“Jane!”
How could this woman spill everything so easily! Smith’s eyes seemed to say.
He quickly glanced at Ariella and Adam. Surprisingly, their expressions weren’t that bad. They nodded calmly, looking as if they already knew everything.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Smith continued explaining as if he had never scolded his wife.
“Y, yes. She threatened us that if she ever saw us again, she would have us killed by her lover. The reason I couldn’t answer you honestly just now was because of that. We are also victims!”
“Indeed, I see. When did that happen?”
“It was about five or six years after that girl left home…”
Ariella nodded slowly. Her eyes, looking at the Chestnut couple, briefly glinted with a colder light, but the next question followed quickly, so the couple didn’t notice.
“Tell me everything you know about Lizzy. If there’s useful information, I’ll offer a reward.”
“Y, yes! Of course! Let’s see, that girl Lizzy was….”
The Chestnut couple, excited by the mention of a reward, began to chatter about everything they knew.
From a young age, she had shown signs of trouble, and she was so disobedient that they thought they would die of frustration… The content was filled with slander against Lizzy.
After listening to a lot of useless stories, they finally provided information worth the trouble of coming all the way here.
“That sister of hers, she left the child that looked like a thunderstorm and didn’t send money on time from one day to the next… Tsk, we were angels, you know? Who in this day and age would keep a girl who isn’t even blood-related? But she didn’t know gratitude and ran away. What a bad girl!”
“…Sister?”
Ariella, who had been maintaining a blank expression, finally asked again.
The Chestnut couple, who had been afraid of not receiving a reward, were overjoyed that they finally got a reaction and quickly began to explain.
“Yes! She was quite a bit older than Lizzy, and she was close friends with my wife.”
“Close friends? What do you mean close friends? Your sister asked me a few questions because she said her younger sister was the same age as our Jasper, and that was all. She suddenly came to drop off that little girl and left. I don’t even remember her name!”
“Why, she was quite a pretty girl. You don’t remember? Was her name Lucy or Sia…?”
“You! You had something going on with that woman, didn’t you? So that’s why you took in that girl Lizzy! Goodness, aren’t you ashamed to show your face to Jasper?!”
“Is this woman crazy! How dare you raise your voice in front of a noble lady! Be quiet?!”
“Yeah, I’m crazy! I walked into this dung pit by marrying you, so how could I not be crazy? Oh, my fate! Oh no!”
A noisy fight ensued, but it didn’t reach Ariella’s ears.
She simply pressed her lips together tightly and clenched her fists.
‘Lizzy had a family.’
To her, who had always wanted a family and had cried out so pitifully, there was a real family.
“Ha.”
Ariella couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
As her hollow laughter echoed softly, the Chestnut couple stopped fighting and looked at Ariella.
“W, was the information I just provided somewhat useful?”
Hehe, Smith asked, grinning sheepishly. It was a request for a reward.
“Yes, it wasn’t bad.”
Ariella willingly took out a small jewel and placed it on the creaky table. As the bright red jewel sparkled, the Chestnut couple’s eyes lit up with joy.
“Then now I’ll ask. Is the reason you continue to live in such a barren place also due to Lizzy’s threats?”
“Y, yes. That girl threatened us, saying that if she ever saw us again, she wouldn’t let us be. She told us not to even think about entering the city for the rest of our lives.”
“…There don’t seem to be many jobs in this area. How have you been making a living?”
“W, we’ve been living off the money we had… but as you can see, we’ve reached our limit. We don’t even have money to eat.”
That seemed odd considering their household items looked quite luxurious. Ariella swallowed her laughter.
‘Lizzy must have given them money.’
If she had only wielded threats, she would have worried that this couple might return to her. So, while threatening them fiercely, she must have also provided them with a settlement to help them settle in a new place.
And this foolish couple must have squandered that settlement money without any plan, resulting in them running out of money sooner than expected.
Ariella felt pity for Lizzy, who had wasted the money she had diligently saved while working as a maid, and slowly continued speaking.
