Oscar couldn’t stop his hip movements despite being deeply immersed, but he didn’t want to reveal it. But the leisure to utter spiteful words soon disappeared.

Oscar clenched his molars and tightened his grip. The base of his shaft near his seed-filled scrotum touched her lips. He had thrust that deeply. 

With a dizzying intensity of pleasure, the s*men that had accumulated for a long time was released.

Jacqueline’s eyes widened. Tears welled up and her vision blurred each time warm, sticky s*men flowed down her throat. 

Since Oscar held her head firmly without letting go, she had no choice but to gulp down the s*men.

Finally, Oscar roughly released Jacqueline’s head.

“Gasp! Cough, cough, cough!”

Zip, the zipper of his pants went up. After satisfying his lust, Oscar tidied his pants without lingering attachment and waited for Jacqueline’s coughing to subside.

“Haa…”

When Jacqueline’s coughing somewhat subsided, Oscar gave her his first farewell.

“Well then, Miss Carroll. I’ll be expecting your dedicated service next time as well.”

* * *

Michael trimmed about 3cm diagonally from the end of the flower stem with garden shears. This was to help the flower better absorb water from the vase, but Melinda, who preferred seeing flowers and trees in their natural state, only felt sorry for the flowers densely packed in the vase.

“If these had intelligence, they would have wielded knives against you.”

“Oh, Linda. I’m already living with an intelligent flower. That’s you… Gack!”

“Darling, I may not hit flowers, but I can hit you.”

Melinda always maintained tension thanks to her younger husband who tried to kiss her at every opportunity. 

They say moderate tension helps married life, but the problem was that Michael’s affectionate advances far exceeded a moderate level.

Michael smiled cheerfully even after being hit by Melinda’s palm. Melinda looked at him with suspicious eyes, wondering if he had developed some strange preference, but then realized this was just how he was and laughed helplessly. 

Lately, Melinda had been laughing more frivolously. It was a notable change since she and Michael had connected emotionally.

“By the way, Jackie hasn’t been in touch much lately. Do you know anything?”

“Ah. I was just about to tell you that she moved to a new place.”

Michael was startled when he saw the expression Melinda made when she was genuinely angry.

“Our child begged me not to tell you until she got her own place, so I just did what she asked. I had no other intention. Please soften your expression. I’m scared.”

“You should have told me in advance anyway!”

“I, I admit it was all my fault, so please calm down.”

Michael was anxious that Melinda’s heart might malfunction. When Michael prostrated himself flat and made a pitiful expression, Melinda felt her anger cooling.

“They say a woman’s life is over when a man looks pitiful. I never thought I would end up like this.”

Melinda took Michael’s hand with self-deprecation.

“You have stubbornness tougher than steel and persistence greater than a usurer.”

“That’s what it takes to live with a beauty.”

“Enough of that. Why did Jackie get a separate place?”

“She’s a grown adult now, so she probably wants to live comfortably in an independent space.”

“She wasn’t like that before.”

“Hmm hmm.”

“I guess she wasn’t.”

“I may have been called a landlady, but I was practically a dormitory supervisor. Of course, not just for Jackie, but also for Anette and other young ladies using different floors. Oh, that young lady found a good marriage prospect and moved out. From recent news, she’s already a mother of two children. Her husband’s business is also thriving.”

The typist was truly a fortunate young lady.

“I wish our child had that kind of luck too… Instead, she got involved with that terrible man.”

Michael felt sick thinking about Lloyd Whitaker, who was doing even better than two years ago.

“Dealing with Don Carlo and his gang went according to plan, but we didn’t anticipate that his political opponents would benefit relatively and grow.”

“That must be his luck. How can we interfere with someone’s fate?”

“What if it’s not simply luck?”

“Not luck?”

“Based on information combined from various sources, there were prospects that Lloyd Whitaker’s business would expand, but the limitations were also clear. No investigative agency could have predicted that it would grow large enough to acquire a small bank based in the Gran Caillou District.”

That’s why Michael had been complacent.

“Looking at the businesses Lloyd Whitaker invested in that hit big, they’re related to the government. Hmm, seeing how he bought land in an area before the land redevelopment project was announced, he seems to have strong backing…”

“So the conclusion is that Lloyd Whitaker is making money using information provided by high-ranking officials?”

“With that business scale, he must be connected to someone in the top five of the protocol order. Whoever it is, they must have a solid hold on Lloyd Whitaker’s weakness.”

“For once, we have a figure who didn’t come from the mainstream. Luck is on his side too. Plus, he’s young and handsome, so families with unmarried daughters would be interested.”

“Well, a strategic marriage is essential to enter high society. Given that Lloyd Whitaker has been frequently attending social gatherings lately, he might be looking for a bride.”

“That would be fortunate.”

Rumors had been circulating that Lloyd Whitaker was no longer searching for red-haired women. Consequently, the red hair trend naturally subsided.

Two years ago, Melinda regretted selling the building to Lloyd Whitaker.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have sold it.”

“If you hadn’t, Lloyd Whitaker would have been quite troublesome.”

“I suppose…”

“Do you regret it that much?”

“It’s a place with memories of living with good children.”

“Linda has as much lingering attachment as Jackie.”

“That’s because Jackie changed me.”

“No. Linda was always that kind of person. And it’s natural for family members to resemble each other.”

That day, the child who saved Melinda’s life was not only a lifesaver but also a precious child who came to them like a gift.

“She always managed everything so well on her own. Sometimes that makes me feel sad.”

“Jackie has abilities because she learned a lot from us. Not just because she’s our child, but she really handles things efficiently. She seems busy preparing to return to college these days, so let’s wait.”

* * *

A better tomorrow than today did not come. Usually, even after experiencing hardship the previous day, a good night’s sleep would allow one to wake up feeling refreshed, but today, that morning magic didn’t happen. 

Jacqueline greeted the morning still trapped in shame and fear.

Jacqueline lay in bed, blankly counting the wallpaper patterns on the ceiling, then picked at the rough skin on her lips with her fingernails.

The palm that pressed down on her throat was large and thick, and the member that stirred inside her mouth was of an alarming size even to Jacqueline, who had no experience with men.

The sensation of that hot, thick, long member with its grotesquely protruding veins and the intense male taste came back to her. Her heart pounded like it was being struck with a club, and tears welled up in her green eyes.

What happened in the study that night was not a nightmare.

“Ugh!”

Jacqueline ran to the kitchen and vomited bile into the sink.

“Ptui! Ptui! Urgh!”

She turned on the faucet, cupped water in her palms, and rinsed her mouth several times. But the stale, bitter taste of s*men still seemed to linger on her tongue.

‘My eyes became like this because of Captain Friedman. Do you think I would trust Miss Carroll, who inherited money from such a person?’

Because of those words, Jacqueline couldn’t ignore Oscar’s forceful claims and knelt before him.

Both the blinding of Oscar’s eyes and the death of Max’s friend were all because Pers Friedman had broken military law and acted alone. 

It was a disaster caused by the kindness he had shown to a child from an enemy country just once.

But no matter how hateful Pers Friedman was, what Oscar had done to her was an unacceptable act of violence.

‘Even if I reported what Lord von Oestenberg did to me, people wouldn’t believe me. He’s everyone’s hero, and I’m just a caregiver with a rock-bottom reputation.’

Oscar von Oestenberg was like a natural disaster to Jacqueline. No matter how much she racked her brain, finding a way to avoid him seemed impossible.

Days passed like that, and once again, the day to go to Hildegard House arrived.

* * *

Heather and Nora issued a warning to the maids and servants not to enter the floor where the study was located. 

The employees at Hildegard House were veterans trained at verified institutions, so they had worked at the mansion without problems until now. But not everyone was like that.

Rita chewed her nails with an anxious face.

“I didn’t come here just to become a mere deputy head maid.”

She had harbored ambitions to become a member of the von Oestenberg family even before coming to Hildegard House. Rita took pride in having some noble blood mixed in her lineage and secretly looked down on maids of common birth. 

The reason others disliked Rita but couldn’t directly confront her was also because of her family background.

“I need to see him often for opportunities to arise…”

Even with his critical weakness, Oscar von Oestenberg still ranked highly in the marriage market, and though she had some noble blood, he was not a man that the daughter of a family only slightly wealthier than commoners could dare covet.

But in any era, there are women who marry men of higher status and achieve social advancement, and she was convinced she would be one of them.

Rita snatched cleaning tools from a passing colleague.

“I’ll just pretend I accidentally went to the study while cleaning earnestly.”

Such incidents happened occasionally, so even if there was a problem, with a good explanation, it could be overlooked without punishment like last time. Rita thought of Jacqueline and sneered.

“By the way, that annoying woman hasn’t been seen lately. Did she quit?”

Having set foot on the floor where the study was located, Rita walked down the silent corridor. 

The study was positioned at the end of the corridor, requiring quite a walk to reach, but she was excited at the thought of soon meeting Oscar.

Finally, upon reaching the study, Rita carefully opened the door. Through the slightly opened door, she saw the n*ked bodies of two people. 

Shocked, Rita quietly put down the cleaning tools she was holding and fled from there.