Chapter 4
What the guard said hit Richard like thunder.
He froze in place, as if struck by lightning. The blood drained from his face, then rushed back so fast that it left him dizzy and lightheaded.
He gripped the table beside him to keep himself from collapsing.
A sharp wood splinter cut into his palm, but it barely registered compared to what he was feeling inside.
He never thought that the wife he had dismissed as a meek, insignificant merchant's daughter, someone he thought a little money could get rid of, was actually the Sterling family's heirss, far beyond anything he had ever imagined.
Everything suddenly clicked.
*****
Three years ago, the king arranged our marriage.
At the time, he believed I had used influence and vast sums of money to secure an entry into the palace and attach myself to him, the newly appointed General Northgate.
He regarded me with nothing but contempt and disdain.
He blamed me for breaking him and Lily apart, and for ruining what he saw as his noble image.
Therefore, on our wedding night, he barely looked at me. He said he loved someone else and only married me because he had no choice, telling me to behave myself and not entertain any illusions.
Back then, I answered calmly from behind my veil, "Alright."
That was all.
He thought I was scared of him, which made him look down on me more.
Now he realized that wasn't fear at all. I simply didn't really care about him.
For three years, I ran his household and looked after his mother, who was far away.
His mother always wrote to praise me for taking good care of her and for sometimes sending rare gifts from Coriatwin.
He thought I was trying to please him and play the perfect wife.
Now he realized those so-called precious gifts were ordinary stuff to the Sterling family.
I wasn't trying to please him. I was merely doing what a wife was supposed to do, almost like charity.
And then there were his army's supplies.
Once, when the Royal Revenue Office delayed a transfer, and his army was on the verge of running out of supplies, he was consumed with anxiety.
I mentioned casually that my family had certain connections and might be able to help.
Within three days, enough supplies for half a month quietly arrived at the border.
When he asked later, I said my family bought them at a high price from southern traders.
He scoffed then, saying merchants cared for nothing but money.
He never once considered what kind of influence and wealth it would take to move such vast resources across thousands of miles and deliver them precisely to the frontier within three days.
That wasn't something money alone could do. That was the Sterling family, powerful enough to influence the economy of the entire realm, at work.
He had always believed I was the one reaching above my station. In the end, he was the one who didn't belong there at all.
He'd been reaping all the benefits the Sterling family brought him, while still looking down on me.
A wave of panic and regret swept over Richard, drowning him.
He realized he had been terribly wrong. What he had pushed away was not a clingy wife, but someone who could make or break him.
It was an invisible network of power, money, and influence.
"General Baldwin?" The guard glanced at Richard's pale face and spoke carefully.
Richard snapped back, eyes red, and grabbed the guard's collar. "Where's Lily?"
His voice was hoarse.
"Miss Winters is waiting for you at the villa," the guard stammered.
"Get me a horse," Richard barked. "No, get the carriage ready. We're heading to Sterling Manor right now."
He couldn't let this go. He had to fix it.
He would tell me it was all a misunderstanding and that he had simply been misled for a moment.
He thought as long as I came back, he'd agree to anything.
He did not dare imagine how the Sterling family's heiress, so deeply humiliated, might retaliate against the man who had shamed her for three years.
Edward's name and position made him feel a chill.
After all, as General Northgate, his supplies and funding were entirely controlled by the Royal Revenue Office.
Richard staggered out of the study, shoving the guard out of his way, his mind locked on one thing.
He had to find me right now. Otherwise, his position as General Northgate and the life he had fought for would collapse.
Only now did he understand that the harsh words he had written in the divorce agreement weren't freedom, but the most cruel judgment he would ever face.