Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 121

Retribution Bears Interest Episode 121. A Very Sly Woman (121/200)

Episode 121. A Very Sly Woman

November 29, 2023

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, convinced this was the end.

Allen pulling back the hammer sounded like a deafening thunderclap.

In that fleeting moment, Sarah saw a montage of her past sins flash before her eyes.

Then, a louder sound cut through the tension, halting Allen’s actions.

“Stop!”

Leia appeared, stepping between them. Allen quickly concealed the gun as Leia rushed to Sarah’s side.

“Sarah, are you okay?”

Despite Leia’s concern, Sarah slid down the wall, collapsing onto the floor.

*Thwack!*

Leia forcefully knocked Allen’s hat off his head.

“!?”

“So, it was you, Mr. McDowell.”

“Ms… Grace.”

Just then, Louis and Salame arrived, further cornering Allen.

“What’s going on here?” Louis asked.

Leia answered loudly, “Allen McDowell tried to kill Sarah!”

“It’s a misunderstanding. This is a private matter between Sarah and me. Everyone, please step aside.”

“I can’t do that,” Leia retorted, her eyes fixed on Allen with unwavering vigilance.

“Sarah, go to Terrence.”

“Yes.” Sarah scrambled to her feet and hurried away, leaving Leia to face Allen. Leia then requested Louis and Salame to step back a few paces.

With the two men holding their ground, Allen wouldn’t dare to act rashly. Moreover, if Terrence appeared, the situation would escalate beyond control, and Allen would be lucky to escape with his life.

“Are you looking for the Hamilton Merchant Group’s memorandum?” Leia asked, cutting to the chase.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ms. Grace,” Allen replied, feigning ignorance.

“Why wouldn’t you? Mr. McDowell’s specialty is seducing women and swindling them out of their fortunes.”

“!?” Allen seemed genuinely surprised by Leia’s sudden shift in demeanor.

“All you have is a handsome face and the pretense of being a nobleman. Weren’t you burning with ambition, desperate for quick success? So, you found a wealthy woman, married her without love, and then systematically took everything from her?”

“I don’t know what Sarah told you, but it’s all lies,” he insisted, maintaining a facade of composure.

He didn’t panic easily despite Leia’s provocation. That was Allen McDowell for you.

Leia had been chatting with the noble ladies when she spotted Allen in the distance, his hat pulled low. She was surprised at how easily she recognized him.

[They say you recognize your enemy even from their shadow – meaning, hatred makes you hyper-aware.]

It wasn’t her eyes but her heart, filled with hatred, that reacted first. No matter how he disguised himself, she wouldn’t be easily fooled.

Fortunately, Terrence was delayed by the Emperor, giving her the opportunity to pursue Allen.

“Lies? Is that so?” Leia pressed.

“Sarah made it all up.”

Seeing Allen lie so brazenly made her want to vomit. Leia took a step closer, lowering her voice to a whisper.

“On the day Mr. McDowell married Leia Hamilton, there was a carriage waiting behind the church. To swallow the Merchant Group’s assets whole, that woman couldn’t be allowed to remain. You even promised to pick her up after she had taken refuge in the countryside. Of course, you lied about saving Richard Hamilton as well… In the end, you paid the coachmen to push the carriage carrying Leia Hamilton off a cliff.”

Only then did Allen look at Leia with genuine shock, his face paling.

“After whispering ‘I love you,’ you gave Leia Hamilton a final farewell kiss with a sad face.”

Allen shook his head violently, as if in disbelief. Then, he slowly backed away before turning and fleeing the scene.

Allen ran frantically and jumped into his carriage waiting at the mansion’s gate. He gasped for breath, replaying Grace’s words in his mind.

‘Sarah, how much has that wicked bitch been blabbing?’

But the problem was that Sarah didn’t know about this. Rather, Sarah had asked him to send Leia far away and prevent her from returning for a long time. Even when she heard the news of Leia’s death later, she believed it was an accidental accident. Of course, she might have suspected it later.

‘How does Grace Bizac know that?’

Allen was in a state of chaos, completely unnerved. Grace spoke as if she had been there at the time.

He took out a handkerchief with trembling hands and wiped his sweat-soaked face. Even now, every word Grace had said felt like a bullet piercing his heart.

He thought no one knew because the dead tell no tales. But he had a foreboding feeling that someone had been watching all the sins he had committed.

‘Is that someone Grace Bizac?’

No, it’s just paranoia. What connection do Leia and Grace have?

It must be a clever trick to exploit the other person’s psychology.

‘Grace, I shouldn’t underestimate that woman.’

It was clear that she was no ordinary person. With Sarah joining forces, there was no telling when and how they would attack him. Moreover, the fashion show she had organized was astonishing – the ability to captivate the leading nobles of Lubeck in an instant.

Then, Leia’s words from her lifetime suddenly echoed in his mind.

[Allen, I want to do a different business than my father.]

[What kind of business are you talking about?]

[A business targeting women can never fail. Rather, dresses and luxury goods sell even better during a recession.]

At the time, he dismissed it as the naive idea of a woman who had grown up without any hardship. But now that he thought about it, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

The reality was that a single piece of useless lace was several times more expensive than what a strong worker earned by working all day.

The businesses that Grace had started so far were all things that Leia Hamilton would have done.

‘She’s a very sly woman. She’s trying to keep me in check by using Sarah. Of course, the Duke is manipulating her from behind.’

In the end, it must be Terrence’s scheme. Grace and Sarah were his henchmen.

* * *

Louis and Salame ended up traveling together unintentionally.

It was when Louis, worried, followed Grace as she hurried and ran somewhere.

“Isn’t that person very beautiful?”

Louis turned around to look at the person who was following him and asking questions affably. But it was the very man who had been staring at him especially during the fashion show.

“You should end with the impression that she is beautiful. That person raises a scary black panther [referring to Duke Terrence, implying he’s dangerous and protective].”

“Ah! Duke Terrence.”

“Are you perhaps interested in the Bizac Young Lady?”

Louis was puzzled by the man’s lukewarm reaction. If it were anyone else, they would have been horrified to hear that she was Terrence’s woman.

“I am interested in beautiful people, whether they are women or men.”

“Then you would be interested in me too?”

The man chuckled at Louis’ confident answer. The moment the man made a face as if he was under a great delusion, Louis was embarrassed and changed the subject.

“By the way, wasn’t that man Allen McDowell from earlier?”

When Louis asked the man, he nodded. The scene that the two had witnessed at the same time seemed too serious to simply dismiss.

Sure enough, after learning about the incident that had occurred in his absence, Terrence released his guards to chase after Allen.

“It seems like a mess, so let’s quickly exchange greetings. I am Salame Roberto.”

“I am Louis Valliere. I am the Duke’s secretary.”

“See you again later, Louis.”

“Let’s do that, Salame.”

The two quickly shook hands and parted ways immediately, because he had to stop Terrence, who was raging in anger.

After the event ended and the VIPs left, everyone, including Leia, kept a low profile in the face of the black storm that Terrence had stirred up.

“You should have told me if you saw that bastard.” Terrence said, his voice laced with fury.

“Fortunately, Louis and Prince Salame followed.”

Terrence’s reason for being angry was clear: the very fact that Allen had dared to trespass on his territory and wield a gun was unacceptable. It was no exaggeration to consider it an attack on Duke Courtois.

“Sarah almost died. If that bastard had targeted you too…!”

Before Terrence could finish his sentence, good news arrived. The guards who had chased Allen had caught him before he boarded the train.

“So, he was caught at Asen Station?”

“What are you going to do?” Leia asked, her voice calm despite the tension.

“What else? I have to crush him. Let’s go, Luke!”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Terrence left the mansion with Luke, and Leia didn’t stop him. Rather, she hoped that Terrence would mess with Allen to his heart’s content.

‘Allen, it wouldn’t be fun if the world only went your way, would it?’

* * *

Allen was apprehended by the Lebon constables at the train station. He was dragged to a dark underground prison with handcuffs on and his eyes covered. The candlelight illuminating the walls here and there was faintly visible through the blindfold.

Even after they removed the blindfold, escape was impossible because the prison was full of constables.

‘Terrence Courtois, I can’t even chew him up enough to be satisfied,’ he thought, seething with rage.

He gnashed his teeth at the thought of Terrence chasing after him and blocking his path.

[How dare you come into my territory and wield a gun?] Terrence had said, his voice cold and menacing.

[It’s none of your business,] Allen had retorted, trying to maintain a defiant stance.

[Sarah is now my employee. And you are an attempted murderer.]

[Duke, haven’t you ever been in love? Or do you only know unrequited love, so you don’t know the saying ‘love to kill for’ [an exaggeration meaning intense passion].]

[If you tried to actually kill someone because it’s a love you want to kill, then you’re a criminal.]

No matter what he said, Terrence remained an arrogant and unyielding human being. Instead of being shaken, he only turned people inside out.

[Enough. Pointless bickering is a waste of time. Don’t you think?]

[What are you talking about?]

[Since you committed attempted murder, you have to receive legal punishment. This is not my personal desire. That’s what the Lubeck Empire law says.]

He thought Terrence would resort to violence, given his reputation, but he was completely wrong. At the time, he didn’t grasp Terrence’s cunning intentions.

[Since you’ve come all the way here, take a look at Lubeck’s prison and meet some friends.]

[Even if you are a Duke, you cannot detain me!]

To actually imprison the president of the Gardencia McDowell Trading Company…

He had to contact his lawyer immediately and take legal action.

‘Crazy bastard! Does this damn country not have any human rights?’

Not knowing how vicious and dangerous Sarah is. A criminal who was shooting at the train station.

‘To dare treat me like a criminal just because I messed with such a lowly bitch!’