#02

— Michael has a mentally ill younger sibling. Her nickname is Gabi. He’ll probably use Gabi as an excuse to draw you in. Then he’ll get close to you and try to seduce you. Oh, just imagining it is terrible. You’ll end up following the same path I did.

I told you, didn’t I? He has a very big secret.

My death is partly his fault too.

I’m not asking you to dig up secrets. Just be careful. Stay away from him as much as possible. That’s how you’ll survive.

When I arrived at the department store, Laura’s letter had already arrived. After reading it, Cedric let out a long sigh.

“It would be better if you stayed away from Marquis Paine even now. If you’ve promised to meet his younger sibling every day, wouldn’t somewhere other than the marquis’s residence be fine?”

“Wouldn’t Marquis Paine be reluctant to expose his younger sister to the outside world?”

“I’ll arrange for trustworthy people to bring her to the department store every day. Keeping someone with mental illness confined at home isn’t right either.”

This is troubling.

Seeing Laura’s earnest plea in this letter, Michael clearly has some major flaw.

“I wonder if Michael beat and abused Laura when she was alive?”

“That’s possible. From what I saw earlier, he seemed like quite a shady man.”

“Find out who the doctor working for the marquis’s family is and the undertaker who handled Laura’s funeral, and bring them to me.”

I need to cross-verify what condition Laura was in before she died. It’s natural that my friend’s former fiancé doesn’t look good in my eyes. Though Michael was once the object of my first love, I’m no longer the innocent person I was back then. My fluttering feelings have naturally faded with time.

“How do men see him? Was Michael that bad? I can’t really tell.”

“Even women would find him unappealing.”

It was hard to trust Cedric’s personal opinion. Somehow it seemed his view was heavily influenced by his earlier dispute with the marquis.

“So he didn’t appeal to you, that’s what you’re saying.”

Waving the stiff paper, he asked me.

“But why did she take the trouble to send letters separately instead of sending them all at once?”

“Laura knew my personality very well. I don’t trust people easily. She probably tried to persuade me by sending letters with similar messages repeatedly. Seeing that she sent this letter before dying, she must have really suffered at Michael’s hands. Foolish girl. If she was in such pain, she should have asked me for help.”

If she had come running to me for help instead of just writing letters, I would have done whatever my friend wanted without question.

Thinking about my friend’s death made my eyes moist again.

Cedric handed me a handkerchief.

“Perhaps he monitored her outings. There was a similar person in the village where I used to live. A woman beaten by her husband. Even when others reached out to help and told her to leave him, she took her husband’s side. She had become accustomed to the abuse.”

“What happened to that woman?”

“The end is almost always the same for people who are abused. Either kill or be killed. She did both.”

Cedric’s expression changed to one of deep sorrow as he spoke. Like someone who had been hurt, someone recalling bitter memories.

So I didn’t probe further. He seemed to have some circumstances I didn’t know about.

Suddenly, I remembered when I first met him.

‘You left your hometown and came to the capital, why?’

‘To make money. There’s no one left in my hometown anyway. Both my parents have passed away.’

‘Where are you staying now?’

‘At a relative’s house. When I have the ability to be independent, I plan to find a suitable boarding house and move out.’

‘Alright. Start work tomorrow. For now, follow me around and supervise construction sites, and after it’s completed, I’ll get you a job as a sales clerk.’

I had such a similar conversation with Cedric back then. Perhaps the abused woman he mentioned was about his parents. At that time, Cedric had unhealed wounds on his cheeks, neck, and the back of his hands. Now they’re faint traces, but if I look closely at my secretary, I can still see scars here and there.

I gave him the job easily because he looked pitiful, wondering where he got beaten up.

Oh, Cedric. You’re making me feel sympathy. He is a man I cannot hate.

“Aren’t you going to look at the diary?”

“I will. Don’t rush me.”

Seriously, who’s the boss here?

“But you know. If Michael really abused my friend, if that becomes certain, is it okay to accept money from someone like that?”

Cedric raised his chin and pulled at his coat’s collar.

“Money isn’t guilty. People commit crimes. And didn’t you specify in the contract? The clause stating that even if you receive investment funds, investors cannot interfere with the business—it wasn’t included for nothing.”

That’s right. This clause was added recently. Because there was someone who kept interfering with my management.

Speaking of which, it’s time to start reclaiming that person’s shares.

“Cedric. Send someone to Danvers Street. I need to meet Jeffrey.”

When Jeffrey’s name left my lips, his expression immediately crumpled.

“You absolutely must not drink with that man. Let’s go together to talk.”

“Of course. How could I trust such a scoundrel? I’m planning to buy his shares and cut ties with him this time.”

Jeffrey Danvers was a man whose hands and mouth became rough whenever he drank. He was an extremely greedy man who pursued many women yet coveted the seat beside me.

“He’s quite a troublesome investor. I heard he keeps talking about this department store as if it’s his own. It was also problematic that he touched the salesgirls as he pleased. This is good timing.”

“He probably won’t want to sell. I don’t like fattening that man’s wallet, but what can I do? He’s one of the early investors. Ah, contact the other small investors too. Tell them if anyone wants to sell their shares, I’ll buy them back at four times the investment price.”

Jeffrey is the only son of Baron Danvers, who operates several textile factories.

The Danvers family used to be one of the wealthy families in the capital. But these days, with various types of imported fabrics and outdated facilities, I heard the Danvers factories are struggling to keep up with trends. The best thing Jeffrey ever did was becoming an early investor in our department store. But I’m not sure if he’ll easily give up his shares.

“Yes. I’ll prepare the contracts and send some people.”

“You may go.”

“……Yes.”

Disappointment dripped from Cedric’s eyes as he turned away. Why is he acting like that?

Only after a while did I hear the door close. As I was checking yesterday’s sales performance, my eyes finally caught the letter at the edge of the desk.

‘Ah, that’s why he was acting like that.’

He could just secretly check it when I’m not around. He knows I trust him the most.

My hand reaching for the old diary keeps hesitating.

My tender feelings for my friend still remained. But, Laura. Can I believe your letter as it is?

‘You like me the most, don’t you?’

Even now, when I close my eyes, I can see Laura’s face smiling and saying this.

Yes. You were the friend I cherished the most. My mother made an absurd choice right before my eyes, and my father who was always on the battlefield. You were the first to notice my lonely heart. You were the only one who took care of me when I was a mess.

But Laura. Whenever I tried to get close to someone else, you stood in the way and showed jealousy. I liked that about you, but I also felt hurt. I’m only confessing this now, but somehow there were days when you seemed unsettling to me. Whenever such feelings arose, I blamed myself, wondering if I should be disappointed in someone who saved my life, and regretted it.

Even now, peeking at your diary feels like doing something wrong. It makes me blame myself constantly.

After taking several deep breaths, I picked up the diary she had written.

— March 2, 1853

After getting engaged, he treated me like an invisible person. Yes, since our relationship started with blackmail, I must have been dreadful to him. But that’s okay. Gabi follows me well. Gabi is the only jewel in this house for me. She accepts everything I say and follows me like her mother. Since I’m so good to his sibling, maybe someday Michael will like me too. I wish he would turn to me with even half the love I have for him.

If this situation continues, I think my heart will hurt too much.

Checking the date, it was written the day after Laura’s engagement.

‘Should I ask Michael? On how they ended up getting engaged.’

If I ask, will he answer me honestly? Last time, Michael acted as though just remembering Laura made him sick.

This is frustrating. If she was going to send such letters, why didn’t she just honestly tell me what she suffered before dying? Did Laura want to protect Michael whom she loved until the end? Perhaps she didn’t give details because she was worried I might report him to the police later.

The sky had been cloudy since morning. Sure enough, heavy rain poured down, with raindrops continuously tapping on the window. It seems like it will continue raining tomorrow too.

‘This will affect the department store’s sales.’

Dead people don’t lie. In the end, I had no choice but to believe Laura’s letter as it was.

* * *

Michael frowned as he watched the falling raindrops.

“Howard. Increase the number of people guarding Gabrielle’s room today. We don’t know what she might do, so monitor her properly.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, I should have told Charlotte she doesn’t need to come here on rainy days. Send someone to the Liv Department Store manager’s office. She’ll make a wasted trip tomorrow.”

The taciturn butler, Howard, followed the marquis’s orders without comment.

Gabi’s symptoms worsened on rainy days. Considering the accident that happened to their mother on such a day, it couldn’t be helped.

Michael thought of Charlotte and raised the corners of his mouth. For once, his blue eyes showed interest in a person.

‘She’s still beautiful and full of confidence.’

That woman was exactly the same as when he met her at his aunt’s party. Perhaps he was the only one who had changed.

Thinking about the past made him bitter. So Michael hardened his face again. He had to return to his arrogant expression as if he had never been moved. Showing emotions in front of others is a sign of weakness. He must never make the same mistake again.

Perhaps even Charlotte, who was supposedly close to Laura, didn’t know Laura’s true nature. That’s why she cried at her funeral. On that day when other women approached him hoping to exchange even a few more words, Charlotte was the only one who genuinely mourned Laura’s death.

* * *