Chapter 5
“Return every coin I ever spent on you.”
“Hah!”
Cedric let out an incredulous laugh.
“So that’s what you are? A gold digger?”
His eyes filled with contempt as he looked at her.
“A gold digger?”
Emilia was momentarily speechless.
“Yes. I am. So give me my money back.”
She held out her hand without wavering.
“Since you clearly never considered me your fiancée, then I should at least be paid for all the labor I did for your family.”
She had never helped them expecting anything in return.
But now that things had come to this…
She figured she might as well recover every penny she could.
“W-What nonsense are you talking about?!”
Unable to win even a single exchange with her, Cedric’s face twisted with anger.
Emilia, however, had no intention of arguing with him any longer.
“If you’re not going to hand it over yourself, then move.”
With that, she picked up her suitcase and walked straight into the house.
“Hey!”
Cedric, who had been leaning against the doorway, was struck by the suitcase and stumbled backward.
Inside, Reina stood frozen in surprise.
Emilia merely glanced at her before walking deeper into the house.
She threw open the doors of an ornate display cabinet and set her suitcase on the floor.
Crash.
Without the slightest hesitation, she swept everything valuable from the cabinet into the suitcase.
Several ornaments tumbled to the floor and shattered.
Just then, Cedric stormed in behind her.
“Hey!”
“I’m busy, so don’t talk to me.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
He grabbed her arm roughly and yanked her to her feet.
Crash!
At the same time, another glass ornament fell and shattered.
“What? What’s your problem?”
“You wouldn’t pay me, so I’m taking what I’m owed.”
Emilia jerked her arm free from his grip.
Her eyes fell on the display cabinet.
A bitter sadness welled up inside her.
The truth was…
There had always been plenty of valuables in this house.
Even after the family lost their fortune, they had stubbornly refused to sell any of them, treating them like priceless heirlooms.
Instead…
They had simply spent her money whenever they needed it.
“Have you completely lost your mind?! You’re nothing but a thief!”
Smack!
Unable to contain his rage, Cedric swung his hand across her face with all his strength.
“Ah!”
Her head snapped to the side, and Emilia collapsed onto the floor.
Hearing the commotion, Mrs. Romans hurried out of her room.
“What is going on here?!”
She gasped at the disastrous state of the house before rushing to the display cabinet.
“Oh no… all these precious things!”
She stared helplessly at the shattered ornaments scattered across the floor.
“Reina.”
“Y-Yes?”
Reina, who had been watching everything in stunned silence, flinched at the sound of Emilia’s voice.
“Are you really going to be all right?”
Emilia looked directly at her.
“Living with a man who hits women whenever he’s angry…”
“And with a mother-in-law who doesn’t even care when her son raises his hand against one.”
“I-I…”
“You’re going to regret it.”
Reina’s eyes trembled with unease.
But Emilia soon looked away.
She pushed herself to her feet.
The cheek Cedric had struck throbbed painfully.
He really hit me hard…
She had said those words confidently…
But even she had never imagined Cedric would actually hit her.
They had argued before.
Many times.
But never—not once—had he ever laid a hand on her.
I’ve learned an awful lot about him these past few days.
The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.
At that moment, Mrs. Romans spun around furiously.
Crunch.
The shards of the broken ornaments crumbled beneath her shoes.
“Emilia! What did you just say?!”
Apparently, hearing Emilia criticize both her and Cedric had finally set her off.
Emilia didn’t even bother responding.
Instead, she closed the now-full suitcase.
Zip.
“You’re ignoring me?!”
“No.”
Emilia turned to face her calmly.
“I heard you perfectly well.”
“But since you also heard what I said…”
“I don’t see any reason to repeat myself.”
“W-What did you say?! You—!”
Mrs. Romans stormed toward her.
But in her fury, she stepped on the broken pieces and slipped.
“Oh my!”
“Mother!”
“Mrs. Romans! Are you all right?”
Cedric and Reina rushed over to help her up.
Watching them without emotion, Emilia spoke to Reina one last time.
“It must be exhausting taking care of this family while you’re pregnant.”
…And thank you.
Thank you for making sure I never became part of this family.
“W-What?”
Mrs. Romans stared blankly, unable to process what Emilia had just said.
By then…
Emilia was already walking out the front door without a trace of hesitation.
The wheels of her suitcase rattled loudly as they rolled over the doorstep.
“That insolent little—! What did she just say?!”
Mrs. Romans screamed, grabbing whatever objects were within reach and hurling them after Emilia.
None of them came anywhere close to hitting her.
* * *
After Emilia left…
“Hah! Honestly!”
Mrs. Romans spun around in disbelief.
The sight of the wrecked house only made her blood boil even more.
“Cedric!”
“Did you hear the way she spoke to us? How can someone be so arrogant?!”
“Exactly.”
Cedric scoffed.
“She acted like she was better than everyone right until the very end.”
“I must have lost my mind, thinking of accepting that girl as my daughter-in-law.”
In truth…
It had been Mrs. Romans who pushed Emilia toward Cedric in the first place.
Once Cedric reached marriageable age, she had become increasingly anxious.
After the family’s downfall, not a single noblewoman wanted to marry into their house.
So she chose Emilia—
The prettiest and smartest girl in the entire village.
Of course…
She had never truly approved of her.
Naturally not.
No matter how pretty or clever Emilia was…
She was still nothing more than a commoner girl with no parents.
What was I thinking?
If she had known Cedric would eventually bring home such a perfect bride on his own…
She never would have rushed him into an engagement.
Still…
At least she left of her own accord.
That worked out well enough.
Even if she had completely turned both their home and their lives upside down before leaving.
Mrs. Romans turned toward Reina with an approving smile.
Just as expected of the daughter of a count.
She carried herself with effortless elegance.
Even standing still, she radiated noble grace.
She and Emilia had been born into entirely different worlds.
She’s exactly the kind of woman worthy of my son.
Erasing the venom from her expression, Mrs. Romans spoke gently.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am that someone like you came to Cedric.”
“We almost ended up bringing that vicious woman into our family.”
“Ah… Y-Yes…”
“And you’ve even blessed us with a child already.”
Mrs. Romans failed to notice the change in Reina’s expression.
“You’re going to regret it.”
Reina’s hand tightened around her dress until the fabric wrinkled beneath trembling fingers.
She couldn’t stop seeing Emilia’s back as she walked away…
Looking freer than she had ever seemed before.
And those final words—
They hadn’t sounded like a curse.
They had sounded…
Like absolute certainty.
