Revenge of the Duchess

Chapter 3

A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!

Annabeth had many things to mull on her mind when she got back to her family's mansion without any further incidents. She had thought about it before these past few days when there seemed to be only a few limited options going forward.

Option one: She could proceed with her engagement to Luke, and then plan to expose him and Kelli, while avoiding all poisoned tea in the future. But this option was far from desirable. She might end up being suspicious of all foods in the Castellan mansion. Not to mention, Annabeth would have to be wary of all the servants as well. That option was quickly thrown out the window before she even thought of it.

Option two: Find a legitimate reason for breaking the engagement since both families were viewing the engagement positively. She could do this by providing proof of Luke's infidelity, but that would not lead to the outcome she wanted. So Annabeth needed something to display a change of heart. It would be next to impossible to convince Luke to break off their engagement, since he was probably after her wealth no matter what.

Annabeth's mind wandered to Percy. It had been a few weeks since she last saw him. Last she heard in the past before she reincarnated, he had been looking for a second wife.

Percy had married his first wife, Lady Rachel, about a year after Annabeth had married. Annabeth had met Rachel a couple times and rather liked the extroverted Lady Rachel. But Annabeth could tell that Duke Percy and Duchess Rachel had a relationship built entirely on business. 

The couple was amicable and polite to each other but did not love each other any more than friends. Rumors around society went that Lady Rachel preferred not to marry but accepted Percy's proposal when heavily pressured by her family. Percy himself needed to marry only because the Jackson family needed an heir to solidify their positions. Despite such a business-like relationship, Percy had never run around having relationships with other women during the entirety of their marriage. That respect between the two was something Annabeth now realized she had been inherently jealous of compared to her own disastrous marriage.

Then a year later after the Duke's marriage, Lady Rachel had passed away from complications while giving birth. Her son did not live much longer than she did.

Annabeth touched her own stomach. She, too, could understand the pain of losing a child.

But now her mind was turning gears. Even if she managed to break her engagement to Luke, she would eventually have to marry someone else. What if she chose someone before that happened? At least it would be her choice and not her family's.

If she could get engaged to someone with a similar amount of influence and prestige or more as Count Luke Castellan, then it would be easier to not only cut ties with the Castellan family, but also gain enough leverage to plan her revenge.

Annabeth walked out to her bedroom's balcony and looked out to the view. Even from far away, she could see the sea where a fleet of ships were docked. Though she couldn't see the emblem on the flags, she could tell the flags displayed black dragons. They were ships of Duke Percy's fleet.

Perhaps the person she needed was Percy. Annabeth had always gotten along with Percy. He was the head of the Black Knights Order and had a higher title than Luke's. His was a peerage that not even the greedy and ambitious Kelli could aspire to. There had been one incident before Percy's marriage to Rachel where Kelli had tried to get close to Percy but Percy had rejected her politely but coldly.

Annabeth couldn't help but smile when she remembered the dumbfounded look on the beautiful Kelli's face as Percy shook off her advances. Then her smile dimmed as she remembered the dark expression that Luke had when he saw Kelli's advances on Percy. She had thought that it was because Luke disapproved of Kelli and how she tried to seduce the Duke. Now Annabeth understood that her former husband's expression was jealousy.