Chapter 5.8

As Yvonne clutched her skirt tightly and did nothing, Liam approached her with long strides. Then he pushed her onto the bed.

“Ah! What are you…!”

“I need to check if you were with another man while I was gone.”

“There was no such thing. There wasn’t, so…!”

“I can’t believe it until I see it myself. Wife, you had deceived me more than once.”

“I really, truly, ugh!”

Struggling was useless. His large hand lifted her skirt and slipped between her underwear.

Passing over dry skin, he pinched her cl*toris as if scratching it and stimulated her entrance a few times, making it quickly wet.

“It seems there was no one you were with during that time… But how quickly you get wet with just a little touch. You’re so loose.”

“Huh, Liam… No, don’t…”

“What can’t you do?”

“There’s still a month left… They said to be careful in the early stages… Ugh!”

His fingers penetrated between her entrance. Yvonne tried to close her legs and escape from Liam. But instead of escaping, his probing intensified.

“Ah, ha! Don’t, ugh, do this, ah!”

“Pretending to dislike it while you’re enjoying it.”

“No, no… Ah, huh, Liam…”

The touch she hadn’t felt in a while was stimulating. Her trained body welcomed his touch, spilling water abundantly.

He hadn’t probed much, but the fluid flowing down his fingers soaked his palm completely.

Watching the woman bounce her hips while struggling, Liam felt both irritation and excitement.

‘Damn, this wasn’t what I intended.’

Receiving the documents from Gabriel, he planned to reveal Yvonne’s past thoroughly, claim he was deceived, and declare the annulment of their marriage.

The child in her belly? That could be dealt with by taking medicine to terminate it.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t grown attached to the child over the past month. But it was only affection for a month.

He could easily let go of the affection he had for a fetus he hadn’t seen or known.

He was sure of it. But seeing the woman waiting for him with a face pale from the cold, his lower body reacted.

He accused Yvonne of being loose, throwing all sorts of insults, but the truth was, he was the one aroused just by seeing her face.

His head was clearly ruled by his lower parts.

Even while thinking this, Liam excused himself again. This was due to frustration.

For months, he had been with her every day, releasing his desires, and now he had abstained for over a month, so it was natural.

If it were another woman in Yvonne’s place, he would have gladly aroused himself.

Once this desire was satisfied, he would regain his reason and drive her away.

While Liam undressed, Yvonne quickly got up and fled to the corner of the bed.

Wrapped tightly in blankets, he furrowed his brows deeply. Then he grabbed Yvonne’s legs and pulled her down.

“Ah!”

The small and light woman slipped down immediately. The blankets caught midway but didn’t bother him.

The problem was the woman’s curled-up body. It was meaningless, as he could easily spread her legs if he wanted.

Yet seeing her desperately clenching her slender legs made him angrier.

“Spread your legs.”

“I don’t want to. Don’t do this.”

“Stop being annoying and spread them. It’s irritating.”

“Liam… I know you’re angry with me. But this is…”

“Stop babbling and do as I say. Do you think you have any other value right now?”

“Why, why are you speaking so cruelly? You weren’t like this…”

“Ha… What do you know about me to speak like that? And if you were me, wouldn’t you be distracted too?”

“…”

“Understanding my past? Don’t be mistaken, Jeanne. Does that seem like it amounts to anything? At least I didn’t have a child. But you?”

Liam spoke as if chewing his words.

“Concealing that you carried another man’s child, hiding that you weren’t originally a noble.”

“Liam…”

“So just spread those precious legs. Isn’t this the only thing you know how to do well?”

Yvonne bit her lower lip. Each word he spat out deeply scratched her heart. Yet, she couldn’t refute him. Because everything he said was true.

“Liam, please…”

But just because it was true didn’t mean she could comply. Wasn’t there a child in her belly she had to protect?

Yvonne wrapped her lower abdomen with tears welling up. It was more instinctive than intentional.

“Ha, damn.”

Liam let out a sharp laugh and swept his hair back. The sight of the woman clutching her belly was disgusting.

Yet ironically, that sight extinguished his desire. His lower body still ached, but his rational mind stopped him.

Eventually, Liam sat on the sofa with a loud noise.

Only then did Yvonne straighten her curled-up body. Gathering the blanket, she hoped they might finally have a proper conversation.

“Um, Liam…”

Just as she opened her lips toward her husband.

Click, click, the sound of lighting a fire was heard, followed by a short spark. Yvonne belatedly noticed Liam was holding a cigar.

A cigar.

It wasn’t something she hadn’t seen before. In fact, she could say she’d seen it quite often. Marceau had often smoked openly while having Yvonne sit with him.

It was just that she didn’t expect Liam to do this. Yvonne stiffened at the unexpected sight of her husband.

Swearing followed by a cigar… All unfamiliar appearances.

“Why did you call me?”

Liam continued to smoke the cigar as he looked at her. Yvonne hesitated before speaking.

“I thought we might have things to talk about.”

“What things?”

“Well…”

Yvonne couldn’t properly start her sentence. She had many things she wanted to say when he returned, but now faced with conversation, she couldn’t think of anything. Perhaps Liam’s fierce gaze contributed to this.

“I don’t think there’s anything to talk about between us.”

“But… I made a mistake. You have every right to be angry with me. You hate me… But can’t you forgive me? We have Claude…”

“Ha, you still call that thing our child.”

Liam let out a cold laugh and rubbed the cigar out on the table. Yvonne froze in shock. It wasn’t because of his actions.

Calling the child Claude a ‘thing.’ It was so different from the affectionate way he always referred to the child.

“A ‘thing’? How can you speak of our child like that…”

“Is that really important now?”

“Of course…”

“You must be comfortable. If you knew how much I’m enduring, you wouldn’t say such things.”

Liam clenched his jaw. A solid vein bulged on his thick neck. He didn’t hide his anger.

“How shameless. Trying to have my child with that filthy womb. Daring to, my first child.”

“I made a mistake…”

“If you made a mistake, you should fix it.”

Before she could ask how, Liam spoke.

“Take medicine. Or lie beneath me.”

“What…”

“Choose. I don’t care either way. It’s not hard to keep going until the child is gone.”

“…”

“As you know, I’m confident. Honestly, your hole is really something.”

It seemed like he was giving her a choice, but there was none. Either way, it resulted in losing the child.

“Liam…”

Yvonne bit her lower lip.

How, how could he say such things…

While she sobbed, clutching her lower abdomen, Liam climbed onto the bed.

The strong cigar scent pressed harder. Following the overwhelming smell, Liam pinned her down.

“If you can’t do it, I’ll choose for you.”

“No, don’t. I don’t want to, don’t…”

Finally coming to her senses, Yvonne shook her head and tried to push Liam away.

“Hurry up and choose.”

“Please, can’t you just forgive me? I know I did wrong. But…”

“Why should I? I turned against Monsieur Marlon to marry you. Do you know the value of the canal rights I gave to your family?”

“Sorry, sorry…”

“Don’t think you can make up for it with such words.”

Liam muttered in a subdued voice. It seemed like he was organizing what he had to do.

“First, I need to block your family’s canal rights. When the child is gone, I’ll get a divorce… No, I’ll get the marriage annulled. It’s a fraudulent marriage from the start, isn’t it?”

Yvonne’s eyelids swelled. Everything Liam showed and said since returning was shocking.

But what struck her heart the most was his words about blocking the Debroge family’s canal rights.

“No, you can’t…”

If the canal rights were blocked, Marceau would be furious. If he learned that everything was exposed because she carelessly slipped up, the blame would surely fall on her.

Facing the blame alone was fine. But the deal with Marceau involved Emma’s medicine.

“No, Liam, please… The annulment is fine. I’m at fault for everything, as you said…”

“…”

“The child too… If you want, I’ll get rid of it. I’ll take the medicine, just leave the canal rights…”

Yvonne cried at the end, finally showing her tears. Saying she would get rid of the child felt like her heart was being torn apart.

Unlike the first child, she had vowed to protect and love this one, just a month ago. Even a few days ago, she thought of such things while knitting the child’s socks.

The thought of having to reverse such feelings so quickly was far from comforting. But despite feeling sorry for the child, Emma was her priority.

The debt owed to Emma… was like a weight she had to repay even after death. And she was the only remaining support in the world.