CRBM 01

Chapter : 01

“Drop your gun right now!”

Amid the train rushing along while noisily spewing steam, an urgent voice rang out.

The owner of that voice was Clitaym’s husband, Haley Schultz.

Pointing his gun at his own daughter, whom he had taken hostage, he shouted again.

“Drop the gun!”

Clitaym frowned as she pressed down on the wounds she had sustained during the gunfight moments ago, trying to stop the bleeding while breathing heavily.

Perhaps it was because of the bullet lodged inside her, but her mind was becoming hazy.

Haley was not exactly uninjured either, but the situation was clearly against her.

She absolutely had to save her daughter.

“M-Mom…… I-I’m scared…….”

The daughter trembled in fear and looked at Clitaym with a pitiful gaze.

Fear makes one’s movements sluggish.

Even more so when it is a child.

Clitaym glanced at Electra once before shouting at her husband.

“Let the child go!”

“Then are you going to run away and divorce me?”

Go ahead and run. Then your brat will die here.

Haley pointed the gun at his own daughter as if she were a complete stranger.

If she moved even slightly, the girl would die.

The tension, stretched taut, was precarious enough to snap at any moment.

‘If I stay like this, it’ll be dangerous.’

Electra, her daughter, was not an ordinary child.

That child was the villainess of this novel who would go berserk and kill everyone.

“Do you really want to die?”

“Are you actually planning to shoot me with that gun? What a shame. Then your child will die.”

What Clitaym meant was everyone on this train, but Haley failed to understand and merely sneered.

‘How many bullets do I have left?’

She decided to focus on assessing the situation.

Two bullets had been fired at the assassin earlier, one at her husband’s mistress.

And two more while fighting her husband……

There was only one bullet left.

I have to finish this in one shot. Otherwise, I’ll have to go through this damn regression again.

Clitaym glared at Haley and pulled the trigger.

Bang—

The sound of the gunshot rang in her ears, and her vision turned black.

Black Boss’s Second Marriage @300x

Chapter 1. A Suitable Second Marriage Partner

“Did I fail again?”

Clitaym opened her eyes on the soft bed and looked down at her palm with a derisive smile.

She was so perfectly fine that it was hard to believe she had been in a shootout moments ago.

‘That was the first time I had gotten that far.’

Ever since she possessed this body, she had died dozens of times without being able to attend the divorce trial because of interference from her husband and father.

She wished she could become numb to it, but every time she experienced death, it seemed as though the pain accumulated little by little.

‘It hurts like hell.’

It seemed this time the bullet had struck her forehead.

Clitaym rubbed the right side of her forehead, got out of bed, and walked toward the vanity.

It was because she hoped that perhaps something about her possession had changed.

Unfortunately, she was still ‘Clitaym.’

“If I failed, they should have just left me dead.”

She clicked her tongue irritably at her reflection in the mirror.

The person who should have been dealing with all of this was nowhere to be found, while some innocent person was left to suffer instead.

It seemed that her possession had become a punishment rather than a blessing.

But what could she do? She had returned because she had failed to kill the husband who refused to divorce her.

‘Even if I kill myself, I’ll probably just come back here again.’

She wanted nothing to do with repeating the same scenery over and over.

Clitaym merely shifted her gaze toward the wall clock near the door.

The hour hand was pointing at the number two.

Two in the afternoon.

She had returned to one month before the divorce trial.

“Madam, the head of the household has arrived.”

As the hour hand pointed exactly to two in the afternoon, her husband arrived at Clitaym’s bedroom right on time.

She turned her face away and composed her expression, but the door suddenly swung open and Haley strode inside.

“Explain what this is right now.”

In his hand was a summons to attend the divorce trial.

“It says right there.”

Clitaym replied indifferently to his furious expression, trying to maintain her composure.

The more frightened she looked, the more arrogant Haley would become and the more of a scene he would make.

When Haley failed to get the reaction he wanted, he roughly threw the paper at her.

The sharp edge of the paper grazed Clitaym’s face, leaving behind a thin line of blood.

‘It stings.’

Just as she instinctively raised her hand toward the sting, Haley roughly grabbed her wrist and pulled it up.

“Answer me properly. Are you serious about wanting a divorce?”

Every syllable of his low voice was filled with murderous intent.

But Clitaym did not care in the slightest and moved her lips.

“Yes. A divorce.”

The moment the word ‘divorce’ left her mouth, his fierce hand struck her cheek.

“How dare someone like you ask for a divorce?”

Haley could not contain his anger, and it was plainly visible on his face.

“Whose thanks are you enjoying all this luxury because of, and you want a divorce?”

Clatym let out a hollow laugh at the word ‘luxury’ and glared at her sneering husband.

‘Luxury?’

Had the meaning of the word ‘luxury’ changed while she was regressing?

Ever since possessing this body, she had never enjoyed anything that could be called luxury.

A household overflowing with violence and a husband who acted like an absolute tyrant.

The only thing that differed from the vague memories of her previous life was her appearance.

Clitaym clenched her hands beneath the table while keeping a dry expression on the outside.

There was no way to avoid her husband’s violence right now.

‘He’ll quiet down after hitting me a few times.’

Having become thoroughly sick of violence, she intended to settle the situation by simply taking a few blows.

But that plan was shattered when the closed door suddenly opened.

“Mom!”

It was her daughter.

Electra hurried inside and threw herself into Clitaym’s arms.

Having already known from her numerous regressions that her daughter would come in, Clitaym deliberately pushed Electra away.

“Mom and Dad are talking, so can you come back a little later?”

“N-No! I have something to say too!”

The daughter desperately tried to get her mother out of the room by making a ridiculous excuse.

“I-I want to go for a walk! Mom, let’s go to our sponsor, okay?”

At Electra’s whining, Clitaym’s expression gradually grew cold.

She already knew exactly what would happen next.

From this day onward, Electra would also be abused by Haley.

All because she had offended his mood.

‘Electra mustn’t go through that too.’

Not if she wanted to prevent her from going berserk.

Clitaym did not know exactly why Electra would eventually lose control, but there was one thing she knew for certain.

Her mental state could never become unstable.

The last time, and the time before that, she had failed to stop it and had been forced to endure a painful death.

Clitaym called for her maid, Becky, and forcibly had her daughter taken outside.

She could hear Electra sobbing outside the door, saying she wanted to come back in, but she deliberately pretended not to hear.

As she bit her lip and avoided his gaze, a mocking voice came from across the room.

“Feels good not getting hit because you sold out your own brat, huh?”

After thoroughly mocking Clitaym, he roughly grabbed her chin and snapped.

“Get ready to attend the imperial banquet right now.”

Withdraw the complaint on your own.

Haley spoke as though issuing an order, crushed the divorce papers beneath his shoe, and left the room.

The atmosphere, which had felt like walking on thin ice, quickly returned to normal as though nothing had happened.

Clitaym stared down at the papers carelessly scattered across the floor before gritting her teeth and standing up.

She was angry because, despite being someone who had possessed a character in a novel, she could not do anything on her own.

‘So I guess a novel really is just a novel.’

If reality was a sewer, there was only one solution.

“……I have no choice but to ask for help.”

After muttering to herself, she immediately left the room and walked quickly.

She arrived at the room right beside Haley’s office.

From inside came a coquettish laugh mixed with the familiar voice of her husband.

Clitaym took a deep breath and opened the door herself instead of leaving it to the hesitant maid.

That room was her husband’s mistress’s room—and—

“What brings you here, Madam?”

—the residence of Camilla, who had once been Clitaym’s personal maid.

Haley, who had been sitting together with her, immediately stiffened and put down the teacup he had been holding.

“Why are you here?”

“No, of course, isn’t the mistress of the Schultz family entitled to come here whenever she wishes?”

Her tone was filled with sarcasm, but Haley instead defended Camilla and even praised her.

“You truly have such a generous heart.”

“You flatter me. I merely said what was obvious.”

Clitaym sneered at the disgusting behavior of the two of them and walked straight toward the dress prepared in one corner of the room.

It looked plain at first glance, but the fabric and accessories were made from the finest materials.

Most importantly, it was red—the color specified by the dress code for this imperial banquet.

Clitaym immediately realized that Camilla had prepared the dress to attend the imperial banquet.

She stared at the dress for a moment before grabbing the lace without hesitation and tearing it apart with her hand.

Rrrrip.

With an unpleasant sound, the decorations attached to the dress fell helplessly to the floor.

Camilla’s face went deathly pale when the dress she had painstakingly prepared was ruined.

“Madam! What kind of rudeness is this?”

“And what kind of rudeness is this on your part?”

Who do you think you are to go there?

Despite Clitaym’s interrogation, Camilla did not shrink back at all and answered boldly.

“Is there any reason why I cannot attend the banquet?”

“……”

At her shameless attitude, Clitaym sighed as though disgusted and glared at Camilla.

As the hostile atmosphere continued, Haley, who had been silently watching, finally rose from his chair.

“There is a limit to how much I can overlook, Clitaym.”

Clitaym gave a hollow laugh and spoke again.

“If you like her that much, take that woman as your partner.”

Go there proudly and announce that she is your mistress.

At aristocratic banquets, it was customary for a married nobleman to bring his legal wife as his partner.

In other words, unless someone had been shot in the head, they would never bring their mistress.

If someone did, it would only be a matter of time before they became the subject of gossip throughout high society.

Wanting more than anyone to appear like a proper aristocrat, Haley flinched and hesitated to answer.

“You’re my partner. Not her.”

Clitaym had not the slightest desire to be Haley’s partner, but with those words, she thoroughly crushed Camilla’s pride.

She was the mistress of the Schultz family, while Camilla was nothing more than a tool for warming his bed.

Having completely seized control of the atmosphere, she delivered one final blow to Camilla.

“Know your place, Camilla.”

She left her humiliated mistress and husband behind, their faces flushed with shame, and roughly opened the door.

Outside, her personal maid, Becky, had been waiting for Clitaym.

“M-Madam…….”

“Get me ready immediately. We’re short on time.”

Clitaym responded indifferently to Becky’s worried expression and ordered her to begin preparing.

Becky quickly followed behind her mistress, hurrying about as she began preparing in earnest for the banquet.

At last, the imperial banquet.

There was no twist this time. Haley took Clitaym as his partner to the banquet.

The carriage stopped in front of the imperial palace entrance, which was brightly illuminated by electric lights.

When the guards opened the carriage door, Haley got out first and escorted Clitaym.

The brief expression on his face when he offered her his hand was so gentle that she barely managed to suppress the urge to vomit.

“Since you beat Camilla and made it here, enjoy yourself. Just don’t make it obvious.”

After escorting her into the banquet hall, Haley whispered the warning softly into her ear before disappearing.

Clitaym frowned in displeasure, but soon the whispers that she had not heard before began reaching her ears.

“Who is that woman? Why did she come here?”

“She deceived even the god, so what wouldn’t she do?”

“I heard she’s getting divorced from her husband too?”

The karma and stigma attached to Clitaym.

She was a fake saint who had deceived the people of the Empire by claiming that she possessed divine power.

She deserved to be executed by beheading, but Clitaym was the only daughter of one of the few founding families of the Empire, which was why she had been able to survive.

‘If you’re going to do it, at least do it openly.’

She glanced at the noblewomen who were maliciously whispering behind her back, then looked down at Electra, who was tugging at her collar.

“Why? Is there somewhere you want to go?”

“Yes! Let’s go eat that over there!”

At her daughter’s pleading, Clitaym decided to put off the reason she had come to the banquet for a while and eat something first.

“Then shall we?”

She forced a smile and tried to clear her mind when—

“But I heard the reason she’s getting divorced is because of their bed life!”

“Their bed life?”

“Her mistress said that woman is like a block of wood in bed.”

Even rumors about a mistress who did not even exist, along with judgments about her performance in bed.

No matter how much she tried to ignore it, she simply could not.