How To End This Marriage-Chapter 139: Betrayal and Doubt

"What’s going on? Where is the injured maid?" the duke hurried as soon as he got down from the horse. He looked tired but didn’t go to his chamber. Instead, he moved forward to the maid’s chamber, finding her unconscious on the bed with non-stop bleeding from her stomach.

"How did this happen? I was away for a short while," he raged in anger, looking at everyone with fury.

"We don’t know, Lord! When we reached the spot, the knife was already on the ground, and the maid was with the duchess, drenched in blood. Her hand was on the wound, covered in it," the maid spoke.

"The duchess tried to commit this crime while you were away."

"We want justice, my lord! If you let it go this time, the next time it could be either of us. We will all die here by her hand," the maid said, falling on the duke’s leg, forcing him into a dilemma.

"The wound is too deep. I can’t say about her life. Her bleeding isn’t stopping even after so long, so she has lost a lot of blood, making her already weak. I think she has injured an internal organ with the knife, and her internal body is infected because of the metal," the doctor stated.

"Save her! Try to save her at any cost! She is the prime proof I have left to prove what happened there. If she doesn’t survive, so many innocent lives will be lost," the duke said.

"My lord, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but she’s not innocent," the head maid came forward.

"From the moment she arrived, so many problems started in the mansion. You had to leave for the war for so many years, while the mansion and the state suffered from food shortages. And now, again, she has committed a serious crime. How can you say she’s not a criminal when the picture is right in front of us? We saw her with blood. She even tried to keep her own personal maid who she stabbed hidden in her room, but we wouldn’t let her. What if she killed her while disguising herself as a helper? We can’t let it happen. Please, do justice to her," the maid said.

"You are all in the dark. She could never do such a thing. I will investigate this. I will go to any lengths to find the truth. Believe me!" the duke said.

"No, my lord! You need no investigation. We want her dead. She committed this crime," they all shouted,demanding Duchess Bernice’s execution.

At that moment, the princess entered the room, holding a cream in her hand.

"I have bought the medicine, as the doctor said!" she said, handing the medicine to the doctor.

"What? Didn’t I tell you you wouldn’t be outside your room?" the duke turned to the princess angrily.

"What? What have I done? Are you still saying I tried to kill your wife? No! You went to the capital, right? You must know the truth by now. Then what is it? Did anyone go missing? Did anyone tell you I committed a murder? No, right? Then why would I? The one who committed the crime is locked in her room, as per your order, so she wouldn’t run away," the princess said.

"What? The duchess is locked in her room?" he asked in panic.

"Yes. What is the issue? Do you enforce your rules differently for everyone?" the princess asked, while everyone looked at the duke for an answer.

"I need to see her right now!" He tried to walk away from the scene, but Princess Vixara asked, "Duke, you haven’t answered my question. I asked you something. Do you enforce your rules differently for everyone? Is it that hard to answer? These are your people. They demand an answer from you."

"Princess, don’t make this scene more difficult than it already is. I’m already being very patient with you. I haven’t even concluded that you didn’t kill anyone. So, you’re not innocent at all. So, whatever you’re doing with my wife, stop it! Stop it here before things get worse," he said.

"Ha ha! You have no proof, so I’m still innocent, but your wife has gotten herself into a big mess," she smirked,whispering into the duke’s ear.

"Do you think you can leave here without answering the question? Try it if you can," she said, while the duke turned to the maids to see their reaction, their eyes glaring at him.

"Duke, do we have different laws for all of us?" the maids asked, echoing the princess.

"You don’t need to listen to the princess. You don’t know what she has done," the duke said.

"We don’t need to know what the princess has done because she hasn’t hurt us. She hasn’t hurt us like the duchess did. We want justice now. Until then, the duchess should stay in the room. We can’t let her escape," the maid said once again.

"Try to understand me!" he insisted.

"Alex, come here!" the mistress called the duke, pulling him away from the crowd.

"Yes, mother! What is going on here?" he asked.

"This is the reason I prepared the contract long ago. This is why I don’t want you to stay with her. She’s not who she seems. She knows how to garner attention by acting this way. And this is not what I want for you," the mistress said.

"Mother, don’t play politics now! I know what you’re plotting here, and I won’t allow it. I will save her from this mess somehow, and your plan will fail," the duke said, walking towards the duchess’s room. However, he was stopped.

"No, if you want to let her out of the room, prove her innocence first. Until then, no one will go near the room or try to let her out. That’s my final decision!" the mistress declared.

"Don’t forget, inside the mansion, it is my rule, not yours!" the mistress added.

"Okay, I will prove her innocent. Just let the girl wake up once, then she will tell the truth to everyone," he said and went to his study, while the mistress and princess looked at him with smiles.

"What if the girl wakes up and tells everyone it was me, not her?" the princess said.

"Don’t worry, nothing will happen. And the woman is locked away now, so you try to take Alex to your side. This is the chance you will never get again," the mistress said.

"Yes, this is my chance! If I can’t take him to my side now, I never will," she said and walked to the study behind the duke, following the mistress’s instruction.

"Alex! Where are you going? Listen to me! Don’t trust her!" the princess shouted after him.

"You! Don’t utter a word! You are getting on my nerves now. I don’t know why I didn’t trust her before. If I had, you wouldn’t be here. I would have already sent you to prison for confessing your crime before the judicial system," he said, growling.

"What? You trust her? Alex, I have been with you for longer than you can imagine. She is someone who has come into your life recently, and you believe her over me? Ha, she must have used black magic on you. She must have possessed you for you to behave this way," the princess said.

"Don’t utter another word! If you say one more thing about her, I will not see you as my cousin or the princess. I will simply pull out your tongue and show you the real me, because you haven’t seen it yet," he said.

"Ha, you are behaving this way with me? I can’t believe you! How could you talk to me like that?" the princess shouted.

"I can do worse. This is nothing. This is nothing compared to what I can say. So get out of my sight and this place. Just get lost!" he shouted, pushing her out of the study.

"Again! Even after being locked in the room, he is still not looking at me! What the heck has she done to him that he is behaving like a maniac? No, I can’t let this happen. I will have her executed, no matter the cost!" she said and walked toward the duchess’s room.

She unlocked the room and entered, finding the duchess near the bed.

"You’ve come! Duke told you to get me out of here, right? I knew it! He would never keep me here. He will surely believe me in any situation, and he knows I could never do such a thing," the duchess said, trying to get out of the room, but the princess pushed her back onto the surface.

"Ha, do you think Alex will believe you? Are you living in a delusion, my dear duchess?" she said, making the duchess’s face pale.

"He will never take your side, Bernice Balliol! He will never look at you again!"