"That's your own flesh and blood."
"Her womb carried another man's seed once. I find that repulsive. Besides, she spent her whole life handling corpses. Any child she bears could come out a freak."
Homer turned to the attendant standing nearby. "Tell Nora Whitfield to mix the abortifacient into the lady's meals. Be careful about it. Don't let her find out."
His friend let out a sigh. "Penelope really is pitiful..."
Homer went still for a moment. His gaze turned dark and unreadable as he stared into his teacup. "I'll let her live out her days as my lady, comfortable and provided for. Consider it compensation."
I clamped a hand over my mouth and crumpled to the ground. Under the bewildered stares of the servants around me, I scrambled back to the estate on my hands and knees.
In the darkness of my room, I wept alone.
So the man who had shared my bed that night was never Homer at all. And yet he had still married me, this tainted woman, willingly, all for Chloe Fox.
He had even accepted a child that had nothing to do with him.
I remembered the day the bandits slaughtered my village. He had looked at my skirt, soaked through with blood, and wept until he could barely breathe.
He had sworn to me, voice shaking with conviction: "Penelope, I promise you, I won't let the villagers die in vain. And I won't let our child's sacrifice be for nothing."
He kept his word. Within three days, he tracked down the bandits' hideout and killed every last one of them.
For years, I had been overwhelmed with gratitude toward him. It never once crossed my mind that all of it, every single piece, had been his doing from the start.
Nora's voice came from outside the door. "My lady, your meal is ready."
"Leave it. I'm not hungry."
The food laced with abortifacient. I didn't dare touch it.
When the physician had last checked my pulse, he told me my body was weak, my womb cold and depleted. I needed to rest and take care of myself. If I miscarried again, I would never be able to bear children.
I wanted this child desperately. Before, it had been for Homer.
Now it was for the villagers who had died because of me.
I couldn't bring them back. Other than ensuring the body collector's legacy carried on, I didn't know what else I could do to make amends.
A long while later, heavy footsteps sounded in the courtyard.
"My lord, you're back. The lady refuses to eat."
"I'll handle it."