Chapter 53
Julia felt dizzy and closed her eyes.
That moment when he had been standing at the top of the stairs. It hadn’t been a mistake to think that he recognized her.
Of course.
It hadn’t been a serendipitous reunion.
He had been lying in wait for the right timing all along, and he was the one who had directly summoned Julia.
“Then why did you pretend not to know me?”
Julia asked in a trembling voice. Duke Drexton let out a cold, scoffing laugh.
“You had a face like you’d die if you were found out. Do you greet someone like that without any sense? You weren’t even begging me to please run away. Why would I do something like that?”
That was true. There was no room to argue. Because she had believed he didn’t recognize her, she had been able to focus comfortably on her ‘work’.
“Then why didn’t you stop me… from doing things like that?”
Julia asked with a devastated heart. If he had known everything, shouldn’t he have stopped her from doing things like first-night lessons that dragged her honor into the dirt?
But it seemed Duke Drexton thought differently.
“Sister Julia.”
His lips trembled lightly.
“Don’t you remember? You didn’t even let me attend your wedding.”
Duke Drexton brought up something that seemed somewhat out of the blue. But Julia understood the context clearly. She let out a miserable exclamation and bit her lip hard.
That’s right.
Julia had cried and said she didn’t want to send an invitation to the House of Drexton. Because she didn’t want Edgar to come. She didn’t want him to see her miserable marriage.
“If I had said I’d help you after you became a widow, would you have accepted it honestly?”
He knew Julia’s pride. He knew it far too well.
“You would’ve refused, wouldn’t you. Yes? Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right.”
Julia dropped her head.
She truly hated becoming someone pitiful in front of Edgar, so if he had contacted her offering help, she might have disappeared altogether. Choosing to run away from him as the best option.
“So that’s why it had to take the form of a transaction.”
Her head began to ache.
“Julia.”
She had one hand pressed to her forehead and her head tilted back when Duke Drexton suddenly called her name.
Julia’s cheeks trembled.
It was the first time in her life. In her childhood, he had always called her with formal titles, and while she was serving as his private tutor, he had always addressed her properly as ‘Missus Devel’.
Being called by her name made her lower abdomen feel strangely warm. As if the baby could recognize their father’s voice.
“If it hadn’t been that way, you wouldn’t have come to me. I was desperate. Desperate enough to resort to such a filthy method.”
“Why?”
Julia finally let out the fundamental question.
“Why were you that desperate? What am I even to you…”
I’m nothing more than an old widow.
“What do you mean, what are you to me!”
Duke Drexton finally raised his voice with a growl. He sprang to his feet and grabbed Julia’s hand. Julia cried out, “Ah,” and was forcibly pulled upright.
Duke Drexton stood there holding Julia’s cheek. He looked straight into her green eyes. The shadowed look from before was gone, and now it seemed as though sparks might fly from his blue eyes.
“You’re my first love.”
Julia’s heart sank. The heart that had dropped deep down immediately began pounding hard. It felt like her entire body was trembling from the throbbing.
“The one I’ve never once been able to forget.”
“Edgar…”
“The one I never once got a chance with and had to let go! You have no idea how miserable I was, Julia.”
Moisture began to gather in his eyes. To avoid the disgrace of crying, he repeatedly tilted his head back and down, biting his lip hard.
“When I was thirteen, I thought you would marry me. I planned to propose to you once I became an adult.”
“……”
“But before I was even old enough, you ended up holding a wedding with that old man who wasn’t even worth a worm.”
Julia felt like the strength was draining from her legs.
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