Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 183

Cecilia covered her mouth with her hand as if she had no idea.

“Oh! So, Helena is the name of Viscountess Lope!”

Viscountess Odridge, still fuming, wrinkled her nose. She gulped down the remaining wine in her glass in one go, barely stifling a hiccup as she shook her head.

“Yes, Viscountess Lope…”

“You’re calling her by her name, Madam. You must be quite close.”

“Hah… close?”

Viscountess Odridge let out a laugh as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Of course. Very, very, very close.”

Her laughing mouth twisted into a crooked smile. Cecilia pretended not to notice and averted her gaze as she spoke.

“I once met her at a tea party. She seemed like a high-class, refined young miss.”

As if all the refinement in the world had died, Viscountess Odridge muttered under her breath while holding up her empty glass.

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she ordered the servant to bring more wine.

“What’s this? It’s a different one? Did I finish that bottle already? Hmm…”

She swirled the new wine in her glass, savoring the aroma, before suddenly turning her gaze to Cecilia.

“You know that Duchess Pierce is the eldest daughter of Viscount and Viscountess Lope, right?”

“Of course. I met her today as well. She’s truly a beautiful woman.”

“Well, she certainly passed down her looks. Her personality’s a bit better, but… they’re both just as stubborn.”

Cecilia didn’t chime in on the backbiting. She simply sat quietly, smiling, and her silence didn’t seem to register with the intoxicated viscountess, who didn’t notice anything strange.

Clearly harboring a lot of resentment, Viscountess Odridge furrowed her brows every time she uttered the word ‘Lope’. Yet, despite her frustration, she couldn’t steer the conversation away from the topic.

“That pretty face of hers certainly helped her marry well. It’s true what they say—children do take after their parents. But then again, Helena’s second daughter’s marriage failed, so maybe that’s not entirely true. That second daughter got divorced, you know. She was too much like her mother, right down to her personality…”

There wasn’t a person in the capital who didn’t know that Viscountess Lope’s second daughter had secretly gotten involved in speculative businesses, squandered her dowry, and returned to her family empty-handed.

Viscountess Odridge stifled a laugh, clearly finding satisfaction in the misfortune.

“Where would you find a man willing to live with someone after cleaning up all that mess? And the second daughter isn’t as pretty as the eldest, either.”

Despite her usual aesthetic inclinations, Viscountess Odridge made an exception when it came to the Lope family.

To her, they were the most beautiful people she hated the most. Objectively, they were beautiful, but they no longer appeared so to her.

Of course, there was a time when she had been quite taken with their looks and even socialized with them… but that had been a mistake, just a passing phase.

Any relationship involving money is bound to fall apart. Viscountess Odridge had simply learned that inevitable truth later than most.

“Miss Cecilia, don’t get too close to that woman. She only looks out for her own interests. She’s the type to suck the life out of you and then toss you aside as if she doesn’t know you.”

She openly criticized Viscountess Lope, but that was nothing new. The whole capital knew about their falling out.

“Is it that bad?”

“Yes, she’s truly a bad sort. I have the means and generosity to forgive a few coins here and there, but… it’s just not proper for a debtor to act so arrogantly, is it?”

At last, she even brought up the fact that Viscountess Lope owed her money.

Cecilia’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“A debtor? What do you mean? I didn’t think the Lope family would be short on funds…”

“Well, it’s just that…”

For a moment, she realized she’d said too much, but since the secret was already out, she decided to let it all spill.

Viscountess Odridge leaned toward Cecilia, raising her hand to her mouth as if to shield her words, despite the lack of any listening ears. It was a habit she’d picked up from years of gossiping in salons.

“She claimed she was short on funds for a trip to the western region. A ‘trip,’ she called it, but the amount she asked for was equal to what I spent on my son’s education abroad. Now, we’re not exactly a poor family, but that kind of money isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

Although Cecilia already knew the story, she listened intently as if it were the first time.