Chapter 27…
The fact that his late brother had never consummated his marriage with Catherine, and that their father had ordered him to treat the child in Catherine’s womb as his brother’s, were both things Kevin had learned from Assem — his brother’s former attendant.
But Assem’s testimony alone would be dismissed by his father as a fabrication.
Thus, there was no solid proof that his father knew Marianne was Kevin’s own child, nor that he had schemed to take over the Carmine family while aware of that fact. Without such evidence, it would be difficult to charge him with any crime.
“It’s frustrating that Desant can’t be punished,” Kevin’s grandfather said mockingly, “but as long as he divorces my granddaughter and leaves, that’s enough. The gossip about his affair with his son’s wife will spread freely, and he won’t be able to live comfortably in the capital anyway. That’ll be punishment enough for him.”
Kevin pondered what his grandfather meant by that.
“Don’t tell me… my father still has feelings for Catherine’s mother?”
Does he still look forward to seeing her at national events and evening parties?
Was marrying Catherine — his brother’s widow — to me just a way to keep that family connection alive?
If he kept Catherine close, it would give him more chances to speak with her mother.
“Exactly. That’s why he married Catherine to you two. I thought he only wanted to maintain a connection, but to think he went so far as to lay hands on the daughter… what was she, a substitute for the mother? Catherine herself probably doesn’t even know.”
If that’s true, then Catherine is rather pitiable.
Still, given that she once tried to seduce me, she can’t be entirely devoted to my father either.
“Wait a second,” the Crown Prince said in confusion.
“We’re talking about Kevin’s father, right? So he made his son’s wife his mistress… but the woman he really loved was his mistress’s mother?”
It wasn’t something meant to be discussed in front of others, but Kevin explained that all of this mess stemmed from his father’s selfish and misplaced infatuation.
“Kevin’s divorce shouldn’t be an issue,” the Crown Prince continued, “but as for your father — he’s not going to be easy to deal with. Even if you become the new earl, he’ll probably insist he’s still your father and refuse to leave the Carmine estate.”
“Even after sleeping with his son’s wife?”
Yes, if it were his father, that was entirely possible.
He wouldn’t divorce Kevin’s mother — not because of guilt, but because he wouldn’t want to be scolded by Catherine’s mother for taking her daughter as a mistress.
If he divorced, he’d lose all opportunity to meet the countess ever again.
“But the wife — Catherine — will be gone once she divorces Kevin, won’t she? From your father’s point of view, he probably thinks that if he apologizes for his infidelity and begs his wife’s forgiveness, she’ll relent and not divorce him. That’s the kind of power dynamic they have. That’s why you came here to arrange for Kevin to inherit the title without involving the current earl, isn’t it?”
The Crown Prince saw through it all — Kevin’s father behaved as he pleased because the countess, his mother, was too compliant.
Indeed, since that man was both Kevin’s father and Marianne’s father, she might end up forgiving him yet again.
“If you truly want to cut ties with him,” the Crown Prince said, “I’ll help you. Leave it to me — once I step in, you’ll never have to see his face again.”
It seemed His Highness was willing to act as a neutral mediator.
It wouldn’t be as formal as a court trial, but if a neutral third party and a clerk were present, any agreement reached there would be binding and irreversible.
