"You were so heartless back then. You threw away your own father and your home for a man. But since you know you were wrong, cut those ties clean and come home where you belong!"
"As long as you sever that cursed bond completely, you are still the Duchess of Ashford, and this estate is still yours."
He told me to change out of my rags, but I shook my head.
His expression shifted. "Don't tell me you still intend to have dealings with that man?"
I smiled faintly. "He wronged me this deeply. You think I can just turn the page? I need to make him pay first."
That same day, I took Hildegarde to the Eastholm Marquess Manor and sent word inside.
"Tell Finn Acevedo his wife has come home."
The guards at the gate took one look at my tattered clothes, wrinkled their noses, and grabbed their sticks to shove us away.
"Where'd you beggars crawl out from? This is the Eastholm Marquess Manor!"
"The lady of the house is hosting a banquet for the most powerful nobles in the capital. If you disturb her guests, you and your little brat won't have enough lives to pay for it!"
"Go on, get! Get out of here!"