Life After Divorce (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 6
Fortunately, the fire was extinguished before it could spread into a major blaze, with no loss of life.
However, the mansion had been completely reduced to ashes, charred beyond recognition like melted candle wax.
“You were planning a grand cleaning?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, while I briefly stepped away, a maid accidentally caused a large fire at the incineration site. It’s truly fortunate we had already moved important items outside for the cleaning.”
Hah. Watching the butler bow his head to me and offer such flimsy excuses made me snort in amusement.
‘Do you really think I don’t know you’re in cahoots with Antra?’
Antra, who had been standing behind the butler like a folding screen, stepped forward, her dress swaying gently.
“I ordered it. What, do you have a problem with that?”
“…….”
I narrowed my eyes at Antra, then gave the butler a single, sharp glance.
You…! Insulted, Antra flushed as if she’d suffered some grave humiliation and stepped closer—but unlike this morning, I had no patience left to deal with her.
“Where are the items we moved? Show me.”
At my sharp command and curt nod, the butler glanced at Antra once before leading me to the rear courtyard.
There lay an array of luxury furniture, artworks, goods in kind, dresses, jewels, and other crucial documents from the mansion. Apparently, even if the house burned down, those items were too precious to lose.
Without touching anything, I surveyed them with narrowed eyes, then turned away immediately.
The item I was searching for wasn’t here.
“My lady?”
Ignoring the butler, I strode into the mansion and headed straight for the second floor despite the servants’ protests.
It was also the place where, at dawn, I had regained memories of my past life.
Thankfully, the bed hadn’t collapsed; beneath it, my searching hand found a crudely shaped box, warped like melted candle wax.
Pulling it out, I sighed in despair.
‘Everything’s burned.’
The box, melted like candle wax, couldn’t even be opened.
Years’ worth of Etricia’s evidence of Devon’s affair had turned to ash.
‘I’d kept this as a backup plan—leverage for blackmail—in case the will investigation failed…’
Rising with the charred, shapeless box in my arms, I suddenly fixed my gaze on the bed.
There hung side-by-side portraits of Count Bueil and myself, both facing forward. Anger welled up, tightening my grip on the box.
It was painted on my eighteenth birthday, before Count Bueil fell ill—a portrait capturing him in full health.
‘Hah. They say they moved all the valuables out, yet apparently Count Bueil’s final portrait wasn’t important enough to save.’
As I gritted my teeth, staring at the portrait, a shrill voice pierced my ears.
“Etricia! Etricia! What on earth are you doing inside a burned-down house!”
It was Antra’s shout from downstairs, searching for me.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath to suppress my rising fury, then opened them—revealing cold, piercing light.
I immediately descended to the first floor, where Antra stood with arms crossed and a slouching posture, flanked by three or four attendants. She drummed her forearm nervously like she was playing a piano.
A faint, mocking chuckle escaped through my teeth.
‘She burned down the mansion just to break my spirit early on—but now that I’m not only composed but outright ignoring her, she’s grown anxious instead.’
Antra swept me with a cold glance before speaking.
“What were you doing, aimlessly wandering your bedroom while the mansion burned? Did you hide diamonds from your husband there?”
“If I had any, they wouldn’t have survived anyway—with so many thieves around me.”
Antra’s eyes twitched; she coughed awkwardly, clearly stung.
She must’ve thought of the will. As Devon’s accomplice, there was no way she didn’t know about his schemes.
“How dare you speak to your mother-in-law like this! I came rushing over out of concern for my daughter-in-law!”
“Were you truly worried—or just excited enough to come running?”
“Hah…! Honestly… there’s being willful, and then there’s just going too far.”
Antra shot me a sharp, sideways glare.
“Whatever possessed me to think this daughter-in-law of mine was charming enough to come fetch personally?”
“Come fetch me?”
Antra snapped irritably, as if I should’ve understood without explanation.
“Since the mansion burned down, you’ll need somewhere to stay! If word gets out that you’ve been behaving recklessly at some lodging, what will become of Devon?”
“Ah. So that’s why you burned down the mansion, Mother.”
“…What? What did you say?”
Antra’s eyelids trembled.
Humans are territorial creatures. She’d intended to draw me into her domain, force me into living under her roof, and establish her control.
But that’s your mistake.
Did you think I’d break down in tears from shock and kneel before you? That, with nowhere else to go, I’d crawl under your thumb?
‘Unfortunately for you, I have no such intention.’
Thinking again of the box and the scorched portrait, my stomach churned anew. I smiled coldly and spoke.
“You really are something, Mother. Someone so sensitive to others’ opinions always resorts to such brutish tactics now and then, don’t you? Are you really so desperate for attention in high society?”
Realizing my sarcasm, Antra’s face flushed red.
She glanced around, clearly aware of the maids’ eyes on her—anyone who knew her understood how fiercely she clung to her position in society.
“You… you…!”
Antra glared at me, biting her lip—but unlike this morning, I no longer had any intention of humoring her half-heartedly.
It was time to drive home the point: she had no right to treat another family’s precious daughter this cruelly and thoughtlessly.
“Do you have proof I did it!”
“Proof isn’t necessary. Who set the fire no longer matters. And even if I had to beg on the streets, I’d never set foot in Viscount Dian’s house. Why would I go there at all?”
“What?”
“I said—why—would—I—go—to—someone—else’s—house?”
I enunciated each word slowly and deliberately, as if drilling basic comprehension into someone slow-witted.
“You just called your marital home someone else’s house?”
“Well, it is someone else’s house. I’m divorcing your son.”
Antra’s mouth slowly fell open. Gaping like a goldfish, she pointed a shaking finger at me.
“You just… what did you say…?”
There was no point hiding it anymore.
“Shall I say it again? I’m divorcing your son.”
Gasp!
From behind Antra came a sharp intake of breath. But it wasn’t Antra clutching her throat and collapsing dramatically.
Then who? I tilted my head slightly to see clearly—Lirien stood at the mansion entrance, both hands covering her mouth in shock.
‘Lirien?’
My brow furrowed slightly.
“Lady Lirien, what are you doing here…?”
“I-I’m sorry, Countess Bueil! I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I came to apologize, not knowing the situation, and the butler showed me in…”
The butler—without my permission. Rolling my eyes inwardly, I thought he was just as lacking in judgment as Antra.
“Um…”
Lirien, hesitating as she read the tension, stepped forward timidly.
“If I heard correctly, you seem to be in a difficult spot without a place to stay… If it’s agreeable to you, Countess, may I invite you to Count Mipidian’s residence as both an apology and a gesture of goodwill?”
“…?”
Doubt flickered in my mind. Lirien, catching my expression instantly, waved her hands frantically.
“Oh, if it’s uncomfortable, you absolutely don’t have to come…!”
“…”
It certainly was uncomfortable. I didn’t feel like going.
True, my younger brother wouldn’t return for another five days, so staying just one night probably wouldn’t cause issues—but I knew all too well how recklessly he cut people down.
Recalling descriptions of his icy, glinting eyes, goosebumps prickled my arms.
Just as I was about to refuse, shivering slightly—
“Lady Lirien, that’s—”
“Going? Going where!”
Antra, who’d been feigning a swoon, suddenly leapt into the conversation upon overhearing.
Glaring with serpent-like eyes, she jabbed a finger right at me.
“You take one step away from here, and I’ll rip every last strand of your hair out! Understand!”
“…”
Hmph. I raised one eyebrow coldly.
Hearing opposition—not from just anyone, but from Antra herself—stirred an unexpected surge of defiance and competitive pride in me.
‘I hadn’t planned to go, but now I’ve changed my mind.’
Watching her throw a tantrum because things weren’t going her way might just soothe the frustration I’d felt after the mansion burned down.
Convinced that overturning her composure was worth the risk, I turned sharply to Lirien.
“Why aren’t you answering!”
Even as Antra’s shout struck the back of my head, I didn’t flinch. I simply addressed Lirien.
“I’ll accept your kind offer, Lady Lirien.”
“R-really?”
Lirien, who’d been fidgeting nervously between us, suddenly brightened.
“It’d be impolite to refuse such a gracious invitation. Come, Lady Lirien.”
“Yes, yes!”
I gently nudged Lirien’s back and headed toward the mansion entrance.
Just as Lirien hurried after me, casting wary glances at Antra—
“Where do you think you’re going! You’ll explain those words before you leave!”
Antra dashed to the mansion’s threshold and grabbed my shoulder.
‘Ugh.’
Her painful grip finally pushed my patience past its limit. I roughly shoved her hand away with one swift motion.
“Ugh!”
Thrown off balance, Antra landed hard on her backside, staring up at me with wide, furious eyes.
“…People always said you were unrefined, but I never imagined you’d be so utterly ignorant of propriety and duty! To dare insult me and betray Devon! When Devon hears of this, you’re finished! Aren’t you afraid of the consequences!”
When yandere male lead believes she loves him — but she never did
“How dare you!”
“How dare you make me love you, only to cast me aside as nothing more than a friend?!?
“I will never accept that.”
“I will never let you return to him.”
“Even if I have to burn myself to ashes.”
“Even if I must shatter my purity, my dignity, my very soul.”
“I will never let you escape me!”
This was the first novel that introduced me to the matriarchal genre. I’ve read it three times already!
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
_____
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Chapter Comments (1)
Inline Comments (50)
But the maid wasn’t the only one shocked. The gardeners, carpenters, head maids,
To this extent, Lerin had no friends or acquaintances. Lirien will definitely hold on to Etricia tightly.
Each of my cells, previously melted into languid relaxation, jolted awake, sensi
Moment! Wouldn’t the hero have shown up in five days? Etricia is in an unenviable position. Etricia way is dead end.
“You needn’t worry about that. Anyone who dares speak disrespectfully will be de
What’s really going on here?Edmund’s behavior is strange. Is it love from the first death threat? (• `_´ •)
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oh man girl, using your self as bait never goes well! just kiss the man instead