Chapter 155 You Are Really Starving
At the Titan estate, the old lady had originally planned to implement her scheme slowly, but as soon as news from the royal capital reached her ears, she immediately sensed trouble.
After all, the Titan family wasn't the only one in this world hungry for wealth and power. There were plenty of people willing to marry Anne. Now that His Majesty had demanded Anne find a suitable husband within three months, those who had been hesitating would surely launch an aggressive campaign to win Anne's favor first.
But what about Holden? Not only did he still have a wife in name—Candy—but judging by his current state, he was completely out of it. Even if she brought him before Anne, he probably couldn't compete with those other suitors.
Moreover, she'd heard that the king had stripped the Lance family of their baron title. Once Candy's father died, both Candy and her brother's family would become commoners.
The old lady had already looked down on Candy for being a mere baron's daughter. Now that the family had lost even that title, she was less willing than ever to let such a woman waste the position of Holden's wife.
What's more, she had seen with her own eyes a nearby knight who had earned military merit return home with a large sum of money. Thinking of Holden coming back empty-handed made her absolutely furious.
How could Holden have gone to the eastern battlefield and come back with absolutely no military merit?
He had killed quite a few enemies on the battlefield and followed Friedel's arrangements, serving as part of the flanking force that tightened the perimeter, keeping the enemy forces firmly outside Soth Empire's borders without letting a single enemy soldier enter. He should have received rewards too.
But Candy, as the knight commander under him, had openly led some of the Dawn Knight Order's knights in defying military orders. Then she violated combat discipline by pursuing fleeing soldiers, falling into Zotfort's trap, which resulted in a thousand-man squad being reduced to just two or three survivors, all of them crippled.
If it had been just that, it might have been acceptable. But Holden had also repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with Friedel, the supreme commander, in the military camp, and allowed people around him to spread rumors that affected morale. If there hadn't been a suitable person to take over the position of regiment commander, Rolf would have definitely kicked him down to being an ordinary knight.
One thing after another—both Candy and Holden had messed up. But the old lady blamed everything on Candy. After all, if Candy had never shown up, Holden wouldn't have divorced Anne, and he wouldn't be fighting for her attention now.
And all the military merit from the southern battlefield was gone too, not a single bit falling to the Titan family. How could she stand this?
Fuming, the old lady finally jabbed her finger at Holden and shouted, "Holden, I don't care who you have in your heart right now. In any case, I'm ordering you to divorce that woman Candy immediately!"
Holden kept his head down without speaking. Lately, the old lady had been yelling at him to get divorced almost every day. Holden had become numb to it.
Was it that he didn't want to divorce? No. Holden asked himself honestly—he no longer had feelings for Candy.
Not just because Candy was now disfigured and defiled, but more because Candy was no longer the bright, shining girl in Holden's heart.
After shedding the disguise of confidence and bravery, the dark and twisted Candy made Holden sick just looking at her.
But what good would divorcing Candy do? Could he go back to the past? Could he pretend nothing had happened?
Anne wouldn't come back. She wouldn't forgive him. Holden couldn't forgive himself either. Might as well continue torturing each other with Candy like this, the two of them pulling at each other, forever in agony.
The old lady couldn't stand it. She couldn't understand why Holden kept avoiding this issue.
"How many more times are you going to defy your mother for her sake! We are your family, but after you married her, you haven't even considered us. Even if you don't think about your father and me, you should at least consider Nina! She's your youngest sister, and she still doesn't have a fiancé. When people hear that your wife was defiled by another man and is a lowly commoner, they all look down on the Titan family!"
"Holden, do you want your family to be able to walk out the door with their heads held high or not!"
Nina stood to the side, constantly wiping away tears. After that incident at the ball, Father had changed completely, treating her with cold indifference. Mother's attitude had become subtle too. Nina couldn't stand this atmosphere and went out to find those noble ladies she had befriended, only to have them all avoid her, unwilling to associate with her.
One or two hot-tempered nobles even pointed at Nina and scolded her, "Your second sister-in-law is a whore. We've all heard about it. Your family actually married a whore into the household. Hmph, I don't want to walk around with daughters from this kind of family—it would dirty my eyes!"
Nina cried in anger. She shouted, "Second Brother, why did you have to marry that bitch Candy? After she came to our house, I got nothing, and instead I've been ostracized by others. No one has been willing to get engaged to me all this time. If this drags on, I'm going to become an old maid because of Candy!"
"That filthy whore, a piece of trash that anyone can have their way with—why are you still treating her like a treasure! Am I still your sister or not?"
Holden closed his eyes in pain. The old lady also frowned. "Nina, a lady shouldn't say such things."
Nina raised her hand to roughly wipe the tears from her face. "I just miss Anne. When she was here, I never suffered this kind of humiliation. Everyone pampered and indulged me. And whenever there was any problem at home, Anne could handle it. I could get beautiful jewelry and dresses too. If Candy hadn't interfered, I wouldn't be living so miserably!"
"Everyone's saying His Majesty gave Anne three months to find a husband. Second Brother, why don't you divorce Candy and remarry Anne? You two were married before—why won't you go back to her?"
Holden had been keeping his head down, but when he heard Nina's words, he froze. "What three months?"
The old lady had been watching Holden closely, and seeing him perk up at the mention of Anne, she couldn't help but speak up. "News from the royal capital says Anne has officially succeeded as duke. When she left the capital, His Majesty had Count Conor pass along a message requiring Anne to find a suitable husband within three months. So now quite a few people are getting ready to make their move."
She glanced at Holden's gradually brightening eyes and said softly, "Holden, it's not that Mother and Nina want to force you. It's just that looking at you now, it's obvious—you're thinking about Anne in your heart. You can't let her go. If that's the case, and His Majesty has given you this opportunity, why don't you try?"
Holden's lips trembled slightly. After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice, "I'm already married to Candy."
"You can divorce even if you're married. Didn't you divorce Anne too? As long as the feelings are there, you can still get back together after divorce. Are you really willing to watch Anne marry someone else?"
Nina also spoke up. "Exactly! Second Brother, you must have been bewitched by Candy's witchcraft back then, which is why you had to have her. When you first brought her back, I didn't think much of her—a woman from a small, insignificant family, ugly-looking, who came to our house without even being able to produce a dowry. How could you even be interested in such a woman? You must have been starving on the battlefield!"