The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 142

“Nonsense, Duke, your wife was the one who first—”

For a brief moment, Rebecca was so furious at the display of affection unfolding before her eyes that she felt she might stop breathing.

But as she pursed her lips in frustration, a pair of cold, gray eyes pierced through her.

Flinch.

Those eyes, sharp as a raptor’s, filled with rage and the faint glint of murderous intent.

Goosebumps prickled all over her body, and Rebecca instinctively stepped back.

“I have a lot to be sorry for when it comes to this person.”

Ash rested his chin on Nina’s shoulder and gently stroked her lower abdomen.

Quiver.

“When someone so recklessly spread baseless rumors and tried to drive a wedge between us, I wasn’t able to be there for her when she was suffering.”

“H-Honey…”

What on earth are you saying right now?

Nina looked at him with trembling eyes.

Anyone watching would think they’d lost a child early in their marriage.

And sure enough.

At the sight of his affectionate hand caressing her abdomen, the other ladies’ faces flushed, their eyes soon turning pitying.

“Duchess, we’re truly sorry.”

“We had no idea…”

Far from clearing up their misunderstanding, Ash seemed intent on encouraging it even further.

“We’re only now starting to find happiness again, but there are still those who persist in spreading baseless rumors. It’s been weighing on my mind a lot lately.”

“Honey, I’m fine, so please, that’s enough.”

Nina tried to stop him, her face burning red.

“My wife’s health is already delicate. I worry she might collapse.”

A deep, intense gaze she’d never seen before, a gentle smile, a warm voice.

A man who looked at his wife as if he cherished and loved her above all else… It was a side of him she’d never known.

Whether people misunderstood or not was the least of her worries. She felt as if her own heart wouldn’t survive.

In the place where a sticky, possessive desire—something she could never call love—had been abandoned, it felt as if a different emotion was about to take root.

Feeling a sudden sense of danger she couldn’t explain, Nina tried to pull away from his arms, but he held her even tighter, speaking in a warning tone.

“So, ladies, I hope you’ll help me avoid having to resort to any… violent measures.”

Ash dropped his gentle mask, directing those words to everyone except Nina.

“Do you understand?”

His voice, now lowered, and his eyes, cold as if they had never been warm, made the ladies nod awkwardly, their heads creaking.

The only one who didn’t was Rebecca.

Her eyes wide with indignation, chin held stiffly high, she trembled with clenched fists.

Not a word of apology came from her.

“Excuse us, then.”

As expected, that was Rebecca’s reaction.

“…Are you alright?”

Nina nodded to Ash, who guided her by the shoulder and, for the benefit of those behind them, made a show of attending to her mood.

‘He said he’d act like we were a loving couple, but…’

“…Fine. Let’s get married. But know that you will not get anything you desire from me.”

He had kept those words faithfully for two years, like a man true to his word.

“…Duchess Nord, we’ll take our leave as well.”

“We still haven’t finished looking around the exhibition.”

Laura and the other ladies forced awkward smiles as they slipped away.

After everyone had left.

Rebecca, left alone, felt her mood sink.

Deeply, endlessly.

“……”

Rebecca certainly longed for and loved Duke Bayern, but that didn’t mean she ever expected to have him.

Of course, if the opportunity ever arose, she’d have tried to seduce him, or succumbed to his advances without hesitation…

But even Nina, who had never once yielded the top spot in society since her debut, was just a stone in his eyes.

He was a man so detached from desire that rumors about his unique tastes circulated discreetly.

And besides that, because their families were so closely entwined, she’d long since given up on divorcing Duke Nord.

But the moment he embraced Nina, jealousy surged up from the tips of her toes to engulf her whole body.

It was nothing compared to the crushing sense of defeat she’d felt on the palace balcony.

Back then, she’d never caught even a glimpse of such affection directed at his wife.

But just now…

Griiiit.

Rebecca ground her teeth and clenched her fist as if she could crush it.

The detestable blue eyes that had looked at her from Duke Bayern’s embrace.

The woman who, drunk on her sense of victory for having claimed him, had mocked her. Just thinking about it made her unable to stay still.

It seemed she could no longer amuse herself with rumors alone; she would have to find another way.

“My wife’s health is already delicate. I worry she might collapse.”

The hand that had stroked her lower abdomen, and those heated eyes.

“Pregnant, huh…”

If she really is carrying a child…

A dangerous glint of murderous intent flickered in Rebecca’s emerald eyes.

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