A False Salvation For Lady

Chapter 7

7. A Horrible Family Gathering

When Cordelia’s response was delayed by a beat, the housekeeper quickly added more details to explain the situation.

“Your lordship said he would attend, but Madam, I came to ask if you perhaps have another social engagement at the same time.”

At that moment, Cordelia had to make a considerable effort to avoid letting out a sigh of frustration. Of all times, to receive a message from her in-laws. A family dinner? They must have known the cause of the Hastings family’s downfall, yet they still didn’t realize how much they must have mocked her for trying to adjust.

That thought made her want to lie and say she was unwell and avoid the gathering altogether.

Even her father-in-law, whom she had once thought kindly of, would be unbearable now, and the subordinates of her despised father-in-law would probably be even worse.

But then again, who knew? Just as she had made her own plans after her confrontation with Lucas, perhaps Lucas had other plans in mind.

‘Rather than events happening that I don’t know about, it might be wiser to endure, even if I dislike it.’

Suppressing her disgust, Cordelia forced a soft smile.

“I understand, Elma. Please tell them I will, of course, attend.”

The couple’s home was just a ten-minute drive from her father-in-law’s mansion. However, this short distance felt like an unbearable punishment to Cordelia.

It was agonizing. Sitting next to this man, in this car, was unbearable.

‘I can’t stand thinking about the past.’

Normally, during the drive together, conversations naturally started between the couple. Since Cordelia, who usually spoke little, was often silent, her husband would begin the conversation by pointing out things outside the window, suggesting places they should visit next or places he thought she would enjoy.

As they approached the restaurant they had once enjoyed, Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear it.

‘How do you know about places like this, Lucas?’

‘Were you planning to take me here someday?’

‘Were you planning to take me here someday?’

‘You’re probably the best flirt in the New World.’

Forget it, Cordelia. It was all a lie.

Just look at this man. I’m the only one silently agonizing here—does he even feel the slightest discomfort in this silence?

‘No, it’s because he feels no guilt even after I found out. That’s why he doesn’t waver.’

To erase the futile memories of love, Cordelia forced herself to speak.

“Lucas. Your father knew, didn’t he? That you deliberately ruined my family.”

“That’s what you’re curious about?”

“Yes. I need to know what kind of mindset I should have when facing him.”

Lucas rested his arm on the window frame and gave a crooked smile.

He had intentionally left her alone for a while, thinking she needed time to adjust to the shock—but so this was the kind of question she finally came up with.

Normally, people with no blood ties and no support would swallow their pride and desperately beg not to be thrown away, wouldn’t they?

Lucas had seen only those kinds of people for years, so Cordelia’s reaction was… refreshing. Even in ruin, did she think she was fundamentally different from the bottom-feeders?

But then, Lucas’s smile twisted.

Lady, you’re no longer noble—so why act like you’re still above them?

“The old man knew everything and gave his permission, Madam. Even an empty shell makes a fine calling card when it says ‘father-in-law to a noblewoman.’”

“…”

He had said It with a deliberately spiteful grin to provoke her, but Cordelia’s expression remained calm as she stared straight ahead.

And that’s when Lucas noticed—Cordelia wasn’t wearing the beautiful wedding ring that had never once left her left hand.

In that moment, a sharp, unpleasant feeling flickered through his narrowed eyes.

That ring he had put on this noblewoman’s finger had been his pride—his proof that he had clawed his way up from hell.

So this is how you quietly show resistance, huh?

As Lucas clicked his tongue in bitter amusement, Cordelia lowered her gaze and asked quietly,

“Will the Randolphs be there today as well?”

“So I’m told.”

“He’s your rival, so I wouldn’t know the details. If he had known, he would’ve gotten a bride the same way.”

“That man doesn’t have the courage or the brains, so that would’ve been impossible.”

Randolph Aubert was Richard’s right-hand man. He was about ten years older than Lucas, had been involved in business longer, and had a significant following. But when Lucas suddenly emerged and began to stand out even more in business, factions naturally began to split. Since the heir hadn’t been officially named yet, the behind-the-scenes competition was fierce.

Cordelia also found that man incredibly unpleasant. His eyes gave off a sleazy vibe, and his large frame made him feel intimidating.

But if that man was also involved in criminal acts… If the entire Ducaine family had gained their power that way from the start… then hadn’t she known absolutely nothing about her in-laws?

Ugh, my head is spinning.

Randolph, however, had married a year earlier than them, to a baroness from the Old Continent. Unlike Cordelia, whose family had collapsed, his wife’s family was still perfectly intact.

Feeling a renewed surge of injustice, Cordelia struggled to keep her composure and looked out the window.

“At least Randolph must have had some basic sense of ethics—unlike you.”

“Ha!”

Lucas let out a sharp laugh at the veiled insult. Cordelia often still spoke of morals like a strict young lady teaching commoners their place.

There was a time when that tone didn’t feel unfamiliar. In fact, there was a time he’d stubbornly listened to her sermons on purpose.

‘Luke, wouldn’t it be good for you to read this when I’m speaking kindly? I picked it just for you.’

But that woman had long forgotten those days. And wasn’t she the same hypocrite who acted like she was above it all while choosing Lucas Ducaine for his money?

“If Randolph has at least a shred of ethics, what do you have, Madam? Shame? Connections? I don’t recall you bringing a single dowry to the table.”

“How could you expect that from a household you ruined? How could—?”

“I may have dragged your family into it, but it was your mother who threw everything into an investment she didn’t understand. Blame your virtuous lady mother who was mad for money.”

At that moment, Cordelia couldn’t even bring herself to defend her mother.

Even if the whole thing had been a setup, her mother hadn’t consulted her once before pouring their entire fortune into that investment—and then escaping through death.

“And even if I ruined your life, I’m still the one who saved you from being sold into the bed of some decrepit noble. Don’t forget that, Madam.”

When the headlights of the car illuminated the familiar massive mansion, Lucas bit his lower lip and finally looked away from the frozen Cordelia. At last, he felt a little better.

“Well then, time to put on a happy face, darling. Let’s go meet my family—I can’t stand them either.”

Cordelia’s father-in-law, Richard Ducaine, was the very embodiment of the phrase “self-made man of the New Continent.”

As a young man, he had been a disregarded commoner in the Empire. Abandoning his family and acquaintances, he arrived in the New Continent completely alone.

And through countless illegal acts, he had earned the title of a wealthy man. Beneath him lay a gang of parasites who stirred up trouble across various businesses—and even lower, the trampled corpses of those he’d crushed.

Perhaps because of the memories of surviving while covered in blood, he had grown obsessively convinced that anything short of being the best was worthless.

Thus, even among the elite mansions of Millionaire Row, the Ducaine estate was exceptionally enormous.

It wasn’t just the castle-like exterior that was extravagant—the estate held over a hundred rooms, two swimming pools, two art galleries, and even an illegal underground railway for direct coal delivery.

And while that last feature was clearly against the law, nothing had proven impossible in the face of wealth. Especially in the New Continent, where the judicial system was far more lenient than in the Old Continent.

Cordelia stepped out of the car, feeling as if she were suffocating. As she finally got out, a careful, soft voice greeted them as if trying to read the room.

“Oh my, Lucas! Cordelia! Welcome!”

It was Alicia, Randolph’s wife, who greeted them first. With a thin face and dull, brown-streaked blonde hair adorned with extravagant feathers, she fluttered over gracefully.

Beside her, Randolph approached with a face full of hostility.

“Well, the two of you are here? It’s been a while.”

With his massive frame stuffed into a suit, the man looked like a beast in formal wear. When he crossed his arms, the pressure in the air turned violent.

Meanwhile, Alicia linked arms with Cordelia, smiling slyly. As she kept a generous distance from the men, she leaned in and whispered with a saccharine tone.

“Was there an accident on the way? Considering you two live the closest?”