Chapter 3
663 Words
Early the next morning, Charlotte was already waiting for me in the living room.
The moment she saw me, she hurried over and tried to take my arm. "Mrs. Hastings," she said, "I haven't been feeling well lately. I heard your medical skills are excellent. Would you mind checking me over and seeing if there's anything wrong?"
I shook her off and refused flatly, "You look perfectly healthy. You don't seem the slightest bit unwell."
But Charlotte showed no intention of retreating, circling around me the entire time. "But I fainted at the banquet yesterday," she insisted. "Edward was the one who took me to rest."
"Edward is so kind and gentle," she added. "As his wife, how can you be so heartless?"
A wave of disgust rose in me, and I stepped back to avoid her. "Don't try to cozy up to me," I said.
The moment I dodged sideways, Charlotte let out a sharp cry, staggered suddenly, and pretended to fall to the ground.
In an instant, tears were welling in her eyes. She curled up on the floor, her voice choked with sobs. "Mrs. Hastings, I only wanted you to examine me," she sobbed. "Why did you push me...?"
Edward rushed over at once. He helped her up and tucked her protectively behind him, his gaze ice‑cold and piercing, filled with nothing but disgust and contempt for me.
"Victoria, what are you doing?" he demanded. "You crazy b***h! Stay away from Charlotte! Charlotte is already pregnant with my child, the Hastings family's sole heir! You shoved her so hard—what if you hurt the child?"
Then his brows furrowed tightly, and he looked at me as if I were some filthy, disgusting eyesore. "I never liked you to begin with. Your human bloodline is inherently cheap, and you haven't borne an heir in ten years. You are not worthy of being the Countess of the Hastings family," he added.
Just then, several vampire elders approached, coming to discuss the matter of heirs with Edward.
As if to make a deliberate announcement, Edward wrapped his arm around Charlotte's waist and spoke solemnly to the elders. "Everyone," he said, "I have an announcement to make. Charlotte is already pregnant with my child, our Hastings family's long‑awaited heir."
Then he turned his head, looking sidelong at me, and added, "As for Victoria, her cheap human bloodline, ten years without an heir, a disgrace to the family, she is no longer worthy of the title of Countess."
The blood clan elders' greatest obsession was to secure the family's bloodline inheritance. Hearing that Charlotte was pregnant, they instantly perked up, flocking to her side to fuss over her.
"Charlotte, take good care of yourself. You must take care of the heir you're carrying."
"As expected of a pure bloodline. This is the kind of heir the Hastings family deserves."
"There's finally hope. It's far better than some barren hen who's been squatting in that nest for a decade without ever laying an egg."
All their care and kindness fell on Charlotte alone.
I stood alone in the corner of the hall, as if I were invisible.
I turned and left the noisy hall, returning to my private apothecary.
When I pushed open the door, I saw floor‑to‑ceiling medicine cabinets.
Inside, neatly arranged, were the tonic herbs for recovery and preventing miscarriage that I had spent a fortune acquiring and personally preparing over the past ten years.
Every single herb and every bottle of medicine was the result of years of painstaking, daily effort.
Now, it all seemed utterly ridiculous and pathetic.
The grievances, bitterness, and heartache that had long been suppressed in my heart finally crushed me.
I took out my phone and dialed my father's number. Without a catch in my voice or a moment of hesitation, I said, "Father, I want to divorce Edward. I am willing to marry whoever you've arranged for me."
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