…Seems like Leton passing away ignited the popularity of the restaurant. Yesterday’s revenues are through the roof. Which means a lot, as this place makes a lot of money even on slow days. I would have been very happy about such profit in the past, and I guess that I should be, since I am the sole owner of the business now, but I can’t bring myself to feel good about this when my first thought is still about how I am going to convince Leton to take his due.

  He had the bad tendency to not bother with taking the money he should have because he already had so much, and I would have to basically force it into his arms… I swear, he was so silly about this. It’s not like I needed much money either, but we had agreed on how to share the money between us and the company itself. It wouldn’t have been correct to funnel coins toward the wrong place.

  Anyway… I guess I could always give the employees a bonus this month. They deserved it for actually doing a good job–Of course, that was because I was draconian in the recruitment process to only hire the best of the best, but it was necessary considering the sort of workplace this was. Way too many children to just hire any random guy off the street. I didn’t want to be responsible for an accident like this.

  It would be very bad business… I never quite understood those who would hire anyone to save money on salaries. When your establishment’s reputation was a major pillar for your income, you were guaranteed to be stabbing yourself in the knee by hiring without paying attention.

  Someone knocked on the door to my office, I immediately recognised who it was just by the way they knocked.

  “Come in, Mari”

  She stepped into my office, holding paper against her chest–Mari worked as a secretary here, she was basically my assistant… She had short brown hair, light blue eyes that almost seemed grey at times, and a rather petite, thin frame. Definitely a pretty girl, so it was a shame that she seemed set on pursuing a relationship that just wouldn’t ever happen.

  Mari marked a pause as she looked at me. I knew why, it was because I was wearing glasses. I didn’t like the strain on my vision from reading reports and numbers all day long, and for some reason, both she and Adem seemed to find the addition of glasses on my face to be worth freezing in place for a moment, as if they needed to compose themselves in front of such a sight.

  I did not quite get what difference glasses made to my looks that it seemed like they forgot to breathe for a few seconds, but regardless…

  “You look a bit pale, Mari. Is there some bad news?”

  “Mmh…”

  She walked up to the desk.

  “Aherm… ‘She’ is making a scene in front of the restaurant, she wants to talk to you, Miss Nebulo…”

  My expression must have darkened quite severely, judging by Mari’s face. I calmly took off the glasses and placed them on the desk before I–Without any amount of sudden movements–Stood up from my seat.

  I cracked my knuckles.

  “I’ll go talk to her”

  “M-Miss Nebulo! Please do not do anything careless, this is in front of the restaurant!”

  “I am just going to talk to her”

  “It could really be bad for the company if something were to happen!”

  “We’re just going to talk like responsible adults”

  “Miss Nebulo, please reconsider!”

  “Do not worry, Mari. I will not do anything violent”

  “...Are you sure?”

  “Of course… Let’s see how much she’ll beg to get her teeth knocked out, though”

  I traversed the restaurant with long strides, dusting my shoulders and sleeves, stretching my arms and cracking my neck right as I pulled the doors of the entrance, coming face to face with the worst creature I ever had the displeasure of encountering in my entire life.

  Eleanori–Leton’s widow, but a woman better known for being a filthy, steaming piece of shit that should be bound and tied to rocks before being thrown to drown in a cesspit.

  “I hear you’ve been making a scene in front of the restaurant. How can I help you shut the fuck up?”

  “Mara! I deserve a portion of it!”

  “A portion of what? Of my disdain? You already have all of it, greedy much?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me. You know very well what I am talking about, Leton’s fortune! I am his wife. I should receive at least some of it!”

  “Is money all that you can think about? He always gave you a huge allowance whenever he received his monthly slice of the pie, Eleanori. Don’t tell me you managed to spend it all away? This is more money than most people could make in several lifetimes”

  “What does it change?! I am still owed part of the inheritance, and I have a child to take care of!”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Do stop yelling, you're going to make my customers uncomfortable… And what child are you talking about?”

  “You’re still playing dumb! Saltina! My daughter, you know her!”

  “Oh, the little bastard? Why would she matter? Why would Leton’s money go toward raising a child who's not his? Why don’t you ask the actual father to support her? Isn’t he a super handsome knight or some shit like that? Surely he had the money and will to actually raise a damned child, or did you let yourself get pumped by just any random man? Are you even sure it’s this guy’s offspring to begin with? I bet you don’t even know how many of them actually got to loosen you up, you stupid bitch!”

  Eleanori clenched her fists, visibly seething with a vein popping on her forehead–Of course, I am well aware that she only cheated with one other guy, but it wasn’t like it would be out of character for this easy girl.

  “You…! You are nothing but a vile, bitter, and lonely woman! Give me the money I deserve, or I’ll take this into court! Widows are owed inheritance from their husbands! And no one can prove that Saltina isn’t Leton’s daughter!”

  “Oh, do you think a cheating wench will get anything from the court? You’ve gotten away with it so far, but if you go poke a judge, they’ll look into you, and if they find out that you’ve broken the sacred ties of marriage? You’ll get whipped in front of an audience, and everyone will know what kind of person you are”

  “Screw you, Mara! You’ve got no proof!”

  “That’s what you think”

  Eleanori sighed heavily.

  “...So I take it that you won’t cough up my money?”

  “In your dreams, perhaps”

  “This isn’t the last you’ll hear from me-!”

  “Hold on, Eleanori”

  “What?”

  “Are you really not going to say anything about what you did? Leton died because of you”

  I looked calm, and Eleanori did feel threatened, but Mari? She knew me quite well and had already run off to try and find someone who would be able to cool things down. I know this girl is only looking out for me, but I would rather no one get in my way right now.

  The garbage being in front of me scoffed.

  “Me? I’ve got nothing to do with it”

  “You didn’t give a single shit when Jeanni died”

  “Excuse me?! I was devastated!”

  “So devastated that instead of dealing with the loss alongside your husband, you preferred to go find yourself another man to ‘relax’ with? You know it. I know it. Leton knew it as well. Saltina isn’t his”

  Leton was absolutely crushed by what happened to his daughter. One day, she was a bright little gal, and the next, she was gone. Left dead like roadkill by a degenerate who couldn’t be bothered to drive his carriage correctly. Any sane parent would have their morale shattered by such an event. In such an instance, shouldn’t the father and mother support one another to make it through? However, Leton had found no support whatsoever from Eleanori, so he could only turn to me and work to try and move on from the tragedy.

  Eleanori had hidden her pregnancy very well, but once the time came for the birth… It couldn’t be concealed anymore, and my brother had instantly known that this was the product of adultery, why? Because it had been more than a year at this point since Jeanni was gone, and in that time frame, he had never touched his wife even once.

  On my side, when he told me this, I started following Eleanori around, only to see her meet up with a city guard–Not even a high-ranked or especially skilled one at that. She had really betrayed my brother and done so with a wretch at that.

  I never told Leton about this, but after several years of all of this nonsense. He suddenly passed away. I found him dead inside his workshop. Just like our father, after the death of our mother, the loss of someone precious had killed him.

  I had seen him slowly waste away, but no amount of healing or the like could help. I could only watch as I knew very well what was happening. It had happened again.

  It happened again… It happened again… By being born, I had weakened my mother and watched her slowly walk toward death as I grew up. When she died, I watched my father become thinner and paler, until he died in his sleep, and now… I had seen my own twin brother go through the same thing.

  Things were different this time. My parents… There was nothing I could blame. I might feel responsible for my mother, but I understood that I couldn’t pin what happened on Leton or me. Being born was not a sin, and I knew that she would have wanted us even if she had known what would have happened to her health…

  This time… This time, there were culprits. There were guilty parties I could direct my anger toward, rightfully so! I had been holding back for Leton’s sake… But he was no longer with me.

  “You can believe whatever you want! It won’t change the truth, Saltina is Leton’s daughter, just like Jeanni was!”

  “You filthy… I always knew there was something wrong with you. Did you ever love Jeanni in the first place? Or did you resent her because she would rather spend time with her father and aunt instead of with her vapid, shallow mother?”

  I must have touched on something sensitive, as the poor excuse of a person in front of my eyes tried to slap me across the face, reaching upward for her pitifully frail arm to be able to reach me… Of course, I didn’t even need to think to catch it.

  …Did she really try to hit me just now? With that hand that’s never seen a single day of even the easiest work? Her only achievement in life was having been in the same class at school as my brother. This fool had been a pathetic student, but Leton had found her interesting at the time, and I’ll admit, she had seemed like a good girl to me as well… Unfortunately, it would appear that people tended to change for the worse.

  This was why the only bond you could fully trust was that of family. Of blood.

  “Hey, Eleanori… Under the law of Rootriska, any individual who is threatened or attacked is allowed to use excessive force to defend themselves, you know?”

  “What?”

  I let go of her arm and promptly slapped her across the face. She fell onto her butt, a thin streak of blood flowing from her nostrils.

  “If you insist on demanding that which you do not deserve, then I’ll see you in court, I suppose. Until then, don’t let me see your face or that of your lover near any of my properties… Saltina can still come, though. She can still be saved, unlike you”

  “Get the fuck out of my sight”

  “I- Damn you! You won’t get away with this, you bitch!”

  She cursed at me, but quickly ran off as I dusted my palms.

  I need to do some work to clear my mind. I genuinely used everything I had not to slaughter her on the spot… She’s lucky. I need to keep the company running. I can’t let what Leton build be burdened by a bad reputation.

  …Very lucky…