Chapter 28

Yvonne’s eyes trembled, unable to maintain her composure.

What is this supposed to mean?

Could it be that Luca betrayed her and went to Carlisle?

She had no choice but to reveal her identity, but she had been thorough about keeping everything secret. If Luca had betrayed her, it felt as though all the blood drained from her fingertips.

“How do you know about this? Did you investigate me?”

Yvonne instantly regretted her question. Carlisle was a man who never cared about anything unless it involved business or his family. He never bothered to check the truth of rumors about her in society, always remaining indifferent. He would never take the time to investigate her.

The husband Yvonne knew was that uninterested in her. He treated his wife, whom he had married for political reasons, as someone whose actions outside had nothing to do with him.

She had spent three years disappointed by him, so what was she saying now?

“My words came out wrong. You’d never do such a thing…”

“What if I did?”

Carlisle interrupted, and Yvonne’s eyelids lifted in surprise.

“You… did?”

She questioned him, finding it hard to believe, and Carlisle’s thick eyebrows rose slightly.

It was hard to read whether he was agreeing or not, but from his expression, she realized it wasn’t Luca’s betrayal, but that Carlisle had found Luca first.

“How? Why would you do that?”

She tried to remain calm, but her voice shook. The shock came from Carlisle Polshared doing something he would never normally do.

Yvonne clasped her cold hands together. Now that her assumptions were wrong, she had to worry about something else. Even if Luca hadn’t betrayed her, she didn’t know what he might have revealed to Carlisle.

But the answer was even worse than she expected.

“He secretly diverted imported goods from Osmil to Aerondo. Boldly, he meddled in royal transactions and now he’s detained at the police headquarters, arrested for illegal theft.”

“He stole royal goods? That man would never do such a thing.”

Carlisle watched Yvonne’s pale face and spoke dryly.

“Unfortunately, your assumption was wrong. The police confirmed that the materials scheduled for the palace tomorrow morning had been moved to his warehouse.”

“…No way.”

“The problem starts there. He named you as the mastermind. He said he just followed orders, and you gave him the information to divert royal goods.”

Oh no.

Carlisle’s lips curled as he watched her frozen, shocked face.

“I want to ask you—how should I respond when I get the report before the royal family does?”

* * *

Tap tap tap.

The sound of a typewriter echoed in the cramped room. Ethan watched the letters appear on the paper in front of the cigarette-smoking reporter with great satisfaction.

But Jayde, who stood by his side, spoke up, unsure if this was the right thing to do.

“Are you really going to do this? Lady Yvonne won’t like it.”

“I’m just showing her an easier, faster way. The proper lady is quite leisurely.”

“I hoped not, but you’re definitely going to get slapped by Lady Yvonne.”

“Maybe I will. I guess I will.”

Ethan laughed self-deprecatingly.

Women were all the same anyway, and romance was no different.

The beginning of romance is a refreshing spring breeze, but the end is a bleak, gloomy winter.

Besides, he wasn’t really in a romantic relationship with Yvonne. Even if he was, nothing would change.

Last night, he received the results of his investigation into the Sellus Earldom. The outcome was even more unexpected than he’d guessed.

Earl Sellus’ biological daughter died in an accident twelve years ago, and his illegitimate daughter Yvonne took her place.

Yvonne entered the Earldom at age thirteen. To become a noblewoman, she underwent harsh training under the obsessive Countess, and evidence showed she was abused under the guise of discipline.

‘I got testimony from a maid at the time. She said if Lady Yvonne walked wrong, she’d be beaten dozens of times and locked in her room without food.’

‘So Earl Sellus brought his illegitimate daughter to replace the dead daughter, pretended to care for her, but actually abused her?’

The more Ethan heard, the less he could believe it.

‘Using the excuse that the daughter liked lilies, they often bought lilies and regularly purchased allergy medication.’

It was shocking that they used her life-threatening allergy as a form of t*rture, but even more shocking was that the *buse continued into adulthood.

And the man she escaped to marry was Carlisle Polshared, a cold-hearted man who likely never cared for his wife or noticed what she endured.

In the end, she lost her child, and her life was truly tragic.

But Ethan’s sympathy lasted only a moment; he was excited to have information Carlisle didn’t know. So he visited the newspaper office that secretly helped him.

“Note this down. Yvonne Sellus suffered a miscarriage due to Carlisle Polshared’s ongoing violence. She tried to make it public, but withdrew her claim under her husband’s pressure.”

“It’d be even better if we had some evidence, like a photo of the Duchess’s bruised arm.”

“Just add some stains to the photos we’ve used so far. Zoom in and say you discovered it.”

“You want me to make it up?”

The shocked reporter dropped his cigarette, jumped up, and brushed his pants. Ethan stepped on the fallen stub and patted the reporter’s shoulder.

“It’s not a lie. Once public opinion forms, Yvonne can hold a press conference and show the marks herself.”

“That’s… Isn’t that too dirty?”

“A reporter talking about innocence? This isn’t even dirty by those standards.”

Jayde placed a large bag on the reporter’s desk. The reporter’s eyes gleamed at the sight of the pile of bills in the opened bag.

“Good luck.”

Ethan patted the reporter’s shoulder again and left the building leisurely.

Just before getting in the car, he looked up at the clear sky, feeling refreshed.

An hour should be enough.

Once Carlisle was caught up in dirty gossip and Rein Kleint’s image plummeted, Goldlight would have the chance to rise with its innovative new weapons.

Yvonne might get angry, but if he soothed her and got the design, it would be easy.

As he waited for news that would soon turn Aerondo upside down, Ethan heard the voice of a boy running through the street.

“Extra! Extra! Duchess Yvonne Polshared has withdrawn her intention to divorce!”

“What?”

He frowned, doubting his ears.

At his gesture, a boy in a dark beret ran over.

Ethan snatched the newspaper from the boy’s hand, opened the front page, and Jayde handed the boy a coin and sent him off. Before Jayde could straighten up, Ethan’s hazel eyes widened at the headline.

[Breaking News: Unprecedented error at the courthouse as Duchess Yvonne Polshared’s divorce papers are omitted. The missing papers are declared void, and a request for resubmission was made, but both Duke Carlisle Polshared and Duchess Yvonne Polshared have stated they will not resubmit, resulting in the final cancellation of the divorce petition…]

Ethan’s hand crumpled the newspaper.

“D*mn it. That dirty bastard.”