Chapter 13

I pondered for a moment before shaking my head honestly. He didn't seem surprised. "If no one comes forward tonight, what will you do?" "That won't happen." I replied calmly, my gaze fixed on the soft woolen rug beneath my feet. "If the servant had truly intended to kill Ethan from the beginning, she wouldn't have been so precise with the dosage each time. Besides, as a servant, she'd have nothing to gain and everything to lose by murdering her employer. The only possibility is that she herself was kept in the dark." Father-in-law lit a cigarette, his face obscured by swirling smoke, his expression unreadable. "You're so certain she'll confess everything?" "If she doesn't come clean, it becomes premeditated murder—a criminal charge that would ruin her life. Didn't you promise leniency if she confessed? I believe she'll know what's best for her." He fell silent, saying nothing more to me. I kept my head down, waiting for that person to come forward and reveal the truth. Late into the night, the lights in the Carter household were all extinguished. Father-in-law had always held absolute authority in the Carter family. Having built nearly all of the family's fortune himself, no one dared to openly defy him. His word was law. After waiting for about an hour, the study door finally creaked open, and Lucy entered with her head bowed. ... Exhausted, I returned to my room and downed the glass of milk Mary had left on the table in one gulp. So it was Andrew after all... The answer was unexpected yet made perfect sense. Among the men in the family, he held the lowest status and the smallest share of the family's assets. His desperate bid for more was understandable. Lying in bed, I closed my eyes in disappointment, my thoughts growing hazy. I thought I could expose that person. I was certain it was them who instigated Lucy to drug Ethan. But I was wrong. Had he hidden himself too well, or had I been looking in the wrong direction from the start? Maybe he wasn’t forcing himself on me just to fight for inheritance. Maybe he was simply a vile pervert—a depraved bastard. Lost in these thoughts, I slowly drifted into sleep. Until… I felt my body completely invaded. “Ah—!” A familiar pleasure surged from where we were joined. My eyes flew open in disbelief, only to be met with that same terrifying darkness. “No! Get off me!” Surprisingly, my mouth wasn’t restrained tonight. But the moment I cried out, his scorching breath crashed against my lips, silencing my scream as he thrust deeper, rougher. How was this possible? How did he even get in?! I had placed tables against both the bedroom door and the balcony—anyone trying to push them open would’ve made noise. Had I really been sleeping so soundly that I didn’t hear a thing? Tonight, he felt even more frenzied than before, his mood disturbingly different. He kept my mouth sealed, refusing to let me make a sound. Terror gripped me, my fingers trembling uncontrollably. He had gotten in without me noticing at all! How?! Maybe the shock of discovering my husband had been poisoned had drained me too much. My body went limp, weak and helpless, tears streaming as I failed to resist his relentless demands. What was even more horrifying was that after two nights, he had learned the rhythm of my body. No, this is wrong! Yet my traitorous body moved in sync with his. I despised myself for it, but I couldn’t stop. The shame burned deep, making me wish I could kill this pathetic version of myself.