Chapter 2

Darius immediately released her hand.

However, before either of them could say anything, his adopted sister’s voice broke the silence in the room.

“Darius... What are you two doing? Aren’t we still mourning? You two are really embarrassing!”

“She almost fell, and I was only supporting her,” Darius immediately replied awkwardly, as if they had just been caught doing something inappropriate.

Darius straightened his slightly rumpled shirt. “Why were you looking for me, Corinne?”

Corinne was still standing at the doorway with a pale face. She touched her forehead and closed her eyes. “I suddenly feel dizzy. Can you stay with me for a while?”

Darius immediately turned toward Lenora. The strange expression that had appeared on his face earlier disappeared in an instant.

“Sign it and you’ll be free!”

His voice was firm, making it clear that he no longer wanted to see Lenora.

Darius stepped toward the door. “Corinne? Are you all right?”

The woman nodded weakly while holding her head. “I don’t know why my head suddenly feels so dizzy.”

Darius immediately wrapped an arm around her waist, then took one of her hands and held it tightly with affection.

“Come on. I’ll take you to your room.”

Lenora was still standing near the table. Her hand slowly moved to her own waist, exactly where Darius had touched her only moments ago.

A wide waist that looked ridiculous.

She lowered her head.

Nothing had changed. The divorce papers were still lying open on the table.

Lenora slapped her forehead.

“What was I expecting? Of course, he’ll be busy with his adopted sister from now on.”

Lenora continued watching their retreating figures until she finally let out a long sigh. She did not know what was really going on between her husband and her adopted sister, but seeing the way Darius treated Corinne made her heart feel uncomfortable again.

During all the years she had been his wife, Lenora had grown accustomed to the man’s cold attitude. But this was the first time she realized just how gentle Darius could be when he was with a woman he truly cared about.

Lenora finally decided to return to her room. However, when she passed the guest room, her steps unintentionally stopped when she heard Darius’s voice from inside. The door was slightly open, enough for part of the room to be visible through the gap.

She had not intended to listen, but the gentleness in Darius’s voice made her legs seem to lose the strength to move.

“You’re pregnant, Corinne. Don’t be too sad. It’s not good for the baby.”

Lenora froze.

Pregnant?

Without realizing it, her body moved slightly closer to the door. Through the narrow opening, she saw Darius sitting on the edge of Corinne’s bed. One of his hands was gently caressing the woman’s stomach, while his eyes were filled with a warmth Lenora had never seen when the man looked at her.

That gaze made Lenora’s chest feel even tighter.

In the five years she had been Darius’s wife, Lenora had never received that kind of attention from him. When she was sick, the man would only ask about her condition when necessary.

When she cried, Darius had never once come to comfort her. On many occasions, Lenora’s existence seemed no more important to him than the furniture inside the Blackwell family home.

Yet now, simply because his adopted sister was carrying his child, Darius looked like a man terrified of losing something incredibly precious to him.

Lenora remained rooted to the spot when Corinne slowly raised her head. The woman glanced toward the door, and their eyes almost met.

Lenora immediately held her breath and stepped back slightly, but Corinne had clearly already noticed her presence.

Instead of asking Darius to move away, Corinne reached for the man’s hand and held it tightly.

“You’ll take responsibility and divorce Lenora, won’t you?” she asked softly. “I can’t live without protection for this child. The late Grandfather also hated me so much.”

Lenora held her breath. Her fingers slowly clenched the hem of her clothes.

How could this be? Darius and her adopted sister were even...

So this was the reason!

This was the reason Darius wanted to divorce her so quickly after Grandfather’s death.

It was not simply because their marriage had already lost its purpose, but because Corinne was carrying Darius’s child. Because Darius had become involved in a relationship that should never have happened between siblings.

Lenora looked into the room again, hoping that what she had just heard was merely a misunderstanding.

But that hope collapsed when Darius suddenly pulled Corinne into his arms. The man gently stroked her back, as if he wanted to assure the woman that there was nothing in this world she needed to fear.

“Sister, I am the father,” Darius said in a low, confident voice. “Of course I’ll take responsibility. I’ll also make the child the heir of the Blackwell Family someday.”

Lenora’s body instantly stiffened. His father?

Darius had just admitted that he was the father of the child Corinne was carrying.

Suddenly, Darius turned toward the door. Of course, he saw Lenora’s shadow as she hurriedly hid behind the outer side of the door.

For several seconds, Lenora even forgot how to breathe. Her gaze was empty while Darius’s words continued echoing inside her head.

I’ll also make the child the heir of the Blackwell Family someday.

Without realizing it, Lenora’s hand dropped to her own stomach. There was nothing there except layers of fat and a dull ache that slowly spread into her chest.

She knew she had never truly been loved, and all this time, she had still held on to a small hope that one day Darius would see her as his wife.

Yet Darius had never even fulfilled his duty as a husband in their bed.

It turned out that hope had never had a place in their marriage.

Darius had already given something he had never even given Lenora—a promise of a future.

A seed that had never filled her womb.

Lenora slowly backed away from the door. She did not want Corinne to see the tears beginning to gather in her eyes. More importantly, she did not want Darius to know that she had heard everything.

But after taking only a few steps away from the room, Lenora stopped.

She turned her head once more toward the door, which was still slightly open.

Lenora felt that the divorce papers lying on the table earlier were not a threat at all. They were Darius’s decision, one he had made long before his grandfather died.

They had been having an affair for so long that they already had an heir to the future.

The honorable heir of the Blackwell Family.

And perhaps, from the very beginning, she had never been part of that man’s future.

Lenora returned to Darius’s study with steps that felt far heavier than when she had left the room earlier.

As soon as she entered the study, Lenora’s eyes immediately fell upon the table in the middle of the room. The divorce documents Darius had left behind were still in the same place, neatly spread open, as if waiting for her to return and give her final decision.

Lenora stood before them for a long time without touching anything. Her hands clenched into fists, then slowly relaxed when she realized there was no longer any reason for her to hold on to this marriage.

She pulled out a chair and sat down, her body feeling weak.

For a moment, Lenora simply stared at her own name printed at the bottom of the document. Beside it was a blank space waiting for her signature, and that empty space felt like the boundary between the life she had known all this time and a new life she had never imagined.

Then she glanced at her husband’s signature, which was already there.

Darius had even promised to make their child the heir of the Blackwell Family.

What more could she possibly hope for?