Cordelia had no idea how long she had been crying for. The pink diamond ring was still lying discarded on the floor, and she was still sitting curled up in one corner of the room in her crumpled day dress.

She felt like a lost child.

Everything about this house was suffocating her. It was a home for newlyweds, furnished with the most modern pieces sourced from across two continents and decorated with ornaments from the finest department stores in the East.

Yesterday, it had felt beautiful and precious, but in the blink of an eye it had all become a hollow illusion. Nothing more than an elegant façade.

Even the inanimate objects seemed to mock her now and she couldn’t bring herself to sit on the chairs or beds. Ever since returning, she had chosen to sit on the cold floor instead.

“…What am I supposed to do now?”

After crying until her voice cracked, laughter began to mingle with her hoarse breathing.

From childhood until now, she had only ever been taught the refined etiquette of becoming a proper lady and a respected mistress of the household.

She had been taught to treat tenants and servants with dignity and to maintain grace and composure in all situations.

But none of that ever included how to react when betrayed by the man you love.

Not that such teachings, even if they existed, could have truly prepared her for this.

She wished she could simply run away from reality. As if going to sleep might somehow reset the world by the time she woke up.

But after her family fell apart and she was left to fend for herself, Cordelia had already learned what hardship tasted like.

While she never wanted to live through that time again, it hadn’t left her only with shame. It had also taught her one valuable truth:

When you stop thinking in the face of despair, it only hurts more.

Haah…

So when the tears finally stopped, Cordelia took a deep breath and began to think about what came next.

Her heart still felt like it was being ripped apart, yet her mind continued to function. Her body and soul no longer felt connected.

‘What happens next? Now that I know everything, would Lucas still try to keep up the pretense of this marriage?’

It was hard to imagine they could continue on as they had before. Every flutter of her heart, every effort she’d made to be a good wife. All of it had been trampled.

And yet…Would her husband actually want a divorce?

…She doubted it.

‘This was all to marry a noblewoman, wasn’t it? So unless it becomes truly inconvenient for him, he wouldn’t want to let go.’

Could she even demand a divorce herself? All she had were suspicions, a conversation she’d merely overheard. She wasn’t well-versed in legal matters, but even she could easily guess how close to impossible it would be.

Even with proof, the chances of success were laughably slim.

‘Could I even find a lawyer capable of standing against the Duquesne family?’

There was no guarantee. And if things went wrong, she might end up taking the greater fall. He could claim offense and demand a fortune in alimony, shackling her with lifelong debt…

“Horrible…”

Cordelia trembled as if she had caught a chill. Like a nightmare, memories of the debt collectors bursting blood vessels as they tore apart the Hastings estate flooded back.

“Take it! Take this too!”
“Lady Hastings, step away! Your mother’s keepsakes? No matter—they must all go to auction!”
“Haven’t paid this month’s interest yet? Ha! Why not change your mind now? A woman like you—salon owners would pay a fortune just to have you around.”

Cordelia clamped her hands over her mouth as she was caught reliving that time. If she continued, her old panic attacks might return. She couldn’t afford to lose control again.

‘God, I hated that time of my life…’

She never wanted to sink that low again. However, she couldn’t predict what would happen next or how her husband would react.

She had no choice but to wait and see, planning her next move carefully.

Until then, all she could do was pray desperately that it had all been a lie.

***

Lucas returned that evening. As if nothing had happened in broad daylight, he strolled into the dining room with his usual pleasant expression.

“Lovely evening, my dear.”

“Welcome home, Lucas.”

“You’re more impressive than I thought. After that little conversation, here you are, still perfectly composed.”

“……”

Cordelia looked at Lucas in silence. He often used a smooth, easy tone—but this time, his words pierced her like a blade.

Yes, she had taken special care to reduce the swelling in her eyes. She had dressed more meticulously than usual, making sure not a single flaw could be found. For Cordelia, it was no different from donning armor before marching onto a battlefield.

But never—not once—had she wanted to wear that armor in front of the man she loved.

Yet showing weakness only made you prey. Not just in the world of beasts, but in high society as well, the law of survival of the fittest held true.

Expose your flesh even once, and they’d rip you apart with smiling faces.

So she swallowed the overwhelming urge to die, and met Lucas’s gaze—steadily, without flinching.

“What do you plan to do now, Lucas?”

“What do I plan to do?”

“You knowingly ruined my family. So—are you planning to throw me away now?”

“Hm…”

While Lucas took his time choosing his words, Cordelia deliberately straightened her posture and met his gaze with more intensity. She had to know what he was thinking and yet, part of her didn’t want to know.

Their wedding anniversary had already become more than enough of a nightmare.

And just as she feared, Lucas responded with a hint of mockery in his voice.

“If you were hoping for a divorce, how unfortunate, my dear. I have no intention of letting you go.”

“After everything…? You deceived me, and you really think a normal marriage is still possible?”

“And why wouldn’t it be?”

“Lucas!”

Cordelia’s voice rose, startled even by her own growing anger but Lucas simply shrugged one shoulder, as relaxed as ever.

“Fine. A commoner like me used a dirty trick to marry someone as noble as you. But I never held a gun to your family’s head, nor did I force them to gamble away everything they had.”

“…But you set the stage and cornered them. That’s what your friend said earlier, isn’t it?”

“Business and gambling aren’t sports, my dear. There’s no rule that says we have to play fair.”

As Cordelia stared at him, stunned and speechless, Lucas gave her that charming, crooked smile again.

“Think about it, darling. You haven’t lost anything.”

“What…?”

“You escaped a life in which you would have become the second wife of a lecherous old man. Just look at you now — you’re still living comfortably.”

Lucas casually gestured with an open palm, as if inviting her to take a fresh look around. The dining room, glittering with electric light and silverware, looked like something straight out of a catalog.

But Cordelia sucked in a breath, completely at a loss.

‘What kind of husband… deceives his wife to this extent?’

“This was all a lie.”

“Does that matter?”

“It doesn’t matter?”

Cordelia stared at him, truly bewildered.

Business may not be a sport, but deliberately luring people into ruin, deceiving them and acting as if it were nothing is wrong?

It felt like she had fallen into some distant, twisted world.

And even if she lacked legal expertise…

Isn’t spreading defamatory rumours about competitors a crime?

“That gunshot I heard earlier, when I was leaving…”

“It’s not something you really need to know, but—no, no one died this time.”

“……”

The more she heard, the more dizzying it became. Cordelia felt foolish—so incredibly foolish—but still, she couldn’t help but ask the pathetic question that now burned in her throat.

“Lucas…Were you always like this?”

“Yes, I was. Accept it. This is the kind of person I am.”

Lucas let out a slow sigh, as if the conversation already bored him.

“Unfortunately, everything’s out in the open now… but nothing has to change, my dear.”

“……”

“We’ll just carry on living like this. We’ll have a child eventually, when the time feels right. Of course, we’ll annoy each other sometimes, but we’ll work through it like every other couple does.”

If he had only been this cruel from the beginning, it might have been easier to scoff and walk away. But she had loved him… she still did. And because of that, the devastation, the disappointment, the betrayal—all of it cut deeper than anything else ever could.

And yet Lucas only smiled.

“Oh, and happy anniversary, my dear. I left a pearl necklace in your room—I thought it would suit you.”

“……”

“Meeting you may have been the greatest stroke of luck in my life.”

At his mocking words—so carefully wrapped in false sincerity—Cordelia’s lips trembled.

Luck, he said. To him, their meeting was merely luck.

But to her, meeting him had been salvation. The one and only miracle that had pulled her out of despair.

She had meant to say “I love you” today. It would have been the first time.

But that tender confession now crumbled to ash, like a dried leaf inside her mouth. Her tongue felt parched, her mouth dry, and as she swallowed that bitter emptiness, it stabbed its way down into her heart.

Disappointment, betrayal, and pain—all of it swirled together and burned like fire in her chest.

Yet even as she felt that the pain might choke her, a cold, dreadful realisation flashed through her mind.

‘Just now… he said we’d have a child when the time feels right.’