Chapter 3

Violet blinked, a bit surprised. "Do you want to see them, Lady Estelle?"

"No. Keep them waiting in the courtyard," I said coolly.

Violet smiled to herself and led the two of them in.

Alice thought I was going to see her, but then Violet said, "It's windy outside. Lady Estelle said that if you insist on waiting, you can do it in the courtyard. She doesn't want you to catch a cold."

Alice trembled with rage.

She stopped pretending to be apologetic. Her voice turned sharp as she yelled, "Lady Estelle, don't you think you're going too far with your power?

"It's normal for men to have more than one woman. Edward works away from home, so someone has to take care of him. Those women are nothing but concubines. Why make such a mess over this?"

I stepped out, quietly listening to Alice's accusations. Then I laughed. "Going too far? Alice, do you remember that time you were gravely ill nine years ago?

"You were lying in bed then, coughing up blood, clutching my hand as you cried. You said your biggest regret was that Edward had married me and still had no heir.

"You said you couldn't bear the thought of dying with that regret hanging over you."

Alice trembled, her eyes wide with shock and fear as she looked at me.

I continued, "I was crying, feeling like I'd failed the Monroe family, especially you. To make up for that, I took care of you day and night, getting your medicine and cleaning you up. I even washed your blood-stained clothes.

"I became haggard in just one month. After that, I fell gravely ill myself and have never fully recovered."

I paused, my voice going cold. "Then Edward sent a letter back home, and after you read it, you miraculously recovered."

Alice's lips began to tremble.

I said, "I actually believed his letter had comforted you. Now I get it.

"In that letter, Edward told you that the woman he kept by his side had given birth to a cute boy, right? You've been hiding this from me this whole time, haven't you?"

Alice shook her head frantically, trying to deny it, but her voice faltered. "No, I thought it wasn't a big deal, so I—"

I turned to Connor, who stood aside in silence. "What about you? You knew it, didn't you?"

Connor flinched and dropped his gaze, not daring to look at me.

I let out a cold, mocking laugh and looked up at Alice.

The chill in my gaze made her shiver, but she forced herself to stay composed. She said in a trembling voice, "What's that look on your face? I'm your mother-in-law—"

"Mother-in-law?" I cut her off, my voice rising, laced with hatred. "Who do you think you are, thinking you deserve to be respected?

"You lied to me for ten years. You stood by while I worked myself to the bone for the Monroe family like a fool. You made me feel ashamed in front of you because I couldn't have a child.

"You watched me bleed inside over the belief that not giving you an heir made me worthless."

I stepped forward, closing in on her. "Edward and I are divorced. Honestly, wiping out the Monroe family is just a piece of cake to me."

Alice flinched at the harshness in my eyes and tumbled back onto the floor.

Just then, a guard rushed in. "Lady Estelle, Edward has been summoned back to Jevoria by His Majesty. Right now, he's outside the gate with his wife and kids, all begging to see you."

I let out a cold, mocking laugh. It seemed that they were all cut from the same cloth.

"Bring them in," I said.

Edward rushed in with his wife and kids in tow, and the first thing he saw was Connor and Alice standing right in the center of the courtyard.

He spun toward me, shouting, "Estelle, you've gone too far. They are my parents, your in-laws. How dare you humiliate them like that?"

Before Edward could finish his rant, a guard kicked him in the knees.

Taken completely off guard, Edward stumbled forward and crashed to the ground, letting out a muffled groan from the pain.

He struggled to get up, but the guard pinned him down, refusing to let him move an inch.

"Stop moving. Lady Estelle is a member of the royal family. You mustn't disrespect her. You stay down until Lady Estelle says otherwise," the guard said.

With that, he pressed his sword down hard on Edward's back. "Stay put."

Lillian and Sarah, trailing behind Edward with a bunch of kids, were freaking out. They collapsed to the ground in a chaotic heap.

The youngest, Oliver, was so stunned by the chaos that he almost burst into tears. Sarah quickly slapped her hand over his mouth before he could make a sound.

Edward shot a worried glance back at his family, then turned to me, his voice low and pleading. "Do you have to be so cruel?

"We've been married for ten years. Even if you hate me, you should at least give me a chance to explain. Do we have to end things like this?

"I know I messed up. I'll make sure they stay out in the suburbs, never show up in front of you, and they won't get any recognition or official status.

"The kids are innocent. They deserve to be accepted and to be raised alongside us. Estelle, I mean it. I really love you."

I stood on the stairs, my eyes cold as I looked down at him.

With his wife, concubine, and children all begging in a pathetic heap behind him, he actually told me that he loved me.

For a moment, I felt like these ten years had been nothing but a ridiculous dream.