To My Husband's Mistress - Chapter 1 Part 3

“How dare you come back with such an appearance?”

It was the first thing she heard when she returned to her family’s estate, Count Violet.

“A divorce from Aster Winchester? On your wedding anniversary?”

Having heard the circumstances, her stepmother, Jenia, asked with a surprised face. But was the strange upward curve of her lips due to her mood?

After divorcing her ex-husband, Jenia entered the Violet House as a stepmother. However, due to the suicide of Leticia’s father, Graham, she found herself in a precarious position.

“The circumstances are dire, so don’t even think about coming back. There’s no place for you here.”

After the death of her second husband, Jenia became even colder. Living in the mansion of Violet House, where only pillars remained, she clearly rejected her stepdaughter.

“But this is the house I lived in for twenty years.”

Leticia spoke up, her trembling lips opening to refute.

It was truly a surprising turn of events. Just yesterday, she was the daughter-in-law of House Winchester, but now she couldn’t even become the daughter of House Violet.

If she was driven out this far, she had nowhere to go. Leticia tried to plead, but Jenia’s cold condemnation froze her tongue.

“Did you know? If it weren’t for you, Graham wouldn’t have had a reason to commit suicide in the first place.”

It was a statement blaming her father’s suicide.

“Your clever husband’s business investments led to the bankruptcy of House Violet, and Graham took his own life. A person who cared so much about health ended up mixing poison into a cup with his own hands and drinking it!!”

It’s all because of you. In front of Jenia, who was glaring at her with icy hostility, she couldn’t say a word.

“If you took away even the family’s pillars, at least live well! Divorced? So you think you can come back now?! What audacity do you have?”

Each word was like an arrow piercing her heart. Jenia laughed at the sight of Leticia’s pale face, still shivering from the cold.

“Indeed, if you had a conscience, you should keep your mouth shut.”

Even though she saw Leticia shivering from the cold and the bruises on her face, Jenia didn’t care.

“Ah, come to think of it, didn’t your younger sister die of illness a few years ago?”

Jenia’s voice, which mentioned her younger sister who left the world a few years ago, became lower. Like a snake ready to bite before asking.

“Wouldn’t it have been better if you died together back then? Then you wouldn’t have ended up like this even if Violet went bankrupt.”

Jenia whispered cruelly, and then gave her an order.

“Leave.”

***

When Leticia came out, the luggage carriage had already left.

She chuckled like a madwoman at the sight of the bags rolling around on the dirt floor.

“Ha.”

There was nowhere to go and no one to help her, so she had no choice but to wander aimlessly.

Some faces of her friends came to mind, but they had lost touch since before she got married.

It was all because she had borrowed investment money like a fool to help Aster.

“I never thought it would end up like this.”

Leticia laughed at herself.

She walked past the pile of luggage, knowing that she couldn’t carry it alone anyway.

Her once-dry clothes were now crumpled and rustled, and her half-untied hair was blowing in the wind.

The miserable Leticia, who had passed through the Violet’s back garden, climbed up to the low hill. It was a place where her family used to have picnics when she was young.

It was where she had her happiest memories. Standing on top of it, she could see the deep blue Elle River stretching out below.

Leticia looked at the river flowing smoothly even in the middle of winter and thought, ‘It might be more comfortable to just jump in there.’

“It’s not good for you to sit here alone in the cold. I can’t bear to watch it.”

At that moment, a cold voice came from behind.

“…Aster?”

When she turned her head, she saw his beautiful but hateful face. Aster, mounted on a horse, stood against the strong wind, with his black hair fluttering in the breeze.

Leticia bit her lip and scanned his handsome face. If Aster had been alone, perhaps she might have misunderstood.

That he might have regretted casting her aside. And that he has come to take her back.

However, as always, Aster was not alone.

“Be careful not to slip.”

Aster reached out his hand and helped someone down from the horse. It was a cautious touch, as if afraid that holding too tightly might break or that the person might slip away at any moment.

It was a stark contrast to the way he had slapped Leticia’s cheek a few hours ago.

“Thank you, Artie.”

The beauty who hugged him smiled like spring sunshine.

Rianca Snoweider. She was the disgustingly beautiful secret mistress who had stolen Aster away from her.

“Do we really have to talk to that woman?”

Aster, who badmouthed Leticia, asked with concern. He treated her like a rabid dog that could bite him at any moment.

“Yes.”

Rianca leaned over his ear and whispered something.

“…If that’s truly your wish, then there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Aster withdrew with an uncomfortable expression. Leticia watched the scene with an incredulous gaze.

Aster was a stubborn man. Throughout their three-year marriage, he had never once given in to Leticia.

“Do whatever you want, my love.”

But when it came to Rianca, he seemed to readily yield, as if it were only natural.

If baldness was a congenital disease, Aster Winchester undoubtedly had a bald conscience.

“Instead, don’t stay with that woman for too long. She is not in her right mind.”

Aster, in his final plea, cast a fleeting glance toward her. It was a warning that daring to confront Rianca would be nothing short of a fool’s errand.

Ah, how she had once loved those winter-gray eyes. But his icy gaze, like frostbitten footsteps, now made her stomach crumble in misery.

Leticia’s knees trembled as if they were about to collapse, but she barely held on. It was her last bit of self-esteem that she didn’t want to show a pathetic sight in front of Rianca.

“… Are you okay, Miss Leticia?”

As the scent of flowers tickled her nose, something wrapped around her shoulders. When she lowered her head, she saw a dark blue shawl.

“Aren’t you cold? The wind is so chilly.”

Rianca kindly asked as she took off her shawl. She even grabbed Leticia’s hands with both hands and rubbed them.

“Goodness, you’re as cold as ice! What should we do about this?”

It was a pure and innocent attitude, like that of a child who believes the world is full of nothing but kindness.

Leticia gazed at her delicate face, which had come so close that it was almost at her nose. Long eyelashes framed slightly tilted pink eyes that shimmered like cherry blossoms in April.

How nice it would be to reach out and crumple it.

“Um… If you don’t mind, can we talk while walking along the embankment? I have something I really want to tell you, Miss Leticia.”

The damn woman, who stole someone else’s husband with that innocent-looking face, said with tears filling her deer-like eyes.

“No.”

Leticia firmly refused. She wasn’t a fool, and she had a gut feeling that whatever Rianca was about to say would be as bitter as bile.