Chapter 299

As dawn broke, Willow still hadn’t found Michael.

Utterly despondent, Willow returned to Michael’s quarters, only to find the door tightly shut.

Willow furrowed her brow and stepped forward, about to push the door open, but the maids at the entrance shifted uneasily, looking at her nervously.

“What’s going on here?” Willow demanded coldly, sensing something was off.

The maids were too terrified to utter a word. They dropped to their knees, shaking their heads frantically and begging, “Please, Mrs. Osborne. Please spare us!”

Willow instantly sensed something was wrong. Heart pounding, she lunged forward, shoved the door open, and stormed inside.

Torn garments were scattered chaotically across the room. She followed the disturbing trail deeper inside.

Then, the sight before her nearly made her heart stop.

On the intricately carved bed, a man and a woman were locked in an embrace.

Willow’s vision swam as she saw the woman’s arm possessively draped across Michael’s bare chest, the shocking intimacy of it all making her dizzy.

“Who is it…” Willow gasped while taking several hurried steps forward to yank open the bed curtains. The sight that met her eyes instantly froze her.

The woman lying on the bed was none other than her most trusted maid–Nona!

Willow delivered a stinging slap across Nona’s face.

Nona jolted awake from her sleep to see Willow glaring down at her, her face contorted with rage. Willow shrieked, “You vile wench! How dare you betray me by climbing into Lord Osborne’s bed? I’ll kill you. I swear I’ll kill you!”

Willow tightened her grip around Nona’s throat with deadly force. Nona’s face turned crimson as she gasped desperately for air, her eyes rolling back in their sockets.

Just as Nona felt her breath seizing, Michael shoved Willow away and snapped, “Do you really want to kill her?”

Willow was violently shoved to the ground. She stared up at Michael, wide-eyed and in utter disbelief.

Michael showed not a shred of remorse for his disgraceful act. He stood with shameless confidence, as if he had every right.

Willow thought, ‘He actually hit me for that wretched Nona!’

“My lord, how could you do this to me?” Willow shrieked, her voice breaking as tears gushed down her face.

At that moment, her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. She had loved Michael with every fiber of her being, yet so soon after their wedding, he had slept with her maid.

Willow wailed inconsolably and thought, ‘How am I going to face others after this?’

Her pitiful state did not earn an ounce of sympathy from Michael. Instead, his lips curled into a mocking sneer as he taunted, “When you drugged me, did it never occur to you that this would happen?”

Hearing this, Willow stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. “You knew that you were sleeping with Nona last night?”

In front of Willow, Michael took Nona’s hand and drew her into his arms. “From this day forward, she is Lady Nona, my concubine. You will not dare mistreat her.”

“No, you can’t do this to me, Michael. How could you promote that wretched maid? How am I supposed to face anyone after this?” Willow wailed, lunging forward in desperation to grasp Michael’s sleeve, only to be forcefully cast aside by him.

Willow tumbled to the ground in utter disgrace, her hair ornaments scattering across the floor.

Her tears fell heavily onto the floor, making her heart break deeply.

Even Willow’s most desperate sobs failed to move Michael in the slightest.

Instead, her tears only filled Michael with cruel satisfaction.

Michael said, “From now on, Nona shall reside in the Aurora Atelier. By my decree as Marquis, Lady Nona will attend to all my personal needs.”

With that, Michael coldly ordered his servants to drag Willow out.

Several maids rushed forward to drag Willow away. Willow kicked and screamed, fighting them every step of the way and refusing to budge. It took all their strength to finally haul her out of the room.

As Willow’s sobs faded into the distance, the fury in Michael’s eyes remained undiminished.

Michael clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. He was consumed by a seething hatred that burned like a raging inferno.

“Keep your mouth shut, or I’ll end you,” Michael growled over his shoulder, his eyes glinting with deadly menace.

Nona was so terrified that a chill ran through her. She hurriedly knelt down and stammered repeatedly, “Yes, I understand.”

Just thinking about last night sent shivers down Nona’s spine.

Nona had thought Michael was going to make her his concubine, but to her shock, he only had her undress and lie in bed with him.

To Nona’s surprise, nothing actually happened that night.

At first, Nona was a bit confused, but seeing Willow’s reaction, she finally got it.

Michael was exacting his revenge on Willow. He wanted to make her suffer unbearable agony.

“You know exactly how to behave from now on, don’t you?” Michael said coldly.

Nona nodded vigorously. “From now on, I shall be your woman. I know exactly what is expected of me.”

Since Michael wanted her to compete with Willow for his favor, she would willingly do so.

Not only would she fight for his favor, but she wanted to rise above Willow.

Michael gave an approving nod. “Get out.”

Nona grabbed her clothes and scrambled out, barely keeping her balance.

Once outside the door, the fear in Nona’s eyes vanished, replaced by unbridled smugness.

‘At last, I’ve finally climbed to the position I’ve always coveted,’ Nona thought triumphantly.

Stumbling and staggering, Willow burst into Kelsey’s courtyard. “Mother, you must stand up for me!”

The commotion outside startled Kelsey, who rushed out to investigate. Then, she found Willow stumbling into the courtyard while wailing inconsolably.

Upon reaching Kelsey, Willow collapsed to her knees. “Mother, Michael…”

Before Willow could finish her sentence, she broke down in tears so hard that her words dissolved into unintelligible cries.

Seeing Willow in such a hysterical state, Kelsey was utterly exasperated.

Fearing something terrible had happened to Michael, Kelsey demanded frantically, “What happened to Michael? Tell me now!”

“He actually took Nona as his concubine!” Willow choked out, her world utterly collapsing around her.

But Kelsey remained utterly unmoved by Willow’s grief-stricken sobs.

Hearing this, Kelsey heaved a huge sigh of relief and said dismissively, “I thought it was some big deal. So it’s just this? Isn’t it perfectly normal for a man to have multiple women?

“You’ve been married to him for over half a year now, yet there’s still no sign of pregnancy. Should the concubine conceive, it would at least bring some joy to this family,” Kelsey remarked coolly.

Willow stared at Kelsey through her tears, her voice trembling with disbelief. “But Mother, Nona is my maid. How can that low-born wretch possibly become his woman?”

Willow thought, ‘It’s not that I oppose Michael taking a concubine. What I absolutely cannot stomach is Nona becoming one.

‘She’s just a maid and a wretched nobody.

‘How could Michael stoop so low just to humiliate me?’

Kelsey blinked slowly and said, “True, her birth may be humble, but if my son favors her, we can certainly grant her this honor. And should she bless us with an heir, that would be a great service to the family.

“Since she’s now a concubine, we should grant her a proper status. Should anyone inquire, simply state she is a woman of respectable background.”

“Mother!” Willow’s voice suddenly rose to a shrill pitch, startling Kelsey.

Kelsey shot Willow an annoyed glare, her voice sharp with anger. “How dare you question my decision? Go out and see for yourself. Many men have multiple women. You’ve been married for six whole months, and Michael has only just taken one concubine. He’s already spared your dignity more than enough.

“Willow, don’t be ungrateful.”

Willow stared at Kelsey in utter despair, tears streaming down her face. She choked out, “No, it’s not like that. That is not what I’m saying…”

Only now did Willow truly understand what it meant to be utterly trapped with no escape.

She thought, ‘Why won’t even Kelsey take my side?

‘She has always treated me so kindly.’

Willow was sobbing uncontrollably and gasping for breath. Her once-elegant hair was now in complete disarray. She bore no resemblance to the dignified Marchioness she was supposed to be.

Right now, she was nothing more than a madwoman.

Kelsey commanded, “Enough of this. You’re blubbering over such a trivial matter. As the Marchioness, you ought to be elegant and forgiving. If word got out, you’d be notorious for jealousy. Now, go reflect on your conduct.”

Kelsey was unable to bear Willow’s hysterical display any longer. With a dismissive wave, she turned on her heel and retreated into her chambers.

Willow crumpled to the floor like a broken doll, her hollow eyes reflecting nothing but absolute desolation.

She thought, ‘Why is everyone treating me like this?’

Chapter 300