Goosebumps rose all over my body. They say that when a person changes so suddenly, it means their days are numbered, and was this not exactly that. On top of it all, his eyes looked strangely more resolute than they had ever been.

“I… I… to think I struggled so hard to live only to hear those words. I should have died following your father. Yes, I should have died then. I could not die, and that is why I have to witness this. I wanted nothing but for you, Dertosse, to do well… and now some fox of a woman….”

His mother’s body fell backward, the shock of it all seemingly too much. In that instant, Dertosse let go of my arm and rushed to her.

“Mo, Mother!”

“Let go… I need to die. I have to die.”

So she was going to take it this far. My mother-in-law shoved her son away and tried to throw herself to the ground.

“Please do not do that. That is not what I meant when I said those things to you, Mother. I only wanted us, as a family… to get along well. If you do this, my heart… my heart hurts too much. All right?”

“Enough… enough. Choose. Between that thing and me.”

“How can I choose? You are my mother, and Evie is my wife.”

But his mother thrashed more violently than ever.

“Fine. Then that is that. Choose her. This mother of yours will go and die. I will die!”

“…Mother!”

As though that were not enough, she pulled a small medicine bottle from inside her clothes. Oh ho. I had not expected her to go this far so soon. A medicine bottle, of all things. But I was not surprised. That was because my mother-in-law had already used this method once before.

That medicine was what had made Dertosse take his mother’s side.

‘And in my past life, I had even tried to fight fire with fire right in front of her when she pulled this. Said I would die too.’

But not this time.

‘The timing of Mother’s s*icide attempt is earlier than I expected, but it does not matter.’

Was this not exactly why I had gone out today?

“Mo, Mother, no!”

Dertosse tried to stop the hand reaching to uncork the bottle. But his mother was firm. She shook off her son’s hand and tipped the bottle into her mouth, the way someone who truly wanted to die would. Of course, just as before, almost none of the medicine actually went into her mouth. And naturally, even if it had, it posed no danger whatsoever.

Because that was a vitamin supplement. A supplement she had prepared for exactly this kind of performance, for when her son refused to listen.

“Ah, ah! Spit it out at once! All right?”

“No… I will die. I will die!”

I had been watching the scene unfold, and only then did I step toward the two of them.

“Mother. I am so sorry… because of me….”

“Look at that. She throws a fit right in front of me with her eyes wide open, and now she plays the sweet one in front of you. That kind of woman, that kind of woman….”

“Dertosse. You can let me go… Mother matters more… I, I….”

“Yes. Dert! There you have it. She said she will leave, so throw her out right now. Throw her out!”

The moment I gave off the air of someone about to leave on her own, my mother-in-law sprang to her feet. The instant she did, I timed it perfectly and sank to the ground. Then I clutched my stomach.

“Ah… my stomach… my stomach.”

“Look at that. Dert. She is putting on a show again!”

“No… Mother, it is not that… ah, no. What is the point of saying anything when I am about to be thrown out anyway.”

“Evie… why, why are you like that!”

“Today… when I went out to see the doctor… no… never mind.”

Dertosse, who had been focused on his mother until just a moment ago, quickly turned and came to me.

“What is wrong? Tell me.”

“No. Just do not ask me anything and throw me out. Everything has been a mess since I came to this house. So if I am the only one who leaves, it will all be fine. Please.”

I looked up at him with a faraway gaze. Meanwhile, his mother glared down at me as though she could devour me whole.

“Yes. Throw her out. Throw her out!”

His mother shouted as though she had seized on my words like a lifeline. At that moment, Dertosse’s eyes, which had been shifting between his mother and me, went still.

“Mother.”

“Yes.”

“Just now… did you not take that medicine?”

“…….”

“It seemed like you took at least a little, and yet you seem perfectly fine. Was it a fake?”

“Wh, what kind of nonsense is that! I would never do such a thing!”

But Dertosse’s gaze had gone cold. He turned away from his mother and looked quietly down at me.

“Then I suppose the things about Evie recently were also fake, just like that medicine.”

Dertosse nudged the bottle rolling on the ground with his foot, then crouched down in front of me.

“…And there is no way I would ever abandon Evie. She is someone I love. So tell me what is going on.”

“…I am pregnant.”

“Th, that is impossible. Pregnant. To think that precious seed of my son’s has been planted in something like her, it is simply impossible!”

Everything she had done until a moment ago had been an act, but this time it was real. His mother dropped heavily to the ground and shook her head from side to side. But a smile slowly spread across Dertosse’s face.

“Really? Is it true?”

“Yes.”

“I never even imagined it! No wonder. Lately you had no energy and kept feeling ill… I am sorry. I did not realize.”

Dertosse apologized as though he had become a different person entirely. His eyes even grew wet with tears.

“And I… I think I misunderstood for a moment. That Evie was a bad person. That she was the reason things between Mother and me had come to this.”

“No. That is right. If I had not been here, none of this would have happened.”

Dertosse, who never once thought about how he had handled things himself, drifting back and forth between two women whenever the mood struck him, was kind enough not to disappoint me in this life either.

“No! All of this is Mother’s fault!”

Sure enough, Dertosse was quick to place the blame elsewhere. My mother-in-law trembled with disbelief at the sight of it, but Dertosse did not stop there and pointed a finger straight at her.

‘It is your own fault.’

Why could he not see that everything was his own doing? If he had not brought me here on a lie from the very start, if he had not pushed through with the marriage.

Even if he had only stood up for me against his mother’s erratic behavior, and had not fallen for Rechel, things would never have reached this point. It was all his fault.

“Let us go inside. I am worried you might be overdoing it.”

“Dertosse! That document could be a fake! Are, are you going to leave your own mother here? Are you?”

“It cannot be a fake. Evie would never do something like that.”

“But!”

“That is enough. If you say one more word, I think I will not want to see you anymore, Mother. And please do not stage s*icide attempts with fake medicine. I am so disappointed I feel like sending you somewhere far away to recuperate.”

All the while, Dertosse helped me up from the ground.

“Let us go inside, Evie.”

“But Dert. Mother is….”

“Do not worry about her. Why should you, when she treats you so harshly.”

“Even so, you should not act this way. She is your mother. Family… family must never abandon each other.”

“…Evie, you are family too.”

He wrapped his arms gently around me and slowly helped me along.

“Dert….”

“If you say another word about Mother, I think even I will lose my temper. So let us let it go for today.”

“…All right.”

He had said enough that there was nothing more I could add. Or rather, I simply moved my lips without a word, the way someone with nothing left to say would.

The shock my mother-in-law had received today was enough. Piling on any more would have been a waste. Just as eating too much leads to indigestion, knowing when to stop and keep things measured seemed necessary here.

“Dert! You are leaving your own mother behind! Falling for that woman and abandoning this mother of yours… abandoning me!”

My mother-in-law’s voice still rang loudly in my ears, but Dertosse walked on with deliberate force, as though he could not hear a word of it.

To wrap things up neatly, I flinched each time her voice reached us, and the hand holding me tightened its grip in response.

“Do not pay attention to it. Walk as though you cannot hear a thing. We are going straight to the room like this. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good, you listen well. I was about to lose my temper if you felt sorry for Mother again.”

He gave a small smile, and he looked more resolute than I had ever seen him.

“Dert, Dert! Come back. You need to hear what your mother has to say!”

We left her behind, her voice raw from screaming, and stepped inside the manor.

When I felt the moment had come, I quietly spoke to Dertosse.

“I am fine now. I can walk on my own.”

“Are you sure you are not overdoing it? The baby is not in any danger, is it?”

“I do not think you need to worry. I feel perfectly fine. I think my stomach just hurt for a moment earlier because I was startled. Maybe I have become more sensitive now that I am pregnant.”

“But I cannot just let you walk on your own. I am too uneasy. What if… what if….”

I gently loosened his hand from around me.

“I am fine. Standing here like this makes me feel like I am gravely ill.”

“Just for today….”

“I feel like I am going to trip if we keep this up! I really am fine.”

“Is that so? If Evie says so… I should not force it.”

Only then did he loosen the arm he had wrapped around me.

“Thank you for listening to me.”

“Of course. Evie.”

He stopped briefly where he stood and looked me over from head to toe.

“But what are all these bandages about?”