Chapter 3
When Aiden came to the Ford family to get engaged, it caught everyone off guard.
They were even more shocked when they realized that his fiancée was me, not my sister.
What they didn’t know was that Aiden and I had already shared many thing together. We swum across the lake, admired the moon, shared drinks, and cursed the injustice of the world together.
To the Ford families, it seemed like I had struck gold by catching the attention of a real duke. In their panic, they scrambled to prepare my dowry.
But before the dowry ever made it to our home, Alden broke off the engagement.
His childhood sweetheart, Olivia, had returned from Slivershade. The moment she heard about Aiden’s engagement, she left behind a suicide note and tried to hang herself.
Fortimately, a servant found her in time and managed to sive her life.
Aiden, heartbroken, chose to abandon me
I refused to accept it
So at a banquet, 1 deliberately fell into the water, forcing Aiden to save me
We were both soaked through, our bodies pressed together. Everyone saw it clearly.
Anden had no choice to marry me.
On our wedding night, he didn’t lift my veil to kiss me. He slept alone in the study,
I sat alone on the marriage bed the whole night.
When dawn broke and birds chirped outside the window, my eyes stung and tears fell uncontrollably.
But when Aiden saw my reddened eyes, he said, “Why are you crying? If anyone should be crying, it’s Olivia. You took what should have been hers.” After that day, I never cried again..
Maybe it was my clothes that triggered his memories. In the end, Aiden still arranged a coffin for me.
But I wasn’t buried in the Norfolk family tomb. The Ford family, too ashamed of me, refused to take me back. So they buried me on a desolate patch of Land outside the city.
No shade, no flowing water–just wild grass growing in messy, tangled clumps.
Ader didn’t come to my funeral.
Olivia was pregnant and not reling well. Whenever he had time, he stayed by her side.
Unlike me, Olivia was a well–educated girl, had read more books than I had eaten meals, and always seemed to know exactly what Aiden was thinking.
So when Aiden stared blankly at the tea in his cup, she gently brought over a dessert and said softly, “Alden, Cecilia has been laid to rest. You’ve done all you could. Don’t be sad for her ampliore”
Aider stopped back to reality. He looked at Olivia’s slightly rounded belly and murmured, “It that child had lived, they’d be over a year old by now‘ Olivia paled and forced a smile. “Yes… I suppose so.”
Alden lowered his eyes and fell silent. He was probably cursing me in his heart, for I had caused the death of our first child,
The way our cald came in being was hardly honorabile,
After marriage, Aiden refused to touch me. I didn’t get angry–Instead, I used the excuse of a birthday celebration to get him drunk with a drugged wine, and lured sin into a reckless Biglat.
He was so furious that he never came home again—until I told him I was pregnant
The was a man of integrity. No matter how much he hated me, he would never take it out on a child.
Heeren transfented some of the love he had for the child a
He would go to Fleur bestaurant to bring me the best desserts.
He would send people to Nordland to find exotic delicacies I’d never tasted.
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Every morning when I opened my eyes, he was there. Even when I held his hand, he no longer pulled away like he used to.
1 tried to act like a proper noblewoman–brewing his coffee, arranging flowers. We really did live like a loving couple for a few months.
When I was six months pregnant, Aiden told me there had been a flood in the Midlands and he needed to go help with disaster relief.
was part of who he was.
I didn’t want him to take the risk, but I knew he had a duty to the people. This was pa
I spent those nights in fear, praying to God every day for Aiden’s safe retur
Two restless months later, I happened to pass by our villa on the outskirts of the city. Through the window, I saw Aiden and Olivia nestled together, and suddenly everything became clear.
There had never been a flood. It was all a lie.
I ordered someone to send our newborn child to that villa
When Olivia lifted the blanket and saw the baby, she fainted on the spot. Even afterward, just mentioning it would leave her breathless and shaken.
Because the baby was already cold and stiff, its little face covered in livid blotches.
When Aiden found out, he was livid. He confronted me coldly: “Cecilia, how could you be so heartless? Just to get back at Olivia and me, you sacrificed your own child?
I smiled and said, “Yes. Watching you suffer makes me happy. I’d do anything to make that happen.”
Just like now. To make things harder for Alden, I was willing to die
A duchess dead on her wedding night–that alone would be enough to ruin Aiden’s reputation for years to come.
