Chapter 1
Three years after faking my death, I ran into William Grant at Duke Manor.
He'd come begging my husband for some legendary medicine to save his mistress. Meanwhile, I stood at the gate with a lantern, waiting for my husband to come home.
The second William saw me, he froze, his eyes reddening.
"Charlie, I knew it! I knew you were alive! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?
"Was it really worth it—faking your own death over a baby? Do you know how much I—"
William's voice cracked, and he couldn't go on, his gaze fixed on me.
I clenched my fists.
Three years later, and William still thought he'd done nothing wrong.
He broke his promise to love only me and brought Vivian Lane into our home without a second thought.
When I was five months pregnant, he sided with Vivian and forced an abortifacient down my throat.
I was burning with fever, half-dead, and all he did was hold Vivian and pour out his heart to her.
"Charlie, since you're alive, come home with me. You'll still be my wife..."
William tried to pull me along, but I edged away, watching him with wary eyes.
"William, I'm remarried. Happily married. And we have a one-month-old baby."
*****
He said, "Charlie, don't be so stubborn.
"Duke Manor isn't for someone like you. You're working as a servant—with your temper, you won't last. Just come with me."
William looked at me, his voice choked. His eyes were red-rimmed, and there was guilt somewhere in there.
But he had it all wrong.
"William, I'm married. My husband is—"
But before I could say "Duke Edward Langley," William cut me off. "Charlie, don't lie to me. If you were really married, why would you be out here in the cold, holding a lamp?
"Look, I know you hate Vivian. Come back with me—once she's better, I'll send her away for good.
"She won't bother you anymore.
"And you really need to let this grudge go. It's been years, and she never did anything to you."
I laughed bitterly at the mention of Vivian.
Faking my death was never just about her.
That autumn, when I was five months pregnant, Vivian shoved me into freezing water on purpose.
But at that critical moment, William chose to save her and left me to drown.
I barely saved the baby, but I burned with fever for days.
William refused to get a doctor. Instead, he took Vivian's word and brought in some psychic healer to perform an exorcism.
The psychic healer claimed my fever was because the baby I carried was a demon reincarnated.
William believed it instantly.
That night, he forced abortion pills down my throat and told me it was for my own good.
After I lost the baby, he had me whipped for three days—because the psychic said it would drive away bad luck.
Vivian tried to kill me, and William fell for her pathetic act.
I was too tired to argue. "William, are you done? Can you leave now?"
When my expression went cold, his hands started shaking. "Charlie, do you even know? When you faked your death, I almost—"
He choked on his words, and honestly, it was just absurd.
Almost what? Almost died?
Please. William loved himself too much for that.
"Come back with me, Charlie. I'll make it up to you."
"I'm married, William. Why would I go anywhere with you?"
My determination drained the color from William's face. "Charlie, are you serious right now?"
His eyes swept over me, and his fists clenched—something seemed to click. "Charlie, you'd rather marry some servant boy than get back together with me?
"You don't want to be the lady of Grant Manor anymore? You're throwing away wealth and comfort for this?"
His voice was firm, self-righteous, but it only irritated me more.
"William, my husband isn't some servant. He's the very man you came here to—"
Before I could reveal he was the Duke, a cheerful voice chimed in, "Oh! William, Charlotte—what are you two doing out here?"