The Reason Why the Forsaken Fake Returned Chapter 40

“I pity you.”

 

“…Still spouting nonsense, I see.”

 

“Even with everything, you threw it all away into the mud, not realizing its worth.” Olivier, who had been pleading with tears moments ago, now stood up and approached Claire. “In the end, you’ll be left with nothing. You’re truly a wretched, vile, and pathetic woman.”

 

It was as if Oliver could read her mind. Claire, who was about to scoff, froze as if struck by ice.

 

“That’s why you suspected your husband’s affair, right? Deep down, you know you’re not worthy of love. You can’t trust that love, always anxious about when and how it might leave you, how it might betray you.”

 

“Shut—”

 

“That’s what Shailoh wanted me to tell you. That you’re a pitiful wom— Ugh!”

 

Olivier couldn’t finish her sentence. The moment Claire heard that familiar name, she found herself choking Olivier.

 

“Do you think that’s just talk? Did that bitch tell you to do this?”

 

“Uugh…”

 

“She’s as good as dead now, thanks to you.”

 

Claire’s smile twisted with madness as she shoved struggling Oliver against the wall. She shot a terrifying glare at Ines, who nodded and helped her.

 

Watching Olivier turn paler and paler, Claire spoke lightly. “About your brother, you were right. My family killed him. He saw something he shouldn’t have. No one noticed when worthless things like him disappeared. The same goes for you now.”

 

“The gyp…sies too…?”

 

“We killed them all. Even if they treated me well, they should’ve been grateful I let them live among that filthy crowd. Instead, they came to bother me.”

 

It was around the time Shailoh managed to escape in a way Claire didn’t expect. One gypsy, who treated Claire like her daughter, had come, insisting on seeing her face one last time. Annoyed, Claire told the guard to handle it. The gypsy died, and when the others learned of it, they attacked together. So, it was a death they brought upon themselves. She was not guilty. Not at all.

 

Claire’s grip tightened. Olivier’s pulse and breath faded, bit by bit. She just needed to kill her quietly and hide the body, just like the leader of the Grid merchant guild, and find a way to pin it on Shailoh… Lost in the thrill of that thought, Claire almost loosened her grip unintentionally.

 

Even as she was dying, Olivier was smiling brightly. Claire’s intuition was screaming that something was wrong!

 

“Ines…” It was the moment she turned to speak to her accomplice, feeling a foreboding dread rising in her throat.

 

Bang! Someone kicked the door open from across the room. The door, its hinges blown off, swung open violently, and a harsh command followed.

 

“Release her at once, Baroness Elton!”

 

Damn! Claire’s heart pounded as if it would burst, and her mouth went dry. She quickly released her grip from Olivier’s neck, but no sooner had she done so than she and Ines were seized by the guards who had stormed in.

 

“Let go of me! How dare you lay hands on me!”

 

“Don’t resist. We saw everything with our own eyes.” Roderick, who had coldly warned Claire, checked on Olivier. “Are you alright, Baroness Boris?”

 

Olivier nodded, clutching her neck, which bore deep, blue handprints from the strangling. “I-I’m alright…”

 

“S-Sir Roderick! This is a misunderstanding! That bitch… I mean Baroness Boris, who called me here! She set a trap and put me in danger! I was only defending myself!” Claire struggled desperately to free herself, loudly proclaiming her innocence. “She attacked me first! Ines saw it too!”

 

“Is that so?” Roderick, who had instructed the guards to escort Olivier out, responded icily. “Strange, isn’t it? That the woman who called you here to attack you came alone.”

 

“…”

 

“And where’s the evidence that you were attacked first? You seem quite unscathed. Besides, how many witnesses do you think saw you and your maid strangling the baroness?”

 

Claire was momentarily at a loss for words at his pointed remarks. As she pondered how to counter, she found an escape route.

 

“How did you find this place?”

 

“There was an anonymous tip.”

 

“Lies! At this exact timing? You’re in cahoots with Olivier and Shailoh, aren’t you?”

 

“What are you talking about? Shailoh? You mean that fake lady who disappeared long ago?”

 

Hearing this, one of the guards rolled his finger by his head, as if to say she was crazy.

 

“Calm down. You seem to be imagining things in your agitated state. The innkeeper reported the commotion.”

 

“It’s the truth!”

 

“Then why did you come here? What did Baroness Boris say to you?”

 

“That’s…!” Claire couldn’t admit that she suspected her husband’s affair and came to confront his mistress. It was a matter of pride, beyond just saving face.

 

“Madam…!”

 

Ines’s plea brought Claire back to her senses. She couldn’t get caught up in this. Though not a mere commoner, the opponent was Baroness Boris. The man before her, once a respected and capable head of security, was now just a retired old man.

 

Regaining her composure, Claire lowered her tense shoulders. “I don’t know what misunderstanding there is, but let’s discuss this outside. Could you please remove these restraints?”

 

“That’s not possible. We heard everything you said while strangling the baroness.”

 

“What? Do you know who I am? Call my husband immediately!”

 

“He happens to be here.”

 

“What…?”

 

In that moment, time seemed to crawl at an agonizingly slow pace. A familiar man emerged from behind Roderick.

 

“…Claire.”

 

“Honey…”

 

The man who appeared was none other than her husband, Baron Elton.

 

Claire shook her head as their eyes met. Her complexion turned from pale to blue, then flushed red. “No… This is all a trap. It’s a misunderstanding…”

 

“What misunderstanding? I heard everything myself. Ha…” Baron Boris ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh. “To think you… were a murder. So the woman I loved was…”

 

“Ho-Honey…!”

 

“Let’s talk later. For now… I’m leaving.”

 

“No, please!” Claire reached out, tears streaming down her face, but her grasp found nothing. Watching her husband turn away coldly, she looked down at her empty palm. She thought she had everything in her grasp, that only happiness awaited her, but it was all vanishing like a mirage.

 

The entire time she was transported, bound, on the escort carriage, Claire’s face was like a ghost. Judging her to have lost the will to resist, Rodrick put only her, the unconscious Ines, and one guard in the carriage, while he and the other guards climbed onto the coachman’s seat.

 

“Hyah!” At the signal, the coachman flicked the reins, and the carriage began to move.

 

Claire stared out the window with a blank expression. “It’s all over… Now…” Overwhelmed by despair, she closed her eyes tightly, when suddenly the guard sitting across from her spoke.

 

“Hello, Claire.”

 

At the familiar voice, Claire lifted her bowed head. “You…”

 

“Nice to see you again.”

 

The guard riding with them was none other than Shailoh in disguise. Claire’s mouth opened in shock, her face twisting.

 

“So it was you. All of it…” Her earlier exhaustion seemed like a lie as fury surged through her, but her hands, bound by ropes, couldn’t move an inch.

 

Meeting her murderous gaze, Shailoh crossed her legs and placed her clasped hands on her knee. “Why? Do you feel wronged?”

 

“Is that even a question? You think you have me cornered with that piece of paper, but I’ve already torn the evidence to shreds. How long do you think I’ll be held by the guards? Do you really think this will bring down the Diponz family?” Claire spat out her warning through gritted teeth.

 

Shailoh only shook her head with a mocking smile. “Oh, I’m not expecting that just yet. Perhaps this is just a first step toward something later. I was merely pondering what you’d fear losing the most.”

 

“…”

 

“What one values most can sometimes become their greatest weakness, Sasha.”

 

Claire’s carefully maintained composure quickly crumbled, her face turning ashen. In disbelief, she muttered.