“I heard from Madame Loren about the necklace…” Annblyn’s voice trembled as much as her amber eyes.
Before she could finish, a knock interrupted, and the secretary brought in tea. After the secretary left, Annblyn resumed, “What’s your relationship with that woman?”
“A merchant lives by their reputation. I must have misjudged.”
“Why does Annje Juleber belong to her? You said you rented it.”
Her voice began to quiver.
“Is this how you’re punishing me? By making me a laughingstock with such a lowly bastard?”
To preserve her last shred of dignity, the princess bit her lip instead of crying.
Edgar watched, amused by this absurd drama he had been observing for three years. He could have bet his fortune on her unmatched talent for playing victim-turned-aggressor, if only there were takers.
He smirked but quickly erased the smile.
“You were the one who talked about breaking up.”
His expression turned icy as he looked at Annblyn, making her face pale.
“I have no obligation to report my personal life to you.”
His eyes softened again, regaining a light smile. “Isn’t that so, Ann?”
At his affectionate use of her nickname, tears fell from Annblyn’s eyes.
“I’m sorry. So sorry, Ed.”
Her intermittent sobs soon became weeping.
“Forgive me, please!”
Tired of the repetitive and uncreative plea, Edgar stood up.
“Take care then.”
After a polite farewell to the princess of a nation, he left the office, his mind entirely on the train to Nowinton.
Was Olivia Blanchett on that train? That was his main concern.
The weather was abysmal.
Even Lytton’s iconic clock tower was hidden in thick fog.
The hope of leisurely enjoying Lytton’s beautiful scenery for possibly the last time was long gone.
All they could hope for was that the carriage would make it to the station on time. It was crawling as if on an icy road.
“Will we be able to catch it?”
Ann looked worriedly at Olivia.
Checking her pocket watch, a parting gift from Elaine, Olivia noted the time: 12:15 PM.
It was tight, but if the carriage started moving now, they had enough time.
“We’ll catch the next train if we’re late. Or go tomorrow.”
As she closed the watch adorned with vine patterns, Olivia spoke calmly.
“Be careful with Edgar. That man.”
“What do you mean?” Olivia had asked. It was during their farewell dinner last night.
“He’s the princess’s man. You plan to stay here, don’t get involved.”
Elaine regretted not warning her about the necklace, blocked by Madame Loren. Olivia recalled a conversation that confirmed this.
Edgar Lancaster Lancelot and Madame Loren. She was the designer recommended by Mrs. Marie.
And that maid was…
As Olivia mulled over these questions, the coachman called out through the window.
As Olivia and Ann mulled over their questions, the coachman opened the small window and shouted, “There’s been an accident ahead. We’re stuck here for at least an hour.”
After a brief consideration, Olivia and Ann paid the carriage fare and walked to Lytton station. Luckily, they arrived five minutes before departure, but due to worsening weather, all trains were delayed.
The central station of Lytton was crowded with people due to the delay.
Olivia and Ann bought tickets for the 1 PM train to Nowinton and sat on a bench in the waiting room, awaiting their train. Olivia, feeling tense from the glances of people around, pulled down the brim of her bonnet to cover her face.
Everywhere, in the newsstands and in the newspapers people held, those scandalous photos were plastered.
“Looks like the daughter of a seductress is just like her mother.”
“Only interested in dukes, it seems. She always has to have the best.”
Olivia sighed briefly, relieved that her face was not exposed.
Let’s go outside, Ann.
Yes, Miss.
Olivia and Ann quietly left the place.
The air on the platform was damp and heavy. Even in broad daylight, the fog wrapped the lamplights in a hazy glow.
Many people waited on the platform for the train, and tired and frustrated, some cursed aloud.
The society scandal that had heated up the social circles was nothing here, a relief to Olivia.
Olivia and Ann sat on their trunk under a dimly lit lamp, waiting for the train. About two hours later, they heard the sound of the train’s whistle in the distance.
The crowd began to stir with excitement.
The Nowinton-bound train arrived at the platform around five o’clock.
As the gray city train slowly approached, it decelerated and came to a halt.
People surged towards the train like a wave. Amidst the crowd, Olivia and Ann looked for their car number on their tickets.
“Over here, Ann,” Olivia called out, raising her hand high.
As Ann reached out her hand to help Olivia board the train, a dark shadow fell over Olivia’s head. At the same time, a strange man’s voice came from behind.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Olivia stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around.
Under a black silk hat, thick, white eyebrows wriggled. The hollow, shadowed eyes of an old gentleman glared with profound anger.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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