“This useless thing! Didn’t I say just one night, just one night! Can’t you even seduce a fully capable man?!”
Duke Bold, standing up abruptly, pointed angrily at me with a flushed face.
“You are the wife of the second most powerful man in this empire, right after the emperor! Do you have any idea how much effort I, a noble from a fallen country, put into getting you that position?”
Rebecca had not spent a single night with Cedric during their marriage.
Duke Bold, who visited Rebecca quarterly, couldn’t have been ignorant of this and must have badgered her just like now, every time.
“You’re supposed to solidify your position to be of help to me, and yet you bring me disappointment every time! And that for the entire duration of your marriage!”
“…….”
“How are you going to repay all the effort I put into letting you play the noble lady of the Bold family? Pay for it! Pay for it!”
I watched as Duke Bold raged.
The old Rebecca might have been scared to death by her father’s furious outburst, but…
To me, Duke Bold was nothing but a pathetic middle-aged man blinded by greed, ranting about money.
“……Father.”
I took a sip of tea and slowly parted my lips.
“Shut your mouth.”
At my words, Duke Bold’s eyes momentarily widened in shock.
“What… what?”
I slightly lifted the corners of my mouth and continued calmly.
“The ‘real’ background you’ve barely hidden with your dukedom might be exposed if you’re not careful. That attitude of yours is, how should I say it…”
“…….”
“Too vulgar.”
Duke Bold blinked in disbelief for a moment.
‘He must be shocked. Even the insane Rebecca would have been trembling or panicking in front of Duke Bold.’
But that was only for a moment.
Duke Bold, his face swollen with rage, leaped over the table and grabbed me by the collar without a moment to react.
“Ha! You dare…!”
I stared straight into the enraged, red eyes of Duke Bold and continued leisurely.
“Dare? Did you forget what you just said yourself?”
“You! You…!”
“I am the mistress of the Twins Grand Duke’s house, second only to the royal family in this empire.”
I grabbed Duke Bold’s hand on my collar and slowly dug my nails into it.
“Do you think a noble ‘like you’ from a fallen southern country can ‘dare’ to threaten me?”
My sharp nails dug deeper into his skin.
Duke Bold, trying to suppress his pain and anger, started to tremble in his jaw.
“Even if I haven’t spent my first night with the Grand Duke, I am the Duchess of this Twins Grand Duchy. You should at least maintain basic courtesy.”
I warned him gently, as if admonishing a child.
Then, Duke Bold, as if he couldn’t believe it, looked at me with indignation and roughly released his grip on my collar.
“……You’ve made a wise decision. Now, quietly go back and sit down.”
Duke Bold chuckled at my words.
“You dare to treat me, your father, like a child…!”
“Stop adding unnecessary comments and just sit down. Now, it’s time for you, father, to listen to me.”
As I spoke sternly, Duke Bold, seemingly infuriated, clenched his mouth shut and returned to his place.
To this father and daughter, the terms ‘father’ and ‘daughter’ were merely nominal.
For Duke Bold, the father-daughter relationship was nothing more than a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less.
I decided to use this fact to my advantage.
‘Clearly, I hold the upper hand in power right now, so there’s no reason for me to continue groveling at Duke Bold’s feet. The opposite, if anything.’
The old Rebecca might have sought her father’s affection and willingly played the subordinate, but I had no reason to do so.
In fact, I wanted to reduce these unnecessary meetings and sever ties with him as soon as possible before the divorce is announced.
‘That way, I can avoid any trouble later.’
I sipped my tea while calmly gathering my thoughts.
Then, slowly putting down my cup, I continued.
“From now on, don’t come here unless I call for you.”
“Ha, what? Are you even making sense…!”
“I’ve been tolerating your behavior until now because you are my father.”
“…….”
“Don’t make me call you ‘Duke Bold’ instead of ‘father’.”
My cold warning widened Duke Bold’s eyes.
How long had it been?
Duke Bold, seemingly having forcibly calmed his rage, slowly curled the corners of his mouth.
“That’s right, it’s not important. This unworthy father has been quite rude, Duchess.”
Duke Bold nodded slowly and exhaled deeply.
“Then, until you consummate your marriage with the Grand Duke, maintain your current position well. When that happens, I will take what I need.”
“…….”
“But if our estranged relationship cannot be mended and you end up divorced before that…”
Muscles tensed on Duke Bold’s jaw as he struggled to suppress his anger.
“The alimony from the divorce won’t go to you, Duchess. Not a single penny.”
I frowned in disbelief.
“What are you saying? On what right do you have to…”
“Isn’t that the law of the empire? If a woman divorces, the alimony first goes to her father, the head of her natal family. And I can do as I please with it.”
Having said that, Duke Bold stood up as if to leave the drawing room.
Then, leaning close to me over the table, he whispered lowly.
“I’ll tolerate your arrogance as the Grand Duchess.”
“Ha?”
“So fulfill your role and do what we promised. If not…”
A fierce glint appeared in Duke Bold’s eyes.
“I will make sure you end up wandering the streets in rags.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
