To My First Love, With Regret - 82

—Your delusions are severe. I must call for a doctor at once.

—If it wasn’t you, then there’s nothing to be done.

Only then does she back off. It was certain that no other evidence existed.

—I simply thought you might have slept with the man who abandoned you, throwing away both your dignity and your spine.

—Chantal.

—Yes?

—I understand why you are wary of that man. But why on earth do you delude yourself into thinking I would do something so pathetic? I am not boy-crazy like you.

Eve mocked Chantal, but inwardly, she laughed at herself.

Yes, in truth, I am mad. I have no dignity left. For the sake of my child’s future, I’ve been reduced to a woman who would even sell her own body.

—Hmm… Well then….

Eve wore an expression that suggested she was insulted by the mere suspicion of having slept with him, but Chantal couldn’t shake the feeling that the woman was slyly playing innocent. So, she sharpened an even greater insult and thrust it forward.

—Ethan Fairchild must have brought a whore from somewhere.

The high-and-mighty Lady immediately furrows her brow in pain. She has fallen into the trap.

—Oh my, I didn’t mean to call you a whore….

—Now I know from whom Tony learned that word.

—…….

—As it turns out, Tony is a genius. He realized all on his own just how well that vulgar word suits a person like you.

Hit with the same insult she’d intended for Eve, Chantal flared up.

Evelyn Sherwood, you bitch, do you think you’re any different? If you’d been born in some backwater to dirt-poor parents like I was, you wouldn’t have had any choice but to sell your pretty face and body to make it!

She consoled herself with the thought that Evelyn Sherwood was essentially just as vulgar a bitch as she was, only lucky enough to be born with everything—but that comfort didn’t last long.

The arrogant sneer vanished from Eve’s face, replaced by a suffocatingly cold contempt. In that moment, Chantal was forced to face the true difference between herself and Evelyn Sherwood.

Before an overwhelming authority that she could never possess no matter how hard she mimicked it, she shrank back into Chantal Garnier—the servant being scolded by her master. It infuriated her that while she could steal the position of a noblewoman, she could never steal a person’s dignity.

Having flipped the script, Eve rebuked Chantal icily.

—Don’t you dare drag my son down to your level.

‘My son’? Even though it was the truth, Chantal was deeply flustered.

How could a woman who had ignored her own child or watched him only from a distance claim him as hers now?

Eve seemed to know she lacked the right, too. Whatever change of heart she’d had, she hadn’t been able to act with a clear conscience even after taking full charge of Tony’s education. Then, at some point, she began to boldly claim Tony as her son.

It started this summer. Evelyn Sherwood had undoubtedly changed since then.

Even after Robert Kallas died, she hadn’t escaped the life of a slave for quite a while. Even when forced to marry Owen—when she actually had no reason to submit—hadn’t she followed along obediently?

That naive, powerless Lady was slowly becoming aware of the fact that she was the master of this house.

Chantal swallowed hard. The momentum she had used to push Eve just moments ago had vanished, replaced only by the panicked realization that she was completely cornered.

The position of ‘Grand Madame,’ which she had stood firmly upon for the last ten years, shook precariously. Chantal had reached this position thanks to one single skill:

Cunning survival instincts.

Now was the time to bow. And in her experience, selling one’s pride was much easier than selling one’s body.

—I’m sorry. From now on, I’ll follow your lead and use only refined language in front of Tony. I tried to raise him well, but I know my roots are lacking compared to your standards. From now on, I’ll be a good mother to Tony, doing exactly as you say….

Eve was disgusted by Chantal’s sudden shift in attitude. At first, she thought Chantal was being sarcastic. But surely no one would go so far as to kneel and cling to someone just to mock them.

—Please, save Owen.

Everyone has someone they would discard themselves to protect. Though Eve couldn’t understand why Chantal chose that traitor.

—Yes, I am a man-crazy bitch. Eve, you were like that once, too. So you know how I feel—wanting to save my lover no matter what it takes.

As Chantal dug up the foolish self that Eve wanted to keep buried forever, Eve’s face turned as cold and rigid as a corpse.

—Eve, don’t be angry. It was your lover who betrayed you, not me. I sincerely helped your love. You remember how I was dragged away by my hair while helping you escape? My legs are still covered in scars from that day. I even smuggled out your letters so he could clear his name.

—You… helped me?

Eve’s voice, leaking through clenched teeth, trembled low with fury. The only way Chantal could protect her few ‘good deeds’ was to admit to her sins.

—…Of course, I did fleece your family. But that was because Robert Kallas blackmailed me, I had no choice… and honestly, I had my own greed, wanting to live a glamorous life. But I handed over your fortune to you intact, without siphoning off a single penny.

Handed it over intact? Eve couldn’t even manage a hollow laugh. To think she would pretend to have found her conscience this late in the game, regarding the financial control she had only surrendered because she couldn’t handle it herself. All after she had already indulged in every luxury imaginable with someone else’s money.

—I… I know I was bad. That’s why, in the spirit of atonement, I put my heart into raising your son in your stead. You remember how small and weak Tony was, don’t you? He was so frail I stayed up all night trembling, terrified he might die from a simple cold, and when he had his surgery, I truly felt like my heart was being ripped out.

This, too, was appalling sophistry. Trembling because Tony might die? How dare she wrap her fear of losing her meal ticket in the guise of maternal love.

—Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I may be a thieving bitch who wouldn’t have a word to say even if I were dragged out by my hair, but on the other hand, I truly supported and helped your love with a pure heart.

In other words, Chantal was pressing her to repay a ‘debt.’

Did she really think Eve still didn’t know that this ‘help stemming from a pure heart’ was actually part of a scheme to steal the family easily by intercepting Eve’s child, all without the trouble of bearing the old Duke’s child herself?

Eve shuddered with revulsion. How long must she continue to be insulted by this shameless creature, held hostage by her guilt over Tony? She could no longer endure this tedious play. Eve made up her mind to remove this stumbling block from her life.

—Fine. I’ll help.

—…Really?

—I’ll try asking some military officials I know. But I can’t guarantee the results.

—No. If it’s Lady Cantrell, you can do it. Thank you, Lady Evelyn.

Overcome with emotion, Chantal threw her arms around Eve. Eve wanted to shake off this disgusting parasite immediately, but she endured it. Just as Chantal had once done, Eve was merely pretending to hold her hand before pushing her off the cliff.

Seeing Chantal fall for such obvious acting, Eve suddenly saw her past self. That foolish nineteen-year-old who, ten years ago, had lost everything to the same brand of false help. A surge of loathing for that stupidity rose within her.

I will never trust anyone again.

—Let’s try to get along from now on. As Tony’s mothers. Okay?

—Sure.

She had hesitated, worried about the shock Tony would receive when his ‘mother’ died, but she could no longer stand by and watch this shameless parasite occupy her place and suck the blood of ‘us.’

Of course, the filthy task of exterminating that hideous parasite was not Eve’s job.

Let the parasites kill each other.

As the woman moved to leave the room the moment she got what she wanted, Eve asked:

—Chantal, do you truly love Dr. Kallas?

Chantal turned back, nodding her head with eyes even welling with tears.

Quite the tear-jerking tale of pure love. But I wonder, does he love you too?

Men are, without exception, despicable traitors. By the time she realized that truth, the woman wouldn’t be of this world anyway, so it was a useless lesson.

The corners of Eve’s mouth curved up elegantly into a breathtakingly beautiful smile. Misinterpreting it as some form of mercy or empathy, Chantal smiled back with an absurd sense of relief.

The true intent of this smile was cold-blooded.

This will be a most satisfying revenge.

It was just as Chantal left and Eve called for the butler. From outside the open window, the sound of heavy wheels crushing the gravel path came flying in. Before she could even wonder who it was, she heard a name called in Tony’s voice.

—Ethan!