She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 119

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

Chapter 119. House of Hays
“Upon receiving your inheritance, you will renounce all ties and rights to the House of Hays, effective immediately.”
“…What?”
“I’m saying we sever your connection to House of Hays here and now.”
The air froze in an instant.
Evan blinked rapidly.
Rainer signed the documents first with an icy expression.
Beside his signature lay Cecilia’s neat handwriting, already in place.
“….”
For a moment, Rainer’s eyes deepened as he observed this.
This too was her plan.
‘We can’t keep such a man as our son forever, can we?’
Though she had spoken it as a jest.
Rainer understood.
It was time to strip away the last thing remaining in Evan’s hands.
Evan picked up the documents with a vacant expression.
“H-how….”
“I was the one who adopted you in the first place. So it’s my prerogative to cast you out again.”
Rainer adjusted his posture slowly.
“And thanks to what your wife has done, I have more than sufficient justification. Wouldn’t you agree?”
The air in the study grew cold and heavy.
Harry’s face momentarily betrayed satisfaction before returning to blankness under Rainer’s gaze.
‘Damn it….’
Evan gnawed at his fingernails.
He recalled what Rainer had said when he first entered House of Hays.
‘Adoption was simply the most convenient procedure among many options.’
‘And we skipped all the other formalities.’
In the end, his standing in House of Hays rested entirely in Rainer’s hands.
With his reputation already in ruins in society due to various scandals.
There would be no one to contest Rainer’s decision.
“Sigh….”
Evan lowered his head.
Just a little longer and the Ducal Title would have fallen into his grasp.
It pained him to release it with his own hands.
His gaze turned toward the disownment notice.
‘…Wait.’
The moment Cecilia’s signature caught his eye.
His expression shifted.
‘Then I’d become a complete stranger to her?’
Until now, the legal bond of parent and child had been a shackle.
There was no longer any reason to hold back.
Evan’s mind raced with possibilities.
‘So what if I’m not a Duke? Becoming the Duchess’s lover isn’t such a bad alternative, is it?’
With this inheritance, I could build a successful business and return to high society.
By then, I would have remarried Katarina.
Each of us would keep our own spouse while enjoying a secret affair with Cecilia.
The corners of Evan’s mouth twitched upward.
‘That’s right. What does the name Hays matter anyway? Money is all that counts.’
Having made his decision, Evan picked up the quill pen.
「I, Evan Machi, hereby agree to all terms of this disownment notice and confirm that I shall not request any rights or authority related to House of Hays henceforth. Signature: _______」
Evan Machi.
I wrote down the name I had forgotten for so long.
The moment the quill left the paper, a strange sense of liberation washed over me.
“Here you are. It’s done.”
Evan slid the documents back toward Rainer.
Rainer silently picked them up and nodded.
“Good. It’s all finished.”
He handed the documents to Harry and spoke dryly.
“I wish you the best of luck, Evan Machi.”
“Yes, well. Thank you.”
Evan replied halfheartedly and gathered his bag.
The legal father-son relationship was now severed.
There was no longer any need to maintain courtesy.
‘Hmph, I’ll steal your wife soon enough.’
He stood up abruptly, clutching his bag.
“I’ll be going now.”
Without even acknowledging Rainer’s farewell, he left the Study immediately.
* * *
New schemes were already forming rapidly in Evan’s mind.
Just then, he caught sight of Cecilia walking down the Corridor ahead.
Evan’s lips twisted into a smile.
“Ah! Duchess!”
Cecilia, who had been walking briskly, came to a stop.
Upon seeing Evan’s face, she frowned.
But he paid no mind and approached her.
“Perfect timing, Lia. I was hoping to see your face before I left.”
“…What? Lia?”
The unwelcome nickname caused Cecilia’s brow to furrow.
But Evan merely grinned.
“I was just disowned from this House.”
He spoke as though he were boasting.
Cecilia’s eyes narrowed at his unexpected attitude.
I had thought he would cling desperately to the name of Hays, even unto death.
‘Has the shock addled his mind?’
When Cecilia said nothing, her expression one of utter disbelief,
Evan shrugged his shoulders with shameless audacity.
He stepped closer with a leisurely smile.
“What I’m saying is, we’re now complete strangers. There’s nothing holding us back anymore.”
“Nothing holding us back?”
“All this time, we’ve been at odds because of this whole parent-child business.”
Evan laughed with sinister intent.
“Now we’re just a man and a woman again.”
“…What?”
A hollow laugh escaped Cecilia’s lips.
Evan twisted his mouth upward, savoring even that reaction.
“Now I’m free, and I have money. If I just run one business properly, I can climb back up in no time.”
His gaze swept across Cecilia with blatant intent.
“By then, Lia, your feelings might change too.”
Cecilia’s eyes grew cold and distant.
Why did she have to listen to such nonsense?
“You’re delusional.”
“If you grow tired of that boring duke, I could always serve as your lover—what?”
“Listen here, Evan Machi.”
Cecilia pronounced his name with deliberate precision.
Evan stopped mid-sentence.
“I am the heir of Count Panning’s house and the sole mistress of the Empire’s ducal family. What could I possibly lack that would make me take someone like you as a lover? Honestly, you….”
Cecilia’s gaze swept slowly from the crown of Evan’s head to his feet.
Then her lips curved upward.
“Your appearance is far too shabby for that.”
“What, what?!”
“Instead of spouting nonsense, why don’t you use that excess money to take care of yourself? Your face has gone slack from drinking. You look ten years older.”
“What did you just say?”
Evan’s face flushed crimson in an instant.
“How dare you—”
“Dare?”
Evan reflexively raised his arm to strike.
But Cecilia didn’t even blink.
Instead, she stepped closer.
“Go ahead and try.”
“You, even so—”
“This is the Hays Ducal House. And you’re no longer part of House of Hays.”
“…!”
Evan, who had been on the verge of striking her down that very instant, froze.
Cecilia regarded him with a mocking gaze as she spoke.
“How should one handle a man who dares raise his hand against the Duchess in the Ducal House? You’re well aware that this manor has quite a few strong Servants, aren’t you?”
“I, I….”
Evan’s lips trembled violently.
Yet he could say nothing more.
“Just you wait! I’ll make sure you regret what you’ve done today!”
He clenched his teeth, turned on his heel, and descended the Staircase.
The sound of the front door slamming shut echoed through the Manor.
‘Hmph, regret indeed.’
Cecilia scoffed and turned her head away.
Then, I noticed Rainer standing at the far end of the Corridor.
“Rainer.”
“Are you alright?”
“Oh, you saw everything?”
Cecilia felt oddly embarrassed.
He had witnessed the entire quarrel just now.
It was mortifying.
She cleared her throat awkwardly and avoided his gaze.
“You didn’t back down an inch in that argument.”
“He keeps provoking me.”
As I grumbled softly, a faint smile played at the corners of Rainer’s lips.
He drew closer and cupped my cheek with his hand.
“You did well. I’d say you showed considerable restraint.”
“Rainer?”
“If I had emerged even a moment sooner, that wretch wouldn’t be standing on his own two feet right now.”
Veins stood out prominently across the back of his hand.
“In fact, he’d likely be lying at the bottom of the river.”
“…Please, restrain yourself.”
Cecilia laughed sheepishly and gently pulled his hand down.
And squeezed it tightly.
“If you did something like that, you’d end up in Prison. Are you trying to make me a widow?”
“That’s absolutely out of the question.”
Rainer raised both his hands in surrender.
Cecilia laughed softly at the sight.
Rainer, who had been gazing at Cecilia with tender eyes for a moment, suddenly pulled his wife’s hand.
“Rainer?”
“The fact that you’re worried about becoming a widow…”
He whispered in a low voice.
“That means you don’t want to lose me, doesn’t it?”
“W-what did you just say?”
Rainer let out a low chuckle as he watched Cecilia’s eyes widen in surprise.
Without hesitation, he drew his wife close to him.
His hands had already grown warm with heat.
“I simply wish to reciprocate my wife’s affection for me.”
“I beg your pardon? What do you mean—wait, hold on! Ah!”
With Cecilia’s sharp cry, the door to the adjacent room closed with a dull thud.
After that, the door remained firmly shut for quite some time.
* * *
“Katarina!”
Evan practically flew as he rushed to the Seymour Hotel.
There had been some friction with Cecilia for a moment.
But regardless, he still had Katarina.
He burst through the hotel room door and hoisted his bag high.
“That’s it! It’s all settled now!”

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