“I, I…”
“Objection! The defense is currently leading the witness with an inappropriate question!”
Noel objected before Yelena could answer.
“Objection sustained. Counselor, please ask questions that are not misleading.”
“I’ll be more careful.”
Natasha smiled triumphantly. Yelena nervously fidgeted with her skirt.
‘It’s my first time in court… Should I have brought a lawyer? No, this isn’t even my lawsuit; I’m just a witness… And hiring a lawyer is expensive…’
Yelena mentally calculated the cost of hiring a lawyer for just one day. Lawyers were specialists, and their fees were typically whatever they demanded.
Especially for commoners without connections, the cost was even higher.
‘I still have this month’s medicine expenses left. I really need to save…’
Of course, as the professional manager of the Petrov estate, Yelena’s income wasn’t small, but most of it went toward her younger brother’s medical bills.
Mikhail had wanted to help her, feeling sorry for her situation, but Yelena had flatly refused. Today, she regretted that decision.
‘But… I wanted to prove that I wasn’t in this for the money.’
She wanted to show she was different from the other women.
She hadn’t been drawn to Mikhail for his title or the name Petrov. She just loved him for who he was, ‘Mikhail.’ That’s all she wanted to say.
‘Since the lawsuit, he won’t even see me, saying it could negatively impact the case… I understand, but…’
Mikhail was kind and sweet, but something about him made Yelena uneasy.
The more she tried to hold him close, the more empty she felt, and she couldn’t understand why.
‘As that lawyer said, wouldn’t it be better for me if they got divorced? They say it’s just a political marriage…!’
Yelena looked at Mikhail with anxious eyes, but Mikhail was gazing somewhere else.
‘Where are you looking?’
She followed his gaze and saw…
“Ah.”
A small sigh escaped Yelena’s lips.
There stood a beautiful silver-haired lady. Chloe Petrov. Mikhail’s eyes were on her.
Unlike the plain commoner Yelena, Chloe was noble, elegant, and incredibly dignified. Even though they were both from commoner backgrounds, Chloe was so different.
Every time Yelena looked at Chloe, she felt as though she was being torn apart.
Inwardly, Yelena felt a sense of satisfaction when Mikhail whispered sweet words of love to her. Even if Chloe was blessed with wealth and status, blood couldn’t be denied. A fallen noble like Yelena was surely a better match for Mikhail.
‘But then why… Why is he looking at her…?’
The lawyer in front was saying something, but Yelena couldn’t hear any of it. Her mind was filled with only one thought: ‘Why?’
‘I’ve heard that nobles treat commoners like toys… Could I be one of them? If we break up, will I be fired from the estate too? What will I do then? I can’t afford to miss a day of work with these medicine bills…’
Practical worries began flooding Yelena’s mind.
“…Ms. Yel… Yelena!”
“Huh? Yes, yes?”
“Did you hear my question?”
“I-I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”
Yelena snapped out of her thoughts. She was currently a witness in court.
“Ms. Yelena, is there any particular reason you decided to go on a trip to Mosqueche on the ‘anniversary’ of the young duke’s marriage? The festival there lasts for quite a while.”
“Well…”
It was because Yelena had insisted.
She didn’t want him to spend the anniversary with his wife, so she asked him to go on the trip with her instead.
-Please, I beg you. I don’t want any wealth or power from you, Mishka. I just want… I just want to feel your love.
-Of course I love you. How could I not?
-Then prove it to me.
It was a coincidence that the day Yelena and Mikhail promised to be together was the same day as his wedding anniversary.
To Yelena, this felt like a sign of love, and she couldn’t back down.
“You could have scheduled it for another day.”
“Well…”
Yelena glanced at Mikhail once more.
Thud.
She felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if someone was squeezing her heart.
‘Why won’t you look at me?’
Mikhail was still staring at Chloe.
He hadn’t spared a single glance at Yelena.
“…”
“It seems Ms. Yelena doesn’t know. Young Duke, could you answer instead?”
At Natasha’s call, Mikhail looked startled, as if he had been lost in thought.
“I thought that day was the most suitable. It was more efficient than rearranging other schedules.”
“Hm, I see. No other reason, then? Was it perhaps another anniversary or something…?”
Natasha asked slyly, though she already knew the truth from the recording, feigning ignorance with great skill.
Watching Yelena’s expression, she slowly stoked the flames, waiting for her to ignite.
“No, nothing like that. It wasn’t any other anniversary.”
Mikhail deliberately avoided Yelena’s eyes.
“Of course not.”
Bang!
“Ms. Yelena, are you alright?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Yelena only realized she had fallen from the witness stand after hearing Natasha’s startled voice.
Before the stinging pain could register, tears welled up uncontrollably.
Plop, plop.
“Are you in a lot of pain? Should I call a doctor?”
“…….”
Watching her tears fall one by one, Yelena suddenly felt overwhelmed with sorrow.
They both had been played, yet Yelena was the only one who had lost everything.
Now she had to worry about her job, and on top of that, the cost of her sister’s medication and the hefty legal fees she could barely afford.
If she lost the civil case, she would even have to pay Chloe a settlement.
All these things were shaking Yelena’s life to its core. And what about Mikhail?
He was merely tangled in a divorce case, and even that, he was trying to fend off by erasing Yelena’s existence.
The pain that flared from her chest was far worse than the pain from her fall.
“Miss Yelena?”
“……No need for a doctor.”
Yelena wiped her tears and sat back on the witness stand.
Despite appearances, she wasn’t the type to just take things lying down. If she were, she wouldn’t have studied so tenaciously to become a professional manager.
There was a more efficient way forward than sitting down and crying right now.
The greatest revenge Yelena could exact—the pain of putting the man who toyed with her heart in her shoes.
“Attorney, please ask the question again.”
“Excuse me?”
“……From the beginning.”
Natasha, secretly smiling, asked the question from the start again.
“Witness, state your name and occupation.”
“My name is Yelena. I am a professional manager for the Petroff estate.”
“What happened on the day you went to Mosqueche?”
Yelena took a small breath.
“That day…….”
Everyone was looking at her. Even Mikhail, who had been staring at Chloe the whole time, was now gazing at her with a look of shock.
Meeting his gaze directly, Yelena made her decisive testimony.
“During our date, we were suddenly stopped for a search.”
“A date? Typically, a date implies a close relationship between a man and a woman. Is that the kind of ‘date’ you’re referring to?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Natasha was half ecstatic.
“Are you now admitting to having an affair with the duke?”
Mikhail unknowingly shook his head slightly.
This couldn’t be happening. If it came to this, the case would be lost without question. The misunderstanding had just been cleared up…!
“Yes. We had been seeing each other for about a year, using estate inspections as an excuse for outings. The new city project? That’s all nonsense. It was scrapped long ago, and it’s not even the right time to build a new city.”
New information flowed effortlessly from her lips.
“Why on his wedding anniversary, you ask? That day marked the one-year anniversary of our relationship.”
A cynical smile tugged at Yelena’s lips.
The courtroom fell silent. Even the judge was left speechless at her bombshell statement.
“……Objection!”
Noel barely regained his composure and raised the objection.
“The witness is attacking the duke with baseless claims! This is clearly out of spite….”
“No! There’s plenty of evidence. Shall I submit my diary? It has all the details of when, where, and how we met. I also have the name of the inn we stayed at during our so-called inspection trip and the tickets from the play we saw together.”
Though Yelena may have been blinded by love, she wasn’t stupid.
She knew if she let Mikhail’s lawyer run wild, she would be the only one left suffering.
“Hm. Hm-hm. I don’t know what change of heart you’ve had, but if the witness can submit her diary, I don’t see any reason to prolong this trial.”
The judge, seemingly having made up his mind, spoke with a slight bias. Investigators were immediately sent to retrieve Yelena’s belongings.
Just as Noel thought the trial was almost over, Mikhail suddenly stood up from his seat.
“It was a momentary mistake.”
“Defendant, I don’t recall giving you permission to speak.”
“Your Honor, we can’t end it like this. If I’m given just one more chance, just one more, I promise nothing like this will ever happen again…!”
“That’s not for you or me to decide.”
The judge turned his gaze to Chloe.
“Chloe….”
She still stared coldly at Mikhail.
“Another chance…? I don’t have a taste for sharing my husband with other women. It’s difficult for me.”
“There won’t be a next time. So please….”
“I don’t understand. Why are you acting like this now? Didn’t you have the affair because you wanted a divorce?”
Chloe chuckled as she continued.
“It’s not like we were all that close to begin with.”
“……We just got off on the wrong foot. Now that all the misunderstandings are cleared up.”
Even Mikhail couldn’t fully grasp why he was so desperate.
But when he saw Chloe cough up blood and collapse, his heart sank, and everything went white. That brief moment made him realize something he hadn’t been aware of.
“……I love you.”
“It’s shameless of me to say this now, after everything’s fallen apart, but at least my feelings are genuine.”
“…….”
“Give me a chance to atone. Please….”
Despite his heartfelt plea, Chloe’s gaze remained icy. Just as she opened her mouth to respond—
Cough!
“Ah……!”
Bright red blood surged from her mouth.
“Doctor! Call a doctor!”
“Chloe! Stay with me, Chloe!”
The last thing Chloe saw before losing consciousness was Mikhail’s desperate face and the cries for a doctor.
“…….”
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
