13Emerald

Coming from one of the richest families in the world, everyone wanted something from her, and Cora felt she was never loved in all of her life. Desperate to find true love, Cora got married into a pauper she took a liking to and secretly helped him rise to the top. She pretended to be disabled and poor in order to prove to her family that he was a good man, but on the day she planned to reveal her identity to him, she found him cheating on her on their bed.

Filled with so much rage, Cora vowed to crush him piece by pieces.

Being this heartbreak. She vowed to never love again as well, but it felt like the world was waiting for her to be single because the moment she became single.

Over a Battalion men wanted to marry her.

THE DISABLED HEIRESS, MY EX-HUSBAND WOULD PAY DEARLY.

At that moment Cora paused mid-step, her head turning slightly toward the voice behind her.

Then, slowly, she turned fully to face him William Victor, the eldest son of the Victor family.

She studied him for a moment, her eyes sharp, unreadable. Her posture was upright, queenly, as the wind gently moved through her hair.

"You're forty-five," she said plainly, her voice calm but laced with quiet emphasis.

"That makes you twenty-two years older than me."

Her words hung in the air like a test, deliberate and unyielding.

At that moment William cleared his throat and quickly composed himself. "Age…" he said, stepping closer with a soft smile, "is just a number, Lady Cora."

Then he stood tall, firm, his hands folded respectfully in front of him.

"What truly matters is devotion, Respect, Loyalty."

CHAPTER 9