About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 115

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 115. We’ve Left the Courthouse
Matilda froze in bewilderment.
“A lawsuit? What lawsuit?”
“That’s all I know.”
The Unknown Man handed the documents to Matilda, then rose abruptly from his seat.
He departed without so much as a proper greeting to Matilda, who had long served as Count Bilsty’s proxy—no courtesy, no acknowledgment whatsoever.
Matilda watched his retreating figure for a moment, as though his business here was concluded and nothing more mattered.
Though she found it infuriating, her wits hadn’t entirely abandoned her.
Matilda knew this man well.
He was deferential to the powerful and dismissive of the weak.
For him to treat me, the Count’s proxy, with such contempt?
‘If he knew nothing, he would never behave this way.’
This lawsuit was decidedly bad news for Matilda.
Anxiety seized her as she stared at the documents in her trembling hands.
‘Who on earth filed this lawsuit?’
As she tilted her head in confusion, Wood’s voice came from behind her.
“That was a court official, wasn’t it? What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s suing me?”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. But his demeanor was so cold—he’s no ordinary person.”
Matilda tore open the documents.
As she read the contents, her eyes widened in shock. A sensation like her heart plummeting struck her with devastating force.
“This… this can’t be… it’s impossible…”
Matilda’s hands trembled violently as she gripped the papers. Her jaw hung slack, all dignity forgotten.
“What kind of lawsuit is this that’s shaken you so?”
Wood stepped beside her and peered at the documents.
“An annulment suit between Count Veloda Genoma and Priscilla Bilsty. And… suspension of the proxy’s administrative authority?”
Wood’s eyes widened as he read aloud only portions of the contents.
“What?! And they’ve retained Gillian as counsel?”
Matilda staggered and collapsed into a chair before the tea table.
“How… how is this possible? Priscilla… she’s alive?”
Wood’s eyes went wide with shock at her words.
“…Wait! Then was what I saw real?”
Matilda turned to face Wood.
“What? You have a suspicion?”
“No, I saw a woman who resembled her. I thought I was mistaken… but it really was Priscilla, wasn’t it?”
Matilda sprang to her feet, her ears refusing to believe what she heard.
“Are you in your right mind? How can you mention this now?! When?! Where did you see her?”
“…”
Wood felt suddenly wronged.
I had certainly gone to Matilda to inform her of that fact. But it was undoubtedly Matilda who had ignored me and indulged in those scandalous hours.
“But you said she was dead. Surely our Melissa was pushed into the sea….”
In that moment, Wood realized there was a Mute Maid nearby and quickly covered his mouth.
He hastily assessed the maid’s demeanor.
She seemed utterly bored, absorbed in picking at her cuticles.
Matilda, catching Wood’s slip of the tongue, asked the maid coldly and sharply.
“Did you hear that?”
The maid didn’t answer, keeping her focus on her nails.
“Hey!”
When Matilda suddenly raised her voice, the maid startled and bowed her head deeply.
“I-I’m so sorry, ma’am!”
Her expression suggested she hadn’t heard a word of their previous conversation.
Sensing that further probing would only invite trouble, Matilda felt reassured and gestured toward the tea table.
“Tsk, we have one more person here—shouldn’t you be pouring tea? Why are you so careless? Fresh off the boat and already lazy as they come.”
At those words, Wood sat down across from Matilda.
The maid hastily served Wood his tea, apologizing profusely the entire time.
Though relieved by the maid’s simple-minded demeanor, Matilda exhaled a heavy sigh.
She was deeply shocked, but this was no time to be paralyzed by it. She needed to devise a strategy.
Matilda reviewed the documents once more.
If Priscilla pressed the matter, the most troublesome charge would be Melissa’s attempted murder.
But that section was missing from the documents.
Matilda tilted her head in confusion, then reached her own conclusion.
‘Hmm, it seems there’s no evidence beyond her own claims?’
If so, the situation was somewhat more favorable.
Numerous strategies suddenly flooded Matilda’s mind.
First, she needed to summon Count Veloda Genoma to the Bilsty Estate quickly.
And she needed to contact Melissa as well.
Melissa must come with the Kingdom’s finest legal team.
She also needed to retain a lawyer to hold the line until they arrived.
‘Finding a lawyer is troublesome. And of all people, she had to choose him.’
No suitable opponent came to mind to face the undefeated Gillian.
It was then.
“H-hello, Countess Bilsty.”
When had he arrived?
Turning around, she saw a Postal Officer dismounting from a horse with a mail bag slung around his neck.
He rummaged through the bag and withdrew several letters.
“Your mail, ma’am. This time there’s a letter from your daughter as well.”
He handed several pieces of correspondence to Matilda and mounted his horse again.
“Then have a good day.”
As Matilda opened Melissa’s letter, her brow furrowed sharply.
She had learned through a designer at the Raber Salon that Priscilla—whom she had pushed into the sea to her death—was alive.
The letter also contained a brief account of what had become of Priscilla afterward.
There was even news that they had traced the origin of the song Olivia used to sing.
“Ugh, how infuriating. Why would she send a letter containing such crucial information this late?”
Matilda, who had been muttering to herself, soon fell silent.
‘That woman got lucky meeting some decent man and is grinding her teeth over it, but what can she really do with that….’
One corner of Matilda’s mouth lifted.
It was possible that Priscilla harbored resentment. After all, she had nearly died.
The doctor who had left with her might have persuaded her.
But her timid, gentle nature couldn’t have changed so drastically.
The very fact that she hadn’t included Melissa’s attempted murder in the charges proved it.
‘Even if she does what the man tells her, she must be trembling inside… And her funds have limits. Wait, that fool and the doctor couldn’t possibly manage a fiefdom, could they?’
Moreover, she couldn’t possibly know that the key she possessed was the crucial heirloom for inheriting the estate.
That information had only recently been conveyed to Count Veloda Genoma, Priscilla’s heir.
‘The marriage must not be annulled under any circumstances. I’ll respond properly, but if we meet, I should try to sweet-talk her appropriately.’
Matilda’s mind began to work rapidly.
First, she needed to inform the press of this fact and frame the crux of the lawsuit around Priscilla’s infidelity.
If the fiefdom became a contentious issue, it would burden Priscilla even if she became a countess.
‘I just need to make sure Gillian can’t be used. After pressuring him into abandoning the lawsuit, I’ll give her what she needs at an appropriate level….’
In truth, even she thought she had blocked Priscilla’s succession to the title for quite a long time. Now it might be difficult to prevent it.
‘Then rather than that, I should let her inherit the title as if I’ve been waiting for it, and maintain her status as Countess Veloda Genoma as well.’
That way, she could secure the vast estate. The estate Priscilla didn’t know about.
She herself would pretend ignorance of it and generously allow that doctor to become her lover.
‘She’ll be moved by that. Anyone would see me as a sufficiently generous mother, wouldn’t they? Besides, without me, how would she even manage the fiefdom from the start?’
Managing the fiefdom.
Thinking of that part gave her even more confidence. There was no way a mere commoner doctor could handle the affairs of nobility.
‘Surely he’ll make mistakes regarding taxes and such? Later, I can use that as a pretext to drive him out. If Melissa gains more power, I could even have him executed.’
Having reached her own conclusions, Matilda ordered the Mute Maid to bring her writing paper, envelopes, a quill pen, and a cigarette holder.
“Phew… Good news and bad news usually do come together.”
Unable to contain his curiosity at the changed atmosphere, Wood asked.
“Why is that?”
Matilda laughed with ease while exhaling cigarette smoke.
“That’s just how it is.”
Matilda savored a cigarette thoroughly before sealing two letters.
She informed them that Priscilla, who possessed the key, was in the fiefdom, and wrote out her thoughts and future plans.
One letter was for Count Veloda Genoma, and one was for Melissa.
Matilda handed the envelopes to the Mute Maid’s hands.
“Go quickly and register them at the Communication Bureau. Spare no expense—send them by the fastest mail available.”
“Yes, understood, madam.”
Watching the Mute Maid leave, Matilda rose from her seat. Then she gestured with her chin toward the Muscleman, whom she had hired along with the maid.
“Let’s go.”
I also spoke to Wood.
“We have somewhere to be immediately.”
Matilda led Wood and the Muscleman to Gillian’s Law Office.
She seated Gillian before her and talked incessantly.
“I thought the girl died in an accident, but she came back alive. She stabbed me in the back, that’s what. I don’t know how that man manipulated her, but still.”
Matilda grumbled for a long time, cursing Priscilla as foolish and ungrateful.
“And shamefully, there’s adultery involved. As a mother, I simply cannot overlook this annulment suit. Don’t you agree?”
Gillian merely nodded once, his expression indifferent.
Emboldened by his response, Matilda pressed her point with greater confidence.
“So I need a lawyer who can win this trial for me.”
Gillian’s eyes rolled slightly.
In one corner of the cramped office stood a man who appeared to be a Coachman and a burly Muscleman.
The Coachman was one thing, but the Muscleman with scars across his face was clearly there for intimidation.
Gillian couldn’t hide his bewilderment and smiled wryly.
“Hmm… I mention this just to be safe, but if you’re asking me to represent both sides in the same case, that’s impossible. There’s a law against defending both plaintiff and defendant simultaneously. The documents sent to the Mansion should have had the lawyer’s name clearly written on them, no?”
Matilda’s lips curved into a sinister smile.
“That’s precisely why I’m here. Simultaneous representation is difficult, but withdrawal is possible.”
One of Gillian’s eyebrows twitched.
“You’re asking me to abandon the lawsuit?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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