Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 19

Revenge Comes with Interest 19

Episode 19: Make Her Love Me

August 19, 2023

Leah swallowed hard. How could she explain it to Terrence in a way he would understand? He must have become suspicious after seeing her scrapbook.

“Why would I like Allen McDowell? You’re mistaken.”

“Is that so?”

“I just happened to see him looking for the necklace at the funeral and was curious, so I clipped the article. I was just wondering what the reason could be.”

Terrence took Grace’s hand and headed down an unfamiliar hallway. They walked along a long corridor until they reached a small building.

“Where is this?”

“A chapel.”

“Ah, I see.”

Noble families always had small chapels where they could pray or make confessions.

Of course, the Hamilton Trading Company’s mansion didn’t have a chapel. Neither my father nor I believed in God.

Terrence opened the arched wooden door and went inside.

Leah couldn’t help but be amazed by the unexpected sight. Even though no lights were on, the chapel was very bright with moonlight streaming in through the clerestory [a high section of wall containing windows above eye level]. It even felt mystical.

“I have something to show Grace.”

Terrence held Grace’s hand tightly as he headed inside the vestry [a room in a church where vestments and other items are kept].

There was another door there, with a lock on it. It seemed to be a place where valuable items were stored.

Terrence opened the door with a key and brought out a small box.

“Open this box.”

“Me?”

Terrence nodded at her surprise. Leah carefully opened the lid of the box.

And she saw her father’s necklace, the one she had been looking for so desperately. A storm raged in her chest, making her dizzy.

“The Hamil…ton Trading Company’s neck…lace.”

Leah’s voice trembled violently. She struggled to hold back the stinging in her nose and the tears that threatened to spill.

Even at this moment, she couldn’t forget that she was Grace, not Leah.

“Mr. McDowell must have been trying to seduce me. To find this necklace…”

“Seduce?”

“His face was full of confidence that he could have any woman.”

Terrence watched Grace’s face contort with disgust for Allen. It seemed his plan was working.

“This key necklace is probably a clue to finding the Hamilton Trading Company’s treasures. It might contain the trading methods passed down through the company, or it might reveal the location of hidden assets. That’s what Allen McDowell wants.”

‘I need this necklace too, Terrence.’

Leah desperately wanted her father’s necklace. But Terrence’s unexpected words confused her.

“I have a question. Even if that Allen finds the Hamilton Trading Company’s notes or treasures, I wonder if he can use them well. Of course, he’s confident. He’s so arrogant that he thinks he can do anything. He probably thinks he can create a bigger company than Richard Hamilton.”

Leah felt like Terrence’s words were directed at her.

“If he really has the ability, he wouldn’t need this. The company’s people must have put the wisdom they gained from repeated failures in there. But if you don’t actually face failures or successes, it’s useless. You can’t succeed just by blindly following it.”

“Ah…”

“It’s no use telling someone who is a blank slate any secrets. Rather, what this key indicates will be helpful when you gain experience, fail, or have to make important decisions. Or it may conflict with your own ideas and be dismissed as old-fashioned, or it may cause confusion by conflicting with your values.”

Leah felt as if she had been struck hard on the head.

In fact, she was no different from Allen. She thought that if she found her father’s notes, she could handle any business.

She thought that if she just followed what was written in the book, she could overcome this difficulty without failure and easily regain the lost company.

But Terrence was right.

‘I’ve been mistaken all along.’

The ‘God of Commerce’ was Richard Hamilton, not her. She was trying to take the easy way out by using her father’s tools without any effort.

In the end, what she needed now was not her father’s notes, but to plan what to dream and how to challenge, and then to have the courage to do it.

“Will Grace keep it?”

Terrence suddenly handed the box to Grace. She accepted the box in confusion and stared blankly at the necklace.

“Why are you giving this to me…?”

‘Did Terrence find out? That I’m Leah Hamilton?’

For a moment, countless doubts crossed her mind.

“There’s no special reason. I just thought you seemed to like this necklace quite a bit.”

She had failed to manage her expression after all.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the necklace and was even surprised, so he might misunderstand.

Leah hesitated. She wanted the necklace, but Terrence’s words were correct.

‘Is this the right time for me to use this?’

She pondered briefly but deeply.

“No, I think it’s best to keep it here.”

Leah handed the box back to Terrence. It was because she hadn’t done anything on her own yet.

Terrence just chuckled and said nothing else.

“Terrence, you told me to think about what I want to do, right?”

“I did.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

His answer was firm.

“I want to start a business.”

“Then do it.”

Leah was surprised by Terrence’s acceptance.

For a noble lady to say she would go into business, he didn’t even ask why and just allowed it. Most people would try to stop her or consider it shameful as a noble.

“Are you serious?”

“I intend to help Grace with whatever she does.”

Leah couldn’t believe her ears and just stared at his face.

“But there’s a condition, Grace.”

His face was quite serious.

“Make me love you.”

Leah was speechless.

So he was the kind of man who could ask for love so openly? But she had no love left to give to a man.

She didn’t want to fall into the sweet trap of love again and turn her life into hell.

But she couldn’t be honest with Terrence. The reality was that she had to use him to achieve her dreams.

“I’ll try.”

“Grace, it’s not a request.”

“Then, is it an order?”

A slight sense of rebellion surged.

Love wasn’t something that would spring up just because you ordered it. Then Terrence came closer and whispered in her ear.

“I help Grace’s dreams, and Grace loves me. That’s a kind of deal.”

“Can love be a deal? No, does Terrence love me?”

“I think I need Grace’s love.”

He avoided a direct answer.

She didn’t know if he was just bad at expressing his feelings or if he had other intentions, but she knew it when she saw the desperation flickering in his eyes.

He was desperately seeking affection to fill his lonely and deficient emotions.

“I’m engaged to Grace, so shouldn’t I naturally have your heart?”

Those words were heavier than any other.

‘Is love a war? Like making a truce… He’s really hopeless.’

Was he warning that if she broke the promise, only death awaited her in the end?

He was telling her in this way that he had never loved a woman before.

Well, he was better than a skilled man. At least he wouldn’t be plotting behind her back while talking about love.

“I promise.”

Leah tried not to be defeated.

“You have to sign it.”

Leah wasn’t so clueless, so she reached out to him, took the box he was holding, and placed it on the table. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I have to, sign it.”

She lifted her feet slightly as if to kiss him, then released her arms and stepped back.

Terrence also looked quite embarrassed. He thought they would swear their promise with a passionate kiss under the clerestory where the moonlight was pouring in.

‘He knows how to tease people.’

She was no longer the Grace of the past. Well, even so, she would never be able to escape from him now.

But the problem was himself more than her. The size of his desire for her was growing endlessly, to the point of being very persistent.

Grace reached out her hand to Terrence. It seemed she meant to shake hands as a signature. Terrence was dumbfounded but shook hands with her.

‘Ugh! It hurts.’

Terrence gripped her hand so hard that it hurt a little. After the handshake, Grace asked him in an excited tone.

“Terrence, you used to hate me, right? Why did you suddenly change?”

As far as she remembered, Grace had endlessly craved Terrence’s love, but he had been cold.

“Grace has changed, hasn’t she?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you know you’ve become a completely different person, as if your soul has changed?”

‘He knew?’

Leah just moved her lips and couldn’t give a proper answer.

“I’ve changed too. To get out of a soulless life.”

Was that what he meant? Like a thief with a guilty conscience, it was exactly what she was referring to.

“I like you now more than the old Terrence.”

“What was I like before?”

Terrence showed interest in her words. On the other hand, Leah was a little embarrassed.

He didn’t even know what he was like before. She thought he knew it well because he said he had changed.

“You were gloomy, desperate, and lonely. You were so closed off that you wouldn’t let anyone near you, and you were a slave to guilt, driving yourself to hell, right?”

Terrence was surprised, but he didn’t respond. Grace’s analysis was very accurate. But there was one more thing she didn’t know.

‘You’re the one who pulled me out of that hell.’

The old Grace was a scar caused by his misdeeds. But she took the hand he offered and bravely jumped out of the swamp.

“Terrence, is it okay even if it’s not me?”

Leah took courage. Chae-ner’s words were still vivid in her ears. That there were two souls inside her.

She worries dozens of times a day. To confess honestly to Terrence. But even that wasn’t easy. If so, she wanted to be forgiven even implicitly.

“No one in the world stays the same. And…”

“And?”

“I like the current Grace.”

“That’s… a relief.”

It was as if she had received his permission, even if it wasn’t complete. That it was okay to live as Grace.

* * *

Allen gritted his teeth at Terrence’s actions. He didn’t like him from the start. His arrogant expression and the way he looked down on people.

‘That Duke is so vulgar.’

To make him meet Grace in that way. His mistake was not getting rid of Sarah sooner. She was stuck to him like a leech and wouldn’t fall off.

‘No, it’s too early to give up. I’ve never not gotten what I wanted.’

Allen comforted himself. Terrence must be drunk with victory right now.

He showed Grace such a sight, so he would give up.

‘Not me. I’ll never give up until I have it in my hands. Even if it takes years, I’ll get what I want.’

Rather, he was getting more stubborn. Imagining the day he would take Grace from that great Terrence sent shivers down his spine.

‘It took me ten years to make the Hamilton Trading Company mine.’

Would he give up because he couldn’t get one woman? That wouldn’t do.

He would have to go to the end to see who was more stubbornly persistent.

‘Terrence Courtois, I’m going to make your fiancée my mistress.’