Your Castle, My Keys のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

I remained stunned for a long time. The hair ornament was still in my hand.“What do you mean?”Grace chuckled. “Before the wedding, of course I had to play nice with you. Everyone knows Simon treats you like his own little sister. “If I got on your bad side and you went home and complained, who knows if the Truman family’s eighty-eight chests of wedding gifts would have even made it through the door.”She casually yanked the gold hair ornament from my arms and set it on the table. “But things are different now. I am married to Simon.”I frowned. “What of it?”Amused by my reaction, she went on. “Simon runs the thirteen family banks and seventy-two shops. The managers answer to him.“When something goes wrong, he’s the one they call. What do you bring to the table besides bearing the Sherman name?”She leaned down and looked me in the eye. “Do you really think that just because they let you stamp the golden seal every New Year, you’re actually in charge of the Sherman fa

Grace probably really thought she had won.The next day, she had Ruby sent out of the city. Then, using Simon’s private authority as the head of the Sherman family business, she dismissed the old accountant at the main office and replaced him with her cousin, Nicholas Truman.On his first day at the main office, he withdrew five thousand dollars. He claimed it was for New Year gifts to the Truman family. The Sherman family’s accountant, Albert Lawrence, did not dare offend him, so he quietly sent the withdrawal request to me.I glanced at it and said, “Give it to him.”Albert panicked. “But Miss, that’s five thousand dollars!”I picked up a pen and added a line at the bottom of the slip. “Mark it as Simon’s personal draw for this term.”Albert was stunned. Then, he quickly understood what I was doing. “Yes, Miss.”That afternoon, Grace sent people to move things out of the east wing of my courtyard. She said the location had good sunlight. When she and Simon had a daughter i

Grace was the first to react.“What’s there to go over? Simon has been running things for years. When has he ever screwed up?”I nodded. “That’s exactly why we’re going to give him credit where it’s due. After that, we’re going to go through the accounts from the past few days.”Simon looked up at me. “Clarisse, I know I didn’t do anything wrong.”“Good for you.”I had Albert open last year’s general ledger.I had to admit that Simon truly had not tampered with them. Last year, the Sherman family’s net profit rose fifteen percent over the year before. He had also reopened the northwestern trade route. Several bad debts were handled beautifully. Even a few family members nodded in approval after reading them.After I was done with the first ledger, I said, “Simon has done right by this family. By precedent, his management bonus and year-end reward will be paid in full.”Grace took the opportunity to say, “You hear that? The Sherman family earns this much all because of Simon

I had thought Grace would settle down after being put in her place a few times. Instead, she turned around and invited the Zouch family over.That noon, I had just finished reviewing two ledgers. Lily came from the front hall with a message. “Mrs. Zouch from Lorell has arrived with her second son.”I rubbed my temples. “Who invited them?”Lily said nothing. The answer was already obvious. By the time I reached the front hall, Grace was smiling and drinking tea with Kelly Zouch. On the table lay that marriage contract. I had torn it, but it seemed she had rewritten it.“Clarisse, you’re here,” she said as she waved with a smile.“You were just throwing a tantrum the past few days. The Zouch family is showing such sincerity. You should at least meet Leo.”Kelly looked a bit awkward. Beside her, Leo Zouch stood up directly.“Ms. Sherman, may I ask, did you yourself ever agree to this proposal?”Grace’s expression shifted slightly. “Since when does a young lady get to decide her

When Grace learned that Simon had handed over the seal, she made a huge scene.Instead of smashing things around, she just sat in the room and had the fiercest fight with Simon yet.“Are you just going to accept this? Are you just going to throw away twelve years of connections?”He only replied briefly, “They were never mine.”She went completely silent when she heard that.The next day, she packed up her belongings and went back to the Truman family. Before leaving, she came to see me one last time.She stood at the entrance to the east courtyard. Her face looked far worse than it had on her wedding day.“You really don’t want those three shops back?”I shook my head. “What’s given away is yours. If you sold them too cheap, that’s on you.”She was stunned. She probably had not expected me to actually let it go.But she still had to pay back the five thousand dollars she took from the public accounts. The money Nicholas drew from the main office had to be made up, too.As f