455.Chapter 455


    The day after Eliza returned from Scecrest Manor, someone handed Eliza a letter.


    "A letter from Dn?" She brought the letter back to her small courtyard, sat at the stone table, and opened the envelope. The first line read: [May this letter find you well. Dear Eliza, please forgive me for breaking my promise. I have to leave for some important matters, and it might take a year or two, maybe even longer, before I return. I can''t be there for you right now, but if you need help, Benedict will be there. Once my work is done, I promise toe back and protect you for the rest of your life without fail. Take care of yourself, and don''t miss me.]


    Eliza''s gaze fell on thest two words, hastily written and then smeared. Her expression remained nk as she lowered her eyes.


    In fact, his departure was a relief. It meant he wouldn''t keeping up the mountain to disturb her peace.


    She shoved the letter back into the envelope carelessly, got up, and returned to her room. The rest of the day passed quietly, just the way she liked it.


    Nn visited Eliza the next day, bringing her some dessert and a piece of jaw- dropping news.


    "Sophie and Caleb were caught in public... together?" Eliza''s eyes widened. "Caleb? When did he get so gutsy?"


    She hadn''t heard about the chaos at the Duke''s estate yet and assumed Caleb was behind it.


    After all, Caleb was desperate to marry Sophie.


    He even got his leg broken by his uncle because of her.


    Nn chuckled, shaking his head. "No, it wasn''t Caleb''s idea."


    "Not Caleb?" Eliza frowned. "Then it had to be Sophie. But why? Didn''t she lose interest in him ages ago? "Unless something drastic happened, Sophie would never choose Caleb, especially not in such a scandalous way." As Eliza mulled over this, Nn continued, clearing up her confusion.


    He said, "Yesterday, the Duke of Mowbay announced that Sophie was no longer Lady Sophie of the Stonor family. My sources say Dn stormed into the Duke''s estate the day before, furious about something. Whatever happened forced the Duke to strip Sophie of her title and arrange a marriage for her.


    "But the match was with a poor schr, someone of very low standing. Sophie refused, and Caleb showed up to intervene, dying the matter. Then, for reasons no one understands, Sophie drugged Caleb, and the two were caught in a scandal in the hall."


    Eliza raised a hand to cover the grin threatening to escape, still finding Nn''s words hard to believe. "What kind of juicy drama is this? My ''dear father'' actually stripped his precious daughter of her adopted status?"


    She thought, ''If Mom hadn''t given birth to so many legitimate kids, Dad would''ve made Sophie the official daughter ages ago.


    ''After favoring Sophie so much, he''s suddenly doing a 180? Unbelievable!


    ''Doesn''t that make Sophie aplete and utter bastard now?


    ''And he''s rushing her into a marriage right after that? He''s not even pretending to care about her reputation anymore!'' Eliza stroked her chin thoughtfully. She wondered if they were putting on some kind of act.


    It wasn''t that Eliza was overthinking. The whole situation was simply too absurd.


    Even Nn had to confirm the news multiple times before bringing it to her.


    He said, "This probably has something to do with Dn. Why not ask him?" Eliza paused.


    She thought, ''Dn? Could he really be involved? Could his sudden departure


    have something to do with this?


    ''But what exactly happened behind the scenes?''


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