Chapter 7

Yvonne was both bewildered and secretly pleased. Contrary to her expectation that Harriet would give her a hard time after her long vacation, Harriet welcomed her with a smile on her face.

“Where did you stay? Banpart Coast? Rodel Island? Or, the Giorn Forest?”

“I stayed here and there. Two days at Banpart Coast, three days at Giorn Forest, and the remaining two days at home.”

“Oh, it seems things didn’t go well with that man.”

“You figured it out like a ghost.”

“If things had gone well, you wouldn’t have stayed quietly at home for two days.”

Yvonne burst into laughter at Harriet’s clear explanation. Despite their ups and downs, they had been together for nearly ten years. Initially, they were seniors and juniors at the academy, and later, they became a boss and subordinate.

Though they sometimes bickered and had cold periods, Harriet and Yvonne were essentially best friends. They could easily understand each other’s intentions with just a glance.

“Let me ask you something while we’re at it. Yvonne, why do you keep rejecting Aaron? He’s handsome, tall, comes from a good family, and is on a solid path as a painter.”

“Reject? The Young Master has never confessed to me.”

“Even if your lips are crooked, speak the truth. You sly fox. You know Aaron’s feelings. He’s been looking at you for years. Isn’t it time to return his sunflower-like devotion?”

“Well…”

Yvonne shrugged, at a loss for words. That was the problem. His straightforward, sincere, and shining affection made her step back. It was like admiring a flower without plucking it. And what if things went well, but they broke up later?

Aaron was the only sibling Harriet confided in. Accepting his feelings could potentially strain her relationship with Harriet.

“Yvonne?”

“Let’s stop talking about me. It’s you who’s the problem. I heard the Young Duke has returned in the meantime?”

Yvonne tactfully changed the subject, touching on a topic Harriet was trying hard to avoid.

“I’ve left that issue to Aaron.”

“What?”

“Find out about a man named Eugene.”

“Eugene? Who’s that?”

“I don’t know either, so find out.”

Leaving a cryptic instruction, Harriet tapped Yvonne’s shoulder. Yvonne sighed inwardly and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll find out.”

“Good. Then brief me on today’s schedule.”

“Yes.”

As Harriet put on the glasses she had set on the mahogany desk, the two women instantly reverted from being close friends to a boss and subordinate. Yvonne calmly explained the tasks and schedule she had taken over from her junior.

Someone knocked on the door. Harriet raised her hand to interrupt Yvonne and instructed them to come in. A staff member peeked in, looking apprehensive.

“Director. I’m sorry to interrupt. You have a visitor.”

“I don’t recall having any scheduled appointments.”

“Yes, but…”

The staff member swallowed nervously, his mouth dry. Harriet furrowed her brows at his hesitance. Just as she was about to demand to know who it was, a woman squeezed past the staff member and entered the office.

“Harriet!”

“…Olivia.”

Harriet’s expression hardened at the sight of the uninvited guest. Regardless, Olivia pushed the flustered staff member aside, closed the door, and approached with tears streaming down her face.

“What do I do? How am I supposed to live now?”

“Director…?”

Yvonne, taken aback by the sudden commotion, subtly glanced at Harriet to see if she should intervene with Olivia, who was rushing towards her boss.

Olivia, who had already rounded the desk, hugged Harriet tightly. She cried so much that Harriet’s shoulder was soon soaked.

Harriet, suffocating in Olivia’s embrace, reflexively patted her trembling shoulder. It was a situation she was all too familiar with, to the point of being sick of it. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Harriet eventually glanced at Yvonne.

“Do we have anything urgent today?”

“No. There’s a brand meeting scheduled for the afternoon, but there’s nothing in the morning.”

“Don’t come back until lunch. Unless it’s something really urgent, don’t accept any unexpected visitors.”

“Understood. Then…”

Yvonne quickly left the office after bowing her head. As soon as the door closed, Harriet cautiously removed Olivia’s hands.

“Sit down first. What’s going on?”

Harriet managed to calm the sobbing Olivia and led her to the couch.

“What happened?”

Olivia, sitting weakly, suddenly dropped a bombshell.

“I think Ted’s current girlfriend is pregnant.”

“What?”

It felt like lightning had struck her head. Harriet sprang up like a coil and fired off questions.

“Is it true? Did that madman really get his mistress pregnant? Could it be because of what Father said last time?”

“I don’t know. I just found out today… Sob, what should I do? Is Ted going to divorce me?”

“Oh my God.”

Harriet rubbed her face with her hands and pressed her right hand against her left chest to calm her erratically beating heart. But Olivia, who had started crying again, clung to her hand like a lifeline.

“Help me, Coco. Please? We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Friends. Yes, we were friends.”

At the old nickname, Harriet looked down at Olivia with a complicated expression.

While Yvonne had started as a senior-junior relationship at the academy, Olivia was a childhood friend who frequently visited each other’s homes. Their relationship had cooled somewhat after Olivia married Theodore, with whom Harriet had a cat-and-dog relationship, but the bond they had built remained like a love-hate relationship.

“I told you, Theodore is not someone who can be reformed. You’d only end up ruining yourself.”

“You did. You warned me countless times, even in the bridal waiting room on my wedding day.”

“You brought this on yourself. You walked into hell, lured by the shiny exterior of an empty, rotting shell.”

After a short courtship, Theodore did propose to Olivia, but their sweet honeymoon phase was brief. Even before and after marriage, women never ceased to be around Theodore. His girlfriends changed constantly, and Olivia’s heartache deepened.

“You were right. This is the hell I created. But I still love him… Help me, Harriet.”

Sobbing, Olivia knelt at Harriet’s feet.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Go… go find her…”

Unable to finish her sentence, Olivia hung her head. Harriet looked down at her bowed head, took a deep breath, and sighed.

“You’re really cowardly and weak.”

“…”

“You’re a hypocrite too. You want to remain the good person to the end, even if you have to stain someone else’s hands with blood.”

Previously, as friends, these flaws were overlooked, but unexpectedly becoming family made them feel fatal. Olivia finally collapsed onto the floor under the harsh criticism.

“Harriet… sob…”

“It’s your problem, so handle it yourself.”

Her voice was as cold as ice, though her expression was not.

“Harriet!”

Harriet turned away from Olivia’s puppy-like eyes, as if abandoned by its mother, and removed Olivia’s clinging hands. She stepped firmly to the door and opened it.

“If you understand, please leave now.”

After Olivia’s early morning visit, Harriet’s mood, which had been buoyant with new connections, quickly sank.

In the end, she couldn’t concentrate on the afternoon meeting, and it ended in a muddled fashion. Unable to focus on work afterward, Harriet left the department store early.

Yvonne, who followed her out, checked that no one was around and whispered softly.

“Will the Earl really acknowledge Theodore’s illegitimate child as his grandson?”

“I want to say there’s no way, but… honestly, I don’t know. The child isn’t at fault.”

“What will you do? Are you just going to let it be? This is practically cheating.”

There were hardly any secrets between the two of them, who had known each other for over ten years. Yvonne, who had heard everything from the conversation with Olivia to the dinner talk, stamped her feet anxiously.

“How can this be? Having affairs as if it’s nothing when he has a wife, and now an illegitimate child because his father told him to have one… Is it because of the second branch?”

“I need to meet the woman who claims to be pregnant first. Arrange a secret meeting. I don’t mind meeting her as soon as tomorrow.”

“I’ll do that.”

Though she had coldly dismissed Olivia, saying it wasn’t her problem, Harriet couldn’t shake off the unease in her heart.

In the end, Harriet, having given instructions to Yvonne, hailed a carriage.

“Are you going to that social club again today?”

“No. I don’t plan to go today.”

Perhaps Eugene was waiting, but she didn’t feel she could meet him and have a pleasant conversation in her current mood.

“Should I come with…”

“I want to be alone today. See you tomorrow.”

Harriet stopped Yvonne from following her into the carriage, closed the door, and told the coachman her destination.