LOGINA year after marrying into a noble family, I finally gave birth to the family’s legitimate firstborn son. Exhausted after labor, I watched the wet nurse carry my newborn away to share the good news with the marquis and his wife. My eyelids grew heavy, and I was about to drift off when several lines of glowing golden text suddenly appeared before my eyes. [Don’t fall asleep. The moment you do, the marquis and his wife will take your son to Logan and switch him with the sickly baby who was just born to the woman in his quarters. [The baby they leave you will be frail from birth. You’ll spend a fortune on rare medicines to keep him alive, but he’ll still die before his third birthday. Heartbroken, you’ll choose to end your own life. [Ryan will waste away in grief soon after, while Logan will inherit the marquisate and live comfortably ever after.] My face was drained of all color. Ignoring the agony tearing through my body, I forced myself upright. “Wait! Bring my baby back!”
View MoreA sudden rumble of carriage wheels came from the end of the alley, mixed with the guards’ shouts and the harsh scrape of iron chains dragging across the stone road.The prison cart carrying Eleanor had left the city.When the cart passed by the gates of Earl Wesley’s Residence, Eleanor lifted her eyes. She saw me as well as the bundle in my arms. Her lips trembled violently. In the end, she did not say a word.The prison cart rolled over the stone bridge in the southern district. The rumbling grew fainter and fainter until it turned a corner and disappeared completely.I stood at the doorway, holding Aiden. The wind carried the sweet scent of pastries from the street. Aiden wrinkled his tiny nose and sneezed.I lowered my head and gently wiped the little droplets from his face before turning back into the courtyard. I never said a single word. I had nothing left to say to those people.Logan and Camille were also escorted away that day, sent to guard the northwestern frontier, an
The Chief Justice sealed the case file in open court and entered the palace overnight to report to the Emperor. By the time the news reached the Wesley estate, dawn had not yet broken.The entire estate was lit up, and every lantern burned through the darkness, yet no one dared to sleep.The clan elders who had once stood in the ancestral hall and echoed Eleanor's accusations did not dare leave after the hearing ended. They all crowded into the main hall, waiting.They were waiting for an ending they did not dare imagine.The next day at noon, the imperial decree arrived.The official delivering the decree stood before the main hall of the estate with two rows of Imperial Guards behind him. The golden scroll was slowly unfolded.More than a hundred members of the Wesley household knelt across the yard.Eleanor was forced to kneel at the very front, restrained by two bailiffs. Her hair was disheveled, and her lips were pale. The composure she once had when she stood beside my bed
“From beginning to end, you never once asked where my child had been taken.”I stepped forward, looking straight into Robert's eyes.“You never asked who placed the sleeping incense. You never asked whether the midwife had been replaced. You never asked whether that sickly infant was alive or dead. "You did only one thing—you rushed to send your daughter-in-law out of the city, locking her away at a country estate. Father, what were you so desperate to do? What were you so desperate to hide?”“You… You…” Robert pointed at me with a trembling finger. His face flushed a deep, ugly red.Before he could finish, the Chief Justice raised a hand and cut him off.The entire hall fell silent.The Chief Justice turned toward Ryan and me. His expression was solemn and commanding. His voice carried through the hall without needing to rise.“This case involves the entire Wesley household. It is not something this court can decide alone. Bailiffs.”The officers stepped forward in unison.
The moment the board in the bailiff’s hand stopped, Mrs. Zane came clean. It was as if a dam had broken, and everything she had been holding back came rushing out.One by one, she blurted out the names, places, times, seals, and documents. Every detail poured from her mouth.She knelt on the floor, tears and snot streaking down her face.“I was only following orders! Ms. Quinn told me what to do, and I did it! I’ve been wronged, Your Honor! I have elderly parents to support and children depending on me…”“Enough.”Eleanor stood in the center of the hall. The composure she had carefully maintained began to crack like dried plaster, flaking away piece by piece. She stepped forward and cut Mrs. Zane off with a shrill cry.“You wicked servant! How dare you slander me?! Have I ever treated you poorly? Have I ever denied you food, clothing, or anything you needed? And this is how you repay me? Colluding with outsiders to frame your own mistress? You’ll die a miserable death!”Mrs. Zan












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