I Walked Away And He Fell Apart Chapter 05
Garland lunged forward, jabbing a finger at Lorna in my arms.
“Marshal Harington, don’t let this calculating woman play you! That girl looks exactly like me—she’s clearly my biological kid!
“Three years ago, she threw herself at me, and I forced her out of London. She moved out to the middle of nowhere while pregnant. Why would a respected Marshal like you raise my illegitimate child?”
Rayford stared him down with obvious disgust.
“Illegitimate child?”
He pulled a bright yellow scroll from his coat and chucked it right at Garland’s face.
“You’re a complete idiot. Read exactly what it says.”
Garland snatched up the scroll, his hands shaking. The text was crystal clear: “Lorna Harington, legitimate daughter of Marshal Rayford Harington, born December 1512.”
The King had signed it himself, officially granting her the noble title of Baroness Harington.
“December 1512…”
Garland muttered, the color draining from his face.
“Garland, absolutely nothing happened between us the night of my coming-of-age ceremony three years ago,” I said. “I left London the very next day for the frontier.
“Rayford and I met in the north in the fall of 1511 and fell in love. We got married in early 1512, and I gave birth to Lorna that December.
“I carried her to term, and she is the legitimate daughter I legally had with my husband. You’re completely worthless, yet you have the nerve to pretend you’re her father!”
Every word out of my mouth thoroughly humiliated him.
Around us, the crowd was finally processing the revelation.
“Oh my god, Lorna is actually Marshal Harington’s real daughter!”
“Garland really overestimated himself, insisting the Marshal’s wife had his kid.”
“Exactly. The Marshal has an outstanding military record. There is no reason he’d raise Garland’s daughter. It’s completely ridiculous.”
Hearing the crowd’s criticism hit Garland hard. He swayed, nearly losing his balance. He stared intensely at me, his eyes bloodshot with emotion.
“No, Maddie. You’re just mad at me, right? You altered the timeline on purpose. You brought him here just to get to me.”
Garland just couldn’t accept reality.
He refused to believe that the same Madelyn he’d so casually abused and humiliated hadn’t hit rock bottom—that she had, instead, become the high-ranking wife of Marshal Rayford Harington.
Rayford stepped up beside me and pulled me close.
“Garland,” he warned, “if you ever disrespect my wife again, I will kill you.”
Sabrina clutched her badly swollen cheek, fighting her way back to her feet.
As she saw Garland looking so thoroughly beaten, a flash of pure, resentful malice darkened her eyes. Sobbing, she threw herself at his side and grabbed his sleeve.
“Gary, don’t let her play you!” she cried. “There’s no way this is just a coincidence! She heads out to the borderlands and immediately throws herself at Marshal Harington? You know she must have used her usual tricks to seduce him!”
Turning her attention to Rayford, Sabrina put on a sickeningly pitiful face.
Turning her attention to Rayford, Sabrina put on a sickeningly pitiful face.
“Marshal Harington, you’ve spent years fighting out at the border. You don’t know her true character. Since she was a little girl, she’s done whatever it takes to marry into the duke’s family. She even took advantage of Gary when he was drunk! A shameless, scheming, spiteful woman like her has no right to be your wife.”
Rayford glanced down at me, the hardness in his eyes melting into something soft and fiercely affectionate. But the second he looked back up at Sabrina, his glare turned lethal.
“Do you honestly think you have the right to pass judgment on my wife?” he asked, his voice dead calm. “Guards. Drag her out of here and cut out her tongue. My wife is done listening to her insults.”
Two armored guards stepped up instantly, grabbing Sabrina by the arms. Panic took over, and she screamed in sheer terror.
“No! Gary, save me! Gary!”
Garland lunged forward on instinct to intervene.
“Marshal Harington, Sabrina is innocent! You can’t hurt her!”
But he barely managed a single step before two longswords flashed out, the cold steel pressed tight against his throat.
Garland froze, entirely helpless as he watched Sabrina get hauled away. Seconds later, her agonizing screams echoed from outside the hall.
Garland froze, entirely helpless as he watched Sabrina get hauled away. Seconds later, her agonizing screams echoed from outside the hall.
Rayford looked at Garland, a dark, mocking smile touching his lips.
“You can’t even protect your own woman, Garland. What makes you think you have the right to raise your voice at me?”
The color washed out of Garland’s face, his expression twisting into a messy mix of humiliation, jealousy, and rage. Staring right past Rayford’s shoulder, he locked eyes with me.
“Madelyn! Are you really going to be this ruthless? Just because I lashed out at you in anger back then, you’re teaming up with another man to humiliate me? We’ve known each other for ten years. Does that really mean less to you than the short three years you spent with this man at the border?”
I slipped out of Rayford’s embrace and met Garland’s stare head-on.
“Garland, we never had a ten-year friendship. It was ten years of my unrequited love, matched with ten years of your mockery, disrespect, and cruelty.
“When you pulled me from that lake when we were ten, I saw you as my savior. That’s why I was so willing to chase after you, completely ignoring how cold you always were.
“But that night three years ago—when I was locked in that room, taking every accusation and insult you threw at me—I realized I was finally done with you.”
Garland trembled, stumbling a couple of steps back.
“No, Maddie. I was drunk then. I was just angry and confused…”
“None of that matters anymore,” I cut in, turning back to Rayford.
“I have someone now who genuinely loves, understands, and cares for me. I owe you nothing, Garland. From here on out, we walk our separate ways. We have absolutely nothing to do with each other.”
With that, I reached out and took Rayford’s hand.
“Darling, Lorna is tired. Let’s go home.”
Rayford squeezed my hand, lacing his fingers securely through mine.
“All right. Let’s go home.”