~Chapter 128~
Harriet’s name had been circulating in the newspapers for some time, but Esther only heard about it later, after Harriet was wrongly accused of being a “fraudster” and had managed to clear her name with the Empress’s protection.
“Be especially careful when assisting Lady Harriet. Though everything worked out in the end, the shock will not wear off quickly.”
“Huh? What do you mean by ‘this matter’? What happened?”
“Oh, you don’t know? I forgot to mention. Well, since it’s all over, I suppose I can tell you now.”
Andre’s story was shocking.
“Someone framed Lady Harriet, and it was all over the big newspapers… She almost got ruined.”
“That’s right. It was supposed to be a secret that she was the head of Clarissa, but somehow they found out. Anyway, be calm and don’t let Lady Harriet know you know too much.”
“Understood…”
With a forced smile, Esther quickly walked to the storage room, closed the door, and collapsed to the ground.
‘It’s my fault. The document I stole back then had the name of that soap shop on it!’
Her heart was racing, almost as if it would burst.
“I think we had a spy in the mansion. I don’t know when the information got out, and since a lot of people came in and out of the mansion, it will be difficult to find the culprit.”
Andre’s words seemed to point to her. Was he saying this because he knew the truth? Was this her last chance to ask for forgiveness?
Shivering in the dark storage room, Esther realized she didn’t have many options left.
‘I need to beg for forgiveness. If I stay quiet and they find out, I won’t get away with it.’
Even though confessing wouldn’t end well for her, it would be better than being caught later.
Slowly, she stood up, opened the storage door, and walked toward Harriet’s room with hesitant steps.
It used to feel normal to clean her room, but now, it felt like a place of fear.
Knock, knock.
When she knocked, a bright voice answered from inside.
“Come in.”
Esther swallowed nervously and opened the door. Harriet turned to look at her and smiled as always.
“Esther! What’s the matter?”
There was no suspicion in her voice at all.
But that made Esther even more terrified. She had to confess that she had betrayed such a kind lady.
Without hesitation, Esther kneeled in front of her.
“Lady! I’m so sorry! I’ve committed a terrible sin! Please forgive me!”
Tears started to pour out of her eyes.
Harriet quickly ran over to her in surprise.
“What’s wrong, Esther? What happened, tell me?”
“I… I… I did it! I stole it!”
“Huh? Stole? What?”
Esther couldn’t look up at Harriet, trembling all over. She bowed her head and pressed her forehead to the floor.
“I have a younger sibling who borrowed a lot of money and couldn’t repay it, so some bad people took them. They… they called me out and told me to search your room…”
Harriet’s face changed at the news.
“So what did you do? I won’t be angry, just explain calmly, Esther.”
Feeling a little reassured by Harriet’s words, Esther continued to confess everything while keeping her head lowered.
“They wanted documents with your information. But most of the drawers were locked, and the only thing I found was the documents in your bag. That’s all I could take.”
“And what happened when you gave it to them?”
“They just said I did well and then let my sibling go. I truly regret it, Lady.”
So, to summarize, Bella had used thugs from the back alleys to force Esther to steal Harriet’s secrets, all in an effort to expose Harriet. Anyone working at the Pellon estate could have been used.
‘Esther just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
While Esther sobbed, Harriet felt both sympathy and gratitude. She had kept silent about it, but Esther had confessed honestly because of her conscience.
Harriet gently lifted Esther, who was still kneeling, and spoke softly.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“No, Lady! It’s because of me that you suffered…”
“No. Even if it wasn’t you, they would have found a way to get to my weaknesses. Honestly, Esther, it worked out because of you.”
The documents she had handed over, those from the Saint Clarissa Soap & Herb company, were the reason Bella had mistakenly thought Harriet was still the representative.
“How is your sibling?”
“They… they can’t go outside because of what happened. They’re still too scared.”
Esther cried again.
“Now, I’m the only one in my family who makes money. If it weren’t for me, we’d starve. Please, just forgive me, Lady!”
Harriet pulled her into a warm hug as Esther cried harder.
“You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you? If I were you, I would have made the same choice. If my sibling’s life was on the line, what else could I do?”
“Lady…! Lady!”
“I’m okay. So let’s keep this between us. Don’t tell anyone—whether it’s the butler or my grandmother. Do you understand?”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Esther thanked her repeatedly while sobbing, and Harriet gently patted her back until she calmed down.
***
Meanwhile, Bella couldn’t believe what was happening.
She had been confident her plan would succeed when she got three major newspapers to promise to publish the article on their front page. But now, everything was falling apart.
She thought Harriet, as the head of a small company, wouldn’t be able to stop such a big scandal.
‘But the Empress protected her? Why?’
The article insulted the royal family?
No, that was nonsense. Normally, the blame would fall on Harriet, the one who had deceived the royal family, but the article had been written to make the royal family look like the victims.
But the Empress responded, asking if the royal family and the Duke’s family looked so foolish as to be manipulated by a mere noblewoman, and threatened to hold the newspapers accountable. Harriet even filed for damages.
The following day, the newspapers published a correction, but both Harriet and the royal family refused to let it go quietly.
“Now what do we do? We published the article because we were told the information was 100% reliable, but now we have to pay damages!”
“I told you not to involve the royal family! The information protection law doesn’t apply to articles about the royal family!”
The editors came to complain, but John bribed them to shut up, paying all the damages and losses through the Listerwell family.
Because of this, John wasn’t very happy with Bella either.
“Do it properly if you’re going to do it. Do you know how much I had to pay? 300,000 dirhams! No, with the writing costs, it was over 450,000 dirhams!”
John’s constant talk about money annoyed Bella, who boasted she would pay it all off in three years after her marriage.
Now, Bella had a huge debt and was furious, her head nearly exploding from the anger.
‘The only person who could have helped Harriet use the Empress’s connections is Lady Pellon. As long as that old woman is around, it’s hard to bring Harriet down.’
With that in mind, Bella quickly went to see Loren.
Unaware of the situation, Loren greeted Bella warmly.
“Welcome, Bella! Is this your first time at our house?”
“Thank you for welcoming me so kindly, even though it was a sudden visit. Your home is lovely.”
But Bella didn’t have time to admire Loren’s house.
She quickly finished her tea and got to the point.
“So, about what we discussed last time, how is it going?”
“Hmm? What are you talking about?”
“You said Lady Pellon might die soon. I want to know how things are progressing. We need to be ready to take Harriet down…”
“Oh! That! Hehe!”
Loren became excited and started talking.
She had filed a petition regarding the succession of the Pellon title, preventing Trisha from adopting any children.
“When there’s a dispute over the title, the heir can’t adopt children to avoid confusing the order of succession. I used that to my advantage.”
“So…”
“Of course, we’ll lose the case. But I’ll keep pushing for the appeal until she’s on her deathbed.”
Loren was speaking as if the Pellon family was already in her control.
But Bella frowned slightly and asked again.
“Is that all?”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you planning to wait for Lady Pellon to die? Are you just going to let it happen?”
Bella sighed heavily and then spoke with frustration.
“Speed it up.”
“Speed it up? How?”
“I know Sir Albert Kingsley runs a pharmaceutical company. He’s a close relative of mine, so you might know him.”
“I know him.”
Bella drank some water instead of tea. In her mind, a cold plan was already taking shape.
