The Regretful Villainess is Happily Divorced

Chapter 4

Without realizing it, I clicked my tongue. I knew it. He’s trying to appease me. If anything, this was evidence that bringing up Serwen had been effective. His asking to have breakfast with Marlena, the person he hated the most, was telling enough.

I told the butler that I understood, changed, and went to the dining room. Oscar was already sitting at the table, waiting for me.

“Well, this is a surprise. Even the table’s prepared,” I said with an edge to my voice.

A look of displeasure flashed across Oscar’s face. To think that he couldn’t control his expression even when he was about to try and appease me. Marlena, how long have you been this guy’s doormat? I wondered.

I sat across from Oscar. Soon, soup, salad, and a glass of water were placed in front of me. The butler was the only person serving us. Oscar seemed to want to reduce the number of people in the dining room in case Serwen’s name was mentioned again.

Oscar hesitated before he touched his food. “I want to improve our marriage,” he said.

“Improve our marriage?”

“That’s right. I’ll admit, I’ve been a cruel husband until now. So I understand why you made such an aggressive move.”

I took a sip of water to hide my smile. He had started addressing me more gently and even said that he “understood” me. His face was as stiff as ever, though. And what does he mean by “an aggressive move?”

He must have thought I was doing this because I was still in love with him. Well, it doesn’t matter to me. I didn’t care if that was what he thought—actually, it might be better for me.

“You’ve always wanted to improve our marriage, and I want to put more effort into our relationship because I realized how important it was,” Oscar said.

The original Marlena would have nodded along, moved to tears by his words. As part of his calculations, Oscar would have subtly shifted the responsibility to her, all the while spewing crap about how they’d work through this together. However, I wasn’t some pushover who trusted love so blindly.

I put down my cup. Some water splashed up, wetting my wrist. I need to get this man to divorce me, right here, in the next ten minutes. Let’s begin. I had decided to insult him, not as unintentionally as yesterday, but deliberately.

I looked down, my face betraying nothing. “I’m not sure. You say that now, but…”

“Think about it,” Oscar said soothingly. “Isn’t a happy marriage what you wanted?”

“That was before I knew about your secret mistress,” I said callously. “You’re so dense.”

For a moment, Oscar didn’t seem to understand what I was saying.

I stabbed a cherry tomato with my fork, lifted it, and pulled one corner of my lips into a smirk. “If you were going to be unfaithful, you shouldn’t have let me catch you. I don’t think I could live with such an idiotic husband.”

In an instant, Oscar’s face crumbled. He leaped up from his seat. “You take that back right now.” His eyes flashed as he spoke in a high-handed manner.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t scared, but I buckled down. “What? Are you disrespecting me right now?”

Oscar’s eyebrows twitched.

I fired off a few more pointed words. “Do you think it’s good manners to break the sanctity of marriage? You say you want to work on our marriage, but you haven’t once said you’d stop meeting that woman. Don’t try to fix anything now. It’s too late.”

However, Oscar showed no signs of backing down. He placed both hands on his hips and took a deep breath. “You’re going to regret this. Apologize,” he ordered.

Of course, I had no intention of doing that. If I wanted to grovel at Oscar’s feet and beg for forgiveness, I never would’ve done this in the first place. And since he asked me to apologize to him, it seemed that my provocations weren’t enough.

“You should be apologizing to me. If you don’t, I might be inclined to call the reporters and set up an interview,” I said.

Mentioning the reporters to Oscar, who was always one to care about his reputation, was a fatal blow. His ears and neck turned bright red, but I didn’t care. I continued sniping at him.

“Even if you tried to hide her right now, you wouldn’t have enough time to erase any trace of her from 24 Ivelbu Street or deal with all the people who saw a brunette woman living there.”

Oscar’s face looked troubled when he heard the exact address Serwen had been living at. “How do you know where she lives?” his eyes seemed to say. However, he would never figure it out—I had simply repeated the address that was always mentioned in the novel.

Relentlessly, I continued, “So, you should apologize to me.”

Oscar looked like he was about to explode. He crumpled up a napkin and threw it at me, abandoning all noble grace. I could hear his heavy breathing from across the table.

“Fine. I’ll give you your divorce. Including your alimony. Like you said last night, I make good money.” His words were steeped in that same contempt I was familiar with. “But you’ll regret this.” He pointed at me as he leaned over the table.

I gave Oscar an indifferent look along with a smile. “What’s there to regret?”

“You’ll see.” Then his lips curved into a crooked smile. “I’ll give you the money, but you won’t be able to spend a single penny of it in the capital. Without the title of Duchess Creedwell, you have nothing, not since Marquess Loewysome disowned you!”

I took a deep breath. The man was so predictable.

“Gentlemen will belittle you, and ladies will avoid you like the plague,” he continued. “There’s no place where House Creedwell’s influence doesn’t reach, from the royal castle in the capital down to the kingdom’s southernmost point at the gates of Alothel.”

Oscar’s power trip continued. Of course, he and his noble house did have a lot of clout, but I was growing tired of his tirade. I almost yawned, but stopped myself. I had a plan, so I was going to stick to it.

My eyes widened as I dramatically dropped my fork. I pretended to be an idiot who hadn’t considered that. “N-no, it c-can’t be…” I even let my voice waver a little.

Oscar fell for it, and he gave a cold, triumphant smile. “I bet your simple mind didn’t think of that, eh?”

I tried my best to look humiliated. He was practically gloating.

Good, very good. Acting happened to be my specialty. I had studied it before becoming Marlena and was particularly good at improv. That was why I could pretend to be obsessed with Oscar even after I possessed her body, and he hadn’t noticed a thing.

“D-dear,” I stammered. I gave Oscar a strained smile. “Let’s talk about this some more. I-I wasn’t thinking.”

“You’re the one who wanted this, you stupid wench!”

Oscar’s voice grew louder and louder, which was exactly what I wanted. I wanted him to think that he was in control of the situation. The more dispirited I looked, the more his confidence grew, which would lead him to declare a divorce more boldly. In his mind, that was the worst “punishment” he could give his shameful wife. He wouldn’t have thought this way if he had been more level-headed. After all, didn’t he suggest having breakfast with me so he could avoid getting divorced?

I had become aware of this last night, but as long as Oscar had a cool head, he was no fool. That was why I couldn’t give him time to think. I had to get this divorce finalized before he realized what had happened. That was why I had leveled all these insults at him. I had to get him worked up so he’d lose all reason.

The man smiled coldly, thinking that he had won. “This conversation is over. We’re putting an end to this,” he spat. “Once we do, I’ll have no reason to be civil to people like you anymore.”

Ooh, I know I’m supposed to be acting, but these words are getting under my skin. However, instead of letting it all out, I bottled up my anger. My eyes began to well up with tears.

As if satisfied by my show, Oscar downed an entire glass of water and left the dining room without touching his plate.

I watched my husband, who was playing straight into my hands, walk away from me. Then I buried my face in the same napkin Oscar had thrown at me, and shoulders shaking, I let out a wretched sob—all in front of the butler. I knew Oscar was going to ask the man how I reacted after he had left, and when it was relayed to him how I had cried, he would probably think that he had handled the crisis well. The divorce would be finalized in Oscar’s mind.

The butler and I were left alone, my sobs the only sound in the dining room.