Depraved Noble: Forced To Live The Debaucherous Life Of An Evil Noble!-Chapter 644: From Mother-In-Law To Wife

Diana’s words immediately captured every ounce of Maria’s attention.

The moment she spoke Cassius’s name, her entire demeanor shifted.

Her eyes softened, her lips curved into a gentle smile, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks.

She looked almost like a shy young girl talking about her first crush, and the transformation was so striking that Maria found herself momentarily speechless.

"He entered my life in a very strange way."

Diana began, her voice taking on a dreamy quality.

"One day, out of nowhere, he simply appeared at our home. He said he could cure my daughter."

"Just like that?" Maria’s eyebrows shot up. "He just showed up and claimed he could do what countless doctors and healers across the continent couldn’t?"

Diana nodded, laughing softly.

"I know. It sounds absurd, doesn’t it? At first, I thought it was some sort of scam. Especially since his reputation was terrible back then—you know how people talked about him."

"The Lecher of the Holyfield Estate. The ruthless womanizer. The cold-hearted monster."

She shook her head at the memory.

"Because of that I was on my guard the entire time. Ready to throw him out at the first sign of trickery. But then..."

Her eyes widened slightly, still displaying that same shock she had felt years ago.

"The moment he met Vivi, he was able to diagnose her. Just like that. He listed her conditions, her symptoms, things he couldn’t possibly have known without examining her—and he did it all without hesitation. With absolute certainty."

Maria leaned forward, captivated.

"That alone was shocking enough. But then he gave me some remedies—simple things, really—and told me they would work. And when I tried them?"

Diana’s voice filled with wonder.

"They actually did. He was a man of his word. He truly did help my daughter."

She pressed a hand to her chest.

"Maria, I had been searching for a cure for literally decades. I had traveled across the entire continent, consulted every expert I could find, begged, pleaded, prayed—and nothing."

"But he just came to my house one day and proved that he knew how to save my daughter."

"In that moment, I felt as though a miracle had happened. As though all those prayers I had whispered to the Goddess had finally been answered, and she had sent him to save me."

And hearing this, Maria couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony.

"It’s funny to think about, isn’t it?"

She said, while letting out a gentle smile.

"My daughter is convinced he’s some sort of devil or demon. She’s obsessed with proving he’s evil."

"And here you are, saying he was sent to you like an angel."

"Yes." Diana smiled warmly. "It is rather amusing."

Maria leaned forward, her curiosity piqued.

"So is that it? Is that when you fell for him? Because he saved your daughter? Is that the reason you decided to make him your man?"

Diana’s face flushed deep crimson.

Her mind flashed back to the actual truth—the much more complicated, much more tangled reality of how things had unfolded between her and Cassius.

The way he had played with her.

The way he had slowly, methodically broken down every wall she had built around herself until she was putty in his hands.

The way he had technically blackmailed her into doing certain things, though it never really felt like blackmail because of how irresistible he made it all seem.

Her blush deepened impossibly further.

But she couldn’t say any of that. She couldn’t risk tarnishing his name, couldn’t let Maria think poorly of him.

So instead, she nodded quickly.

"Y-Yes." She said, perhaps a bit too fast. "It started from that. Of course. That was definitely it."

Maria tilted her head slightly, sensing there might be more to the story, but Diana pressed on before she could ask.

"But there were so many other things about him that I came to love." Diana continued, her voice warming again. "So many qualities that drew me to him."

She clasped her hands together, her expression turning adoring.

"Like how respectful he is with everyone he meets."

Diana continued, her voice warming.

"Like for example, you know the hospital workers who handle waste removal, who clean up old blood and take care of patients that others avoid."

"And you know how some of the nurses look down on them and won’t go near them?"

Maria nodded.

"But Cassius? He’s different. He treats them like equals. He talks to them freely, casually, without any hint of disgust or superiority."

Her eyes sparkled.

"I even saw him having lunch with them once. Just sitting there, eating and chatting like they were old friends. That moment really caught my attention."

Maria smiled, genuinely touched by the image.

"And he’s incredibly funny."

Diana continued, her own smile widening.

"His sense of humor is so unique—he’s very honest, sometimes a bit awkward because he’s so blunt with his words."

"But every single time I talked to him, I would leave with a smile on my face."

"I would even find myself thinking about him afterward, replaying our conversations in my mind."

Maria found herself smiling along, caught up in Diana’s obvious happiness.

"His kindness and patience too." Diana added.

"There was this one time—we were walking through the hospital together, and an old man who was sick accidentally vomited right on Cassius’s shirt."

"What?!" Maria jerked in surprise. "You’re joking."

"No, I’m not and let me tell you that everyone froze in that moment."

Diana said with same look of shock she had that very same moment.

"The nurses, the other patients, everyone just stopped and stared, horrified. The old man himself looked like he was going to die of fear."

"He had just vomited on the shirt of the person who rules over this entire estate after all. He thought his whole family was doomed."

"But Cassius?" She leaned forward with a awe-filled smile on her face. "He just looked down at his shirt, then looked at the old man, and said, ’It’s alright. It’s just a shirt.’"

Maria gasped in surprise at his reaction.

"He acted like it was no big deal at all." Diana continued in reverence. "Didn’t scold him, didn’t get angry, didn’t even look annoyed."

"Instead, he continued his diagnosis right there, asked the man some questions about his symptoms, and gave him a prescription that would help him feel better."

Diana’s eyes shone.

"In that moment, I don’t know why, but my heart was racing."

She touched her chest, as if feeling it again.

"That feeling—the feeling I had lost with my husband, or maybe the feeling that was never truly there to begin with—it started to bloom."

"I-I began to look at him differently. Not just as the young man who saved my daughter, but as something else entirely."

Maria watched her friend’s face, seeing the genuine happiness radiating from every feature.

"And then one thing led to another..." Diana said softly. "...and somehow, I ended up in his household. With my daughter. Becoming his woman."

She smiled, a genuine smile that made her look years younger.

Meanwhile, Maria sat back, processing everything.

But before she could—another question occurred to her.

"What about your ex-husband?" She asked carefully. "What about Wayne? How did he react? I would think he’d fight it, or at least be angry."

Diana looked surprised by the question before hesitantly saying,

"Actually...no. He didn’t fight it at all."

Maria blinked. "What?"

"When Cassius approached him about the whole situation—"

Diana shook her head slowly.

"Wayne didn’t resist. He actually apologized to me."

Maria’s jaw dropped.

"He apologized for not taking care of me for so many years. He said it would be better for me to be with Cassius. He admitted his mistakes, Maria. All of them."

"And he seemed genuinely regretful—not angry, not bitter, just...sad. Regretful about how he had lived his life, about the years he had wasted."

She shrugged slightly.

"After all that, it went quite smoothly."

Hearing this revelation, Maria once again leaned back in her chair, stunned.

After everything Diana had told her about her marriage—the years of neglect, the loneliness, the pain—to hear that it ended not with a fight but with an apology?

With acceptance?

"That’s..." Maria shook her head. "That’s really hard to believe."

Diana smiled gently. "I know."

"But after hearing everything you’ve told me today..."

Maria let out a chuckle of disbelief

"...I guess there’s no choice but to believe it."

She looked at her friend with new eyes, trying to reconcile the Diana she had known for decades with this woman who had just revealed such a dramatic transformation in her life.

But then Diana’s expression shifted.

She looked hesitant. Concerned.

"Maria." She said carefully. "Are you...are you fine with what happened?"

Maria tilted her head, confused. "What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be fine with it?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Diana fidgeted slightly, something she rarely did as she nervously said,

"I mean, you’re a sister after all and I know you put a lot of importance on the relationship between husband and wife. I also know the church isn’t particularly fond of divorces."

She looked down at her hands.

"So I have to ask—do you feel that way too?"

"Are you against the fact that I divorced my husband? Even though the situation might look the way it does?"