Chapter 72

As soon as Juliet learned about all the ins and outs, Zachary apologized over and over again.

With Juliet deliberately standing quietly with her arms folded, he awkwardly made unasked-for explanations.

Although it may not have been his intention, it was quite helpful in understanding the situation.

He said that the townspeople who had promised to give her a job had changed their minds overnight due to the machinations of her uncles.

Shocked by his words, Juliet asked.

“Why?”

Surprisingly, Zachary, with a deflated face, honestly replied to what had happened.

“They threatened me not to exploit their niece, whom they met after decades, by making her do paperwork or cleaning desks in the library.”

What was more surprising was the position of the home tutor for Zachary’s daughter, which Zachary had suggested to Juliet when he was flustered yesterday.

Zachary’s daughter, Lisbell, was a child with lovable chubby cheeks.

“Sister!”

Lisbell, despite seeing Juliet for the first time, snuggled up to her well.

“You shouldn’t cuddle with anyone for a snack, Lisbell.”

Even as she said this, Juliet tightly hugged Lisbell.

Children’s body temperature is higher than adults’, making them warm, soft, and even sweet-smelling. Plus, they become happy with just one cookie. Children are so small and cute.

With her small hands and mouths, her fidgeting was so fascinating that Juliet handed Lisbell a third cookie and asked her.

“Lisbell, how old are you?”

Lisbell confidently shouted, spreading all five fingers of her right hand.

“Three years old!”

So cute!

Juliet hugged Lisbell tightly. On the other hand, Zachary’s idea was so absurd that it made her want to cry.

What? A home tutor? Teaching her how to write?

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance. But the elder insisted on it…”

Zachary, who had been watching his daughter’s charm with a contented look, quickly lowered his eyebrows and made as pitiful a face as possible when his gaze met Juliet’s, which was blowing cold wind.

Although the past week felt like she was suddenly dropped in the middle of a play, in fact, Juliet didn’t care much.

What bothered her was something else…

“What? That’s Aunt Lillian’s daughter?”

Juliet looked in the direction where the voice was heard.

“Ha! Is it possible for her to appear all of a sudden without any news in the meantime? She must definitely be up to something!”

Red hair that is impressive no matter when you see it.

That is, it was the crazy guy Juliet had run into on the carriage to Lobell a few days ago.

‘I should have recognized it from the moment I saw all the red hair.’

His name was Teo Lebatan, sadly, the second son of Juliet’s great-uncle, Isaac Lebatan. They said he was the youngest among Lionel’s grandchildren.

Teo talked loudly enough for the whole mansion to hear, turned his head, and walked straight toward Juliet, who was holding Lisbell.

“Hey, you!”

And then he pointed at Juliet in a lecturing manner.

“Tell me honestly from your mouth. You’re here to get the old man’s inheritance, aren’t you?”

Teo was rude and brazen enough to say such things to her face.

* * *

Isaac’s eldest son, Gray, didn’t have the striking red hair like his younger brother Teo.

Gray, with brown hair, had a much more adult-like impression than Teo. Gray was five years older than Teo.

“Old man.”

“What the hell?!”

Looking at his anger, it seemed that there wasn’t much difference in mental age.

To Juliet’s eyes, red hair was a paternal inheritance, but except for that, Gray seemed more like his cheerful mother than his hot-blooded father.

Gray, who is five years older than Teo, was fortunately sane.

“I’m sorry. He’s usually not that big of a jerk.”

Gray approached Juliet, who was drinking tea alone in the room, and spoke.

He seemed to have heard about what happened in the reception room a while ago, and it seemed like he had come to apologize for his younger brother’s rudeness in his own way.

Gray turned the chair opposite Juliet and sat down.

Juliet tilted her head and asked.

“Don’t people usually make empty promises like ‘He’s not usually a bad kid’?”

Gray shrugged his shoulders.

“How can I deny what’s true? You should ask our parents.”

But Isaac, who was the father of the two brothers and Juliet’s great uncle, seemed to have a simple and honest personality, and Juliet was very curious about what kind of person her aunt was, who she had not yet met, in other words, the mother of Teo and Gray.

She was scheduled to meet her tomorrow as she was out of the house on a business trip.

“Anyway. Don’t worry too much and just ignore him. He does have some malice, but it won’t last long.”

“I don’t mind. It’s fun.”

It wasn’t an empty word. Juliet was an only child without any brothers or sisters.

So sometimes she wondered what it would be like to have siblings. It definitely wouldn’t be boring.

“But I really don’t know why he acts like that.”

Gray tilted his head.

“Do you think he thinks he’s lost his lovable youngest position in the family?”

“Lovable, what…?”

Gray, who was dropping sugar cubes into his tea, asked back, shrugging his shoulders, as if he had said something he shouldn’t have.

“No, he’s never been like that since birth. Rather, the probability of the old man’s inheritance thing he said being sincere is higher.”

“Is that so?”

“Hmm.”

Juliet avoided the hand of Grey, who was about to add sugar to her tea, and fell into deep thought.

Her first impression had indeed been quite poor. However, she had a feeling that there was more to Teo’s dislike of her than just that.

‘If it’s really about the inheritance, I shouldn’t have to worry about it.’

Cold as it was, Juliet thought so.

Lionel himself was proof of that. He had verified that Juliet was indeed his granddaughter using the gloves and hairpin that Mrs. Rhonda had stolen.

Meeting a grandfather she didn’t even know existed was pleasant, but Juliet didn’t expect to become a part of their lives. Nor did she want to.

If Juliet wasn’t Lillian’s daughter, and Lillian wasn’t Lionel’s daughter, their relationship couldn’t exist.

In other words, all that existed between them was a blood tie.

That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was necessary to make it clear.

The fact that Teo mentioned the inheritance meant that there might be others who thought the same way.

‘That’s a good thing.’

Perhaps Teo had reasons that she wasn’t aware of. And Juliet wasn’t particularly interested in other people’s affairs.

Being hated was nothing new.

It didn’t bother her.

But Juliet couldn’t bear being hated for no reason.

After sitting and thinking for a while, Juliet put down her cup and approached the comfortable chair by the living room window where Lionel was sitting.

Several of the Lebatan family’s confidants, including Zachary, were gathered there, seeking Lionel’s opinion.

“Grandfather.”

“Yes, Juliet.”

Seeing Juliet, Lionel gave a warm smile.

“Why are you here?”

The living room where Lionel Lebatan sat had an open view in all directions, so anyone in the mansion could easily see inside if they turned their head.

Juliet slowly walked towards him.

One, two, three.

She fell to her knees as if they had given way and bowed her head deeply.

“Juliet? My dear?”

“Oh, Miss?”

The surprised voices of the people around her indicated that she was clearly crying.

Juliet counted to five in her head, then looked up and spoke with a pout.

“Please believe me. I didn’t know anything about the inheritance. Really…”

“The inheritance?”

“They’re saying that I came all this way for your inheritance. They even suggest I may not actually be my mother’s daughter.”

“What nonsense!”

“No, Miss. Who on earth would say such a thing?”

The servants standing next to them exclaimed in surprise.

“I don’t want to name who said it. But if they just… think like that… that’s fine. But I just wanted to make sure you didn’t think that way… I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding.”

Juliet rattled off some lines she remembered from melodramatic plays she’d seen in the city.

The actual lines didn’t matter.

What was important were the expression and timing.

“I’m serious. Please believe me, Grandfather.”

All the servants except Lionel looked quite shocked.

“Oh, Miss…”

But Lionel, looking down at his granddaughter, seemed to be suppressing a laugh for some reason.

“All right. Get up, Juliet. I don’t know who’s spreading such nonsense, but…”

As Lionel’s gaze swept across the room, several people flinched.

“…I promise. From now on, I won’t let anyone disrespect you like that.”

Juliet managed to maintain her pitiful act until the end, and with the help of the people around her, she got up.

Of course, she didn’t forget to give a secret smile to Teo, who was standing at the top of the stairs and had witnessed the whole scene.

That’s right.

Juliet couldn’t stand being hated for no reason.

‘So I should at least give him a reason.’

When Juliet’s eyes met Teo’s, she gave him a confident, broad smile.

“Is she completely crazy…?”

Teo mumbled in astonishment, but it didn’t matter.

What Juliet didn’t know, however, was that her uncles, standing a few steps away with a huge welcome cake, had seen everything.

Even the unusual exchanges of looks between Juliet and Teo.

Lionel’s three sons had witnessed everything and were in shock.

In turn, Isaac, Baris, and Kailos, the three brothers, exchanged impressions of what they had just seen after regaining their composure.

“Oh-ho.”

“Bro, did you see that?”

“Oh my, she acts just like Lillian…!”

“You can’t fool blood…”

“Definitely Lillian’s daughter.”