The lady stared intently at her son. Though not clearly visible through the narrow keyhole, her expression was undoubtedly one of displeasure.

“If Laura comes back from the ball today and says she wants to marry Price, I’ll tell her this. If she doesn’t want to see me hang myself before my time is up, she should break off that engagement immediately. I’ll ask her if she thinks I raised her so preciously just to send her off to some pot-bellied old man.”

“Mother!”

“Silence, Gerald Pendleton. How dare you raise your voice to your mother!”

Anne’s eyes widened. It was the loudest reprimand she had heard from the lady in recent times. Gerald Pendleton stared blankly at his mother before pacing the room, trying to cool his temper. But his face remained flushed.

“Mother, could it be… Is this the reason you reconciled with me? To leave your fortune to that child, Laura Pendleton?”

The lady remained silent.

“So you had an ulterior motive all along? You welcomed me so kindly just to give Laura even a small portion of what was meant for Charles! Mother, this is too much. Even on your deathbed, did you want to deceive your only son like this?”

“You’re no different. Wasn’t the reason you came here to protect Charles’s inheritance? The way you and Charles were fawning over each other was sickeningly fake. But still, a promise is a promise. I’m satisfied that I was able to raise Laura as a Pendleton because of that promise. And you should be satisfied too, since you can give all my wealth to your son.”

“Yes, I ‘was’ satisfied! I ‘was’ very satisfied! If only you would keep your word, I wouldn’t have to use the past tense like this!”

“Yes, I’m sorry about your use of the past tense, child.”

The lady sneered.

“Mother, you’re toying with me using the promised inheritance. You’re threatening me with the will!”

“You know that I can change my will according to my wishes at any time, don’t you? Yes, that’s why you came running here, showering me with all sorts of flattery as soon as you sensed I was near death. But child, I have no intention whatsoever of taking money away from Charles.”

The lady sighed.

“Honestly, I was tempted. Your son Charles is utterly useless, no matter how closely I look at him. Leaving money to such a fellow is like throwing it away on the street. But still, a promise is a promise. I won’t change my will. I’ll leave my fortune to Charles. However, I want you to give five thousand pounds of it to Laura. Just five thousand out of three hundred thousand pounds.”

“Laura Pendleton has already received more than enough. Living in luxury in a noble household all this time…!”

“That was her rightful due as the daughter of Dolores Pendleton.”

“Mother!”

“You’re acting as if Laura is someone else’s child. As if she didn’t come from Dolores Pendleton. But just as surely as Dolores came from my womb, Laura came from Dolores. Even if you’re the heir to the Pendleton family, you can’t sever the connection between mother and child!”

“Mother, you’re always like this. How can you be so unchanging?”

Gerald fumed.

“You’ve been like this since my childhood. You locked me in the nursery for half a day for playing with your golden thimble, but when Dolores lost that thimble, you forgave her with just one lisping word as she cried. ‘Our Dolores’, ‘Cute Dolores’. I heard it to the point of nausea. To the point of nausea! Now that Dolores is dead, it’s changed to ‘Our Laura’, ‘Cute Laura’.”

“So, you harbor such resentment because I didn’t call you ‘Our Gerald’, ‘Cute Gerald’?”

Gerald said nothing.

“You probably don’t remember. The mother who nursed you every night when you dislocated your shoulder falling from a tree. You’ve probably completely erased from your memory the fact that I sent you letters every week without fail for five years after you entered Eton School. I never once stopped loving you. But you always liked to compare. In your calculating eyes, your mother’s love was never enough. Instead of pitying your six years younger and frail sister, you were jealous and hated her.”

“…”

“From a very young age, Dolores’s body was always covered in bruises from your beatings. There was a reason she ran away with that American man. Of course, when you came home and became the head of the family, you would have taken revenge on that child who had captured your mother’s affection. Rather than being sold to a man she didn’t know, she chose love.”

Silence fell between the two. The lady’s face had turned as pale as a corpse from her long speech. Gerald Pendleton glared at his mother before smirking.

“I always thought as a child that you weren’t my real mother. Because it was easier that way. But now I understand. You are my birth mother. Where else would my calculating nature come from? I’ve lost. Give Laura the five thousand pounds. I don’t know what she’ll do with it, but with that money, she might be able to marry a merchant or apothecary, befitting her status.”

Gerald Pendleton added sarcastically.

“But watch what I do to Laura right after you die, Mother. Watch clearly from heaven. She won’t be able to see your corpse even once. I won’t let her throw even a handful of dirt when you’re buried. She won’t be allowed to attend your funeral, or even come near your grave!”

Gerald Pendleton stormed out of the room. Anne quickly moved aside, still holding the tray. He glared at Anne standing by the door before thundering down the stairs. His shouts ordering the servant to prepare the carriage echoed loudly from the first floor.

Anne entered the lady’s room with the tray. The lady was sitting up in bed, her face pale. Anne approached her. Her entire face was drenched in cold sweat.

Anne quickly tried to wipe the sweat from her face with a handkerchief from her pocket. But the lady grabbed Anne’s wrist and said,

“Go downstairs right now and tell John to bring my lawyer and my agent, Mr. Naze, immediately. As quickly as possible. Before I die…”

The lady couldn’t finish her sentence. She lost consciousness.

“The lawyer had already left his office so we couldn’t bring him, and Mr. Naze visited earlier but left again when the lady couldn’t regain consciousness. Both will visit early tomorrow morning.”

Miss Pendleton said nothing. Throughout the story, she had been shocked and stunned many times, but in the end, the remaining emotion was sadness. Miss Pendleton buried her face in her hands.

She had thought her grandmother was spending the last days of her life happily. That she had reconciled with her uncle and was preparing to depart peacefully. But her grandmother was spending the most frail and difficult time of her life fighting. For her sake.

“…Anne. You really heard everything from beginning to end.”

Anne and Miss Pendleton looked at the bed. Grandmother, with her eyes half-open, was looking at them. Miss Pendleton quickly approached her.

“Grandmother, when did you wake up?”

Grandmother stroked her granddaughter’s tear-stained cheek with a weak hand.

“You must have gone and shown off your beauty sufficiently, right?”

Miss Pendleton nodded with a sad smile.

“Good. Well done.”

Grandmother sought her granddaughter’s hand. Miss Pendleton took her grandmother’s hand and caressed it.

“As you heard, you’ll get five thousand pounds, Laura. It’s a large amount if you think it’s large, but small if you think it’s small.”

“Is that why… you’ve been trying to get along so well with uncle until now?”

Lady Abigail just smiled without answering. It was in contrast to her granddaughter’s expression, which was on the verge of tears.

“Why such a face? Don’t you like five thousand pounds? Is it too little?”

Miss Pendleton shook her head.

“Grandmother, I’m going to become a governess. I’ll earn money that way.”

“A governess? You can’t even buy a house with that even if you work your whole life. With five thousand pounds, you may not be rich, but you can at least take care of yourself. Start a small shop, or find a man who loves you for who you are and get married.”

“…Grandmother, you always said you weren’t afraid of death at all. That there was nothing to fear since you could meet Dolores waiting in heaven. But grandmother, it means eternally parting with another child on earth. Is it alright to end things like this? Even if it means never reconciling with uncle?”

“Laura, I’m sorry, but there can be no true reconciliation with that child. If he sincerely wanted to reconcile with me, he would first ask me to spit on Dolores’s grave. Then he would tell me to abandon you forever. To drive you out of the house before I die. I can’t do that even if I die. So it’s impossible. I knew that from the beginning. It’s impossible in this lifetime.”

Lady Abigail gripped her granddaughter’s hand with her trembling one.

“I brought your uncle here solely for your sake. I was afraid he might harm you if I changed the will carelessly. If I left all the property to you without his agreement, he would surely try to take your life to claim the inheritance. I wanted to pass on even a small part to you with his consent.”

Tears were already flowing from Miss Pendleton’s eyes. They kept flowing without stopping. Miss Pendleton began to sob, her body shaking.

“I finally get to see you cry your heart out. I’m glad I can take this sight with me. You had become like an emotionless doll at some point. A gentle smile. Thoughtful actions. Graceful demeanor. As if that was all you knew how to do… When I realized I had made you that way, I was already too old. I’m sorry, Laura.”

Miss Pendleton couldn’t stop her tears. She knew she should say something to ease her grandmother’s burden of mind, but the crying wouldn’t stop. When the truth she had tried her best to hide all her life flowed from her grandmother’s lips, all she could do was cry.

“When I first debuted you in society, it was as if the dead Dolores had come back to life. When you hosted parties, played the piano in front of people, wore dresses and danced with gentlemen, I thought you were enjoying everything Dolores would have enjoyed if she hadn’t died. I was happy with that.”

Lady Abigail shook her head.

“I was foolish. I was too foolish. You’re not Dolores. Blinded by my desire to resurrect my daughter, I only belatedly noticed the sorrow in your heart. The slights you received in society. The time of endurance you spent killing everything inside you to survive in society. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. I’m sorry for making you live an unhappy life because of my selfishness.”

Lady Abigail squeezed her granddaughter’s hand tightly.

“Laura. From now on, live as you wish. You are free now.”