She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 103

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

Chapter 103. Crime and Punishment (3)

If Rosena became the child of murderers, Evan would surely abandon her without mercy.

Her arms trembled violently.

Normally, when a lady was sitting collapsed on the floor, someone would have come to help her up.

“Ugh, how shameless.”

“I could tell what kind of person she was from the moment she stole her friend’s fiancé.”

“She really doesn’t do just one thing, does she.”

People openly frowned and passed by her.

Everyone threw a word of criticism her way.

Rosena couldn’t even lift her head, only staring at the floor.

“So does that mean Osburn has to compensate Count Panning’s inheritance?”

Just then, someone’s voice pierced her ears.

Rosena snapped to attention.

‘What? Give back the money?’

Her fingertips turned cold.

It was already unfair that her parents were dragged to prison.

And now they’d take away their money too!

‘That can’t happen.’

Rosena bit her lips tightly.

Then she grabbed her skirt and staggered to her feet.

“Oh, my.”

People quietly avoided her.

But Rosena didn’t care.

She began running desperately.

Her mind was filled only with the thought that she had to protect what wealth remained.

‘I won’t give a single penny! Don’t even dream of it!’

* * *

Rosena came running breathlessly to Osburn County.

Her hair was completely disheveled, and her hem was covered in dirt.

But she had no time to worry about such things.

‘First I need to gather mother’s jewelry—’

The moment she opened the door while organizing what she needed to do in her head.

“…!”

Rosena stopped dead in her tracks.

Cecilia was sitting quietly on a single-seat sofa placed in the center of the Drawing Room.

Simon was even serving her tea beside her.

The moment she saw this, Rosena’s teeth ground together.

To think he was Cecilia’s person while disgustingly pretending to work for her.

“Simon, you—!”

“You’re late?”

Just as Rosena was about to lash out fiercely.

Cecilia spoke.

Unlike herself who had lost everything, her voice was far too calm.

Rosena’s breath caught.

“Why, why are you here?”

“Me? I came to watch.”

Cecilia put down her teacup and looked up.

She rose from her seat.

Unlike the disheveled Rosena, she appeared as a flawless Duchess.

Cecilia looked down at Rosena quietly.

“I was curious what your face would look like after losing everything.”

“You—!”

The words spoken with such a calm expression were even more cruel.

Finally, Rosena’s eyes rolled back.

“You, you destroyed our family—!”

Rosena screamed and charged at her.

She thought she’d rather die here together with Cecilia.

But this time, Cecilia didn’t dodge either.

Thwack!

Cecilia kicked Rosena’s shin without hesitation.

“Aaah!”

Rosena lost her balance and crashed to the floor.

Pain spread throughout her body.

“You, you….”

“Do you remember? The day I ran out of my wedding with Evan.”

Cecilia straightened her clothes and spoke quietly.

“Your mother got hit by me like this too. You saw that and still didn’t learn?”

“What, what….”

Rosena’s eyes shook.

Cecilia let out a short sigh.

“Rosena. Instead of wasting time on useless emotions, think about the debt you need to repay.”

“D-debt?”

“That’s right. My parents’ inheritance.”

Cecilia’s voice was cold.

“Everything you’ve enjoyed until now.”

“Eek!”

As Cecilia took another step closer.

Rosena instinctively crawled backward.

Her back hit the sofa.

Cecilia bent down and looked down at her.

“Dresses, jewelry, banquet halls, all the things you enjoyed under the pretense of maintaining appearances.”

She even counted on her fingers as she listed each item.

“All of it is the price of my parents’ blood and lives.”

“What….”

“I’ll collect every last crown. Don’t even think about running away.”

Rosena’s heart sank with a thud.

Although she didn’t know exactly how much Count Panning’s inheritance was.

Remembering how their household suddenly became wealthy when she was around ten.

It was certainly not an amount she could handle alone.

“How, how am I….”

How could she possibly repay that money.

Rosena wanted to argue.

But Cecilia’s resolute gaze showed no sign of backing down.

‘Is it all over?’

The reality of having to give up everything she had enjoyed.

And live paying off debts from the bottom crashed down on Rosena.

“Aaaah! No! This is ridiculous!”

Rosena thrashed about and screamed.

Then she bolted upright and rushed out the door before anyone could stop her.

“Should I go after her?”

Simon asked in a low voice.

Chasing down and catching someone like Rosena would be nothing for him.

“No need. Leave her be.”

Cecilia shook her head.

After all, misery only deepens the more one dwells on it alone.

All that remained for Rosena was an endless swamp.

Instead, Cecilia pulled out a check from her coat and handed it to Simon.

“More importantly, thank you for your hard work. Please take care of cleaning up this place as well.”

“Yes, don’t worry about it.”

Leaving Simon bowing behind her,

Cecilia departed from the Osburn estate.

This place that held nothing but terrible memories for her.

She didn’t want to stay even one more second in this now desolate place.

And more than anything,

there was another place she needed to go now.

* * *

After their deaths, Count and Countess Panning were buried not in their family estate, but in a public cemetery on the outskirts.

Their estate had already been sold off after Count Osburn had stolen the land deeds.

Moreover, Count Osburn had not allowed young Cecilia to visit this place.

Since Cecilia had been breathlessly running toward revenge all this time,

it had been truly a long time since she visited her parents.

「Count and Countess Panning rest here.」

Cecilia silently looked down at her parents’ tombstone where they were buried together.

Then she carefully laid down the bouquet of white lilies she had prepared.

“…Mom, Dad.”

These were names she was calling after such a long time.

When she was young, they were words filled with love and warmth.

Now they had become names that made her heart ache just by saying them.

“I’m sorry for being so late.”

Her fingertips trembled as she caressed the tombstone.

Soon tears began falling from her eyes.

“Please forgive me. I… really missed you so much too.”

Cecilia hung her head and couldn’t move for a while.

Her tears fell onto the grass in front of the tombstone and soaked in deeply.

Only after quite some time had passed did she wipe her eyes with her sleeve.

And it was the moment she looked at the tombstone again.

‘…Huh?’

Come to think of it, the tombstone was somehow clean.

The surroundings were also neatly maintained without a single weed.

Of course, since it was a public cemetery, there would be a caretaker.

But she could feel a level of care that went beyond that everywhere.

As she tilted her head with a puzzled expression,

“Oh.”

Along with the sound of footsteps,

a boy appeared carrying a worn cloth.

Seeing someone in front of the grave unlike usual, the boy also seemed quite flustered.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, I, I just clean tombstones and get paid for it…”

“You mean this grave?”

The boy nodded at Cecilia’s question.

“Yes, a few months ago a really tall and handsome man came. He said he’d give me 2 crowns a day if I cleaned the tombstone every day.”

The boy hesitated for a moment, then whispered even more quietly as if revealing a secret.

“Actually… he gives me even more than that.”

Cecilia couldn’t continue speaking for a while.

She seemed to know who the ‘tall and handsome man’ the boy mentioned was

without having to ask for his name.

‘Rainer…’

Even the place she couldn’t take care of herself,

he had been silently protecting in her stead.

Tears welled up again at the thought that she wasn’t alone.

“Are… are you okay?”

The boy looked worried that he might lose his job.

Cecilia smiled and gently patted the child’s head.

“It’s fine. Thanks to you, my parents seem to be resting comfortably, so I’m relieved too. Please continue to take good care of them.”

* * *

After the trial,

Cecilia was extremely busy for a while.

Today too, she was returning after attending the Security Bureau from morning to finish giving testimony about Trisha.

“Wendy, for lunch today I’ll have something simple in my room—”

It was the moment Cecilia was taking off her coat to hand it to Wendy.

“You filthy thing!”

Along with a sharp voice,

Smack—!

Elise, who had rushed out, roughly struck Cecilia’s cheek.

She screamed in a voice filled with rage.

“How dare you, how dare you make Jeremy the bloodline of a murderer? Someone like you!”

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