cecilia couldn’t believe her ears.
Evan was looking at her with a frown, as though she were something filthy.
“Can’t you just let me live in peace? Because of you, I feel like I’m suffocating even in my own home!”
His shamelessness left Cecilia speechless. Even though he had been caught cheating on her, he was turning around and blaming her instead.
Rosena’s behavior was equally outrageous.
“Don’t be so hard on Ria, Evan.”
She approached Evan and gently took his arm, trying to soothe him.
Then, wearing an extremely apologetic expression, she turned toward Cecilia.
“I’m sorry, Ria. You must have been terribly shocked.”
Rosena looked at Cecilia with an expression full of sympathy.
Up to that point, she still resembled the Rosena Cecilia had known.
But what she said next was even more horrifying than Evan’s shameless attitude.
“Still, I did give you and your husband a child, didn’t I? Can’t you just let this go?”
“What? You gave us a child?”
“Yes! Since things have turned out this way, I’ll even give you a second child! Let’s all just keep living happily together like we have until now. Okay?”
Rosena nodded innocently, her eyes wide open.
Her attitude was so far beyond anything Cecilia could consider normal that it sent chills down her spine.
“You expect me to raise the children the two of you have together?”
“Why? You’ve always doted on our Jeremy, haven’t you? Just keep doing that. What’s the problem?”
“You’re insane. Both of you are completely insane!”
“Damn it! Hey! That’s enough!”
Evan raised his hand and shouted at her.
But a moment later, he sighed and lowered it.
“Cecilia. You said you loved me, didn’t you? Then can’t you love my child, too?”
“…What did you say?”
“Think about it. What the ducal family needs is a child who carries my blood. It doesn’t matter who gives birth to the child—”
SMACK!
Evan’s deranged argument was cut short by a sharp slap from Cecilia.
Silence fell over the room.
“You… You just…”
“Oh my goodness, Evan! What is this?”
Evan’s head had turned to one side. He touched his reddening cheek, staring at Cecilia in disbelief.
Rosena glared at Cecilia, making a fuss as though she herself had been slapped.
“Ria! How could you slap someone who has to conduct business with people outside the house? He has a meeting tomorrow! What will people say if they see his face like this?”
“Ha! This is exactly why I can’t bring myself to love you. Look at you! You have absolutely no femininity, acting like such a brute! …Hey! Where are you going?”
Breathing heavily, Cecilia turned her back on them and headed toward the staircase.
Evan rushed after her and grabbed her arm in a panic.
“Where do you think you’re going? How dare you turn your back on your husband while he’s talking to you?”
“Let go! I’m going to tell everyone about your shameless behavior!”
“What? You little—!”
Evan’s face turned crimson with rage as he roughly yanked her toward him.
“Have you gone mad? Are you desperate to disgrace your husband?”
“Let go of me!”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Evan! Ria! Please, calm down! Both of you!”
The three of them struggled, their bodies becoming tangled in the commotion.
Evan’s grip loosened for a moment, and Cecilia was just beginning to wrench herself free when—
THUD!
Someone suddenly shoved Cecilia hard in the back.
“…Huh?”
Before she could even understand what had happened, her body was suddenly lifted into the air.
Instinctively, she reached out to grab the railing, but her hand grasped nothing but empty air.
The shocked faces of Evan and Rosena flashed across her vision.
CRASH!
A sharp impact spread through her back.
BANG!
Then her waist slammed against the edge of a step.
Yet her body didn’t stop there. She continued tumbling down the staircase until she was thrown onto the floor below.
“Ah… Ugh…”
Cecilia lay sprawled on the floor, her entire body trembling violently.
She could see Evan and Rosena staring down at her in shock.
Their faces showed the bewilderment of people witnessing an unexpected accident…
‘…No.’
At that moment, Cecilia saw it clearly.
Behind Evan, Rosena was wearing a faint smile.
A smile of quiet satisfaction.
“You… Y-you…”
Cecilia struggled to open her mouth despite her broken body.
But all that escaped her parted lips were ragged, choking breaths.
“Oh my goodness, Cecilia! What are we going to do?!”
Leaving Evan frozen in shock behind her, Rosena screamed and hurried down the stairs.
But the words she whispered as she bent over Cecilia were chilling.
“Oh? I only wanted to break your legs… But it looks like you’re going to die instead.”
Rosena gazed down at Cecilia, her eyes filled with triumph.
“Besides, the matriarch heard about Jeremy, too, and told Evan to divorce you as soon as possible. Things have worked out rather nicely.”
‘The matriarch… Even Grandmother has abandoned me?’
Cecilia struggled to breathe as she looked up at Rosena.
But the next words out of her mouth were even more shocking.
“You stupid woman. Why did you have to be so stubborn? Just like your parents, you’re going to die at the hands of someone you considered a friend!”
“W-what… did you say?”
Seeing Cecilia’s horrified expression, Rosena broke into a grotesque smile.
Perhaps she assumed Cecilia was going to die anyway, because she began speaking excitedly, as though she couldn’t wait to reveal everything.
“Yes, your parents. Count and Countess Fanning. My father was the one who made that happen. And thanks to the will we forged in advance, we got to live in luxury using the count’s fortune.”
Cecilia’s eyes shook as she struggled to comprehend the unbelievable truth.
After her parents’ accident, Viscount Osburn, her father’s friend, had taken her in.
Because of that, Cecilia had treated the viscount and his wife as her second parents.
But they had murdered her parents for the Fanning family’s wealth?
“Well, you certainly take after your parents, don’t you? You’ve even handed me the position of duchess! Don’t worry. I’ll make good use of your sacrifice.”
Rosena wore a chilling smile as she gently stroked her former friend’s cheek.
Then, in an instant, her expression changed. She turned toward Evan and screamed.
“Evan! What are you doing? Call someone! Hurry!”
But Cecilia’s eyes were already slowly closing.
To have all the truth revealed at the very moment she was about to die was unbearably unfair.
‘No… I can’t let it end like this… Please, give me another chance…’
She desperately tried to stretch out her arm.
She wanted to grab hold of something, anything, so she could pull herself up.
But it already felt as though her body were sinking beneath the water.
“…”
In the end, Cecilia’s hand fell limply to the floor with a futile little thud.
“…Gasp!”
Cecilia opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
Before her was a magnificent chandelier glowing softly in the candlelight, and the faint scent of roses drifted past her nose.
‘A dream…?’
The shock and pain that had crushed her only moments ago were nowhere to be found.
‘What happened? I was definitely dead…’
Could this be heaven?
Still bewildered, Cecilia looked around until her eyes fell upon a large mirror.
“My goodness!”
She instinctively screamed when she looked into it.
The reflection before her was impossible to believe.
A pure white wedding dress adorned with elaborate embroidery and delicate lace.
A tightly fitted corset around her waist, a sparkling tiara, and a veil cascading gracefully down her back.
She was looking at herself five years ago, just before walking down the aisle on her wedding day.
“W-what on earth is going on?”
Cecilia touched her cheek with trembling fingertips.
At that moment, a cheerful voice came from beside her.
“My lady! It’s almost time to leave!”
Cecilia turned her head and was unable to speak.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“Wendy…?”
Wendy had been the maid who faithfully stayed by Cecilia’s side until her marriage.
Although Wendy had been devoted to Cecilia, she belonged to the Osburn household, so she couldn’t accompany Cecilia after the wedding.
Later, Wendy had left the viscount’s residence to care for her ailing parents, and Cecilia had lost contact with her.
“W-Wendy! How have you been? What about your family? Is everyone doing well?”
“Huh?”
Unlike Cecilia, who was overjoyed at their reunion after five years, Wendy tilted her head in confusion.
“Why are you suddenly asking me that, my lady? We were preparing for your wedding together just yesterday.”
“…The wedding? Whose wedding?”
“My lady, what are you talking about? Today is your wedding with Lord Evan!”
