Chapter 16

Once the wheels started turning, the plan progressed smoothly. The day after Harriet conceived the idea, Yvonne stayed up all night drafting the guest list and suggested holding the party in the main hall on the first floor of the department store.

“That’s a good idea. It’s spacious enough to invite at least a hundred people.”

“Yes.”

“Get a chef from a top hotel to collaborate, and hire experts for decorations like flowers and glass crafts. Let’s draft the layout today.”

“I already have some people in mind. Please take a look at the list.”

When it came to work, the two women had a perfect synergy. With a month left until the charity party, all preparations proceeded smoothly. Harriet worked tirelessly day and night, in addition to her usual duties. When she was engrossed in work, she didn’t think about Claire or Lennox.

“Madame Glenzer?”

Harriet’s expression hardened as she read through the list Yvonne handed her. Her hands trembled slightly, but only for a moment. Yvonne, unaware of Harriet’s expression beyond the paper, confidently recommended her.

“You’ve heard of her, right? She’s an indispensable expert in event decorations.”

“…Yes, she is.”

Harriet forced a bitter smile and placed the paper down with a composed face. Madame Glenzer was the person who would have been responsible for the reception decorations if her wedding three years ago had gone as planned.

The day she was abandoned at the altar.

“Oh, Miss! Mikhail is gone!”

“What? What do you mean gone?”

“Miss Marianne is missing too!”

The memory of sitting idly in the waiting room on that shocking day resurfaced. At the same time, she felt suffocated, as if someone was pressing down on her chest. Shame, betrayal, despair, sadness, anger. She had spent nearly a year sleeplessly working through so many emotions. She was just starting to feel better, and it felt like a sudden ambush.

“Senior? Are you okay… Oh.”

Yvonne, belatedly worried by Harriet’s unusual complexion, bit her lip, her face turning pale.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I forgot. Truly.”

“It’s okay. It happens. It’s all in the past now.”

It was a famous incident that had shaken the social circles for quite some time.

Mikhail Chasselot, who had been engaged to Harriet for ten years, eloped with another woman on their wedding day, and that woman was her younger sister, Marianne Vanetti.

“Harriet.”

“Huh? What is it, Mikhail?”

“Just hypothetically. If you were to hurt someone deeply, what do you think would happen?”

“What?”

“If there was an unintended incident and you had to deal with it.”

“…What kind of incident? Is it something unforgivable?”

“Probably…”

“In that case, isn’t time the best remedy? After dealing with what you’ve done, maybe after a long time, you could ask for forgiveness.”

There were signs. The day before the wedding, she found her fiancé’s behavior slightly different from usual but brushed it off. She was also nervous about the big event of getting married.

As the face of her former fiancé, whom she had erased from her mind, resurfaced, Harriet let out a low sigh.

“Are you unwell?”

Yvonne, watching her carefully, quickly approached to check her complexion. Harriet shook her head, declining the handkerchief Yvonne offered.

“No, I’m fine. Just a bit…”

There was a reason why Eugene Gray seemed so comfortable and familiar. He resembled Mikhail. Not in features or build, but in his gentle and delicate personality and atmosphere. That’s why he felt familiar, and why she had unknowingly shared Claire’s story in a roundabout way.

Before Mikhail betrayed her so brutally at the wedding, he had been her closest friend and future husband.

“Those two aren’t here. If they have any conscience or shame, they won’t set foot in this country, in this capital, again.”

“…”

“I’m always on your side, Senior.”

While Harriet was lost in thought, Yvonne, who had hesitated for a moment, spoke soothingly. Harriet, who had been unfazed by the cartoon that mocked her, seemed pained and angered by her current turmoil.

“I’m the one who was betrayed, so why do you look like that?”

Harriet, with a serious face, jokingly teased. Understanding her intention, Yvonne smiled and joked back.

“We’re tied by fate. If you do well, I do well, and if you don’t, neither do I.”

“So you’re supporting me because you’re afraid of losing your job?”

“Is that how it sounds?”

“You’re so cheeky.”

“You like this side of me, don’t you?”

Harriet chuckled and concluded the conversation.

“Enough chit-chat. Let’s get back to work.”

“Yes. But before that, you should cancel your outdoor plans for today.”

“Why?”

Puzzled by the sudden suggestion, Harriet turned to look out the window. The once sunny weather had turned gloomy. Dark clouds were gathering, threatening to pour rain at any moment.

It was not a good omen.

* * *

Three dockworkers loaded the cargo from the ship onto the carriage. A woman, waiting with her arms crossed for all her luggage to be loaded, gestured to her younger brother who had come to greet her. Quick-witted Aaron fished through his pockets and handed money to the workers.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“We weren’t expecting this, but… Thank you, Madame.”

With formal words of gratitude, the workers quickly left, clutching the generous envelope. The woman, helped onto the carriage by Aaron, chuckled.

“What do you mean you weren’t expecting this? They swarm like ants to sugar whenever nobles disembark from a ship.”

“…”

“Anyway, those without means have no pride. Isn’t that right, Aaron?”

At her request for agreement, Aaron responded with an awkward smile, remaining silent.

As the ship filled with foreign passengers docked at the harbor, rain began to fall lightly. Outside the bustling carriage window, shabbily dressed men were seen running this way and that, trying to feed their families. Any human would naturally feel a twinge of sympathy at such a sight.

However, expecting such emotions from Marianne Vanetti, Aaron’s second sister and the third daughter of the Vanetti Earl family, was foolish. Outwardly always gentle and soft, she seemed full of compassion, but inside, Marianne was like a tightly frozen iceberg.

“Disgusting! That begging child touched my dress! Do you know how much this costs?”

“Sister. It’s just a child. It’s also the child of one of our factory workers. Can’t you let it go?”

“Me? Why should I?”

The incident where she ended up firing the child’s parents, leaving the whole family on the street, came to mind. After learning about it, Harriet had scolded Marianne and reinstated the family to their jobs.

“Little sister, you haven’t changed.”

“Judging by that face that seems so reluctant to greet me, you haven’t changed either.”

“I only found out you were returning today when Father summoned me at dawn.”

Aaron, indirectly confirming Marianne’s words, closed the curtain. Marianne stopped his hand with wide-open eyes.

“What are you doing? I’ve come back after a long time, let me look outside a bit.”

“The condition was that you’d return secretly.”

“The rain will obscure the view inside the carriage anyway.”

Ignoring her brother’s sigh, Marianne excitedly observed the familiar scenery outside.

“By the way, it’s been so long. You have no idea how hard it was for me abroad.”

“Anyone listening would think you were exiled. Though I suppose from your perspective, you’re the only victim and everyone else is the perpetrator?”

Marianne glared at Aaron, who spoke sarcastically.

“You’ve been following our sister around since you were little, and you’re still wagging your tail like a dog?”

“Little sister. Do you really feel no remorse?”

The words ‘towards someone’ were left unspoken. Both knew well enough not to need to say it. After a brief silence, Marianne unexpectedly responded readily.

“I’m sorry.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Thinking about how much it must have hurt her pride, having her fiancé run away with her sister on her wedding day…”

I still can’t describe how thrilling it was.

Marianne feigned wiping tears with a handkerchief, hiding her true feelings.