Chapter – 07
The decisive moment that turned Josephine’s heart was the baby’s quickening.
“Mother, put your hand here.”
Shia suddenly took her hand and placed it on her own stomach.
Thump!
The rounded belly moved.
The wondrous sensation Josephine had felt when carrying Gerard returned vividly. It felt as though a grandchild she had yet to see was already calling out, “Grandmother!”
After that, Josephine turned completely to Shia’s side.
She muttered to herself as if in soliloquy.
“Yes, of course. Shia is so much better. Unlike someone, she doesn’t go around holding her head high just because she makes a little money.”
And to think she acts so petty just because she’s the lawful wife.
‘And what? She should be groveling for fear of getting divorced!’
Josephine burst into an incredulous chuckle.
‘Though, a divorce?’
Josephine’s mind raced.
If they jumped into the post-war reconstruction project, Valdiff would never have to look at something like medicinal herbs again.
‘Shia is like a sturdy lifeline. On the other hand, what about Anais?’
To be honest, it was a waste to let her go. She was so intelligent and sharp that she was perfect for handling practical business.
But that was all.
What if she ended up offending Shia?
‘It might actually be better to clear her out of the way at this point.’
Since Anais was offering to leave on her own feet, it was an unparalleled opportunity.
Just then, the glasshouse door opened, and Anais stepped inside.
Josephine narrowed her eyes and said softly, “How truly hideous.”
She expected Anais’s spirit to be crushed by just this much.
Yet Anais didn’t even bat an eye.
“I have no idea what you mean. If you intend to argue, please speak logically.”
“Argue? When your elder scolds you, you call it arguing? How utterly impudent!”
Josephine decided not to go easy on her any longer.
“Are you putting on airs just because you sold a few scraps of herbs?”
“You’ve been living off those ‘scraps’ all this time.”
Josephine began pointing her finger aggressively.
“Since ancient times, if a woman holds her head higher than her husband’s, the household goes to ruin. And yet, blinded by jealousy, you talk of divorce? Go ahead, try it. You’re the only one who will regret it!”
Even though Josephine had come on quite strong, Anais remained composed. That only provoked her more.
Just as Josephine opened her mouth to speak again, Anais handed her an envelope.
“W-What is this?”
“I have never held my head up high, nor am I jealous. One would need to actually have feelings for your son to feel jealous.”
“Oh my goodness, I’m speechless. Did you just call me ‘you’? What daughter-in-law in the world refers to her mother-in-law like that!”
“Because you are no longer my mother-in-law.”
“Wh-What?”
“I am getting a divorce. To be exact, an annulment.”
Josephine couldn’t believe her own eyes and ears.
When she first heard about the divorce from Tonya, she had simply scoffed at it.
But a marriage annulment?
“What on earth is this girl saying?”
The submissive, gentle, and easily manipulated daughter-in-law was gone; Josephine felt as though she were facing a bitter, sharp northern wind.
“Unfortunately, I officially married your son. Yet, after getting another woman pregnant, he brought her into this house without consulting me at all. There is no reason for me to stay and endure being called ‘hideous.'”
“Y-You… Have you lost your mind?!”
Josephine’s hand flew up.
Grab!
However, before the hand could reach its target, Anais caught it. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
‘Is it because she’s been doing rough work with the servants?’
Josephine even broke into a cold sweat.
“L-Let go of me! Won’t you let go?!”
Anais released her with a throwing motion. As a result, the hand Josephine had intended for Anais ended up slapping her own cheek.
Josephine was utterly flabbergasted.
“You vicious creature.”
Josephine shivered, screeching in rage.
“I don’t need a headstrong daughter-in-law like you either. I give you permission to divorce! But know this—you won’t get a single penny in alimony.”
“My lawyer says otherwise.”
What was this now?
“I earned everything over the past three years.”
“Y-You earned it all by yourself? What about me? Didn’t you make your mother-in-law and sister-in-law do all kinds of work?!”
“Look at the document.”
Josephine tore open the envelope. Just as Anais had said, it was filled with detailed figures itemizing annual profits, production costs, and more.
Her fierce momentum vanished like bubbles popping.
Josephine sat down on a chair, fanning herself with the document she held.
“Water.”
Thinking that didn’t sound right, she added:
“…Give me some.”
“Get it yourself.”
“What?”
“You’re closer to it than I am.”
She wasn’t wrong, but she was so insufferable that Josephine wanted to wring her neck.
‘Ah, I shouldn’t have messed with her.’
Trying to handle her half-heartedly seemed to have put Josephine at a disadvantage instead.
For now, a retreat was in order.
“Right, I understand you’re upset. It’s natural you’d resent Gerard.”
“Is it just Gerard? It’s the same for you and Lady Tonya.”
Josephine took a deep breath. Now Anais was treating them like total strangers.
“Still, the more this happens, the more rationally you must think. If you let your emotions lead, you’ll only end up regretting it. Is divorce really that easy?”
“I told you, it’s an annulment. Since we never even spent the wedding night.”
“That couldn’t be helped because of his deployment!”
“He didn’t mention the deployment in advance either. That’s precisely what you call fraud.”
“Then consummate it right now!”
Josephine blurted out words in rapid fire, giving Anais no room to counter.
“Not that doing so means you can magically get pregnant like Shia, though.”
She said this targeting Anais’s irregular menstrual cycle. Josephine meant to turn her stomach upside down, but Anais remained unbothered.
“It wasn’t like this before I came here. Working by day and researching by night, spending three grueling years—it’s only natural.”
“Well now. That’s just your word, isn’t it? Do you have proof?”
It was at that exact moment.
Both of them closed their mouths and looked around.
Suddenly, the air seemed to grow chilly. Their skin prickled, and goosebumps broke out all over their bodies.
While Josephine was flustered by a sensation she had never experienced before, Anais stared intently at the entrance.
Creak, CRASH!
Soon, the glasshouse door shattered, and a furious roar poured in.
“Shut that mouth of yours!”
The person who smashed the door and stepped inside was Anais’s father, Baron Serge de Laville.
‘If you’re a human, you should speak; why are you barking?’
I was holding back the urge to pick at my ears while listening to Josephine’s nonsense.
“Well now. That’s just your word, isn’t it? Do you have proof?”
It was right when she was talking like a mother-in-law straight out of a trashy soap opera.
Prickle.
It seemed to be the first time Josephine had ever felt it, but as the daughter of a warrior, it was a fairly familiar sensation to me.
Bloodlust.
The chilled air settled heavily, making every single hair on my body stand on end.
Creak, CRASH!
It was Father.
How long had it been?
In my first life, he passed away suddenly, and it had been decades since.
Above all, it was my first time seeing him release such an imposing aura.
‘So that’s how angry he gets.’
Stinging bloodlust and shattered door pieces.
Was it like this when he went to war? He was like a lion exhaling hot breath to protect his cub.
In an instant, tears surged up.
Then, stepping lightly over the door Father had broken, another person walked in. It was my mother, Baroness Marion de Laville.
Mother strode inside, passed right by me, and approached Josephine.
Josephine even began to stammer.
“I-In-law, you’ve arrived? This is so sudden, without any word.”
“Ha! In-law?”
Instead of a greeting, Mother raised her hand.
I expected a very crisp sound to come from that straight-extended hand. However…
THWACK!
Huh?
It wasn’t a slap. It was something heavier, with a much solid impact…
Mother hadn’t used her palm; she had thrown a fist. Taking a direct hit to the jaw, Josephine collapsed right over like a falling tree trunk.
I really want to clarify this one thing.
My mother, Baroness Marion de Laville, is usually a very elegant person.
It’s just that Josephine possesses an extraordinary talent for asking to be beaten.
“This is what happens when you run your mouth recklessly to someone else’s precious daughter. Next time, it won’t end at just this. If you’re curious, feel free to try again.”
Wow, look at my mom’s grit!
In my past life, even while being mistreated by them, I never ended up contacting my parents.
‘I don’t want to make them worry.’
It was because I only wanted to show them that I was living well.
Above all, it was a marriage I had insisted on. Once I got past this hurdle, Gerard would change his mind too.
Foolish thoughts, useless endurance.
Only after living two more lives did I realize it.
Scum twisted enough to cheat to their very core do not change.
And I also came to understand a parent’s heart.
I had seen it countlessly: even parents who are usually strict and cold lose their minds and have their blood run backward when their child gets into trouble. Even beasts won’t stand by if someone picks on their young. How much more so for humans?
I have never given birth to a child, but having lived three lives, I’ve seen it time and time again. Parents lose all reason and boil over with rage when it comes to their children.
‘It’s an even bigger filial impiety if the child suffers alone, absolutely!’
As soon as Gerard returned, I sent a letter to my family home.
[Mom, Dad’s son-in-law is an evergreen tree that never changes. He scammed me when we got married, and now he scammed me while out at war. He brought back a mistress with a child. He even claims it’s his own. What should I do?]
It was roughly along those lines.
It must have sounded like earth-shattering news to the two of them—since they came in person instead of sending a reply.
“Mother.”
I intended to just pitiably droop the corners of my eyebrows, but tears burst out of me unconditionally.
