- #1
So the stepmother is the MC of the novel and the Duke, the father of the OgML is ML.
I will not put any filters while writing the spoiler, so be cautious some might not like it.
ML was drug by his father and his first wife (she technically r&ped him). Also, he was forced to marry his first (his r&pist) wife who was also pregnant around that time, so he is traumatized by looking at his son (since he is a reminder of that), he feels that he betrayed MC. Let's be honest he is unstable and that's how the ab*se on ML's side starts toward his son.
About the OGstepmother she did not hate him (son) at first but mistook the son's first actions, and started to hate him. I am not blaming her because ML's father and son's mother's family tried to k1ll/thread her, before their set up ML and his first wife's marriage and also afterward too. To be honest, it is clear she also was not mentally stable. In the novel, their flashbacks and proof of the attack made her traumatized. It also strains ML, the son, and her and her children's relationship with each other.
The son was a victim of the circumstance and an easy target, in the original and current novels. Unfortunately, his biological mother was selfish b1tch, she didn't treat him nicely. He genuinely wanted to get also with the stepmother but kept on getting misunderstood. By both ML and FL.
Little background information, ML's father did not like the stepmother because she was a poor noble as well as can't bring any benefits, so he was forced to ruin their relationship and So did the First wife's family also did it.
The original novel their a lot of mistakes, misunderstanding on both sides, and no time to heal. In the current life/novel the stepmother tried to correct the mistakes, and misunderstandings and even did try to heal and move on.
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