Chapter 6: invitation

They locked me in a room and I started smashing everything around me.

The Duke entered the room and I started throwing things at him while crying.

He said with a sad look, “Madam, I may look like a monster, but I would never force myself on you.”

“Liar!!” I shouted.

“No, I swear the reason I locked you up is not what you think. I only put you here because you know my secret, that’s all. 

And if you don’t agree, I’ll find a way to end the marriage if you promise to keep my secret.” . said the duke.

“And why did you think I would agree to such a request?” I asked him.

He looked down and remained silent.

“Was it my family’s situation?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

It seemed that my mother’s desperate hunger for money had even reached the Duke’s ears. I felt ashamed at that moment and lost all will to fight.

“Madam, rest for a few days and I will try to resolve some matters with the family lawyer.” Then he left.

The head maid came to clean the room and brought fresh clothes and dinner.

I just sat there looking at the food but couldn’t eat a single bite.

“Our duke isn’t a bad person… Compared to his predecessor, he was the only one who tried to do it right.”

I raised my gaze and looked at her angrily.

“Do you know why he made you a wife and not a concubine?” She then started pouring tea and continued.

“A concubine has no power in the house and has to give her children to the first wife to raise.

But the duke wanted you to be her equal so that you could have custody of your own child.”

“I have a question, when was the duke cursed?”

“On his wedding night… His older brother committed suicide on purpose to pass the curse on to him.” She replied.

Even after hearing this, I didn’t feel sorry for him.

after all I have no intention of sympathizing with someone who is willing to curse his child.

The next day the Duke kept his word and let me out of my room.

I was still followed by two guards to make sure I didn’t escape but at least I wasn’t locked in my room.

On the fourth day the Duke came to see me saying that his lawyer was preparing the divorce papers and they would be ready in a few days.

“Divorce is not an easy thing especially among the nobility and the royal family rarely agrees to it.”

It means that the Duke must have paid a heavy price for making it happen so quickly.

I was really uncomfortable with the Duke's visits, not because of his appearance, but because I was afraid that he would break his promise.

I think he sensed that, so he kept his visits very short.

But on the same day that I received the good news about the divorce papers, I also received bad news. The Duke’s first wife, Camilla, invited me to her palace.