“If you hadn’t had that child, I could have been his wife! If you hadn’t had that child, that seat would have been mine!”
Riley wrapped her arms around her stomach and spoke in a stern voice to Anna.
“Shut up, Anna, because I can tolerate everything else, but I can’t tolerate you talking about my child.”
She said, struggling to control the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
“Ha!”
Anna glared at Riley with bloodshot eyes, unable to control her trembling body, her gaze drifting to Riley’s slightly convex stomach.
“If you ever do anything to harm a child again like that, I won’t stand for it.”
“You think you can stay here after you have a child, ma’am?”
Anna turned to Riley with the corner of her mouth raised. Riley’s brow narrowed, and she walked past Anna.
If she have a child, will she have to leave this place with him? Where will she go? she have money saved up, but…….
Riley’s head was spinning. As she walked past her, Anna giggled behind her.
“You have to look after the child, but You don’t have to be his mother, right?
Anna sounded so sure as if she was going to be the one to take on the role.
“Funny, there’s no guarantee it’ll be you.”
Even if Theo wouldn’t let her take the child out, there was no way Anna would raise Theo’s blood as her own.
“Do you still want to be a duchess, a pretentious duchess? You have no self-respect, do you? I would be happier without you, and so would Theo, and so would your unborn child.”
Even if Riley were to leave the duchy, he would bring a woman from a powerful family to sit in her place. There was no way Anna would ever have this position.
“So, Anna, whatever happens, it can’t be you.”
Anna’s face twisted as if she didn’t understand Riley’s words. Her hand still clenched tightly on the bottom of her skirt.
“They say the first time is hard, the second time is easy.”
“What does that mean?”
“Do I have to explain it to you because you don’t understand?”
“I’m leaving this place.
No one can take away my child’s happiness.
Reilly was thinking of abandoning him first before Theo tried to take away her happiness again.
‘……!
It was the birth.
Her heart skipped a beat as she felt her child move for the first time. It was as if he was comforting her, telling her it was okay, and she stopped sobbing, tears threatening to spill over.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m looking forward to you being born, and I can handle this for you.
She was sure Theo would love the child, and every day he would check on her and ask her questions about the baby.
“I’m sorry I made you hear things you didn’t need to hear in a place like this.
Riley swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to spit out.
‘……I was stupid.’
She was so sure that Theo would never change and that he would love her, but it was a lie.
At first, she looked at Reilly’s body every day and treated her extremely so that she could have children quickly. When She realized that it was only a means to have children, she understood everything he had done to her.
Riley headed upstairs. She headed to her study to write in the journal she’d been keeping ever since she’d had the baby, to record this moment.
“Ugh.”
She could feel her mana shifting unsteadily.
‘As Ren said, that’s when it comes. I may not be able to delay my contract any longer…’
In her study, she had been recording the changes in her body with the child. She couldn’t keep her powers hidden forever.
She gripped the stairs carefully and climbed slowly. The stairs to the upper floor were slippery, and she was afraid of losing her footing, so she held onto the handrail and took each step very slowly.
Her legs were shaking from the lack of strength in her body.
“Stop! I’m not done yet!”
She’d made it more than halfway up the stairs when she heard Anna’s medicated voice behind her, followed by a vicious grab and a spin.
“What are you doing on the stairs!”
“It’s dangerous”.
Riley shouted, barely regaining her balance. Paying no attention to her, Anna continued.
“He’s crazy about me, so he won’t look at any other girl!”
“Yeah, I think so, then.”
What did it matter now, Riley didn’t have any expectations of him anyway.
She really did love Theo. So even now, she still couldn’t let go completely.
Because even if what he’d done to her was a lie, it was Theo who had rescued her from that hellish house.
She couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever come back if he really did love her.
She knows it’s stupid, but abandonment and despair have always been painful, and She can never get used to it. Just because she gets used to it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
She just pretends it doesn’t hurt.
A relationship that you can’t let go of, that’s just pain, too, but Riley buried it.
She was going to get away from him once the child was born, anyway.
“You know you can’t. You can’t fix what’s already broken…….
Riley shook off Anna’s hand and tried to climb upstairs.
“Where are you going, now? You’re going to the Duke, aren’t you?”
“Anna, you know better than I do where he is, don’t you?”
Riley didn’t know Theo’s schedule very well. Not because he wouldn’t tell her, but because he’d told her to stay in her room and not touch anything about the Duke’s house.
Anna’s head snapped down, and she whispered in a low voice.
“……Why don’t I just get rid of him?”
“Now what…….”
Anna grabbed Riley’s hand as she turned and pulled her back. Anna pushed her from the stairs and her eyes widened in surprise.
But then she saw the corner of her mouth turn up through the covering. It was panic, then joy.
“Oh…… no!
Riley reached out desperately, but nothing was caught.
She rolled down the stairs, unable to scream.
“Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
As she hit the floor with Anna’s screams, Riley could feel hot liquid running down her back. Her whole body ached.
There was red blood and liquid on the floor, spreading out around her. As she was losing consciousness, she saw Theo rushing towards her.
* * *
She opened her eyes. Riley felt that something was wrong. When she touched her stomach with her hand, she shook her head.
“……No. My, my child……. My child……. It can’t be, it can’t be.”
Her fist hit her chest hard. Her tight choked voice quickly turned to sobs.
“Hmph, black. Ugh, ugh. Ah…… ahhhh, no!”
Her heart was squeezing so painfully that it felt uncomfortable, so she kept hitting her chest.
The child……. There was no child. She opened her eyes and felt nothing but emptiness in her stomach. Her bones ached as if they hadn’t recovered.
Startled by a noise in the room, Theo opened the door and walked in. Riley slid off the bed and ran to him.
“It’s not……? Where’s my child, I ask you, where’s my child!”
“Ma’am, he’s no more.”
Theo grabbed Riley’s shoulders and stroked her back. It was a careful gesture as if trying to calm her down.
Anna’s figure peeked through the slightly open door.
Riley pushed Theo away, slipped out of his arms, opened the door, and walked over to Anna.
Before he could stop her, her hand was around Anna’s throat.
“Aah!”
“You’ve killed my child. Get him back, get him back! I told you, if you touch my child, I’ll kill you!”
“Kerr, Kerr Th…eo.”
Theo hurriedly pulled Riley away from Anna. Anna went white and gasped harshly as she nuzzled my neck.
“You, you, you, aaaahhh!”
Riley pushed Theo away and grabbed Anna’s body, shaking her, screaming like a madman. Anna shook her head, sobbing as she was shaken helplessly in Riley’s hands.
“Boo, ma’am. No. That was a mistake… hmmm……. I’m in so much pain.”
“……Distressed, you are? More than me for losing a child? Hahaha!”
Riley laughed at the sight of Anna sobbing in front of her, her hands covering her reddened cheeks. Tears streamed from her eyes.
“Stop it, Anna is so distressed by what happened back then that she hasn’t slept and has been looking after you……!”
She snapped.
“It’s all because of you, if it wasn’t for you, my child wouldn’t have died.”
“Madam, I too am sorry that your child died like that……. It breaks my heart, so please calm down.”
“Calm down……. Did you say calm down? What kind of parent is so carefree when their child is dead?”
The look on Theo’s face weakened her. Maybe he didn’t even love his own child that much.
Even though it was she and his child, she was the only one hurting and sad, like the world was falling apart. she pulled her hand out of Theo’s grasp and sank to the floor with a whimper.
“I……. Just give me my child back. Bring him back……. Please, tell me this is a dream.”
Riley screamed, clutching her stomach.
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!”
This sucks. This is awful. She hated even breathing in this place now.
The world, everything around her, crumbled as the reason she’d been holding on was taken away.
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She is breaking my heart 😭😭😭💔💔