How To End This Marriage-Chapter 110: Unveiling the Puppeteer’s Secrets

"Wife?" he called me once again as I opened my eyes from sleeping.

"Duke, you don’t have to do this," I said.

"Wife? Why are you calling me with my title? You can call me by my name," he said.

"N-name?" I stuttered.

"Yes, Alex! You should call me Alex!" he said with a smile, making my face flush.

"A-Alex!" I stuttered.

"Yes, like this!" he smiled while his hand circled around my cheeks, caressing them and making me drown into his touch.

"Let me get you ready!" he said, trying his hand forward toward me, but I flinched, jumping out of the bed.

"Wife? What happened? Did I do something to make you uncomfortable?" he asked.

"N-no! What are you doing? Why- why is your hand coming toward me?" I jumped like a rabbit.

"Of course, to help you wash up. I know your wound is still deep. You can’t wash by yourself, and I don’t want the maids to do this. What if they make a silly mistake and the wound becomes infected? I can’t take the risk. I will do it myself," he said, making me even more cautious.

"I will do it myself," I screamed.

"Why? I can help you," he said.

"I can do it myself!" I shouted, running toward the washroom and slamming the door on his face, locking myself inside.

What has gotten into this man? It was just a night, and he has turned completely different. If anyone sees this behavior of him, no one is going to believe this man is the monster of the battlefield, but now he is acting all sweet, making it hard for me to believe. What is with him? Is this because I said I want to end this marriage? But why is he trying so hard to avoid getting a divorce from me? Am I going to know about this anytime? I don’t know.

I thought and ran the water to the tub while playing with the water. I looked at myself in the big mirror placed there, seeing myself.

"From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I always thought you are the most beautiful woman on this earth," I thought, remembering what he said while looking at myself in the mirror.

"Am I beautiful?"

"Am I the most beautiful person on this planet?"

It is hard to believe as I muttered to myself.

As the water level reached the top, I turned off the tap and went inside, but this time the tingling sensation of the water touching my skin felt a bit different. Is it because he had touched me a while ago, and the sensation is still there? It might be. "Or am I just acting like a weirdo?" I muttered and placed my wet hands all over my neck, feeling the sensation by myself.

"Wife? Open the door! I want to come inside," the knock and the voice from outside startled me.

"Duke, don’t be a pervert!!!" I shouted, throwing the scrubber on the door, making him step away.

***

"Madam, are you okay?" the maid asked as she assisted me in getting ready.

"Yes, why do you ask?" I inquired.

"The argument yesterday was so severe; I thought you would leave the mansion right away," the maid said, her voice tinged with sadness.

"Yes, I was about to. I would have left yesterday, but I stopped because I thought of giving the duke another chance."

"I’m not sure if giving another chance is going to change anything or not, but I don’t want to be called hasty in my decision. So, I am going to give this life a new chance," I said, smiling, noticing through the mirror that the duke was standing at the door.

"Duke, what are you doing here? Come inside! Do you need something?" I asked while facing the mirror.

"Do I need a reason to come to meet my wife?" he said with his corny lines, making the maids laugh.

"We will be on our way," they said, leaving me alone in front of him.

"I know you have something to say. Stop with these corny lines. Come to the point," I said sternly.

"I know you would think this way, and yes, I have a reason why I came here," he said, walking toward the couch.

"Yeah, state whatever is on your mind!" I said while sitting, crossing my legs in front of him.

"You know, whatever happened yesterday was so bad. I know you have gone through a big phase, but I’m not sure why you said that way to mother. If you think the responsibility of yours is so painful, you can retire from it. I won’t have any objections. But the way you behaved toward mother in front of all the workers was disrespectful toward her," he said, ruining my opinion of him completely.

"So you think what I said was a lie?" I asked.

"Yes, mother could never do such things," he insisted.

"Ha ha, I really thought you were different, but you are not. You are just the same as your mother."

"An excellent actor, good speaker, and such a manipulator!" I glared at him as I spoke.

"Wife!" he said while trying to stop me, stretching his hand.

"Yes, I thought you might be stating the truth, but no. I’m sure if you are going to this extent to stop me from ending this marriage, it means you have something to do with me. Right? Then I’m going to find out the cause of why you are so good to me. I will find the lies behind your acting. Till then, I will be playing the role of such a perfect duchess of Ablia," I smiled as I walked toward my room, my mood dropping as I left the place.

Liar!!! All are liars!!!! Such a disgusting face behind such a foul soul.

I kept on muttering while I reached the duchess’s study, where she is seated in her chair. I entered without even bothering to knock.

"Did you forget the least bit of etiquette?" she said, glaring at me.

"Etiquette? For what? Do I need to ask for permission to enter my own study, retired duchess?" As I said this, she rose from her seat, slamming the table in front of me.

"Shut the dirty mouth of yours!!!!" she shouted.

"Slow down your voice, duchess! Or your son will come here and catch you," I smiled as her anger turned to fear all of a sudden, and she started grinding her teeth in anger.

As she stood in her seat, glaring at me, I couldn’t help but smirk.

"You’ve grown feathers overnight," she spat through gritted teeth.

"Didn’t you give me the growth in a night? When I was doing everything you said, you should have stopped there, but you didn’t. Your greed just never stops, so why not I forget there is something called fear when you mean nothing to me. This place means nothing to me, nor do the people here mean anything to me," I retorted.

"And now, will you get up from the seat, or do I need to pull you out of the place and throw you on the floor, just like you did?" I continued.

"What do you mean?" she said, pretending not to understand.

"My dear mother-in-law, you are forgetting that you are no longer the duchess of this place; I am the duchess, so you are sitting in my place," I declared, smirking.

"Would you mind returning the seat back to me? It no longer belongs to you," I added, with a concerned expression.

"Bernice, don’t go over the line!" she shouted, hitting the table once again.

"How could I go overboard, mother-in-law? Isn’t it you who is going overboard? That is mine, and you are just covering it for yourself. Shouldn’t I take back what is mine?" I glared at her while walking toward her, engaging in an eye-to-eye conversation.

"Now, will you go by yourself when I’m showing you utter respect, or do I need to call the maids to throw you out of the place?" I said, making her flinch, but she still didn’t budge.

"Maids!" I shouted, calling them to the study.

In a minute, they all entered the study, lining up in front of me.

"Please take mother respectfully to her room," I instructed.

"She is all tired from doing all the work. Now this is my turn, isn’t it?" I added, as they came forward to take the duchess while she resisted. They succeeded in taking her out of the study, allowing me to sit on the chair she previously occupied.

"Now, I need to figure out just why did she decide to make me act as a puppet when anyone could have filled my place? Why did she come to my place when she didn’t even like me? Is there something I don’t know about myself?" I pondered aloud.

"What is the mystery?"