She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 144

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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 144. Abduction (1)
“R-Rosena? That’s impossible! That woman is in prison right now―”
“No, I’m certain.”
Rainer’s eyes gleamed with a chilling intensity.
He could never forget that handwriting, which had been filled with malice intent on tormenting Cecilia.
‘Look here. This letter—the way it trails at the end is identical.’
How Rosena had escaped from prison was irrelevant.
What mattered was that Cecilia was now in the hands of that dangerous woman.
‘There’s no time to waste.’
Rainer’s heart quickened with urgency.
“My Lord, we should still gather more men―”
“Hyah!”
Leaving Harry’s words behind.
Rainer yanked sharply at the reins, and the horse bolted forward, its hooves thundering against the ground.
“My Lord!”
Harry’s desperate cry scattered into the empty air.
In an instant, only dust remained where Rainer had been standing.
“Good heavens….”
Harry pressed his palm to his forehead, his expression troubled.
What in the world was happening.
“Quickly, summon the servants!”
“Yes, yes!”
At his command, the Servants scattered in all directions.
* * *
“…Ugh.”
How much time had passed?
Cecilia regained consciousness slowly, her brow furrowed in discomfort.
The first sensation was a splitting headache.
“What on earth is….”
She grimaced briefly before forcing her eyes open.
Her blurred vision gradually came into focus.
She was in an unfamiliar room.
The old wooden walls were rotting in places, and cobwebs clung thickly to every corner.
Broken furniture lay scattered about, abandoned and neglected.
Moth-eaten curtains swayed at the window in the breeze.
A musty, suffocating smell of dust assailed her nostrils.
“Why am I here….”
As she murmured in confusion.
A flash of memory returned—the moment before she lost consciousness.
‘Who….’
“Ah…!”
The shadow that had peered inside at the very end flashed through my mind.
Cecilia’s eyes widened.
I reflexively tried to push myself up.
But nothing.
My body wouldn’t budge an inch.
When I looked down, I saw my body was bound to the chair.
“…Damn.”
Cecilia bit her lip hard.
A sinister premonition washed over me.
There was only one person capable of such a thing.
Surely…
“Awake?”
A voice emerged that matched my suspicions perfectly.
The door hung askew, its frame rotting away at the entrance.
Rosena stood there.
Only the space at her feet was illuminated by the oil lamp she held.
“So it was you after all.”
“Hmph, not even surprised.”
At Cecilia’s calm response, Rosena’s lips twisted.
Her eyes, bloodshot and inflamed, revealed that she was far from herself.
‘I mustn’t provoke her.’
Cecilia clenched her fists tightly, then released them, her face tense.
In that moment, Rosena slowly stepped inside.
“So, how does it feel?”
Each time the lamp flickered, shadows danced grotesquely across the walls.
The shaded contours of her face grew even more sinister.
“A noble Duchess bound up in a place like this.”
“…”
Cecilia closed her lips for a moment, then slowly opened them.
For now, appeasing her mood was the best strategy.
“Honestly, I don’t like it. I’m frightened.”
“Ha! Of course you should be.”
Rosena laughed mockingly, as if she’d been waiting for this.
She circled slowly around Cecilia.
“You’re going to be far more terrified.”
Her voice was cold and sinister, like a serpent slithering through the dark.
Her hand pressed against Cecilia’s shoulder.
“I’m going to kill everything you love right before your eyes.”
“…What?”
“Your illegitimate husband, that arrogant maid, and―”
Rosena counted off on her fingers, muttering to herself.
“Even my son that you’ve been clinging to.”
“…!”
In that instant, Cecilia drew in a sharp breath.
Delighted by the reaction, Rosena clutched her belly and laughed shrilly.
Cecilia cleared her throat and spoke with difficulty.
“Jeremy isn’t just anyone—he’s your own child, the one you gave birth to.”
“So?”
Rosena tilted her head.
Her expression was innocent, as if she genuinely couldn’t comprehend.
“What does it matter that I gave birth to him?”
“….”
She’s insane.
Completely and utterly insane.
It seemed Rosena had discarded even the last shred of her humanity.
Cecilia’s body trembled faintly.
“Why, did you think selling the brat would buy you your life? Disappointed it didn’t work, so now you’re losing your mind?”
Rosena’s lips curved upward in a smile, but her eyes remained cold and lifeless.
At the same moment, Rosena seized Cecilia’s shoulder roughly.
“Ah!”
Cecilia’s face contorted as her nails dug into flesh, drawing pain.
Rosena leaned in close.
“So stop your nonsense. All that pretense of yours—it’s over now.”
“….”
“Our father who died because of you, everything I’ve lost—you’re going to be responsible for it all. Do you understand?”
…Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?
The words rose to the tip of my tongue.
But Cecilia swallowed them down hard.
There was nothing to gain from arguing with Rosena now.
Silence and submission were the wisest course.
“You―”
Rosena was about to pour out all her accumulated resentment into her ear.
“Um, um….”
At the sound of a voice from below, both their shoulders flinched simultaneously.
Rosena turned her head irritably.
“What is it! I told you not to come up to the Second Floor!”
“Oh, I haven’t come up yet! I’m still on the First Floor!”
A timid man’s voice rang out.
“I… delivered the letter to the Duke’s Mansion as you instructed, so I came to collect the remaining fee….”
“Ha!”
Rosena shoved my shoulder roughly.
The chair nearly toppled backward, but I managed to catch my balance at the last moment.
In that instant, Rosena headed toward the doorway.
“I’m going to silence that bastard, so you keep your mouth shut too. If you make a sound… you understand?”
She left the chilling warning and descended downstairs.
The creaking of the old wooden floorboards gradually faded into the distance.
“…”
I slowly steadied my breathing.
Rosena’s absence right now was an opportunity that would never come again.
‘If I miss this, it’s over.’
I surveyed my surroundings.
I could see wooden panels on the walls, rotted in places and jutting out sharply.
They were at exactly the height of my wrists.
‘That’s it.’
Still bound to the chair, I grunted and shifted my body forward.
At least my feet were free—that much was a mercy.
Gritting my teeth, I scraped along the floor, inching forward bit by bit.
Finally, I positioned myself correctly.
The sharp edge touched my wrist.
Scrape.
The rope caught against it.
I twisted my wrist harder.
Scrape, scrape.
My skin scraped along with the rope, stinging, but I couldn’t stop.
Just a little more.
Just a little—
Snap.
Finally, the severed rope fell to the floor with a soft thud.
My wrists were free.
‘Done!’
I grabbed the rope binding my shoulders and wriggled out from beneath it.
Then I planted my feet on the ground and stood up.
“Phew…”
Now that I’d regained my freedom of movement, I looked around.
‘Jumping out the window won’t work.’
It would be impossible even under normal circumstances.
Falling from the Second Floor in my injured state would surely break my legs.
‘But Rosena is on the First Floor…’
I bit my lip hard.
While I was caught in such deliberation.
Footsteps echoed.
The sound of footsteps rang out again from the floor below.
Rosena was unmistakable.
‘This won’t do.’
If I was discovered now, it would truly be the end.
As Cecilia frantically scanned her surroundings, her eyes fell upon a small wardrobe tucked into the corner.
No other option came to mind.
Cecilia immediately thrust herself inside the wardrobe.
Creak.
The moment the door closed, darkness descended upon me, and
I held my breath, peering out through the thin gap in the door.
Rosena was utterly exhilarated.
I intended to turn this to my advantage.
‘She won’t be able to respond immediately to a surprise attack.’
An unprovoked assault would catch Rosena off guard as well.
This was the single opportunity granted to me.
‘…I have no choice but to try.’
I held my breath and waited for the moment.
Just as I had in childhood, hiding in the wardrobe to escape Count Osburn and his wife.
The footsteps drew closer.
“What? Where did she go?”
Rosena stomped in with a bewildered expression, glancing around.
Her fierce gaze swept the room and came to rest on the wardrobe.
“Ah, there you are?”
She approached with a sinister smile.
Just a moment longer.
Just a moment more.
I held my breath, waiting for Rosena to step within striking distance.
And when she had drawn sufficiently close.
Crash!
I shoved the door open with all my might.
Rosena, caught completely unguarded, took the full force of the blow to her face.
“Aaagh!”
As the startled Rosena staggered backward, clutching her nose,
I burst out from the wardrobe.

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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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