The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 113
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It wasnāt just Jessie and Yona who congratulated her on her recovery.
The larks, Melanie, Jeffrey.
Even the other servants.
Everyone sincerely celebrated Ninaās recovery.
āJust a few months ago, I couldnāt have expected anything like thisā¦ā
The Bayern estate was no longer an uncomfortable place.
Though they were witnesses to her dark history and it could be awkward when the past resurfaced, unlike before, they were now kind to her.
āIād really like to hole up at home like this and just hold out until the divorceā¦ā
The problem was, that wasnāt possible. And for the honor of the Taylor family, she had to erase her disgraceful past from high society.
She had prevented a major incident at the Granvil ducal manor, hosted guests from the Kingdom of Osk at the imperial palace, and earned praise for her charitable deeds at the charity event, butā¦
It still didnāt feel like it was enough.
āā¦Letās start with a mid-term review.ā
A mid-term review.
When she had first come up with the plan for a safe divorce, Nina had focused on āatonementā.
Most of all, dissolving her husbandās resentment toward her.
Everything else, like improving her image or reconciling with family, had been secondary.
What mattered most to her was preventing her familyās downfall.
āFor now, my relationship with my husband has improved more than expected.ā
His attitude toward her, from an objective standpoint, had improved dramatically.
The only problem was that she didnāt know how he would react when the divorce actually happened. That uncertainty was what made her uneasy.
āI have to settle the damage Iāve caused him before I leave, rightā¦?ā
Her husband was not like the Marquis and Marchioness of Ulverni, or Count Azelot.
He may have had a typical amount of greed for money, but he wasnāt someone who would overstep his bounds.
Still, during a divorce, no one would walk away without taking what theyāre owed.
Once divorced, they would be strangers.
And when money was involved, even the closest of friends could fall out. Being overly optimistic might lead to regret.
No matter how well they got along, nothing stood a chance in front of a large sum of money.
āIf I want to leave with peace of mind, I need to sort out the financials cleanly before I go.ā
Only then would she be able to say she had done right by him.
Nina entered the dressing room and opened the safe.
The safe, once full of IOUs and wealth, was now nearly empty.
The larks had completed their missions, burned the IOUs, and returned all the money they had taken.
After sending the litigation support donation promised at the charity event to the Bar Association, this was what remainedā¦
With a grave expression, Nina murmured,
āIām pennilessā¦ā
āMadam, you still have many assets that havenāt been liquidated yet. Donāt worry. Youāre still richā¦ā
As Marsha said, even just selling off the rows of dresses crammed on the racks would be enough to keep her from starving.
āBut the catch is that most of itās on creditā¦ā
The real problem was that more than half of it had been bought on tab.
She had used the householdās allotted budget for her to make the purchases, meaning the creditor was Duke Bayern.
No matter how expensive the dresses, she couldnāt sell them at full price.
Even if she sold them all, it would be questionable whether she could fully repay what she had borrowed for appearanceās sake.
āIf only I hadnāt overdone it at the charity event, I couldāve had enough left to live in comfort in the countryside.ā
It had been great to defeat Rebecca thanks to the help from the Barrington Barony, but the fact that her spending had doubled in the process stung a little.
āMadam, even so, you still have your dowry.ā
āThatās trueā¦ā
The dowry.
The money a woman received from her family upon marriage. Effectively, it was an early inheritance.
Even in the event of a divorce, it was meant to be a foundation for the womanās independence.
Ninaās dowry had been so large that it became a hot topic in high society two years ago.
If she just left with that money, she could live comfortably for the rest of her life.
āBut in my previous life, I didnāt get it backā¦ā
Her husband had seized it under the guise of alimony through a provisional seizure lawsuit.
And afterward, when her family fell to ruin, she couldnāt even hire a lawyer to take the case, and ended up losing in court in a ridiculous fashion.
That kind of extreme ending didnāt seem like a concern this time, butā¦
She still intended to pay a portion of the dowry as alimony.
No matter what she did, she could never truly make up for the two years her husband had suffered through because of her.
Before the divorce, she decided she would tidy up the dressing room and repay the allowance allotted to her by the duchy.
To sell all this off by then, she needed to start letting go of it little by little from now onā¦
