Page 82 of The Duke and the Scarred Bride

Percival was grateful that he hadn’t involved the man in his investigations, but nonetheless, he wouldn’t have thought it possible for Eli to repay Michael’s kindness with such wickedness.

“I was honestly disappointed when he decided to marry you, but I didn’t mind because, with that hideous scar on your face, I knew it was definitely not going to be a loving marriage. You were not his type, I thought, but how wrong I was. I saw the way he looked at you at that ball and knew that if I didn’t move quickly, you would get with child soon.”

Percival wondered if his half-brother really thought it would be that easy to inherit the dukedom when he was an illegitimate son. If he wasn’t so angry, he would have laughed at the man’s ambition.

So, Eli had killed his brother and kidnapped Louisa with the intent to kill her, and would have probably killed him too just because he was after a title that would never be his?

Percival shook his head, already picturing how he would deal with the man who had caused him so much pain already. To think, he had thought Eli was his friend. He had been right to warn Michael about associating with him, but his brother had always been too kind.

“You see, I can’t allow that to happen,” Eli went on. “I do not need you to produce little beasts like the two of you to continue the line of inheritance. The title is mine by right. It is what I’m owed as the Duke’s firstborn!”

“I do not mind if you insult me, but do not call Percival a beast! If anyone is, it’s you, for you are a beast who kills his own family for a title,” Louisa snapped, looking angrier than Percival could have imagined. “Percival is nothing like you. He is kind andthoughtful and beautiful. The scars he has are only a testament to how bravely he fought for his country. He is not a coward like you. He doesn’t hide in the shadows and let someone else fight his battles for him.”

“You know nothing!” Eli growled. “You know nothing about my struggles. You’re just a pampered chit who has lived her whole life shielded from the horrors of reality.”

Louisa scoffed at him. “I do not wish to, for they are a coward’s battle,” she shot back. “You could have stood up to your father and asked him to acknowledge you. Instead, you chose to hurt the men who decided to bring you into their fold even when you were nothing more than the sniveling son of a baron!”

“Silence!” Eli barked, holding the knife to her neck. “Yours is a life I won’t regret taking. When Percival learns about your death, he will be even more heartbroken and will kill himself for not saving you from his curse. I will be right there to snatch the title from his cold, dead fingers. Goodbye,Duchess.It is a shame that your joy was only short-lived.”

Percival didn’t wait a second longer. He lunged at Eli.

“You wish, you bastard!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Have you not been listening to me, Duchess? I am quite capable of killing family. Hell, I killed my own father, and I am responsible for Michael’s death as well, I am afraid.”

Louisa’s eyes went wide at Eli’s words, not expecting that he could have been so cruel. How could the man with ready smiles and jokes have turned into such a sinister creature?

It was almost unbelievable.

She tried to reconcile the man she had seen at the ball with this mad thing before her. His eyes were unfocused, as though he had been drinking, and he flicked the dagger so carelessly that she tried leaning further back in her chair if only to prevent any accidents.

He seemed to take her silence as a sign to continue his rant.

“I don’t know who started the rumours that Percival was dead, but I was grateful for it.” He laughed. “Michael went crazy trying to get information from the army, and in that desperation, I saw he was no longer fit for the title. It was almost too easy, using his desperation to find Percival to send him on a wild goose chase. Of course, I didn’t need his blood on my hands, so I had someone else do it and make it look like an unfortunate accident. I wouldn’t want anyone to trace it back to me.”

Her head spun, whether from the effects of the drugs that had been used on her or the many truths that were being revealed, she didn’t know.

Percival had grieved his brother, investigating in secret because he had suspected that Michael’s death was no mere accident. She wondered how he would take the news if he discovered that he had been right all along, and worse still that it had been his half-brother who did it.

“I was honestly disappointed when Percival decided to marry you, but I didn’t mind because, with that hideous scar on your face, I knew it was definitely not going to be a loving marriage. You were not his type, I thought, but how wrong I was. I saw the way he looked at you at that ball and knew that if I didn’t move quickly, you would get with child soon. You see, I can’t allow that to happen,” Eli went on. “I do not need you to produce little beasts like the two of you to continue the line of inheritance. The title is mine by right. It is what I’m owed as the Duke’s firstborn!”

Her anger flared at his words. She was tired of people referring to her husband by that moniker simply because he preferred to stay away from the ton rather than subject himself to mindless gossip.

“I do not mind if you insult me, but do not call Percival a beast! If anyone is, it’s you, for you are a beast who kills his own family for a title,” Louisa snapped. “Percival is nothing like you. He is kind and thoughtful and beautiful. The scars he has are only a testament to how bravely he fought for his country. He is not a coward like you. He doesn’t hide in the shadows and let someone else fight his battles for him.”

The ropes dug into her hands, but she didn’t care. He needed to understand that he didn’t have the right to insult Percival when he was the one who behaved like a beast.

“You know nothing!” Eli snapped. “You know nothing about my struggles. You’re just a pampered chit who has lived her whole life shielded from the horrors of reality.”

“I do not wish to, for they are a coward’s battle,” she shot back. “You could have stood up to your father and asked him to acknowledge you. Instead, you chose to hurt the men who decided to bring you into their fold even when you were nothing more than the sniveling son of a baron?—”

“Silence!” Eli barked, holding the knife to her neck. “Yours is a life I won’t regret taking. When Percival learns about your death, he will be even more heartbroken and will kill himself for not saving you from his curse. I will be right there to snatch the titlefrom his cold, dead fingers. Goodbye,Duchess.It is a shame that your joy was only short-lived.”

Her life flashed before her eyes, but rather than weep for herself, she wept for Percival, who would no doubt blame himself for her death. She sent up a silent prayer that he wouldn’t grieve her for too long.

She closed her eyes, expecting the knife to pierce her skin at any moment, but she was shocked when she felt a rush of air and heard a familiar voice that made her heart soar.

---