To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 48

Emily and her parents were taken aback by Alec’s sudden laughter.

“Master Alec…?”

“Chuckle… I’m sorry, Emily’s idea just made me laugh…”

Emily’s face flushed red as she raised her voice at Alec.

“H-how rude of you to laugh!… I said that because I love both of you…”

“You would hold a wedding ceremony with him and me?”

“W-well, yes… Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the baby to have two fathers? That’s why I want to marry both of you…”

“…Hmph…”

Alec couldn’t help but laugh at Emily’s words.

“…Do you believe Sophia would bless this… hearing this from her own sister…?”

Emily’s father glared at her with a stern expression.

“What?! Why are you bringing my sister into this?”

“You lied to us, your parents, about wanting to visit your sister, so you could see the marquis…”

“Ah…”

“Did you not give a thought to your fiancé, Paul?”

“I do love Paul… but his mother is so strict with me… I was anxious…”

“…You had an affair because you didn’t like my parents…?”

Paul asked Emily with a trembling voice.

“…At first… I didn’t intend to… I never thought I would take my sister’s husband…”

“…But you still… betrayed me…”

“P-Paul… but I truly do want to marry you…”

“…I’m sorry… I can’t marry you…”

“What?! Paul?”

Paul told Emily he couldn’t marry her, then turned to her parents and bowed his head.

“…Father… Mother… Thank you… for everything…”

“P-Paul!”

“…W-wait, Paul…”

“…I’ll inform my parents… that the wedding is off… I’ll contact you later regarding the wedding and reception expenses… Please come to my estate to discuss it…”

“…”

“Paul…”

“Please don’t cry… Before we officially break off the engagement, please allow me to call you Father and Mother.”

Seeing Emily’s parents bow their heads and apologize tearfully, Paul fought back his own tears.

“…Why… Paul? Why must we break up? This child is yours… Why are you saying such things?!”

Emily grasped Paul’s hand, tears welling in her eyes as she looked up at him.

“It’s his child too… I can’t bring myself to be happy about it… Even if we were to marry, and a child resembling me were born, I don’t think I could ever be happy about our marriage…”

“Paul…?”

“…My parents wouldn’t approve of you either… They might treat you coldly… Especially my mother… She can be strict, but… she was so looking forward to the wedding…”

“What…?”

“…She was searching for an estate for us… a villa… She said it would be a nice place for us to live…”

“…Your mother did…?”

Paul released Emily’s hand, the smile disappearing from his face.

“…I don’t want to see you again.”

“What?! Paul, why? Why can’t I see you?”

“…I can’t freely love like you… I want to spend my life with someone who will love only me… That’s why I can’t marry you…”

“That’s not…”

Emily trembled, her face pale. Unable to believe Paul was leaving her, she sank to her knees and wept.

Paul left Emily and stood before Alec.

“…What do you intend to do…? You’re acting as if you’ve been betrayed, saying you didn’t know about my engagement, but you’re the one who spent six months with her while you had a wife. You’re a terrible person.”

“…”

Alec remained silent as Paul gave a wry smile.

“I’ve heard about your shop’s reputation… My parents frequented it… They told me you entrusted the shop to your wife, and that you were a happy couple… But behind the scenes, you were betraying her, having an affair with my fiancée… After I break off my engagement with her, I imagine there will be plenty of gossip surrounding Emily, you, and me…”

“…Are you truly… not going to marry Emily…?”

“…I don’t think I could ever trust her again… What about you? Now that I’m out of the picture, you’re free to marry her.”

“…I have no intention of marrying Emily… I’ll discuss the matter of the child with her parents…”

Paul, hearing that Alec wouldn’t marry Emily, stared at him in disbelief.

“Haha… You truly are a terrible person… I pity your wife… Married to someone like you, betrayed by her own sister… I could have made her happy…”

“What?!”

Alec glared at Paul.

“After you and Sophia were married, my parents proposed a marriage between Emily and me… They recommended her because she was Sophia’s sister.”

“…”

“After our engagement, my parents were taken aback by Emily’s selfish nature… but I loved her… I cherished her affection and the way she clung to me… but now, I hate both you and her… I’ve never hated my own fiancée before… I’m sure Sophia hates both of you too… Why did you marry Sophia in the first place?”

“…”

Alec couldn’t answer Paul’s question. Paul, seeing this, gave a pained smile.

“…If you had married Emily from the start, Sophia wouldn’t have died… And I heard you were divorced… but you keep referring to her as your ‘wife’ as if you still have feelings for her… Have you only realized your regret now that you know your beloved has a fiancé, and you miss Sophia?”

“…”

“…You bear some responsibility too… Come with Emily to my estate… It will be quite the spectacle to see a marquis like yourself apologizing to a count’s family like mine…”

“…”

Alec remained speechless. Paul looked at him and turned to leave.

“Paul!”

Emily, tears streaming down her face, ran to Paul and embraced him, trying to stop him from leaving.