Chapter 71

Later, when Harriet returned from her bath, Lennox was already asleep.

“Lennox?”

Harriet repeatedly called his name as he lay on the bed, sleeping like a baby.

“Are you asleep?”

There was no answer. Harriet quietly looked down at him. Since they had naturally started sharing the bedroom at some point, his sleeping figure was no longer unfamiliar.

She took off her robe, slipped under the covers in her slip, and lay beside him. Turning off the lamp, she looked at his sleeping profile before drifting to sleep.

His forehead, nose, and chin formed perfect curves, as if sculpted with care. His long eyelashes fanned out like a fan, tempting her to reach out and touch them.

It was strange. She never imagined that anger, emotion, fear, and affection could coexist. The heart that had been frozen solid was slowly starting to waver.

As she watched Lennox sleep beside her, as if admiring a work of art, another part of herself whispered in her ear.

“Is what he did so unforgivable?”

“…Of course.”

“He didn’t use violence, did he? If you had been cautious from the start, it wouldn’t have happened with Mikhail or the other men. If you had resisted temptation before anything happened.”

“That might be true, but still, what’s wrong is wrong.”

“Has he ever been unfaithful to you since you got married? He’s been looking only at you for the past 15 years. Even if his ways are a bit abnormal, could there be another man like him?”

“…”

“Above all, think of the child about to be born. Do you have the right to take away the father from that child?”

As the whispers continued, Harriet’s eyes wavered. They were all valid points. Although it started as a contract, Lennox had always been sincere since they became a couple. Even the high walls she had built like an iceberg melted and crumbled.

It was the result of accumulated small gestures, kindness, and consideration.

Massaging her tired legs, washing her hair, the incident in the cabin on a rainy day. And just now.

“…Still, I can’t just let it go. It’s not something I can overlook.”

As her resolve weakened further, Harriet gritted her teeth as if to remind herself. If she let it slide now, she would be manipulated and swayed behind the scenes for the rest of her life.

The next moment, despite her firm words, the voice delivered a decisive blow to the wavering Harriet.

“I’m not telling you to forgive him unconditionally. Just give him a chance.”

“A chance?”

“A chance to confess everything and apologize to you. A chance to repent and swear never to do it again. He’s your child’s father.”

At the last persuasion, her once steadfast resolve crumbled. Unknowingly, Harriet reached out and traced Lennox’s forehead and nose with her fingertips. As she gently traced the perfect angle of his nose, she bit her lip.

If he confessed all his wrongdoings and begged for forgiveness with these lips…

If that happened, though it would be difficult at first, and she would need to obtain a promise that it would never happen again, she felt she might be able to accept him. It would be tough, but for the future.

Originally, she had planned to disappear without a trace when he was happiest, but Harriet eventually changed her mind.

After all, she now had an unexpected child. As she emerged from the swamp of anger and objectively assessed the situation, her reason returned.

Give him a chance.

Leaving him without giving him a chance to confess his wrongs and ask for forgiveness was a merciless act.

Also, for the child to be born in nine months.

* * *

Eugene blinked quietly at the unexpected visitor.

“Duchess?”

“Just call me Harriet, Eugene.”

Without any notice, Harriet plopped down on the couch in the consultation room. After a moment of surprise, Eugene instructed his secretary to bring tea and sat across from her.

“What brings you here? Without any notice.”

“I’m sorry for coming without an appointment. I didn’t have the luxury to do so. I thought I’d just wait in the waiting room.”

“You, Duchess?”

Eugene chuckled softly, lowering his tense shoulders.

“How could that be? You’re a high-ranking person and the wife of my friend.”

Even as he spoke, there was guilt in his voice. Harriet, who had been observing Eugene as he subtly avoided her gaze, lightly responded.

“Thank you for saying that. I don’t know how long it will last, though.”

“What?”

At her cryptic words, Eugene lifted his head.

“What do you mean, Harriet?”

“Just what I said. And you’re partly responsible for it.”

“W-What do you mean…?”

“Eugene Gray.”

Calling his name, Harriet crossed her arms with a stern expression.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“…”

Momentarily speechless from the unexpected attack, Eugene eventually saw her determined face and ran his hands over his face.

“How did you…?”

“I followed you when you left the Vanetti Estate that day. It was a hunch. Something felt suspicious.”

“…Damn.”

Muttering a curse at Harriet’s calm response, Eugene bit his lip. Unable to meet her eyes, Harriet quietly spoke.

“The advice you gave me at the restaurant that day was true. It wasn’t something to overlook.”

“…Yes.”

Reluctantly nodding, Eugene sighed deeply and confessed.

“But honestly, I didn’t expect it to be this extent. Since he had feelings for you in childhood, Lennox talked to me about you. He didn’t mention your name, but…”

Since Aaron, another close friend, was her brother, he probably didn’t mention it. Memories of stories he alone heard resurfaced.

Unable to continue, Eugene repeatedly rubbed his face, and just then, the secretary knocked, bringing in refreshments.

After placing the refreshments on the table, the secretary left the room, and Eugene, having collected his emotions, continued speaking.

“I thought…… Lennox would only try to keep you under his control. I never imagined it would go as far as what happened three years ago…….”

Harriet quietly picked up her teacup and sipped.

“Are you going to leave him?”

“…”

“What do you want me to do?”

“…”

“Harriet.”

In the prolonged silence, Eugene, turning pale, called her pleadingly. Harriet, placing the teacup down, clasped her hands together over her belly.

“I want to know first how he ended up like that. You’ve watched him closely for a long time.”

“If that’s the case… don’t you have your brother, Aaron?”

“You know, Aaron is my brother. He doesn’t know as much about this as you do, and I can’t involve him in matters with Lennox. Plus, he’s not a doctor.”

Harriet’s face was resolute, showing she wouldn’t back down a single step.

In the end, the situation he feared had occurred. Eugene closed his eyes tightly.

Eugene repeatedly ran a hand over his face. He wanted to flee, to deny hearing or knowing anything, but Harriet’s desperate expression held his conscience.

The person who had the right to hear about Lennox was his wife and closest person, Harriet.

“Lennox changed…”

Finally opening his heavy mouth, Eugene swallowed dryly and began to confess.

“It was after he accidentally learned the truth about his mother.”

“……”

“The day he heard from a maid who once served his mother that she had an unwanted marriage and was unhappy until the end, something inside him began to change.”

Listening to the low confession, Harriet clasped her hands together, waiting for Eugene’s next words.

“There were definitely several moments when things could have been turned around. But Lennox’s father, the previous Duke…… was not a typical father.”

“Not an typical father…?”

“Yes. When Lennox, shocked by all the facts, went to him, he said this: ‘Lennox. If you don’t grasp it and control it perfectly, it will slip away someday.'”

“……”

Though calm, it was a chilling statement. It was never something to say to a young son.

As the image of the sickly, dying old man’s face flashed through her mind, Harriet felt goosebumps at the incongruity.

“After that, Lennox began to obsess over anything he had even a little affection for. At first, it was limited to cherished objects, but it gradually extended to living creatures like pets.”

“Even people?”

Swallowing dryly, Harriet cautiously asked. Eugene shook his head.

“No. That attachment didn’t extend to people. That was at least a small relief. It’s not uncommon for people to be particularly attached to their belongings and pets.”

Eugene’s words contained a contradiction. 

Then what was I? 

Frowning, Harriet opened her mouth to retort, but Eugene, who had lowered his gaze, looked up.

“But there was an exception. That was you.”

“…An exception?”

“Yes. I don’t know what triggered him to become so fixated on you and fall in love, but at some point, he began to refer to you, who was just ‘Aaron’s sister,’ as ‘Harriet-unnie,’ ‘Harriet,’ and even by your middle name, ‘Coco,’ without hesitation. I should have noticed something strange then…… but I was too young to understand anything.”

Even if he had known then, nothing would have changed. Eugene swallowed the words and continued his confession.

“And for a while, we were both busy with our studies and lost contact. Then, after we became adults and I started hearing about you again, I clearly recalled that strange obsession.”

“……”