Chapter 513

"Help me sit up and let him in," Leona said. "Let's see what he has to say."

"Your Grace, are you sure you want him here?" Hazel asked, recalling Samuel's earlier aggression. She was both angry and worried.

Leona reassured her, "Don't worry. Have Alana and Leah watch from the side. He won't be able to touch me." She had given up on him, but if he had something to say, it needed to be said clearly and directly.

Hazel helped Leona sit up, placing a cushion behind her back. "You shouldn't be out of bed. The physician said you're not to move around."

"I know," Leona replied flatly, her pale face betraying no emotion. Since Heather had forbidden her from seeking a divorce, she had spent her days listlessly in bed, uncertain about the future, unsure even of what the next day would bring. But Samuel's angry arrival gave her a flicker of strength. She wanted to act, to speak.

His footsteps grew louder, more urgent, as he strode in, but Alana and Leah quickly flanked him. When he reached Leona's bedside, they blocked his path, preventing him from approaching.

Leona looked up and met his fierce, resentful gaze.

Before she could speak, he snapped, "You want me to apologize? Fine, I'm apologizing! It was my fault that day. I pushed you, and I'm sorry. I apologize."

Leona adjusted her covers but remained silent, her silence a pointed response to his incomplete apology.

Samuel took a step forward, only to be blocked by Alana. He shot her a cold glare and continued, "I'm apologizing, but you should apologize to Ruby for causing her fall down the stairs. Get up and come with me."

Leona's eyes reddened, but a smile played on her lips. "Apologize to her?"

Samuel glared. "I'm apologizing, and still you won't apologize? Do you think you're too important? Are you trying to bully people like your cousin?"

He tried to reach past Alana, but she slapped his hand away. "Speak with your words," she said sternly. "Why are you trying to touch her?"

Infuriated, Samuel kicked the table, his eyes flashing. "See? You people bully others with your power! Even your servants are snobbish. They treat me like nothing!"

Alana was enraged and wanted to slap him again, but she glanced anxiously at Leona, whose eyes were red, but who remained silent. Alana was frustrated. Why wasn't Leona saying anything? She had a voice; why wasn't she using it? What was the point of silently weeping?

+25 BONUS

Seeing Leona's silence, Leah tried to forcibly remove Samuel.

However, Leona suddenly spoke, "First, I don't accept your apology."

She lifted her head, tears brimming in her eyes. Her body trembled slightly, but she fought to control her anger and speak calmly, though her voice still wavered.

"Your apology is insincere. Even if it were sincere, it wouldn't undo what you've done. So I neither accept it nor forgive you."

"You won't accept it? Hah!" Samuel found it laughable. Staring at her pale, slender face, he was about to chastise her narrow-mindedness, but found himself speechless. The sages spoke of recognizing and correcting mistakes, but nothing about the acceptance of an apology.

He could only sneer. "On what grounds do you refuse it?"

Leona's voice grew louder, colder, the tremor gone.

"I refuse it on the grounds of your favoritism and neglect of your primary wife, your arrogance and inconsiderateness, your failure as a husband, and your failure as a father. And you call yourself a gentleman? Your actions belie that claim."