Chapter 1

“The baby is really pitiful. He’s already an orphan. Now that Steven is dead and Luke has been kidnapped, we won’t have anyone to continue the family line. You must raise this baby as your son so that the Norn family line can continue.”

Wendy stuffed the baby into my arms and spoke with a hoarse, gloomy voice. As I stared at how red and swollen her eyes were due to crying from Steven dying and Luke being kidnapped, I started to question the truth of the words I saw.

When I married Steven, he was the one who had wooed me. Our relationship after marriage was pleasant.

While Wendy did not like me, she was never cruel toward me.

Besides, Steven was serving in the army, and Margaret married someone else in the city before my own marriage.

Steven and Margaret never had any interactions with each other whatsoever, so the words I saw may not be plausible.

As I cradled the baby, I cooed at him.

More words showed up.

[The male protagonist left his son for the villainess while he went to enjoy his life with the female protagonist using his pension. He definitely loves her!]

[If the female protagonist hadn’t married someone else, the male protagonist wouldn’t have married the villainess. Thank goodness the female protagonist got a divorce and they finally got together!]

[I feel sad for the villainess’ real son, though. Wendy drowned him at the moment he was born so that she could do the switcheroo.]

My mind went blank. I clenched my fists as I asked in a seemingly nonchalant fashion, “Wendy, why hasn’t the army sent Steven’s survivor pension to us? We won’t be able to feed three mouths without any money.”

Wendy’s expression turned dark. “What’s this? Are you saying that we can’t survive without that bit of pension? You’re so greedy. If you tell anyone about this, you’ll just end up ruining Steven’s name! Forget about it and just focus on taking care of the boy. If you end up losing him to kidnappers too, I’ll kick you out on Steven’s behalf!”

Wendy then stormed off.

Just as I was feeling bewildered, the words gave me the answer.

[Why did the villainess ask for the pension? That’s the money the protagonists need to enjoy life!]

[The villainess is really so greedy. That money belongs to the male protagonist! Look. Wendy has gone off to discuss things with the male protagonist!]

My heart clenched, and I followed Wendy.

She took a bus to the city and went into a rented house. There, I saw my supposedly dead husband standing close to Margaret, my sister. He even had an arm around her shoulders.

Beside them was Luke, my son.

“Mom, Margaret will head south to avoid running into any familiar faces. I’ll leave the household affairs to you.”

Wendy patted her chest as she made a promise. “Don’t worry. Scarlet won’t ever escape my control. I just look forward to the day we get to be together as a family again.”

They laughed and chatted with each other. I felt like an outsider.

The sight stung my heart, and I staggered so badly that I nearly fell. Those words had been telling the truth!

My true son had been drowned, and I had been taking care of Steven and Margaret’s first son.

But that was not all. They wanted to wring me dry and continue making me the mother of their second son.

I had been a clown for years.

Once I got back home, the indignation and hatred in my heart continued tearing through me.

My eyes settled upon the abandoned baby I had picked up completely by accident yesterday, along with the letter saying that he was an orphan. An idea popped into my mind.

So, they wanted me to be their stepping stone, was it?

Fine. I was going to let them feel my pain and give them a taste of their own medicine.