Sigh.
I stopped at the landing and gripped the railing, looking down at the hall below.
Thinking about the person I was about to meet made my head throb.
In the center of the hall, maids were lined up neatly, while a woman lounged on a couch.
She appeared to be in her mid-40s.
Wrapped in a soft fox-fur shawl that fluttered at the slightest breath, she seemed utterly displeased for some reason.
Fixing her gaze on the grandfather clock, she flicked open a lavender-colored fan and sharply asked,
“When is Etricia coming down?”
“She just had a coughing fit, so it seems preparations are taking longer. She’ll be down soon.”
“Tch, how pathetic. So slow.”
The woman crossed her legs irritably.
For the record, I never invited her.
Moreover, this hall was a common area in the mansion, not a suitable place for a couch to be casually placed.
‘Guests are supposed to be in the drawing room.’
From the way this uninvited guest was criticizing the host, it was clear how rude she was.
I let out a small sigh.
‘Let’s deal with her quickly and send her away.’
With that thought in mind, I descended the remaining steps. As soon as I reached the bottom, the woman leisurely stood up and folded her arms.
“You’re finally here? A turtle would be faster than you.”
“…….”
I stared at her blankly, without even offering a greeting. I didn’t feel the need to acknowledge a woman who barged in like an outlaw and acted as if she owned the place.
Even if she was my mother-in-law, Baroness Antra Dien.
When I met her gaze without backing down, Antra scoffed in disbelief.
“Ha, you don’t even have the decency to properly greet your mother-in-law? “That suits someone from a rich but low-class family, Etricia.”
I sighed, my expression indifferent. It was rich coming from someone who showed up unannounced.
But my goal now was to get rid of her.
Swallowing the words on the tip of my tongue, I grabbed the hem of my dress and gave a halfhearted curtsy.
“Thank you for coming, Mother.”
Antra’s eyebrows shot up.
“You don’t seem pleased to see me.”
“Isn’t it more unusual to welcome an uninvited guest?”
“So, you resent me for coming here?”
“If that’s how you want to interpret it.”
“You…!”
As I calmly countered every word, Antra bit her lips in frustration.
‘She must be furious. Until now, I’ve always just nodded and obeyed like a parrot.’
I blinked lazily and glanced around.
Ornate gilded walls, a dazzling diamond chandelier, and walls packed with artwork, leaving no space unadorned.
‘So much money wasted.’
My money.
Clenching my teeth, I shut my eyes for a moment.
It was just another common possession story.
Or rather, since I had lived as Etricia from the moment I woke up here, should I call it reincarnation?
I had been drinking the night before, fell down the stairs, and lost consciousness.
Then, I remembered my past life.
In that life, I had been an orphan who died in a plane crash while returning from studying abroad.
And now, I had possessed the protagonist of a trashy novel—the woman who had her husband’s mistress assassinated, only to be killed by the mistress’s younger brother.
If I followed the story, I was doomed to die.
‘No way. I refuse to let those two take everything and just die.’
I clenched the hem of my dress tightly and made a vow.
‘I’ll drive them out without leaving them a single coin.’
Without fail.
“Etricia.”
“…….”
“Etricia!”
A sharp voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
