His Vows Were Never Mine

Synopsis

I, Charlotte Evans, was promised to Henry Warren since we were children. Before he left for the war, he took my hands in his and said, "Charlotte, wait for me. I'll come back for you and marry you with all the honor and grandeur you deserve." For three years, I waited. Then he returned, a war hero. Dressed in full bridal white, I was carried into the Marquess's estate with a procession fit for a future lady of the house. But in the middle of our wedding ceremony, Henry quietly brought out a urn. "Charlotte," he said, voice low. "Lydia Hart saved my life on the battlefield. I promised her. If she died, she will still be my wife. Would you... allow her to join us in the rites today?" My heart ached, but how could I refuse a dead woman who had given him back to me? A spirit bride was no real rival. So I agreed. That was my first mistake. Henry stood before the gathered nobility and declared Lydia Hart his true, rightful wife. And me, merely the secondary spouse. Three days after our wedding, Lydia herself appeared at the estate gates. Alive. She claimed she'd survived the fall from the cliff and had been rescued miles away. Only then did I understand: it was all a scheme. Lydia was the illegitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue, a secret that would have barred her from marrying into the Marquess's house. So they made me the stepping stone. After she moved in, Henry doted on her. They raised children, built a family, lived a storybook life. I fell ill, forgotten in a cold and remote courtyard, and drew my last breath as the Warren family's wealth and power reached its peak. But when I opened my eyes, I was back at my wedding.