# 38
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When the Duchess heard Chloe, to whom she had never answered in all her life, her penetrating gaze became sharper.
Is there a reason for your behavior? Maybe it was just an attempt to win the Marquis's heart! You are really pathetic. You've been married for five years, and yet you're still doing it!
"no."
Chloe shook her head. Then she clung to her skirt with her sweaty hands.
“You are the reason I decided to divorce.”
"What?"
"And honestly, you and my brother were the reason. Don't you take my husband's money almost every day? How much did you take for yourves? And how much are you going to take next? Do you have any idea how miserable I am over this?"
Chloe asked without hesitation. These questions were directed not only to her mother, but to Eric as well.
What reason do you have to keep me from kicking out my family that treats you like scum? Why are you so nice to mom? Why don't you just fire her?… Chloe asked such questions.
Despite Eric's absence, she wished she could at least hear a satisfactory answer from her mother. While she knew deep down that there was nothing to expect from her family, her heart remained optimistic.
but.
“Does it matter if it makes you miserable? Your husband is our livelihood! You can’t give that up!”
Her hopes were dashed again. The Duchess was as she always was, as expected. As it always was.
“Do you want to hinder your brother’s future to this extent? And you know very well how Joseph will live without the Marquis!”
Joseph, again. Joseph. Joseph. Joseph. She had no idea why the Duchess was so protective of him. Chloe frowned with a disgusted expression and spoke, emphasizing every word.
"He's an adult too. He should be able to support himf. He should start working."
“Work? Did you just say work?”
The Duchess' anger grew as soon as Chloe said her words, as it was extremely shameful for her to work as an aristocrat, a choice that had never occurred to the Duchess.
No aristocrat should work all his life. Rather, he should do nothing but collect taxes from his land and advance his culture. But work? Force him to work? my son? The Duchess lost her temper.
“Joseph is Duke Rolf! He should be treated with respect and appreciation wherever he is. He should not be doing trivial and unimportant things like work!”
“What about my husband?”
Chloe clung to her skirt tighter as she spoke.
“Is my husband the type who can work?”
“Of course! Isn’t your husband a commoner or something? Even though he has been given the title of Marquis, his origins haven’t changed! He has to work with his tainted blood! Isn’t that the normal situation?”
“We don't really speak the same language.”
Chloe pressed her forehead. It felt like their conversation continued as two parallel lines that would never meet.
While she thought she had to end the conversation, at the same time she felt a desire to object to her mother.
She felt a kind of release as she responded to her mother, and perhaps that was what turned her on.
Whatever the reason, Chloe chose to anger the Duchess rather than end the conversation.
My husband is Marquis. He is not a commoner.
“He earned this title from your marriage.”
“He already had a surname even before we got married.”
"This is what the king gave him personally. But does that change his origin? He will forever remain a commoner! Someone who can never be our equal!"
“So you are someone ing money from the common people.”
"What?"
Isn't that true? You came running today too to borrow money. From my husband who is just a normal guy!
“You, you, you fucking girl!”
Slap!
Chloe's face changed. She was distracted for a moment because she couldn't believe she was being slapped, but she felt a tingling sensation in her cheek and eventually came back to reality.
Her mother slapped her. Although she may have hit her with a stick, she never raised a hand on her. Chloe cupped her cheek and looked at the Duchess.
The Duchess looked a little surprised too, as she slapped Chloe before she knew it.
But she quickly justified her actions with her usual rationality. There is no difference between the stick and her hand if she wants to discipline her arrogant daughter. If she focused on educating her child, she would have no objection to slapping her now.
But whatever the case, the Duchess soon came to her senses because raising her hand was inappropriate.
"You seem to have forgotten a lot of things while living abroad, Chloe. Wake up."
The Duchess continued her speech.
“The only reason your father arranged this marriage was for money. You know that, right?”
“He said he was investing in the future.”
It was also true that her father had sold her, but she didn't want to admit it here. She wanted to refute her mother's claims even if she had to use superficial words.
As Chloe gritted her teeth and spoke, it seemed like a sign of weakness in the Duchess's eyes.
A malicious, sarcastic smile appeared on the Duchess's face as she looked at Chloe.
“It's just an illusion. Our future is in the hands of an ordinary person? I really hope this future doesn't come. I don't want it. If this future comes, I will bite my tongue and die on the spot.”
"My mom!"
"So, Chloe, do what you have to do. Okay?"
What she should do.
Chloe took a deep breath. She slowly lowered her hand, which was covering her cheek, and her eyes met the Duchess's.
“What should I do?”
“What do you think?”
The Duchess closed her eyes. She covered Chloe's right hand with both hands and spoke.
“Take the money.”
She held Chloe's hands tightly, as if she wouldn't let go.
“Is there no other reason for you to marry your husband than that?”
She burst out laughing.
Chloe took a deep breath.
no.
No, mom.
She married him out of love.
“That money...”
I never wanted to eat it.
Chloe tried hard to hold back her tears and lowered her head.
Her cheek was sore. Her legs were hurting. But it was her heart that hurt her more than anything else.
The next day, Chloe dragged her sore body out of bed.
She lifted her dress and examined her legs. The blood hadn't even dried to form a crust, because she hadn't processed it properly. There were still drops of blood.
Chloe hesitated for a moment. Should you leave it as it is, or ask Andrea to bring some medicine? If she had chosen the latter, it would have been no different than revealing her weakness to Andrea. But…
Ouch.
It was painful. It was very painful. The pain wasn't physical, it was pain in her heart. Chloe laughed at herf, saying her heart was bad, so her body was hurting too.
No matter what, she couldn't let them suffer. While she decided to treat the wound on her legs, she also decided to soothe her swollen cheek from her mother's slap yesterday. She pulled the bell rope. Shortly after, Andrea appeared.
“Do you need anything, ma’am?”
“Get me a good ointment for my wounds, and some ice packs.”
"Sorry?"
Andrea raised her head in shock. She immediately saw Chloe's swollen cheek. Her eyes trembled. Surely this swelling means she has been beaten!
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
Andrea asked worriedly. Chloe turned her cheek to the other side and shook her head.
I'm fine. So bring me the things I asked you to bring.
“Ah! Okay.”
“This is a secret I don’t know about my husband.”
Chloe made a 'shhh' sound and said.
“That means you should never tell my husband. I will have to fire you if my husband finds out about this.”
As Andrea's duty was generally to inform the master of the condition of the mistress of the house, she hesitated for some time.
But since Chloe was so adamant in her stance, it was difficult for her to speak so dismissively. So she had no choice but to nod.
"Okay. I'll keep that in mind."
"good."
Andrea hurriedly left the room after saying that she would bring medicine and ice.
Chloe sat up and looked out the window. The carriage she guessed her mother had taken here was still there. Which means she hasn't left yet.
How long was she planning to stay here? Since the mother noticed that Chloe was not the same as before, she might have decided to stay longer.
Even though Chloe didn't want to, she was resigned to it because she knew there was no valid excuse to bring her mother back.
She averted her gaze, and this time she picked up the newspaper from the table.
The front page was an article about striking workers. Chloe read the article more carefully.
As expected, Eric's name was mentioned.
Eric's factory workers also participated in the protest. Eric was probably having a headache over this issue.