Divorce Begins with Remarriage - Chapter 2

As if to prove how cold their strained relationship was, even on their anniversary, Livio did not come to Berenice’s bedroom. The maids were bustling around, quietly observing the cold bed as Berenice stood still.

‘Are you sure he didn’t really come?’

‘Is something wrong? Did the two of them have a fight?’

‘Wouldn’t the madam normally overlook it?’

‘Well…’

Anxiety spread between them.

Berenice was currently waiting for Selphine. Selphine was the name of the maid who had gone to investigate Livio’s recent private life at Berenice’s request.

Berenice’s heart had long been blackened and thrown to the ground.

Berenice brushed her hair to the side.

Her elegant posture revealed a graceful neckline.

But what was revealed was a chilling expression. Berenice, who had always shown a gentle and mild beauty with a soft smile on her lips, looked unfamiliar.

Before long, the awaited person arrived.

Despite the late hour, Berenice did not go to bed but sat on the sofa.

“Thank you, Selphine.”

“No, Madam.”

Selphine spoke with a pitying expression. Berenice’s pale expression was not good. Berenice slowly flipped through some documents.

Then, while looking at a certain document, Berenice wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

In the quiet of the night, only Berenice was moving. The servants were unable to adapt to the atmosphere she was creating. Berenice gestured to one of the seven maids standing in her bedroom.

“Anna.”

“Yes, Madam!”

Anna stepped forward. Berenice pointed to her bedroom with her finger.

“Change the bedding.”

“What?”

Anna’s eyes widened.

Berenice looked sharply at Anna.

“I said change all the bedding, including the sheets and canopy.”

Berenice coldly smiled. Anna lowered her head and approached Berenice’s bed with hesitant steps. No matter how much she looked around, there seemed to be no one to help her.

The task of rearranging this bed was solely given to Anna.

Berenice was elegantly looking at the documents.

Anna, Cassie, Sarah, Tara.

‘You’ve touched all the maids.’

Among them, Anna was the maid who served Berenice.

She was shamelessly receiving Berenice’s salary while having such a relationship with her husband.

Berenice bit down hard on the inside of her mouth. It seemed like she would burst into screams any moment, but it was not something Berenice, who had received a lady’s education for a long time, could do.

Instead, Berenice let out a hollow laugh.

Even if it was a relationship demanded forcefully by Livio, Anna shouldn’t have been so shameless. It was wrong for her to comfort Berenice with a smiling face when she was upset because of Livio.

“Madam…”

Selphine carefully called out to the increasingly pale Berenice and gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. If she didn’t, it seemed like Berenice would freeze and shatter like this. Selphine must have been shocked to find Anna’s name as well.

There was a reason why she voluntarily stayed behind when Berenice visited her family’s estate.

She wanted to grab Anna by the hair in place of Berenice, but considering Berenice’s dignity, she couldn’t do that.

All she could do was softly call Berenice and soothe her heart.

Berenice, who had been looking through endless documents, closed the file.

What more could she do by looking through them?

It was her heart that was rotting and crumbling.

“That’s enough, Selphine. You’ve worked hard.”

“…No, Madam.”

Berenice placed the file on the table. What should she do with this?

Berenice waited in silence for Anna to finish arranging the bed again. It was only when Anna stepped back with a sweaty face that Berenice spoke.

“Are you done?”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Then… go and bring Livio. Tell him I must see him.”

At Berenice’s command, Anna pursed her lips and hurried out of the bedroom. Berenice glanced at all the maids who remained and gestured.

“You may all leave now.”

“Yes, Madam!”

Ultimately, it was Berenice’s fault that she couldn’t manage her people. Who would have known that someone she had personally brought from her family’s estate would be so unscrupulous.

‘This shouldn’t happen again, Berenice.’

The fact that Anna’s name appeared in the documents meant that even the servants knew she was Livio’s mistress. It had only been half a day since Berenice had asked Selphine to investigate, and for her to have gotten this much information from her sources in such a short time meant they already had some existing information.

Where did that information actually come from?

In the end, neither of them knew, even when it was happening right in front of their noses. Not Berenice, not Selphine.

“Selphine, go and rest as well.”

“But, Madam…”

“I will be fine. Promise.”

Unable to resist Berenice’s words, Selphine had no choice but to leave. Berenice looked around.

With a nervous heart, the bed she had carefully chosen when she first came to this mansion was there.

‘Even in the Madam’s bedroom, he had relations with the maid named Anna a few times.’

Ha.

Berenice wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She felt like she was trapped in a worse situation than an animal. Just as she was staring at her own bed, not wanting to lie down, Livio entered her room without knocking.

Babbling nonsense.

“Pleading for reconciliation like this. Why do you insist on us upsetting each other on such a good day like today.”

A good day.

Maybe she didn’t even know what a good day was. She had been foolishly deceived, but now she finally knew Livio’s true nature.

Berenice noticed Anna peeking into the bedroom from behind Livio. Only after Livio closed the door and entered did she disappear from Berenice’s sight.

Berenice turned her gaze back to Livio.

As he approached the tea table and naturally tried to kiss her head, Berenice pushed him away. When Livio frowned at Berenice’s action, about to get angry, Berenice spoke in a low voice.

“This is your last chance, Livio Cornell.”

Berenice tapped the file holder on the tea table with her finger.

“Say what you want to say.”

“What is this all about…?

Glancing at Berenice, Livio hesitated and then looked through the file holder. After pausing while flipping through the documents, Livio coughed nervously. His face turned from blue to pale.

“B-Berenice…! Cough!”

Berenice looked at Livio with piercing eyes, as if telling him to say what he wanted to say.

“This is… what…”

What kind of excuse would he make?

The lingering regret whispered that Livio might even kneel and beg on the floor. Despite knowing that he was not the type of man to bend his pride that much from the beginning. When Berenice stared at him without saying a word, Livio, who was at a loss, quickly adjusted his posture.

Since Berenice had been submissive to Livio throughout their marriage, he was certain that she would forgive and accept him this time as well.

‘No, is this the kind of thing that can be forgiven?’

Having thought that far, Livio decided not to apologize to Berenice anymore.

“A man can do this. Can’t you even understand? It was just a fleeting affair. Everyone lives like this, Berenice. So…”

“Then, you should understand me too.”

The marriage vows were indeed nothing more than a useless piece of paper.

‘I did well to burn it.’

Berenice sneered.

She draped the shawl she had put on the chair over her shoulders and stood up from the chair. The fact that she was breathing the same air as Livio Cornell at this moment was disgraceful in itself.

“I don’t think there’s a need to drag this out, Livio Cornell.”

“What do you mean…?”

“I’m saying I don’t want to understand. So letting you go is the right thing to do.”

Berenice embraced the file holder to her chest.

She didn’t want to stay in this filthy room any longer.

It took only half a day.

It took only half a day for Berenice to make this decision.

Six months of dating, three years of marriage, and it only took half a day.

She thought she had forgotten everything she had endured so far, but she hadn’t.

Berenice said succinctly,

“Let’s get a divorce, Cornell.”

“Berenice!”

“I will divorce you, Mr. Cornell.”

Berenice gazed at Livio with unfamiliar eyes, as if seeing a person for the first time. With a resolute face that would not listen to anything.

***

‘I thought that would be the end of it.’

Berenice, who had briefly dozed off in the carriage, sat up. Her head was slightly aching, most likely from using up all her remaining energy to listen to Livio’s nonsense. And she had dreamt of the day when she had declared divorce to Livio while she was asleep.

“Of all times.”

She hadn’t known that divorcing could be this difficult.

She couldn’t understand why Livio had been clinging to her from the beginning. Today, she had once again succumbed to Livio’s coercion and heard nothing but strange words.

Berenice sighed and rubbed her arms.

Her arms were numb from leaning on the carriage and sleeping.

Even the lawyer who had gone to meet Livio together was beginning to praise Livio shamelessly.

The gentlemanly Livio, who knew his limits, had disappeared.

Where had the Livio she had known gone?

‘Or maybe I never knew Livio from the beginning.’