To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 29

《★Warning! Contains violence and harsh language》

“What’s wrong, Alec?”

“Eh!? Ah… no…”

(Wh-what was that just now? Did the doctor kiss my wife…? No, I must have seen it wrong… it just looked that way; he was just checking on her…)

Alec felt uneasy about what he thought he saw, the doctor kissing Sophia.

“Is that envelope the divorce papers for my sister!?”

“Yeah… it has the documents confirming the divorce from the butler.”

Alec took the paper out of the envelope and showed Emily the notice that the divorce had been finalized.

“My sister’s last name is back to Rumoire… That means I can marry you now, Alec!”

“Yeah…”

“What’s with that gloomy face?”

“Ah… no… it’s just that Sophia just passed away…”

Alec turned his face toward Sophia’s bed.

“I miss my sister so much… But if I’m sad, it would be unfair to this child.”

Emily took Alec’s hand and guided it to her stomach.

“Yeah, you’re right… it wouldn’t be fair to the child if we’re sad…”

“Hehe…”

While feeling guilty about Sophia, Alec decided to focus on living with Emily and their child.

Knock, knock!

“Master, the madam’s parents have arrived.”

“I see. Got it.”

“Eh!? Mom and Dad are here!?”

Emily turned pale and started trembling.

“What’s wrong? You look really pale…”

“D-don’t let them in!”

“Eh? But…”

Emily gripped Alec’s arm, pleading not to let her parents into the room.

“W-why didn’t you tell me that my father was coming!?”

“What are you so afraid of? I’ll apologize to your parents about the child too… so you don’t have to worry…”

“Alec, do you love me?”

“Eh…”

“Will you not abandon me and our child no matter what happens?”

Seeing Emily’s eyes welling with tears, Alec embraced her tightly.

“Of course, I love you… After the funeral, let’s have our wedding…”

“Really? It’s a promise!”

“Yeah… I promise…”

Alec closed his eyes, apologizing to his late wife Sophia.

(…I’m sorry… It’s for the sake of our child… From the beginning, we shouldn’t have gotten married…)

Click!

The butler opened the door and ushered Emily’s parents into the room.

“Emily!”

Her mother rushed over, tears streaming down her face as she hugged Emily tightly.

“Emily… I missed you…”

“M-Mom… uu… Waaaaahhh—!”

Emily cried out in her mother’s embrace, while Alec stepped away from the sofa, watching the mother and daughter weep together.

“Marquis…”

“Ah… father-in-law…”

The father approached Alec and shook his hand firmly.

“I’m sorry for the trouble my daughter has caused; she must have been a burden…”

“No, Emily brought light to the mansion, and every day was joyful…”

“I’m grateful to hear that… But about Sophia… I heard she passed away… I still can’t believe it… I need to see it with my own eyes…”

As the father spoke, he noticed the doctor bowing his head by the bed and saw his daughter Sophia lying motionless.

“Sophia?…”

“Ah…”

The father released Alec’s hand and stumbled towards the bed, finally reuniting with his daughter after a year.

“So…”

He touched his daughter’s cold cheek, trembling…

“Wh-why did this happen… The letter was just a short note asking, ‘Can I come home?’ I thought Emily was just returning to our family… What happened…?”

Placing his hand over his daughter’s folded hands, the father cried, trembling.

“My condolences… I’m sorry I couldn’t help Lady Sophia…”

The doctor bowed his head before the father, apologizing for not being able to save Sophia or see her in her final moments.

“You are…”

“I am Dr. Alan… I was in charge of her care…”

“Her doctor… So, my daughter was seriously ill!?”

“She took her own life…”

“W-what…? She… took her own life…? Why would my daughter…?”

The father turned pale, noticing the bandage around Sophia’s left wrist.

“Are you alright!?”

The doctor rushed to support the father.

“Ah… I-I’m fine… Do you know anything about my daughter’s…?”

“Please ask Alec about it…”

“Alec…”

The father left the doctor’s side and approached Alec with a stern expression, grabbing him by the collar.

“Marquis… What did you do to my daughter?”

“Eh… F-father-in-law…”

“I’m asking what you did to my daughter!!”

“Ugh…”

Feeling the father’s anger radiate toward him, Alec shook uncontrollably, never expecting such fury from him…

Alec was bewildered as his father-in-law, with a stern expression, grabbed him and yelled.

Emily, who had been happily crying moments before during their reunion, turned pale at her father’s angry voice and instinctively held her stomach.

“What happened to my daughter…”

“Ah…”

“I heard my daughter took her own life… After you got married, you never once visited us… In a previous letter, my daughter wrote that she was happy to work alongside the Marquis…”

“Eh!?”

“I knew you were busy with work… I would occasionally check on her at the store… I thought she seemed cheerful while chatting with customers, but I was worried she looked thinner than when she lived with us. I thought she’d reach out if she needed help, so I returned without seeing her…”

“……”

Alec couldn’t find words to respond as his father-in-law spoke with tears streaming down his face, still gripping Alec’s collar while looking down.

“We considered visiting you… I thought about taking Emily back home since she had stayed there for months. I thought you two couldn’t have children because Emily was around…”

“……”

“Ah…”

“Emily?”

Emily was trembling, gripping her mother’s arm tightly, her face pale.

“Marquis… Why did my daughter, who was your wife, have to take her own life…?”

“Ah… ah…”

Alec, unable to speak, had tears welling in his eyes.

“Marquis!”

“Ah… the… child… Emily… she’s… pregnant…”

Emily jolted at her name being called.

“What do you mean, ‘Emily is pregnant’?”

The father-in-law, still with a stern expression, pressed Alec for answers.

“What do you mean by that?!”

“Ah…”

“Answer me!”

“E-Emily is… carrying my child…”

Alec trembled as he confessed to the father-in-law.

“Say it again…”

“Emily is… pregnant with my child… I… told Sophia about it…”

Crack!

Thud! Crash!

“Ahh!? Alec!”

“!? W-what the… father…!”

Emily and her mother gasped in shock as they witnessed Alec being struck and falling to the ground by her father.

“Ugh…”

The father’s punch opened a cut on Alec’s lip, causing blood to flow.

“You… You laid your hands on her sister while you had a wife…”

“I-I’m so sorry…”

Alec, now on the floor, faced down, wept as he apologized to his father-in-law.

“Get up…”

“Ugh…”

As Alec stood up unsteadily, his father-in-law grabbed him again by the collar, glaring at him.

“Did you know Emily was engaged and still pursued her?”

“Eh… E-engaged?”

Alec was in shock, realizing he didn’t know about Emily’s engagement…