MWAMHR | CHAPTER 18

Chapter 18

The invitation Ethan had given her bore the name “Elisa Leslie.” It was made from the start to be handed to her.

It was, therefore, a lie to tell her mother about it.

A blatant, red-faced lie meant to threaten her.

She had suspected as much, but seeing it with her own eyes only fuelled her anger.

“You dare threaten me? You damn bastard!”

Elisa spat the curse as she tore the invitation to shreds. 

Still unsatisfied, she pounded her pillow fiercely.

Through it all, Ethan’s whispered words at the end echoed in her ears, pouring gasoline on the flames already burning inside her.

“You really should come, Elisa.”

“I’ll never go.”

Even as she ground her teeth and swore it, Elisa knew deep down there was no way out.

That truth pushed her even deeper into a pit of despair and fury.

She didn’t understand what that bastard Ethan was thinking, and the frustration gnawed at her.

“…Surely he’s not trying to play nice now, is he?”

The thought made her scoff bitterly.

If that had been his intention, he would have laid everything bare and begged for forgiveness when they met at the exhibition—not twisted her insides like this!

He wouldn’t have threatened her like this.

He wouldn’t have walked arm in arm with Giselle Briana, parading around like a happy couple.

The image of the two of them, looking so tenderly close, flashed before Elisa’s eyes, and she shook her head so violently her hair whipped around her face.

As the vision of Giselle faded little by little, Ethan’s image only grew sharper, maddening her.

Then, just as suddenly, the figure of Giselle appeared again—clear and vivid.

She couldn’t even think freely anymore.

Sighing inwardly, Elisa stopped cold when she realised that the woman linked arm in arm with Ethan in her mind wasn’t Giselle at all.

It was Elisa Leslie herself.

“…!”

Locking eyes with her imagined self, Elisa bit her lip so hard it felt like it would split.

The bitter taste flooded her mouth, and the tormenting delusion that had plagued her vanished in an instant like smoke.

“Haah…”

At last relieved, Elisa let out a long breath and lay back on her bed. 

With her eyes closed, the pitch-black world around her filled with the irregular thump of her pounding heart.

***

“By the way, Elisa, I heard you were invited to a party at the Estevan baronial estate?”

The question came abruptly during breakfast, making Elisa freeze mid-bite. 

Her stiff expression didn’t go unnoticed; the countess continued with a flushed smile.

“Even though you embarrassed yourself by refusing the dance request, the baron still invited you to the party. So the rumours about Estevan Baron’s interest in you must be true!”

“…Are you happy about that?”

Elisa meant to deny it but instead blurted out something strange and recoiled. 

Unaware of her daughter’s reaction, the countess nodded, beaming with pride.

“Of course I’m happy. What mother wouldn’t be delighted if her daughter were so popular?”

But you hated it. 

You called him a clueless bastard, a lowly servant who dared to covet my daughter.

The irony of how differently things played out just because of a change in status made Elisa smirk inwardly. 

She was curious how her mother would react once she knew the whole truth.

“But Elisa, why did you refuse the Estevan baron’s dance request? If you’d danced with him, you’d have been the darling of society for a while, not Princess Camilla…”

The countess sounded genuinely disappointed, but Elisa didn’t share that sentiment at all. 

If anything, it made her even more certain she’d made the right choice, and she pressed her dry lips together.

She hadn’t been sleeping well for days and had no appetite, now even feeling nauseous.

Just smelling the bread was torture.

She wanted to leave early, but she couldn’t—because of Noah.

She couldn’t leave her mother alone with Noah.

Sipping lukewarm water to calm her queasy stomach, Elisa waited patiently for Noah to finish his meal. 

Watching the little boy chew diligently, she didn’t find waiting tiresome at all.

“By the way, Elisah,” her mother said suddenly, “you knew I was interested in this mysterious ‘K’ from the rumours. Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

The real problem was Countess Leslie. 

At the mention of Derek Grenville being invited to that dreadful dinner, Elisa clenched her glass tightly, the memory stabbing at her like a fresh wound.

“Just being invited to the Estevan baron’s party was shocking enough. Do you have any idea how startled I was when Viola told me?”

Viola was the head maid of the estate. 

Since attending the party meant preparing dresses and accessories, Elisa had told Marie in advance. 

And somehow, the message had filtered through the head maid to the countess herself.

“You used to tell me everything, even the smallest details, but lately you’ve been so secretive. It’s a bit disappointing,” the Countess murmured with a sigh, sounding almost like she was complaining.

Elisa couldn’t help but smirk.

Sure, she had once spilled every detail when she was younger—but that was a long time ago.

Back then, her mother had always scolded her, insisting that a proper young lady should be discreet and choose her words carefully. 

She never truly listened. 

So hearing her complain now was almost absurd.

More than anything, Elisa had planned to tell her mother the day she returned—that Ethan was back. 

It was too much to bear alone. 

She had wanted to lay it all out, to discuss what to do next, to face it together.

But after clashing over Noah, she never found the chance. 

And when another opportunity arose, her bruised feelings kept her from opening up.

Part of her selfishness wished her mother to feel the same pain she did—figuring the later the truth came, the greater the shock.

How foolish.

Not a child anymore, yet she was still thinking like one. 

Elisa smiled bitterly at her immaturity and naivety.

“This time, we’ll go together.”

What nonsense was that? Elisa blinked, doubting her ears.

“What did you just say?”

“I said we’re going to the Estevan baron’s party together. I want to see for myself who this rumoured ‘K’ really is.”

The so-called “K”, Ethan Estevan, was the most famous man on the continent. 

Media outlets clamoured for interviews, and nobles scrambled to invite him.

But Ethan accepted none of it. 

He refused to allow his photo in any paper or magazine, leaving those who hadn’t seen him desperate. 

The Countess Leslie was among them.

“The party’s this Friday evening, right? There isn’t much time left. We should send someone to the André Boutique immediately—”

“Absolutely not!”

Elisa jumped to her feet, shouting with fierce determination to prevent any meeting between Ethan and her mother. 

The chair slammed loudly to the floor.

Her sudden outburst startled not only her mother but also Noah, who dropped his fork in surprise.

Seeing the child’s moist, tear-filled eyes snapped Elisa back to herself.

I’ve gotten way too worked up.

She let out a deep breath, running a trembling hand over her face.

“Bessa.”

Elisah tried to calm her racing heart as she reached out to soothe the startled child, but her mother called for Noah’s nanny instead.

The tone in her mother’s voice was one Elisa had heard often during reprimands, causing her to pause instinctively.

“Take Noah outside.”

Bessa, the nanny, glanced between Elisa’s hesitant stance and the countess’s stern expression before quietly leading Noah out of the room.

“Everyone else, leave as well.”

The Countess Leslie dismissed the servants, and soon the dining room was left with only mother and daughter. 

An awkward, heavy silence settled between them.

Elisa lowered the hand she had raised to hold Noah and clenched it tightly before turning to face her mother.

“What’s the problem this time?”

Her mother’s eyes were filled with worry and unease as she looked at her daughter.

“What trouble have you gotten into now?”

Elisah knew one thing for certain: no matter what, her mother truly cared for and loved her. 

The reason she wanted Noah kept far from Elisa was because of that very love.

Elisa could never really hate her mother, even though she occasionally resented her; the distance between the two emotions only added to Elisa’s burden.

“Elisa.”

Closing her eyes briefly before opening them again, Elisa straightened the fallen chair and sat upright. 

She fixed her mother with a steady gaze.

“The rumoured ‘K’… is him.”

Just saying the words made her heart race.

Clasping her trembling hands tightly, Elisa continued slowly.

“Four years ago, the servant who disappeared from this estate without a word—Grace’s son. And Noah’s biological father.”