SMR 92

~Chapter 92~ 

“You tried to control me back then because you thought I would always obey you without question. Isn’t that right, Uncle?”

John looked nervously at Trisha for a moment. But she didn’t look surprised. Her expression was calm—like she had already guessed everything.

“What’s wrong? Did you really think I wouldn’t find out anything? Then let me give you some honest advice—change your way of thinking.”

Harriet stood up from her chair and walked slowly toward John.

Her guards, sensing tension, also stepped forward quietly, ready to protect her if needed.

Harriet stopped just a few feet away from John and looked him directly in the eyes. Her voice was steady and clear.

“I know more than you think I do.”

“You’re being arrogant. That arrogance will be your downfall. You’ll regret this!” John growled.

“No, Uncle—you’ll be the one with regrets. Because I’ve heard stories about what happened… in Albrecht Park. Eleven years ago.”

Harriet watched closely as John flinched.

She saw his eyes tremble, his lips part slightly in shock, and his fingers start to shake. His body told her everything she needed to know.

My uncle killed my parents.

The realization burned cold in her chest. But she didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. Instead, her anger turned sharp and steady.

“I didn’t return just for some land in Perilas. I didn’t even know that land existed until recently.”

“You—you’re not saying…!”

John’s eyes grew wide in panic.

“If you try to ruin Bella’s engagement, I swear, I won’t forgive you!”

“Bella’s engagement? Oh, you’ve misunderstood me. I’m truly happy for her. I really am.”

Harriet leaned in slightly, lowering her voice.

“The higher someone flies… the more painful their fall will be.”

She smiled, calm and confident.

And in that moment, John realized something. The Harriet Listerwell he once knew—the girl he could manipulate, control, and use—no longer existed. And maybe it was already too late to do anything about it.

“You’ll regret this. Making me your enemy… I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“Feel free. I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got too.”

John jumped to his feet, not even pretending to say goodbye. He stormed out of the room—no, he ran away.

Trisha watched his back as he left and shook her head.

“Strange, isn’t it? I seem to have too many guests who don’t know how to say goodbye.”

Harriet let out a soft breath and turned to the people who had stood beside her—Trisha, Roxana, Andre, and the guards.

She wasn’t alone anymore.

Because of them, she felt stronger. And because of that, she wasn’t afraid.

Then, suddenly, Trisha waved her hand, dismissing the servants from the room.

Now, only Harriet and Roxana remained with her.

Trisha turned to Harriet with a serious look.

“I think it’s time I finally hear the truth. About those scandals you said you didn’t cause.”

“Grandmother…”

“John set the mood for it nicely. Might as well use the moment, don’t you think?” Trisha said with a small smile.

Harriet gave an awkward smile back, then hesitated.

“Can… can you trust me?”

“After seeing the kind of person John is, I came to one conclusion—I have to trust you. So go ahead. Tell me everything.”

Harriet took a deep breath.

This wasn’t the first time she had told the truth about the scandal. But it was the first time she was telling someone who could actually be a threat to John and Bella.

This wasn’t just another conversation.

It was the beginning of her revenge.

She sat down across from Trisha. The words were racing through her mind, but she carefully sorted them before speaking.

“…All the rumors… the scandals… they were all because of Bella.”

And so began Harriet’s long confession.

She tried to speak plainly and calmly, explaining what Bella had done to her. She didn’t want to sound too emotional, even though she did want comfort. But if she let her emotions change the way she told the story, it would be no different than how Bella twisted the truth.

“…Little by little, all these things kept piling up. And before I knew it, people were calling me a flirt, a troublemaker, a disgrace…”

When Harriet finally finished her story, Trisha was gripping the arms of her chair tightly. Her hands were shaking in anger.

“Those wicked little snakes…!”

Roxana quickly brought a glass of cold water and handed it to Trisha.

Even after drinking it all in one gulp, Trisha’s hands still trembled.

“I’ve never heard of such cruelty from family before. Arthur—Arthur was always so kind to me…”

Trisha’s voice broke slightly.

Harriet didn’t mention what she had come to believe—that John was responsible for her parents’ deaths. She knew Trisha still loved and remembered Arthur, and if she told her that now, the shock might be too much.

Even so… it warmed Harriet’s heart to see someone so angry for her sake.

“Thank you,” Harriet whispered. “Thank you for believing me. I… I’ve been alone for a very long time.”

Her lips curved into a bitter smile.

Trisha frowned, as if she were trying to hold back tears.

“You’ve done well. You were strong. And now… I’ll protect you.”

To be told that—that someone would protect her—was overwhelming.

Harriet hadn’t heard those words in so long. And now, she had someone to rely on.

Someone who believed in her.

And that gave her strength.

I will take back everything that was stolen from me. Everything.

Her pale hand clenched into a fist, and the veins on the back of her hand bulged slightly.

***

Meanwhile, John had arrived home in a rush and immediately called his entire family into his study.

They had been enjoying a quiet evening, and most of them came with annoyed looks on their faces. But the moment they saw John’s pale, panicked face, they knew something was wrong.

“Father, what’s going on?” Bella asked.

John was sitting in a chair, biting his nails. He looked up slowly.

“That girl… Harriet. She knows something. About how her parents died.”

“What?” Bella said, surprised. Then she chuckled.

“That’s impossible.”

Because back then, everything had gone according to plan.

***

About eleven years ago, Bella had realized something: if she wanted to take everything away from Harriet, she would need to first steal her title as the daughter of a noble house.

Even now, Bella was clever, manipulative, and cunning. But back then, she had been even more dangerously smart. She had taken bits and pieces of information and turned them into a frightening plan.

“Daddy. You want to become a lord, right?”

“Of course! If only I had been born a little earlier… Sorry, my princess.”

“But you don’t have to be older than Uncle to become a lord.”

“What do you mean?”

Bella smiled sweetly, innocently.

“If Uncle dies, you can take his place.”

At first, John thought it was just the simple, naïve idea of a child. He assumed she didn’t really understand how dark and cruel her words were.

He didn’t know how to respond.

Then Bella continued, completely calm.

“I read in a book that cheap glue—the really bad kind—melts slowly in cold water. It turns soft like jelly.”

“…So what?”

“Well… you could use that glue to patch a hole in the bottom of a boat, right?”

“But if the water is cold, the glue would melt.”

“Exactly.”

Bella still smiled, as if she were talking about the weather, not murder.

The plan she suggested was too detailed. Too sharp. Too dark—for a twelve-year-old.

John had been shocked. But then, a thought occurred to him.

If the boat sinks… all the evidence sinks with it.

And he suddenly felt very, very calm.

At the time, Arthur had been the head of the family for about five years. And John had grown tired of trying to please him.

“…Alright. Let’s do it.”

John bought a large quantity of the glue Bella mentioned and found someone who could “prepare” the boat.

During the family’s annual lake outing, he gave Arthur and his wife a boat.

“Brother! I bought a boat for myself, and I got another one just for you!”

“Oh, you didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense. Compared to what you’ve done for me, this is nothing.”

Arthur had smiled happily and boarded the boat with his wife.

John had been nervous, worried the glue might dissolve too quickly. But just as they had tested, about twenty minutes after they left the port, something went wrong.

“John! The boat’s leaking! Water’s coming in! Help!”

Arthur’s voice had echoed across the lake.

John and his wife Miriam had looked at each other… and then turned away, pretending not to hear anything.

“John! Don’t leave! Save Lilian, at least!”

His hands on the oars trembled. But he clenched his teeth and kept sailing away.

Even though he could hear his own brother’s screams—his own family drowning behind him—he did nothing.

It took all his strength to ignore it.

But in the end, he got what he wanted.

He became the new head of the Listerwell family.

Bella had been thrilled.

“No one will ever find out. The man who worked on the boat… he’s dead now too.”

“Yes, I took care of that. So no one could possibly know…”

John swallowed hard now, back in the present.

But something didn’t feel right.

He couldn’t get Harriet’s eyes out of his mind—the way she had looked at him.

So clear. So sharp.

Like someone who already had all the evidence. Someone who was just waiting for the perfect time to strike.

And John… was afraid.