The Stand-In Villainess's Contract Marriage: I Was Divorced After a Year, But For Some Reason, My Ex-Husband Seems to Be Looking for Me - Chapter 24

Valentina’s family belongs to the Madaliaga Marquessate.

Since it was the most powerful branch of the Kirina Duke family, Kararize, who had just become the head, couldn’t refuse it.

However, he had no intention of marrying his former fiancée, who had betrayed him.

Therefore, claiming it was to repay the favor of Count Tweed, he took as his wife the rumored mistress, the “evil woman Lana.”

No one knew that this was a contractual marriage with the intention of divorcing after one year.

Meanwhile, Valentina, who could not re-engage with Kararize, seemed to have been ordered by her father, the Marquess of Madaliaga, to become engaged to a new man.

However, due to a promise made between Kararize’s father and her own, she had been raised believing she would become the Duchess of Kirina since childhood.

Perhaps that’s why she couldn’t give up on marrying Kararize, and she often invaded the Kirina Duke family’s residence.

Liana had also seen her from the window once.

Valentina was a dazzling and very beautiful woman, with sparkling blonde hair like Kararize.

For Valentina, the new engagement seemed very undesirable.

Then an incident occurred where she and Liana encountered each other.

That day, Liana had attended a certain party alone, following the instructions of the butler, Felice.

Today, her dress had large open shoulders, and she kept adjusting it anxiously.

It was also embarrassing to feel the gazes focused on her.

Since she was wearing a necklace with a large gem, they might have been looking at that.

Upon arriving at the party venue, Liana felt a hostile gaze and turned around.

There stood a familiar woman, glaring at her with a resentful look.

(That person is…)

It was Valentina, the daughter of the Marquess of Madaliaga and Kararize’s former fiancée.

She was surrounded by many hangers-on, and she made sure to say mean things loud enough for Liana to hear.

“You, a fallen noble…”

“A flashy and vulgar woman with no education or grace…”

“It’s shameless for someone who was Count Tweed’s mistress to become a duchess…”

However, Liana had become quite accustomed to such contemptuous words and no longer cared.

She simply walked around the venue cheerfully.

Sending glances only to the men and smiling enticingly, she must have looked like she was searching for a playmate, despite being a married woman.

Valentina seemed unable to endure Liana’s presence.

“Why would a woman like you become the Duchess of Kirina?!”

She shouted and threw the wine glass she was holding at Liana’s face.

If it had hit, Liana would surely have been injured.

“…!”

It was at close range.

However, thanks to her instinctively turning her face away, Liana narrowly avoided the glass.

But…

“Ah!”

The wine glass hit a woman behind Liana, causing an uproar around them.

Valentina also had a dissatisfied expression that Liana hadn’t been hit.

However, she turned pale upon realizing that her thrown glass had struck the woman behind her.

“Ah…”

Blood was flowing from the woman’s face who had been behind Liana.

It seemed she had been cut by the shards of the wine glass.

The crowd became chaotic.

Valentina trembled with a pale face, and people gradually began to distance themselves from her.

They probably thought they would be caught in the crossfire if they stayed close.

Just injuring a noblewoman’s face would be a huge problem.

Moreover, it turned out she was Princess Rosita, the third princess, who had secretly attended the party to meet her lover.

If she had injured the face of an unmarried young princess, it would not be forgiven, even if Valentina was the daughter of the Madaliaga Marquess family, which was connected to the Kirina Duke family.

Fortunately, it was said that Princess Rosita’s injury was minor and would not leave much of a scar, but Valentina was to have her engagement annulled, expelled from her home, and sent to a convent.

She kept insisting that she wasn’t at fault.

She supposedly continued to say that it was Liana’s fault for avoiding it.

But regardless of who the other person was, it was Valentina who had thrown the wine glass.

The fault was clearly hers.

Yet the public sentiment was sympathetic towards her, probably because her opponent was the “evil woman Lana.”

Using the name of her former mistress, Liana had taken advantage of the Duke of Kirina’s weakness and settled into the position of duchess, thoroughly provoking his former fiancée at the party.

Unable to bear it, Valentina had thrown the wine glass.

Unlike Liana, who hadn’t even entered the noble academy, Valentina was a highly educated daughter of the Madaliaga Marquess family.

Perhaps Liana had thrown such terrible words at her that she could not endure.

Was she not aware that a princess was sneaking around behind her?

It seemed that such rumors were circulating.

Apparently, Valentina’s father was actively spreading such rumors in high society, trying to protect his daughter from any malice.

Liana had no allies and couldn’t defend herself.

And it seemed Liana was to be confined in the mansion as a person involved in the incident.