Chapter 5
Ashley’s expression shifted slightly as she forced a smile. “Why bring up Cecilia so late at night?
Aiden said nothing. His sharp gaze locked onto both Ashley and Olivia
Soon, cold sweat gathered on Ashley’s forehead.
Olivia, however, remained composed. She calmly explained, “Earlier… when Cecilia sent over the child’s corpse, I was so frightened that my old heart condition flared up. Ashley was worried for me and brought in a physician who specializes in such ailments.”
“The doctor said he needed fresh heart’s blood to cure me. Cecilia heard about it and, to atone, offered her own blood willingly.”
Ashley nodded eagerly at those words. “Yes… yes, that’s right!”
Their story was riddled with flaws, plain as day. But one was Aiden’s mother, and the other his wife–why wouldn’t he believe them?
He only narrowed his eyes slightly before speaking in a cool tone. “I understand. It’s late. Olivia, Mather, you both should go rest. Aiden stayed in the study all night.
He held those few sheets of paper, flipping through them over and over, as if he could read the entirety of my short life through the ink on the pages. The next day, after returning from the royal palace, Aiden went alone to my grave.
He had expected it to be desolate. But to his surprise, someone had left flowers for me. Even the roughly planted wooden headstone from the burial had been straightened and thoroughly cleaned, not a trace of dust upon it.
Aiden stood there for a moment, slightly dazed. He murmured softly, “Cecilia you had friends after
Aiden had always despised deceit. So, after I married him, he made sure to expose everything I’d ever done.
I wasn’t born a noble heiress with wealth and privilege. I was nothing more than an illegitimate daughter, treated no better than a maid in my own home. III wanted anything, I had to fight for it. And the means I used… were never proper or ladylike
My reputation was ruined. I lost everyone who once stood by me.
The day my father delivered the letter to severe our ties, Alden was there too. His eyes were full of mockery as he said, “Cecilla, you made Olivia lose what should’ve been hers. Now I’ll make sure you lose yours, Fair and square.”
Nonsense. It wasn’t fair at all.
When I schemed, they called me a venomous woman.
When Aiden schemed, they said he was righteous and impartial.
We both acted in self–interest. Yet we met such different ends.
Back then, I hadn’t know how to argue with him. Now I did but I was lying in a cold, lonely grave, and no one could hear me anymore.
The wind tossed Aiden’s hair, brushing across his pale face. He looked almost frantic, as though trying to hide an emotion he dared not name.
His fingertips, bloodless and trembling, brushed against my gravestone. He remained motionless until a gentle voice called out, drawing him back to the
Sir, are you here to visit Miss Cecilia as well?”
The voice belonged to an old woman with a louched back and clouded eyes. She carried a small bouquet and placed it beside the headstone with practiced
She didn’t even glatte at Alden, simply going about her task
Alden stood silently taparby, cold and distant. It wasn’t until a gust of wind nearly knocked over the flowers that he instinctively reached out to steady
The old woman noticed his movement and, a little dazed, asked, “Sir, I suppose you were close to Miss Cecilia too?”
I always knew she’d end her life. I just never imagined she’d choose such a brutal way.”
*She’s gone now. All we can hope for is a kinder next life.”
“Why?” Alden suddenly asked, voice low. “Why did all of you think… she would die?”
BookSnap
The old woman answered calmly, “She carried a child for eight months, only to birth a stillborn. A woman who longed for a family as deeply as she did-
she couldn’t survive that.”
Aiden clenched his fists. “And how do you know the child wasn’t killed by her own hand?”
“Because I was the one who delivered the baby.”
“She was taken by brigands, frightened out of her mind. The stress led to premature labor in the eighth month. She was too weak. After two days and a night of agony, the child was finally born.”
“But by then, it had long since suffocated in the womb.”
