Chapter 76

As the carriage kicked up dust and passed through the gates of the Ducal Mansion, Yvonne, who had been holding her breath, suddenly began bombarding Harriet with questions.  

“What’s going on? Why did you ask me to come along? And a trip? You never mentioned anything about this!”  

“Yvonne.”  

Interrupting the flood of questions, Harriet quietly took Yvonne’s hand. Yvonne tilted her head, puzzled.  

“What is it, Senior?”  

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this. But I need your help.”  

“What?”  

“I’m going to divorce Lennox.”  

“W-what?”  

The affectionate scene Yvonne had just witnessed seemed like a distant memory. Stunned by Harriet’s unexpected words, Yvonne could only gape.  

“I mean it. From the beginning, it was a contract marriage. We were supposed to divorce after six months.”  

“That… can’t be.”  

Still reeling from shock, Yvonne alternated between looking out the window and back at Harriet.  

“What happened?”  

Harriet hesitated, contemplating whether to share what had happened three years ago. If she did, Yvonne would undoubtedly take her side without question. But that would also put Yvonne in danger.  

Harriet already knew that Eugene had closed his clinic for several days. The official reason was “personal matters,” but the truth was that a late-night intruder had ransacked the clinic.  

[It’s fortunate that it ended there. I plan to lie low for a while.]  

Through a secret note sent via a trusted intermediary, Eugene had admitted it was Lennox’s doing. After all, who would bother targeting a small clinic with no valuable items, only medical charts and books?  

If Yvonne learned about what had happened three years ago, she too could become a target. Lennox was well aware that Yvonne was Harriet’s trusted subordinate and long-time friend, which would only make him more suspicious of her.  

“Divorce isn’t something to take lightly. Especially… given what’s already happened in your family.”  

Yvonne alluded to Mikhail and Marianne’s situation as she tried to reason with Harriet, who remained silent.  

“If it’s just a quarrel, why not try to resolve it through conversation? From what I saw earlier, it didn’t look like you two had fought. You love each other, don’t you?”  

At Yvonne’s words, Harriet bit her lip.  

Love.  

Yes, she still loved him. And that was the problem.  

When breaking up with past lovers, she had always walked away without looking back. But now… it was different. The pain felt like her heart was being torn apart.  

Could I live without seeing Lennox? Could I leave him, have my child, and raise my child happily?  

The uneasy questions lingered within her. But she couldn’t just continue living as if nothing had happened. That wasn’t an option she could choose.  

“Senior, please reconsider. I don’t know what happened between you two, but still…”  

“I’m pregnant, Yvonne.”  

Harriet clenched her eyes shut and interrupted Yvonne’s desperate plea.  

“What…?”  

Yvonne was struck speechless by yet another shocking revelation.  

“A… a child?”  

“Yes. I found out not long ago.”  

Harriet protectively cradled her stomach and pleaded with Yvonne.  

“I want a divorce, Yvonne. I don’t think I can have and raise this child while staying by his side.”  

Her eyes were already resolute. Her firm words left Yvonne pale and speechless.  

“You’re not going to tell me the reason, are you?”  

Instead of answering, Harriet simply nodded. A tense silence filled the carriage.  

“Sigh…”

Yvonne let out a heavy sigh before finally parting her lips after a long pause.  

“I know better than anyone that when you make that face, you never change your mind.”  

“…….”  

“Tell me, what do you need me to do?”  

Harriet’s plan was, in some ways, simple:  

Hide in a place where no one could find her.  

Then, at the right time, send a lawyer to deliver the divorce papers and finalize the divorce.  

Once the divorce was confirmed, she would give birth to and raise her child.  

“Wait a second.”  

Yvonne, who had been quietly listening to Harriet’s plan, suddenly pressed her forehead as if she had a headache.  

“There are too many flaws in this plan. It’s unrealistic.”  

“In what way?”  

“The first part, I suppose, is possible. It might be hard to escape the grasp of the Ducal family, but if they search high and low, there might be one place you can hide. But the problem starts with the second part.”  

“Sending the divorce papers?”  

“Yes. How do you plan to send the divorce papers? You know that noble marriages aren’t easily annulled.”  

For nobles, marriage wasn’t just a union between individuals—it was a union between families.  

“There’s also the business venture between the Vanetti Earldom and the Diorne Duchy. If you send divorce papers, the Earl’s family will be hit with massive penalties and compensation fees. They might even go bankrupt.”  

“That part won’t be an issue.”  

“How can it not be…?”  

“I told you, there’s this contract.”  

Harriet pulled out the contract she had signed and sealed before her marriage. It was a prenuptial agreement. The document stated that if they divorced after six months, neither party could demand anything that would cause a disadvantage to the other.  

“Lennox isn’t the type to mix personal matters with business, and with this contract in place, he wouldn’t dare break it.”  

“……That’s true. It even has his fingerprint, so there shouldn’t be any issues even if it goes to court.”  

After thoroughly examining the contract, Yvonne reluctantly nodded.  

“Then what about the third part? The contract doesn’t mention anything about pregnancy. The child is an heir to the Ducal family. They won’t let you go that easily.”  

“Yes. That… that’s the real problem.”  

Harriet bit her lip at Yvonne’s sharp observation and gently placed her hand on her stomach.  

“My first thought was to pretend the child belonged to another man.”  

“How would you hide the timeline? It’d be hard to claim you had an affair. And what about the man you’d involve in this lie…?”  

“I haven’t thought that far ahead. I only recently decided to go through with the divorce.”  

Harriet admitted honestly, running her hands over her face in frustration. Yvonne looked at her with a conflicted expression. It was a side of Harriet she had never seen before. To Yvonne, Harriet Coco Vanetti had always been a reliable mentor, superior, and a pillar of strength.  

This was the first time Harriet had shown such vulnerability.  

“To be honest, even though we’re close, I hesitated to ask you for this much.”  

“Senior…”  

“I doubt Lennox would go so far as to harm you, but you never know. If you want to get off here and pretend you don’t know anything, I’ll understand. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. In the worst-case scenario, you’re the only one I can trust to take care of the department store.”  

“Senior!”  

Yvonne called out urgently, as if ready to tell the coachman to stop the carriage.  

“What do you take me for?”  

“What?”  

“How long have we known each other? You don’t think of me as just a subordinate, do you?”  

“Yvonne…”  

Yvonne looked genuinely angry, a rare sight. Harriet stared at her in surprise as Yvonne began to unleash a torrent of words.  

“Do you know why I’ve kept my distance from Aaron for so long? Even though, as you said, he’s such a great catch?”  

“……Why?”  

“I was afraid that if I dated Aaron and we broke up, it would ruin my relationship with you! My friendship with you was more important to me.”  

Yvonne, frustrated, continued passionately.  

“And that’s not all. When that article about your secret lineage was published, do you know how close I came to rushing my marriage to Aaron?”  

“Yvonne…”  

Harriet’s throat tightened, and her nose stung. In some ways, Yvonne was more like a sister to her than Marianne, with whom she had grown up. Yvonne was someone she could rely on during her most difficult times, like a little sister.  

“I…”  

When Harriet reached out her hand, Yvonne took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress her emotions, and swatted it away.  

“And now you’re trying to draw a line between us? Do you think that makes any sense?”  

“…….”  

“I don’t know how you ended up in a contract marriage, or why you’re trying to divorce the Duke now that you’re pregnant, but I’m sure you have your reasons.”  

Yvonne let out a heavy sigh. Imagining the amount of anguish Harriet must have gone through, her heart ached.  

“First, we need to find a place to stay for tonight. Then, let’s have a serious talk about what to do next.”  

“Okay.”  

Harriet nodded meekly, like a lamb. Yvonne studied her for a moment before suddenly speaking up.  

“But before that, I have one question. What did you mean by asking me to take care of the department store?”  

“In case things go south, I’m thinking of temporarily transferring the management rights to you.”  

“What…?”  

Yvonne looked more shocked by this than by the talk of divorce.  

“What are you saying? The department store is the most important thing to you. It’s your greatest treasure.”  

“It used to be.”  

Harriet smiled faintly as she placed her hand on her stomach.  

“But not anymore.”  

Now, there was something far more precious—something she wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Her child.