Chapter 3

Anais kept her mouth shut. It looked like she was going to sign the papers without a fight, so there was no need to upset her.

Egbert and Anais had never once slept together. At first, Egbert acted like a devoted believer and a man deeply in love.

“God hasn’t allowed us to be together yet, Anais. I want to wait for that day.”

Anais believed him, thinking he was just being religious and wanted to stay pure until the right time.

But that wasn’t the truth.

After the death of Marquis Graham, Egbert showed clearly that he hated the bride his grandfather had chosen for him.

But a child?

“You have to look at the sky to count the stars. Just because someone says something doesn’t mean it’s true.”

Anais wondered if Egbert was so clueless that he didn’t even know how babies were made.

She looked at the staggering Egbert and thought things like that.

“Hoo. Here it is.”

Egbert took his personal seal out of a drawer and lazily stamped the divorce papers. He waved the paper in front of Anais.

“Here, my oh-so-perfect wife. See? I stamped it. You can finish the rest yourself.”

Egbert smirked.

“But you should really think about it. Once we’re divorced, you’ll be kicked out of this house and lose access to the bank account. Who’s going to take care of your poor parents? Do you even have a place to go?”

He shrugged.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just stay here and live comfortably like now? My grandpa, the only one who gave you money, has been dead a long time. If he saw you now, he’d probably jump out of his grave.”

What a rude, disrespectful man who doesn’t even respect his own grandfather.

Anais smiled brightly and took the divorce papers.

“Thanks for the concern, Egbert. I’ll take care of this.”

She turned around smoothly.

As she stepped out of the bedroom, she heard Sofia screaming with joy behind her. Sofia clearly thought she would take Anais’s place now.

Anais didn’t care.

She looked calmly at the completed divorce paper. After two and a half years, it was finally done.

That night

Egbert sat up in bed, frowning from a pounding headache. The alcohol he drank that morning still hadn’t worn off.

He pushed Sofia, who was clinging to him in her sleep, and got out of bed.

“Hoo.”

He thought Anais had come to see him today.

His memory was fuzzy. He had spent the whole day drinking too much and having fun with the excited Sofia. His stomach felt sick.

Why had Anais come to see him?

He remembered her saying something and asking for something… he wasn’t sure.

Egbert tilted his head and pulled the bell cord. A servant came in quickly, as if he was used to being called even this late.

“Something light for dinner. And get me something for this headache.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Egbert didn’t even realize that it was already 11 p.m.—much too late for dinner. He stretched his neck as he put on his robe.

“Where’s Anais? Is she in her room?”

He wanted to check what she had said earlier.

The servant bowed even lower.

“My lady has not returned yet.”

“…What?”

Egbert frowned. Anais was sometimes late during busy seasons, but this wasn’t one of those times. It was the beginning of summer. It wasn’t even the end of the month.

Then, a memory he had forgotten suddenly came back.

‘This is the divorce agreement.’

Egbert ran a hand down his face. What a horrible memory.

It couldn’t be. Anais was a smart woman. She knew clearly that if she left, she would lose everything.

She wasn’t the type to give all that up. That woman—so cold and stiff—she wouldn’t do that.

‘This is the divorce agreement.’

Anais’s calm and clear voice echoed again in his head. The words hit him like a slap.

Wait a minute. Divorce?

She wants that?

Egbert let out a low chuckle. He was finally free. It was starting to feel real.

At least, it did at that moment.

He truly thought there was nothing to regret. Even when he received the signed divorce confirmation, and the official updated records from the lawyer, Genus, everything seemed fine.

He focused more on spending time with Sofia and Lucia. He had never cared about hiding it, but now he didn’t even have to pretend anymore. No more pressure from the old man’s shadow.

He didn’t care where Anais went, what she was doing, or how she was living.

Egbert only thought about Anais again about a week after receiving the divorce confirmation.

He had a pounding headache from drinking too much the night before. As he blinked groggily and got out of bed to drink some water, Anais came to mind.

‘She probably went back to that poor, crappy house of hers.’

He had visited Anais’s family home once before the wedding, forced by his grandfather. He remembered how shocked he was that their sunroom was barely the size of his own bathroom.

‘She used to live there. Can’t wait to see how she handles going back to that tiny place.’

Egbert smirked. He pulled the bell cord, and the bell rang.

“You called, my lord?”

“Oliver, bring Genus here. Right now.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Thinking about Anais reminded Egbert of the bank he had been neglecting.

The Graham Bank.
For the past five years, it had been the royal bank managing the royal city’s large assets.

“The old man had a good business sense, I’ll give him that,”
Egbert smacked his lips.

After a light breakfast, he went into the drawing room. His lawyer, Genus, was already waiting.

“It’s been a week, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, Marquis Graham,” Genus replied in a professional tone.

“You should’ve come to me before the week was up. Don’t you think? The bank transfer went smoothly, I assume? Anais caused quite a mess acting like she owned the place, huh? You must’ve had a hard time.”

Egbert sat in a lazy position, laughing quietly to himself. It was already close to 11 a.m., but he still smelled strongly of alcohol.

“I guess I’ll have to start going to work at the bank tomorrow. Tsk, I already feel annoyed just thinking about it. If Anais hadn’t acted out like some arrogant fool, none of this would’ve happened. She didn’t get any alimony, right?”

Egbert let out a long sigh that reeked of alcohol, then drank some water. He still felt a bit dizzy.

“A woman who couldn’t even have a child—why should she get money? She didn’t do her duties, just walked around all stiff and cold.”

He remembered her high-necked dresses and the emotionless, cold eyes she always gave him. Just thinking about it made him sick.

“I followed the will of the late Lord Graham exactly, Marquis,” Genus said calmly.

“The old man? Did he at least leave her some money or something? Always too soft-hearted.”

Egbert frowned.

Genus stared quietly at the drunken Egbert. While he was still living like a useless fool, Anais had been calmly working through everything she had planned.

She had already completed the process of inheriting everything promised to her by the late Marquis Graham before the marriage.

Egbert, the clueless drunk, had no idea.

“And you don’t need to go to the bank.”

“Why not? Oh—did you already appoint someone to take care of things? As expected, you’re very capable.”

The financial world was buzzing over this unusual inheritance, but Egbert didn’t know anything.

He clearly hadn’t read today’s morning paper either—one that was all over the news.

Genus sighed, feeling sorry—not for Egbert, but for the late Lord Graham, who had worried about his foolish grandson even on his deathbed.

Genus pulled a newspaper out of his bag and placed it on the table.

“What’s this? Some article I need to see…?”

Egbert grabbed the newspaper. As he read the huge headline on the front page, his hazy mind suddenly cleared up.

He read the article again and again. Unless his drunk eyes were seeing wrong…

[Royal Graham Bank, Inherited by Anais Barnaby.]