The sound of her pride cracking echoed in Marianne’s ears like an auditory hallucination.

That woman…… is she looking down on me? Implying I’m just a shameful mistress not worth mentioning?

She completely disregarded the fact that she had been the first to behave rudely toward Yvonne.

Just as Marianne was about to sharply raise her eyes, ready to hurl insults:

“You should go now, Marianne. Today was enjoyable as always.”

Rupert, who had somehow appeared beside Yvonne, lightly tapped the car’s roof, giving Marianne a pointed look.

It seemed that while he was willing to cheat, he didn’t want to see his mistress behaving disrespectfully toward his wife.

Marianne glared at him before irritably grabbing the handle to roll up the car window. Then she commanded the driver:

“Let’s go.”

As the car began to pull away from the street in front of the Greenwood residence, Marianne turned her head slightly to peer through the rear window.

She could see Rupert staggering drunkenly through the iron gate, with Yvonne slowly following behind him.

Eventually, one corner of Marianne’s mouth curved up into a malicious smile.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s the lady of a count’s household or the precious only daughter of the Rosier family.”

A faint sneer escaped between her murmuring lips.

Yvonne’s husband Rupert couldn’t function as a man.

Because of this, he had never properly shared a bed with Yvonne from their wedding night until now.

On a certain night when he was heavily intoxicated, Rupert had tearfully confessed this, so it must be true.

After repeatedly failing in his relationship with his wife, he had frequented brothels, but the result was always the same, he’d said.

He settled with Marianne because she was the only woman who could satisfy his sexually distorted desires, born from his impotence, in “different ways.”

Perhaps thanks to her lowly origins, always worrying about her next meal, Marianne had gained all sorts of experiences from a young age.

For someone like her, there were countless ways to satisfy Rupert.

The problem was that these skills stemmed from unusual s*xual proclivities that a noble countess could never even imitate.

“To finish one’s life without ever being embraced by a man as a woman…… Our dear countess, how pitiful indeed.”

Contempt once again colored the edges of Marianne’s lips.

⁕⁕⁕

“Haaah……”

Rupert, who had thrown himself onto the bed, exhaled a long breath reeking of alcohol.

Yvonne, who had been watching him from the doorway, approached her husband weakly.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask him.

Who was that woman, and how deep was their relationship?

It wasn’t that Yvonne hadn’t noticed Rupert occasionally spending inappropriate time with other women.

The couple had never shared a bed in their seven years of marriage.

It wasn’t that there hadn’t been attempts from the beginning, but they had repeatedly failed due to Rupert’s condition.

After this situation continued for several years, Rupert began to blame Yvonne at some point.

This attitude worsened when he started harboring resentment about the ownership of the Rosier Hotel.

From then on, he openly compared Yvonne with other women, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before she witnessed a situation like today’s.

Yvonne swallowed the countless words she wanted to say and slowly untied Rupert’s necktie.

Seeming to feel her touch, Rupert slowly opened his eyes. Then he looked up at Yvonne with bleary eyes.

“……You’re quite remarkable. To see your husband kissing another woman and still not say a word.”

His voice was languid with intoxication. Suddenly, Rupert grabbed Yvonne’s wrist and chuckled softly.

“As expected of the noble only daughter of Count Rosier. To be able to act so elegantly even after witnessing her husband’s infidelity.”

“……”

“Or perhaps you’re secretly mocking me, thinking what right does a man who can’t even bed his own wife have to cheat?”

Rupert’s eyes, which had been relaxed from the alcohol, suddenly sharpened.

“……I’ve never thought that.”

Yvonne avoided Rupert’s gaze as she completely removed his necktie.

After putting it away in the wardrobe, she spoke again.

“Actually, today…… I was waiting for you because I had something important to discuss.”

The thought of talking about Caroline’s abuse had vanished the moment she saw Rupert entangled with another woman.

Even so, she still had other matters to discuss with him.

But Rupert, lying with his hands behind his head, wore an indifferent expression.

“Something to discuss with me? Is there anything left in this household that requires my opinion?”

“……”

“The Rosier Hotel, the only remaining business in this family, and the right to dispose of its profits all belong to you, so what importance could my opinion possibly have?”

“It belongs to us as a couple.”

A tired voice flowed from Yvonne’s lips as she repeated the same words she had said countless times before.

“That’s why you too, as the head of the household and as the manager, should work diligently for the Rosier Hotel.”

“……”

“Instead of wasting time on gambling and meeting women like you do now.”

Though her tone was quite resolute, Yvonne’s eyes were pleading.

For her husband to pull himself together as soon as possible. To become a solid shield protecting her from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. To be even the slightest help in her exhausting life.

But Rupert had never once met her expectations.

Even now, he suddenly sat up irritably and raised his voice at Yvonne.

“Belongs to us as a couple?”

He pointed his finger at her while shouting.

“Damn it, you really must take me for a fool! Where exactly is my share? If giving me that mere figurehead position of manager is supposed to be some grand gesture, I told you I don’t need it, take it back!”

His attitude was fully agitated, unable to control his emotions due to the alcohol.

“Both you and your father looked down on me, that’s for certain!”

Rising from the bed with bulging eyes, Rupert strode toward Yvonne.

“Otherwise, how could a father-in-law designate his daughter as the sole owner of the family business, bypassing his son-in-law, and how could you accept that will without question?”

Yvonne unconsciously took a step back from her husband’s threatening demeanor.

“Mother was right. You’ve been secretly looking down on me all this time while pretending otherwise!”

“Rupert!”

“Yes, I must have seemed ridiculous to you! A man who ruined the textile business passed down through generations of our family as soon as he became head of the household, now coveting your family’s business too—it must have seemed absurd, right?”

Rupert’s face was flushed red, with veins bulging in his neck. He grabbed Yvonne’s shoulders firmly and gritted his teeth.

“Fine, let’s say your father was like that. My father and yours both treated me like a failure while they were alive. But what about you?”

Overwhelmed by emotion, Rupert continued to press Yvonne.

“Mother begged and pleaded with you to transfer the Rosier Hotel to my name, but you stubbornly refused! If you truly thought that hotel was ‘ours,’ what possible reason could you have for not putting it in my name?”

Before his death, Count Rosier had bequeathed his title and a significant portion of his assets to his son-in-law, Rupert.

However, he left the ownership of the Rosier Hotel solely to his only daughter, Yvonne.

He believed that only his true blood relative would protect the hotel that contained generations of the Rosier family’s hard work.

Nevertheless, he instructed in his will that Rupert’s name should be listed as the hotel’s manager.

While he had unwavering faith in his only daughter’s abilities, he worried that the hotel business might suffer due to the world’s prejudice against women’s management capabilities.

At first, Rupert seemed satisfied with the inheritance his father-in-law had left him.

Having ruined the Greenwood family’s textile business and feeling dejected, he had gained his in-laws’ count title, most of their assets, and the respectable position of hotel manager.

Excited, he launched a new business and invested all the inheritance Count Rosier had left him.

Then he went bankrupt in less than a year. It was because he had recklessly expanded his business, pretending to be a great businessman without any substance.

From that point on, Rupert, in concert with Caroline, began urging Yvonne to transfer the Rosier Hotel to his name.

But Yvonne simply couldn’t do it.

To her, the Rosier Hotel wasn’t just property—it was a family heirloom that her ancestors and father had built throughout their lives.

Yvonne ultimately refused their proposal.

The explicit mistreatment from her husband and in-laws that began then continued to this day.

It was heartbreaking and overwhelming. The reality that held her back simply because she was born a woman, and this marriage that she could never escape until death.

Yvonne finally couldn’t contain her resentment and, uncharacteristically, raised her voice.

“Rupert, I’ve already explained those reasons sufficiently!”

Though her voice was raised, it merely revealed a little of her accumulated sorrow—in truth, it wasn’t much different from a pleading tone.

However, Rupert’s eyes immediately turned fierce at the sight of Yvonne.

The fact that his wife dared to raise her voice in front of him once again triggered his inferiority complex.

“……Hah, just as Mother said.”

After muttering quietly for a moment, Rupert painfully gripped Yvonne’s shoulders.

Her face contorted in pain, but Rupert ignored it and glared at her.

“Yvonne, Yvonne……”

Murmuring her name, Rupert gritted his teeth fiercely.

“It seems you need to properly learn how to respect your husband.”

With those words, he immediately lunged at her.

“Rupert, what are you doing!”

Startled, Yvonne hurriedly tried to push Rupert away. However, it was nearly impossible to escape the grasp of a man who had lost his reason.

“Shut up, stay still!”

Rupert snapped irritably as he grabbed Yvonne and headed straight for the bed. Yvonne could only be helplessly dragged along by his violent grip.

“Darling, please……!”

She pleaded with tears, but Rupert didn’t even pretend to listen.

Yvonne’s fragile body was soon thrown onto the bed.