She wanted to k*ll him, that is.

“It seems…… difficult.”

“Why?”

She almost said yes. As Isabel’s straight eyebrows drooped and she made a genuinely sad expression, another wave of guilt rose in Gloria’s already troubled heart.

Gloria thought she understood why no one, male or female, could say no to Isabel.

“I have my reasons. I’m truly sorry, but next time……”

That’s when Isabel let out a heavy sigh.

“How disappointing. I came here to show goodwill to you, Miss Gloria.”

Isabel’s voice still sounded like a song.

But the atmosphere had somehow changed.

Gloria tried to subtly withdraw her hand from Isabel’s grip. But it wouldn’t come free. Isabel was applying gentle pressure, not letting go.

“Then how long do you plan to live like this? Forgotten in this ambiguous state.”

Gloria’s eye twitched. Isabel’s nails were digging into her flesh. The blunt pain quickly brought Gloria back to reality.

It was reality. As if all of Isabel’s kind attitude until now had been an illusion, her face became expressionless.

“Is mixing with commoners and painting so enjoyable?”

Isabel was still beautiful. Her eyes, hidden behind long eyelashes, shone with the same blue color as Gloria’s, and her abundant, wavy golden hair gleamed in the increasingly intense sunlight.

It was blinding. With the light behind her, shadows fell across her face.

“……What?”

Gloria narrowed her eyes to see more clearly. Then Isabel’s lips, which had been looking down at her hand with an empty, unfeeling expression, curved into an arc.

It was suffocating.

Gloria couldn’t understand what kind of expression it was.

A few strands of fallen hair covered her flushed cheeks, and her deep pool-like pupils fixed exactly on Gloria.

“To the point where you don’t have time to meet my husband?”

All strength drained from her hands. Her heart plummeted at a dizzying rate.

It was too sudden. There hadn’t even been any warning signs. Whether she had planned everything from the beginning or had been waiting for this reaction, Isabel didn’t move at all. Only her lips moved.

“You seem to know this. Has he visited since you lost your memory?”

Was she fishing? Her frozen mind began to creak back to life. She needed to pull herself together.

First, Gloria forcefully shook off the captured hand. The scratch marks on the back of her hand quickly turned red.

“Or was it all planned from the beginning? To escape like this?”

Gloria found it difficult to speak.

Where should she start explaining? Where should she begin to find a way out? How could she make Isabel listen to the end?

After entering this room, she shouldn’t have completely ruled out the possibility that Isabel knew. Even though she had spoken kindly as if she knew nothing, Gloria should have considered the possibility of deception.

Even though there had been no contact for half a year, she should have included the possibility that Isabel had been silently waiting.

“Answer me, Miss Gloria.”

“I……”

After moving her lips, Gloria briefly met the gaze she had been avoiding.

“I’m sorry, Duchess.”

“No, that’s not it. I didn’t come here for an apology.”

“I’m not apologizing to receive forgiveness either.”

She wouldn’t be able to receive a sincere apology from the original person, but Gloria thought this was the right order.

It was due to her strong empathy.

She couldn’t selfishly claim it wasn’t her deed, that it was someone else’s.

Isabel definitely needed someone to direct her anger at.

She had considered whether an apology had any meaning, since saying “I’m sorry” wouldn’t elicit “It’s okay” in a matter like this. Nevertheless, she had to do what needed to be done.

Whether to talk or negotiate, that came after the apology.

Isabel knew she was painting. That, along with knowing about the affair, was quite a fatal and significant information.

“I too was shocked to learn what I had done. So much that I would undo it if I could.”

Her mind was spinning rapidly. She had to completely expose the plan she had been thinking about for half a year and create a new one. Right now.

“That’s an interesting thing to say.”

Of course, she didn’t look amused at all. Neither was Gloria.

“You were planning to keep your mouth shut forever if I didn’t know.”

She remained silent because she had indeed considered that option. Isabel let out a small laugh.

In that brief moment, Isabel had become a completely different person. The blatantly condescending gaze and hateful look. It was exactly how a wife would look at her husband’s mistress.

“Tell me this first. Have you met my husband since then?”

“Once. I told him I would stop immediately that day.”

“I see. My husband’s attitude changed after you died and came back to life. For a few months, he catered to my every whim. He accepted all my unreasonable anger. Not that it changes anything.”

Isabel rose silently. Gloria naturally looked up at her.

“Because of you, I can’t even blame him anymore. He’d just say the same things you do. That it’s over, that he’s been good to me all this time. Everyone is so selfish. Quick to act.”

She moved slowly to sit on the sofa opposite. Straightening her back, she placed her interlaced hands on her knees. Her posture was straight and noble, like a painting.

“Did you sleep with him?”

Gloria couldn’t answer that. She simply didn’t know.

“You wouldn’t remember, I suppose.”

Fortunately, Isabel seemed to believe that part now. Or perhaps she was being sarcastic.

“That’s exactly how I feel. I can’t say anything. Since you don’t remember, only my husband knows the truth, but how can I trust what he says now?”

She was saying that even though her husband had been treating her well, it was hell. If he had admitted it and begged forgiveness, she could have vented her anger, but everything had already been resolved, so she couldn’t bring it up now. Because Gloria couldn’t remember.

According to Isabel, this was all Gloria’s fault.

“So, Miss Gloria, meet my husband again.”

That was why Isabel had come here.

“If you truly wish to apologize to me.”

“What.”

That was less a response and more an involuntary sound.

Gloria blinked. She wasn’t sure if she’d heard the woman correctly.

“What…… do you want me to do?”

“Continue what you were doing. Don’t put on this act of being sorry or quitting.”

She blinked again.

Surely this wasn’t permission. It was closer to an order.

“That’s not…… something that can be done on command.”

“Then were you planning to end it with just an apology?”

Of course not. When Gloria hesitated, Isabel added:

“Even if I said I wanted to k*ll you right now, you’re in no position to complain. Right?”

Gloria found herself nodding unconsciously. That was true. She wanted to k*ll Jack too, so how much worse must Isabel feel?

“Or does losing your memory make everything disappear?”

This time she shook her head.

“Then my request that you continue seeing my husband doesn’t seem so unreasonable. In fact, it’s good for you. Since you wanted him so badly.”

Except for that last sentence, everything she said made sense. What excuse could there be in a situation with such clear perpetrator and victim?

Still, this made no sense.

“……If I refuse, will you k*ll me?”

After consideration, Gloria asked quietly. Isabel burst into hollow laughter. Even in this situation, her smile still shone.

It was remarkable. That objectively absolute beauty could exist regardless of emotion.

“Of course I won’t k*ll you. I’ll threaten you instead.”

Gloria somehow felt she knew what threat Isabel would make.

If she knew about Gloria’s painting, she would also know how much Gloria loved it. Enough to neglect social gatherings and devote herself to it. So it was a good weakness to exploit.

Suddenly a question occurred to her:

‘Does she know I’ve met Dale too?’

She couldn’t ask first, so there was no way to confirm.

“Yes. You won’t be able to continue your secret activities comfortably. It seems you’re trying to live a second life now that you’ve lost your memory, but I can’t allow that. You’ve ruined my life.”

“……How did you find out?”

Instead of answering, Isabel gave a dignified smile.

She was gradually returning to the face Gloria had first met. The crooked smile she wore while directly mentioning her husband’s infidelity was slowly disappearing.

“If you quietly do as I say, I’ll ignore your pathetic painting business. How’s that? Isn’t that kind of me? I could easily crush your life, but I’ve come to tell you personally.”

In the novel, Isabel always smiled like a doll, warm both inside and out. She was unrealistically perfect and never lost her kindness in any situation.

This Isabel was someone Gloria had never seen before.

‘Of course, even the kindest person would be angry about their husband’s infidelity.’

Hiding her emotions while threatening someone she hated enough to k*ll, plotting some scheme — this was very different from the Isabel in the novel.

Of course, this seemed more human than someone who smiled all the time. But she wasn’t exactly an ordinary person either.

The meetings between wives and mistresses Gloria had seen weren’t just polite conversations like this. There was always something violent — hair-pulling or cursing.