She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 107

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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 107. A Suffocating Reality
Elise had returned to the Hays Mansion in Brisen.
Rather than formally imprisoning her, the Imperial Palace
allowed her to remain at the Hays Ducal Mansion and submit to investigation.
It was a decision made in consideration of her status as a great noble
and the various issues that had recently surrounded the Hays Ducal Family.
Both Cecilia and Rainer accepted that decision.
The evidence was already sufficient,
and there was no possibility of Elise recovering, even her own maternal home had turned its back on her.
Of course, that didn’t mean they intended to let Elise stay comfortably in this house.
“…Are you telling me to use this room now?”
Elise’s voice trembled.
Cecilia had personally prepared a room for Elise.
It was not the spacious and ornate bedroom Elise had once occupied.
A single small window. A narrow, damp space.
Wallpaper peeling in places, with only a bed and nightstand—a shabby room.
And most of all—
‘This place…!’
Ten years ago.
This was the very room where she had locked away young Rainer and tormented him relentlessly.
To think that she now had to stay in that miserable, wretched space.
“Please bear with it just until the investigation is complete. Your room is currently under renovation, you see.”
Cecilia spoke with perfect composure.
It was clearly a lie.
There couldn’t possibly be a single empty room in this vast mansion.
Rainer and Cecilia.
The two of them were clearly joining hands to exact their revenge upon her.
“….”
Elise’s body trembled at the unbearable humiliation.
She clenched her fists tightly.
“Oh my, you don’t dislike this room, do you?”
Cecilia tilted her head as if she knew nothing.
“If my husband hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have even known such a room existed.”
“Ha….”
“I’m so grateful we can keep you close in the Main Residence rather than the Annex.”
She even broke into a full smile.
Elise’s eyes flashed as she witnessed this.
“…You.”
Elise gritted her teeth.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that you’re mocking me right now?”
“Mockery, you say?”
Cecilia continued to smile softly and shook her head.
Her hand gently grasped Elise’s arm.
Elise’s body trembled slightly.
“This room is where you treated Rainer with such ‘affection,’ isn’t it? You must be struggling so much these days—wouldn’t those past memories provide you some comfort?”
Cecilia’s hand slowly traveled up her arm and gripped Elise’s shoulder firmly.
Elise winced at the sharp pain.
“And if you speak that way, I feel hurt. Did I ever ask you to slap my cheek? Did I ever ask you to feed me garbage?”
These were all things Elise had done in the past.
It sounded like a warning that she would repay them in kind if necessary.
The air in the room grew heavy and oppressive.
Only Elise’s ragged breathing echoed through the silence.
Cecilia looked down at her with eyes gleaming with victory.
“I don’t do such things. So please cooperate quietly with the Knights Order during the investigation.”
She turned and headed toward the door.
“Oh, and.”
With her hand on the doorknob, Cecilia added.
“House of Hays does not tolerate murderers. You know that well, don’t you?”
“You…!”
Elise’s eyes widened in shock.
It was a declaration that once the investigation ended, she would be cast out completely.
Another pillar of her existence was crumbling.
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Elise screamed.
“How dare you take House of Hays from me—!”
But Cecilia didn’t even want to hear it.
She slammed the door shut and left.
“Aaaahhh!”
Elise’s anguished scream echoed through the room.
* * *
“Papa, papa.”
While troubles swept in like a storm.
Jeremy had grown considerably.
The child could walk on two feet and speak to some degree.
Most parents would have rejoiced at such a sight.
But Evan was not like most parents.
“Get away. Can’t you see I’m busy?”
He pushed Jeremy away as the child approached.
His mind was endlessly turbulent.
During the time he served his sentence of hard labor.
His company was already nothing but a hollow shell.
A sign reading “Temporarily Closed” hung on the office door.
Even Thomas, who had been a faithful employee, had eventually left.
What he had lost was not limited to the company.
“The Young Duke is no different.”
“There were problems with the Duchess from the start anyway.”
Wherever Evan went.
Piercing stares from people followed him.
Now all that remained for him was the hollow title of Young Duke and.
A debt of seven thousand crowns.
And a wife who was the daughter of a murderer.
‘Why won’t the Duke allow a divorce?’
He had wanted to cast out Rosena and make a fresh start.
But even this plan had been blocked by Cecilia.
‘A divorce? Don’t speak such nonsense.’
‘Why…!’
‘There is Jeremy between the two of you. I cannot permit it.’
Among the nobility, marriage was a union between houses.
Without permission, one could not simply divorce.
And all decision-making authority rested with Rainer and Cecilia.
‘Has Cecilia lost her mind? How can she maintain in-laws with a murderer’s family?’
It made no sense by any reasonable standard.
Evan ground his teeth and seethed inwardly.
“Waaaah!”
Then, contrary to his expectations, when his father refused to play with him.
Jeremy collapsed to the floor and burst into tears.
“Jeremy! Jeremy!”
At that sound, Rosena rushed over frantically and scooped the child into her arms.
The only reason she could remain in this house was entirely because of Jeremy.
Rosena herself was well aware of this fact.
Recently, her obsession with Jeremy had reached fever pitch.
“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Did something happen?”
“Sob, sniff…sniff…”
“How pathetic.”
Evan didn’t even blink at his child’s sorrowful crying.
Instead, he spat on the floor with disgust.
“I can’t stand the sight of you—take the child and get out.”
“Evan, but he’s still your son—you shouldn’t say such things―”
“Ugh!”
When Rosena tried to appease him through Jeremy.
Evan bellowed at the top of his lungs.
His son! That’s exactly what made this worse!
Rage surged up from deep within me.
It felt like shackles I could neither escape nor sever.
“Ha! What business do I have talking to someone like you? A murderer’s daughter, no less.”
“….”
“That’s enough. If you won’t leave, then I will.”
Evan didn’t even spare a glance at Jeremy, who was still weeping.
He brushed past Rosena roughly.
“Wait, Evan! Don’t go!”
“Dad!”
Pitiful voices echoed from behind.
Yet Evan never once looked back.
His retreating figure carried nothing but exhaustion and disgust.
* * *
That night.
Evan wandered 62nd Street again.
The memory of his previous humiliation mattered little now.
What he needed was something intense enough to make him forget reality, even for a moment.
Whether it was alcohol or women, it didn’t matter.
“Sir! This way, please!”
“Come now! Just one sip and we’ll take you straight to paradise!”
The touts’ relentless cries filled the street.
Amid the garish lights and cacophony of noise.
Evan finally felt as though he were alive.
“My, what a handsome gentleman!”
“How about spending some time with me tonight?”
Brazen women in cheap attire poured forth their shameless advances.
Evan felt a strange sense of pride swell within him.
‘That’s right, Evan Hays. You’re not dead yet.’
Upon spotting a woman to his liking, he reached into his pocket at once.
‘…Damn it.’
But all his fingers grasped was a mere 2 crowns.
In the past, he would have had dozens of crowns bundled in there.
Evan’s expression darkened.
“My, sir! Do you have time this evening?”
As he hesitated, the woman turned away without hesitation toward another man.
Evan watched her go with bitter eyes, then turned his head.
‘I’ll just drink instead.’
In the end, he made his way to the cheapest tavern on the street.
A tavern where the lower classes gathered nightly, free to drink as much cheap gin as they desired until intoxication claimed them.
Evan claimed a corner seat at the bar and drained two glasses of gin in quick succession.
The searing sensation blazed down his throat with crystalline clarity.
‘How did it come to this?’
The weight of reality crashed over me like a relentless tide.
Evan exhaled a sigh so profound it seemed to hollow out the very ground beneath him.
He pressed his forehead into his palm and bowed his head deeply.
That was when it happened.
“Excuse me.”
A tentative voice reached him from beside.
“Are you alright?”

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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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