[TIDK] 12 – Divorce Papers

Gregory Dumfelt, who found her awake, rushed over. He then hurried his secretary.

“Come on, raise Scarlett and give her a pen.”

Scarlett whimpered as Gregory’s secretary lifted her and put a pen in her hand.

Gregory held the papers in front of her as she watched the pen in her hand.

“It is a memorandum of confidentiality.”

“...”

“I’ll give you whatever amount of money you want.”

Scarlett looked at the papers, and Gregory continued.

“With this amount of wealth, you and your brother will be able to survive for the rest of your lives.”

Her vision was blurry, but maybe the fever had gone down a bit, so she could make out the contents.

Gregory spoke to her whilst still exhausted; she stared blankly at the documents.

“Come on, sign it. Hurry.”

Scarlett glanced at the sloppy papers that she had written in the monastery, scribbling with her bare hands. She began to transcribe her signature on the letter attached to the memorandum of confidentiality with the Dumfelt’s family letterhead.

[The doctor says it is an infectious disease. I don’t want to hurt you, so I’ll stay at the villa. See you next month, my love.]

It was so short, and yet she felt exhausted. Scarlet collapsing back on the bed, lying down. With her eyes half-closed as Gregory put her papers in an envelope, she opened her mouth.

“...Please give me the divorce papers.” Gregory’s expression, which had been anxious the whole time, brightened at those words.

“You, really?”

Scarlett just closed her eyes, as Gregory pestered her to awaken again. Resigned to her fate, she opened her eyes again to find the divorce papers lying at her bedside.

♔♔♔

Scarlett was lucky that she had a fever. It would be regrettable for Gregory to try and expel her without giving her a single dime.

After resting at the villa for a month while eating the highest quality food and receiving the best treatment available in Salantier, Scarlett’s fever slowly subsided.

She busied herself with fixing the watch of Polly, her kitchen maid, which Candace had brought her when her health began to improve. Whenever she felt unhappy, focusing on this sudden gift-like ability made her feel better.

She stayed in her bedroom and only concentrated on inserting cogs with a delicate hand, when the watch started ticking.

‘Knock.’

Someone knocked on the open door. She turned around, it was Andrei Hamilton, the manager of the villa.

“Madame, could you please check the receipt?”

“Yes, come in.”

A young and thin man as tall as Viktor, with his hair, pulled back, came in.

Since their marriage, Scarlett chose Viktor’s items herself. She had also repaired them herself when he did not have any favourite items. Scarlett checked the list of vases to put in Viktor’s office in the spring and wrote neatly on the note.

She spoke, “For my husband’s birthday, he must have multi-coloured roses...”

After saying that, Scarlett raised her head and smiled.

“Originally, on my husband’s birthday, I found a four-leaf clover and put it in a book.”

“You did everything.”

“I wondered if he would be touched.”

“Won’t the person who discovered the four-leaf clover be more touched? A sense of satisfaction with your find….”

At Andrei’s sober retort, Scarlett laughed.

“Yes, let’s think about it that way.”

“But why are you writing it there? You always brought the roses yourself.”

“I want a divorce.”

“I see.”

Andrei replied curtly, implying he wasn’t interested in prying any further.

After writing down what to bring, Scarlett closed the paperwork and asked bravely.

“I said I was going to open a watch shop on 7th Avenue. But I don’t know anything about business, so I need help.”

Andrei was dumbfounded by her words.

“So, you’re scouting me? An elite of a huge business to work at a startup with no future?”

“Yes.”

“Sure.”

“Huh?”

As Scarlett replied with wide eyes, Andrei grabbed the papers and pointed at Polly’s watch.

“You fixed that watch. A watch that no other watchmaker could fix.”

Andrei said, slightly excited.

“Then give me your address. I will move my luggage ahead of time.”

“Ah, here!”

Scarlett handed him the address she’d written down in advance. Andrei put the note in his pocket, bowed his head, and left.

“…are you really doing this? Is it that easy?”

Scarlett started mumbling to herself.

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