MLHBMH 02

Chapter 2

Lily’s dream had always been simple — to meet someone she loved, just like her parents had, and to build a warm, happy family together.

But that dream burned away with the Benjamin estate. From that day on, whether she wanted it or not, Lily’s life veered far from the future she’d imagined.

After marrying Frederick and learning who he truly was, that dream shattered completely.

Of course, she’d known from the start that marrying without love — a marriage built only on mutual conditions — wouldn’t make it easy to achieve such a dream.
Even so, she hadn’t given up hope.

Frederick had seemed kind. Gentle.

Lily believed she might come to love him one day — that they could have a sweet child together and live a peaceful life.

But that had all been a foolish fantasy.
And it was destroyed completely before even a single full day of marriage had passed.

“I really am an idiot.”

Lily let out a bitter laugh, thinking of her husband, who hadn’t even come home last night — again.

It was only after the wedding that she learned the truth: Frederick had long been making a living seducing noblewomen. He warmed their beds, and in return, they invested in his business.

Now, apparently, he was serving as a “lover” to some noble lady while mingling at social parties.

In noble society, it wasn’t even uncommon. Most marriages were political, so it was considered normal for nobles to keep lovers or mistresses. Even the emperor and empress each had several.

Being unfaithful had become a kind of social trend — nobles even competed over how “impressive” their lovers were.

But Lily wasn’t like them.
Even if it was a loveless arranged marriage, infidelity was still something she could never understand — nor did she want to.

So Frederick’s behavior filled her with anger and disgust, and what hurt even more was the fact that she had no way to express it.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was another source of her daily torment.

“Honestly, how can a young girl come to breakfast later than her old mother-in-law?”

It was Frederick’s mother — Samantha.

The sharp, scolding voice that greeted her the moment she opened the breakfast room door made Lily sigh inwardly. Her appetite vanished completely.

She wanted nothing more than to turn around and go back to her room, but she knew too well that doing so would only make Samantha explode even more. So she stepped inside.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Hmph!”

Even though Lily bowed and apologized, Samantha just snorted and turned away.

So much for a peaceful morning.

Not that there ever was one. Lily resigned herself and sat down. As she reached for a glass of water to moisten her dry throat, Samantha glared and snapped,

“And where’s Frederick? Don’t tell me he didn’t come home again last night?”

The servants always reported Frederick’s comings and goings to Samantha first — not to Lily.

Which meant she already knew he hadn’t come home.
She was just asking to have an excuse to scold her daughter-in-law again.

Here we go again.

Lily kept her hands neatly folded on her lap.

“Yes. I suppose he’s busy with work.”

“It’s not work! He just doesn’t want to see you!”

Samantha’s voice rose sharply, making the servants freeze in place.

“How many times have I told you? A man’s behavior depends on how well his wife keeps him! What kind of wife are you that he spends every night elsewhere?”

Lily stayed calm. She’d heard the same speech too many times to count. The words had worn grooves into her ears by now.

Samantha blamed every one of Frederick’s affairs on Lily.
Even though Frederick had been selling himself to noblewomen long before their marriage, she insisted it was Lily’s fault for being a “poor wife.”

“And it’s been a whole year since you married, yet there’s still no child! Why haven’t you conceived?”

You can’t catch a star if you never see the sky, Lily thought, biting her tongue before sighing softly.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

Giving up was easier. That had become Lily’s daily mantra.

At first, she’d tried to explain, to reason with her — but it never mattered. Samantha didn’t listen; she only got angrier, accusing Lily of “talking back.” Lily had learned that silence and an apology were the safest responses.

“What good is saying sorry all the time? You think words are enough? Show it through action!”

Normally, Samantha would have stopped there, muttering a few more lines of nagging. But today, her fury had a longer tail.

“Don’t tell me you’re barren, are you?”

Now she was questioning that too. Lily let out a soundless laugh.

Samantha didn’t know that Lily and Frederick had never even shared a bed. Neither of them had told her.

Lily assumed Frederick had also endured his mother’s lectures about children — but strangely, he’d kept silent, and for that, she was almost grateful.

If Samantha ever found out the truth, she would surely blame Lily alone and make her life even more miserable.

“I’m not,” Lily said calmly.

It wasn’t even a lie. She was healthy. There was no reason to think otherwise.

“Oh really? You’ve been married a year and still no child. Sounds suspicious to me.”

As always, Samantha refused to believe her.

“I heard your mother took ten years to conceive you. Like mother, like daughter, they say.”

At the mention of her mother, Lily’s eyes hardened. Her fingers clenched tightly on her lap.

A bad feeling rose in her chest.

“I suppose it runs in the family — both of you full of problems.”

And sure enough, her instincts were right.

“You’re not going to lose your mind like she did, are you? Poor Frederick, having to suffer through that—”

“Mother.”

Lily’s voice cut sharply through the room. It wasn’t loud, but it carried force — a plea to stop.

A normal person would have realized they’d gone too far. But Samantha wasn’t normal.

“Did you just interrupt me? You dare cut off your mother-in-law mid-sentence?”

Her outrage only grew.

“How utterly rude! For a noble, you have no manners at all! What did your parents even teach you?”

“…So, are you saying you’re rude because you’re a commoner?”

“What—what did you just say?”

The thread of Lily’s patience finally snapped. Her voice came out low and sharp as she struck back — and Samantha’s mouth fell open in shock.

“You said you’re worried I’ll end up like my mother,” Lily continued, meeting her gaze steadily. “But you don’t have to worry about that.”

Samantha’s eyes widened.

“My mother lost her mind after losing the man she loved,” Lily said evenly. “But I don’t love your son. So even if he dies, I’ll be perfectly fine.”

Bang!

Samantha slammed her hands on the table and shot to her feet.

“Did you just say my son is dead?! You insolent—!”

“Of course not,” Lily replied smoothly. “I was only speaking hypothetically.”

Her tone remained calm, almost detached. But beneath that mask of composure, rage swirled violently.

“And as for the child problem,” she added quietly, “perhaps you should be worrying about him instead of me.”

“What?”

“Your son has slept with countless women — long before we were married — yet not one of them has ever had his child. So maybe the problem isn’t me.”

Samantha’s face flushed redder than a tomato.

Smack!

A plate flew across the table and struck Lily. She shut her eyes as food splattered across her face and clothes.

“You worthless leech! Living off my son like a parasite, and you still dare talk back to me?!”

“…”

“Like mother, like daughter — one insane, the other shameless! I knew marrying into a cursed family would bring disaster!”

Even through the insults, Lily quietly wiped her face, rose, and said softly,

“If my presence ruins your appetite, I’ll take my leave.”

“Come back here! I’m not done talking to you!”

Samantha shrieked, but Lily ignored her and walked out of the dining room.

After being left alone, Samantha threw a tantrum, wrapping her head in a scarf and claiming she was too upset to eat.

Her fury didn’t stop there — she spent the rest of the day lashing out at the servants instead. Naturally, the maids and footmen, who now bore the brunt of her temper, turned their resentment toward Lily.

And resentment soon became petty cruelty.

“I brought your wash water, my lady.”

“Oh—”

The moment Lily dipped her hands into the basin, she flinched — the water was ice-cold, freezing enough to sting. She yanked her hands back with a small gasp.

The maids snickered behind her. Their mocking laughter was obvious, but Lily said nothing.

Once, she had tried to correct a servant’s mistake — and Samantha had accused her of “throwing her title around.” Ever since then, Lily had learned her lesson: no matter what the servants did, it would somehow end up being her fault.

Samantha always told her to “be generous to those beneath her,” as if letting them mistreat her was a virtue.

The servants knew it, and they acted with smug impunity.

Lily’s expression darkened. She had never been treated like this before in her life — not until she married Frederick.

By the time she reached the breakfast room again, her mood had sunk even further. She was already dreading what new humiliation awaited her today.

Just… please. Anything but insults about my parents again.

Praying silently, Lily opened the dining room door — and found both luck and misfortune waiting inside.

The luck was that Samantha wasn’t there.

The misfortune…

“Long time no see, sister-in-law.”

…was that Frederick’s younger brother, Brian, was.