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Chapter 33
As soon as the daughter of the former head entered, the main branch fell silent.
But the staff who worked their way up to the main branch were veterans with 30 years of service, some even hired by Scarlett’s own parents. Perhaps that’s why, once she stepped inside, she felt strangely at ease.
On the employees’ nametags, stars were engraved — the more stars, the longer their careers. Scarlett handed a box to Mael, the staff member who had the most stars of all.
“There’s a problem with this watch that was sold here.”
The white-haired man accepted the box with a smile.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Ah… yes. Do you remember me?”
“Of course I do.”
At Mael’s gentle tone, Scarlett’s tension eased a little.
“I came here when I was very young, but never again since then.”
“And why was that?”
“Because I was afraid of my uncle.”
“I see.”
Mael responded, but neither he nor the other staff seemed to take it too gravely; their relaxed expressions gave that away.
Evil [Ebile/Ebil], though ruthless to Scarlett and her brother — whose inheritance he had to strip away — and though he fired craftsmen who defied him, never mistreated indispensable people like Mael.
The Crimson family themselves handled watch appraisals. Mael, too, did appraisals, though only for the jewels within the watches. Still, after he opened the watch case and examined it, he spoke:
“I’m not a watchmaker, but I’ve been an appraiser for forty years. I’ve seen countless watches.”
“Yes. I know that.”
“To my eyes, this watch appears genuine.”
At his words, Scarlett’s expression brightened. The other staff members who checked the watch also reached the same conclusion.
Then, Louise, a staff member with a rather stern face, asked:
“So, what would you like to do, Miss Scarlett?”
“All watches sold under my uncle’s name that contain Version 5 parts must be recalled.”
At those words, customers in the store turned to look at Scarlett.
The staff’s expressions grew grave. This might even lead to the closure of the main branch.
While no one dared to reply, Arnold Crimson — Ebil’s eldest son, who held the meaningless title of Vice President and spent his days drunk — returned to the branch.
“Vice President.”
Knowing his temper, the staff immediately surrounded Scarlett protectively.
Arnold scowled at her.
“What kind of trick are you pulling here?”
Scarlett glanced at the employees nervously, but Louise stepped forward.
“It seems the watch parts are defective. The watch Miss Scarlett brought is properly made.”
Arnold grimaced.
“Scarlett never even learned how to make watches. You’re saying some maid who did chores knows more than my father?”
Scarlett spoke up.
“I did learn how to make watches. Just the way my parents made them.”
Then Mael politely asked Arnold:
“May I ask who President Ebil learned the Crimson parts-making method from?”
Arnold’s face twisted at that.
He stormed over to the wall, yanked down the fire axe, and barked at Scarlett:
“Get out, right now!”
Even if Arnold spent his life drunk and useless, he was still certain he would one day inherit the family. That was why he immediately grasped the seriousness of this issue.
It was just one part. But the problem was that the measurements of that one part were different. It wasn’t something that could be fixed by replacing a single piece — the entire watch interior would have to be dismantled and rebuilt. If the company had to bear that cost, Ebil would go bankrupt, and the trust in Crimson watches would plummet, beyond recovery.
Startled by Arnold’s desperate, extreme behavior, Scarlett stepped forward to shield the staff.
“Let’s talk.”
“I said get out!”
“Calm down. Fine, I won’t spread this around. So let’s just talk—”
Arnold grabbed Scarlett by the collar, slammed her into a glass case, pinned her down with brute force, and pressed the axe against her neck.
“This isn’t something to talk about! Do you even realize what you’re saying? You’re telling us all to go bankrupt?!”
Scarlett’s eyes widened in horror. The staff tried to intervene, but when they saw the axe pressing against her throat, they stepped back in alarm.
“You’re out of your mind…”
Arnold glared at her.
Scarlett’s gaze was filled not with fear, but with resolve — and undisguised contempt for him. That look made Arnold feel like something in his head had snapped.
Scarlett had always been like that — a bit wild like a weed, yet stupid. The worst combination, he thought.
Even after being beaten up by Arnold and his siblings, she would come running if called to play. If treated kindly just once, she would laugh as if nothing had happened. She craved affection more desperately than food — a pathetic kind of foolishness.
Someone who only gives without receiving is bound to be ridiculed. To Arnold’s family, Scarlett Crimson was exactly that.
Arnold sneered.
“Do you know why your life’s such a mess? Because you’re an idiot. You keep ruining your own life with your own hands.”
And yet, she dared to look down on him. As if a mere watch part was worth looking at him with those scornful eyes?
His reason vanished. Surrounded by witnesses, he nevertheless thought, Wouldn’t it be cleaner just to kill her now? And disturbingly, the thought of killing Scarlett with his own hands thrilled him.
Grinning like a lunatic, Arnold placed the axe just above her eyes.
“Want me to make you blind too?”
“Vice President!”
“Come any closer and I’ll split her skull! Better to spend a little time in prison than for us all to go bankrupt, isn’t it? And what’s this girl ever done right anyway?”
Arnold knew exactly how to silence Scarlett.
He had never paid attention before, but now it struck him. He smirked at her.
“You think you’ve been good to Isaac, but you’re wrong. Have you seen his eyes?”
“…His eyes? Why?”
“See? You don’t even know.”
“What, what about his eyes?”
“What do you think? They’re ruined. Completely destroyed.”
“Destroyed… what do you mean?”
“Who knows, maybe some medicine went wrong. But his eyes were covered with hideous growths.”
Arnold once barged into Isaac’s room unexpectedly and saw his disfigured eyes as Isaac writhed in pain.
“Did you do something to him? He said he’d do anything as long as you didn’t find out.”
“…”
“And he really did do anything.”
Arnold laughed like a madman.
Scarlett’s strength left her body completely.
“It’s no wonder Viktor Dumfelt abandoned you too. You were probably sickening, tailing him around begging for love.”
“…”
“Isaac’s the same. Even pity has its limits.”
Arnold thought he had completely broken her will. But he couldn’t stop himself now. Anger and excitement had overtaken him.
Suddenly, Arnold’s arm was wrenched back. Scarlett collapsed to the floor, dazed. Then she heard Arnold Crimson’s scream.
Looking up, she saw Viktor snapping Arnold’s arm and leg with ease before tossing him to his subordinate. The crunching sound of breaking bones made Scarlett flinch. Viktor hadn’t even seemed to exert much effort.
He helped Scarlett to her feet. Lowering his head, he looked down at her.
“Scarlett Crimson.”
“…Huh?”
When she raised her head blankly, Viktor asked, expressionless:
“How did you grow up?”
“What do you mean, how?”
“All those men in your family only ever try to crush you with force. How the hell did you grow up in a place like that — in that garbage of a family?”
“More importantly… Isaac… I think he’s sick.”
Scarlett looked up at him, her eyes unsettlingly clear, as if something inside her was broken.
“I gave him medicine. Pirates said it could make his eyes see again… Remember, I sold you out for that medicine. That…”
Viktor only looked at her in silence.
Scarlett’s breath trembled.
“Does it… have side effects? I never thought about it… You’d know, right? You know a lot about pirates.”
“I don’t know. I handed it all over to the royal family.”
“I see…”
Her confused voice silenced him. When she staggered toward the exit, he finally spoke:
“I’ll take you home. Isaac too — I’ll send him there.”
“Sorry… I keep depending on you.”
Muttering, Scarlett left the store, ignoring the worried calls of the staff.
In the carriage with Viktor, Scarlett leaned her head against the door for a long while. Then she glanced at the face of her ex-husband. Sometimes his beauty was so otherworldly it was chilling. Looking at him, she remembered Arnold’s cruel words.
“It was only natural that Viktor Dumfelt abandoned you. Following him around, begging for love, must have been disgusting.”
Scarlett unintentionally recalled the early days of her marriage.
Back then, she had been so happy to finally have family she could lean on, she would sneak into her husband’s bedroom even over trivial matters. In the middle of the night after a good dream, or a bad one. Or for no reason at all — simply because she wanted to see him.
Scarlett spoke softly.
“At night…”
Viktor turned his head toward her. She continued:
“There wasn’t any real reason. I just visited your room often because… I wanted to see you.”
“…”
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you suddenly saying?”
She smiled with reddened eyes, swollen from tears.
“I guess I’ve been tormenting people without even realizing it. I really was awful.”
For so long, she had wondered why he never loved her. Since she was twelve, always wondering.
Now she realized she had been giving unwanted love all by herself.
“I just ruin everything… Why am I like this…?”
She muttered and beat her chest with her fist, her heart breaking apart.
The fact that she had been tormenting Isaac without even knowing it until now — was truly unbearable.
