SBMFMIL 04

Episode 4. The First Counterattack

Wendy’s eyes widened as she looked at Cecilia, then she suddenly burst out with a laugh.
“Goodness, Miss. You must have been incredibly nervous.”
Wendy nodded as if she understood.

But Cecilia was genuinely flustered.
She cleared her throat and asked again.
“Th-then, how old am I now?”
“Huh? You’re twenty-two!”
“T-twenty-two?”
Before she died, she had been twenty-seven.

Cecilia quickly scrutinized Wendy’s expression. There wasn’t a trace of a joke or prank on her face.
The wedding to Evan, Wendy, her age…
With each detail, one fact became clearer.
“Good heavens…”
Cecilia muttered, dumbfounded.

Without a doubt, she had gone back five years.
To right before her wedding to Evan.

‘Should I just run away now?’
Cecilia contemplated it seriously.
This felt like reliving that miserable life all over again.
Moreover, the horrific pain was still vivid. It felt like this was her last chance to escape.

……No.

But Cecilia soon shook her head.

‘If I run away now, I’ll just be the crazy woman.’

There would be no scandal more sensational than the bride running away from the wedding venue. It was too unfair to be the only one pointed at when there were truly bad people elsewhere.

‘Cecilia. You said you love me, right? Then you can love my child too, can’t you?’
‘Will you follow your parents and die by a friend’s hand too?’

The words she heard from Evan and Rosena just before her death pierced her heart. Along with the insults she suffered, the truth entangled with her parents’ death… Knowing all this, she couldn’t cowardly run away alone.

‘If I have to get muddy anyway, I’ll drag Evan and Rosena down with me.’

Yes, she couldn’t back down like this. She would give them a taste of their own medicine.
Cecilia tightly gripped her bouquet with her lace-gloved hand.

The grand wedding hall was filled with numerous guests. Although a commoner by birth, Evan was a promising young businessman. As someone who tried his utmost to manage his reputation, he had quite a few guests.
‘Huh…’
Right before her entrance, behind the door, Cecilia took a deep breath. Soon, the music announcing the bride’s entrance echoed, and the door opened.
Countless gazes simultaneously turned toward the virgin road (aisle). Bearing those stares with her whole body, Cecilia slowly took a step forward. Her heart began to beat faster and faster.

‘Stay calm. I can’t waver now.’
Suppressing the urge to run out right then, Cecilia maintained a placid expression.

Then, a familiar face entered her view.

……Rosena.

She was clapping her hands with a bright smile, as usual. The Osborne Viscount and Viscountess were seated beside her.
For a moment, Cecilia almost let her face contort. She wanted to shout right there and then.
That they were murderers.

But Cecilia clenched her teeth and endured. She tried to calm her heart, reminding herself that she had no evidence yet. Unaware of these thoughts, when her eyes met Cecilia’s, Rosena mouthed the words.

‘Congratlations.’

This, too, was exactly the same as five years ago.

‘Ha…’
In the past, she had also nodded in response to Rosena’s congratulations. Foolishly unaware that there was her husband’s child in that womb.
‘How foolish I must have looked, grinning naively.’

Cecilia turned her gaze away with a cold expression. Rosena’s hands paused in confusion, but Cecilia had already passed her by.

At the end of the aisle, Evan was waiting. He took Cecilia’s hand with a rapturous expression.
“Leah, you are the most beautiful in the world today.”
He whispered shyly into Cecilia’s ear.

The Cecilia of the past would have been endlessly fluttered by this.
But now she knew it was all an act.
“……”
“Leah?”
When Cecilia gave no reply, Evan looked puzzled. But soon, as the priest officiating the ceremony stepped forward, Evan also naturally turned his gaze.

The solemn ceremony of holy matrimony proceeded.
“Evan March, do you take Cecilia Penning as your wife, to love and cherish her all your life?”
“Yes! I do!” Evan answered as if he had been waiting.

The priest’s gaze now turned to Cecilia.
“Cecilia Penning, do you take Evan March as your husband, to love and cherish him all your life?”
“……”
But there was no answer from Cecilia. In the lengthening silence, Evan turned to look at her, flustered, and the guests began to murmur.
“Lady Cecilia?”
The priest called Cecilia again.
Only then did Cecilia slowly open her mouth.
“I…”
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the bride’s answer.

“…will not go through with this marriage.”

However, at the shocking, unexpected reply, the venue froze instantly. Evan’s face twisted in bewilderment.
But Cecilia was smiling quietly. She spoke out so everyone could hear clearly.

“Because Lady Rosena is pregnant with Evan March’s child.”

At Cecilia’s blunt revelation, the wedding hall fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it. Even the priest officiating was left speechless, staring at her blankly.
“N-no, that’s not true!”
Then, a shocked voice rang out from the guest seats. Rosena stood up abruptly, her face pale.
“Lia! What are you saying all of a sudden? How can you say such insulting things?”
“Th-that’s right! Even as a joke, this is too much! Rosie isn’t even married yet!” Rosena pretended to be a wronged victim, tears welling up in her eyes, and Evan, who had been gaping, joined in.

The guests looked back and forth between the three in bewilderment. They had just come to celebrate a wedding and were now caught up in a love affair scandal, all dumbfounded.
Evan grabbed Cecilia’s arm, trying to turn her towards him.
“Cecilia, jokes should have their limits—”
Thwack!
But at that moment, Cecilia kicked Evan in the shin with all her might.
Evan, who had been raising his voice, spitting as he spoke, immediately collapsed to the floor. Startled screams erupted from various spots among the guests.
“Ugh! What are you doing!” Evan clutched his leg, writhing on the floor and cursing.

Cecilia looked down at him coldly.

“You trash.”

Spitting out the words, she looked around. The ceremony hall was in chaos. Evan was rolling on the floor, making a fuss, and the guests’ murmuring grew louder.
“It’s really not true! I’m not pregnant! I swear to heaven!” And Rosena was desperately denying the pregnancy. It was a frantic attempt to escape the situation somehow.

‘That won’t do.’
With a relaxed smile, Cecilia spoke loudly and clearly.
“Then shall we verify it right here? If we call for an experienced midwife or doctor for an examination, we’ll know immediately.”
“L-Leah…”
“How about it? Wouldn’t that be a much more interesting spectacle than a boring wedding?”

Rosena’s face turned deathly white. She was indeed already in the early stages of physical changes from pregnancy. An examination would quickly reveal the truth. No, from Cecilia’s single statement, everything had already been exposed to the public anyway.

‘She was trying to hide the pregnancy and quickly find a husband…!’
The guests looked at Rosena with suspicious eyes. Once she left this wedding hall, her pregnancy would surely spread throughout high society. Rosena was trapped, unable to move forward or back.

Cecilia looked at the trembling Rosena and smiled a victorious smile.
“Move.” Cecilia stepped over Evan, who was still lying on the ground, and walked out confidently. There was no more reason to stay here.
“C-Cecilia! Stop right there!” Evan shouted urgently from behind, but Cecilia did not look back. The only thought in her head was to quickly get rid of this shackle of a wedding dress.

A red-brick townhouse in the city.
If things had gone as planned, this would have been Cecilia and Evan’s new home.
But after storming out of the wedding venue, she had come here alone.
“I never thought I’d see this house again,” Cecilia muttered quietly.
This place, too, was exactly as she remembered from her past life. The position of the furniture, the color of the curtains, the faint dusty smell unique to the old wooden floors.
“Phew…”
After a quick look around, Cecilia immediately began packing her things.

There wasn’t much to take. Most things in this house were what Evan had pompously arranged. They were just cheap furnishings in an inexpensive public housing unit, so she felt no attachment.

‘But there’s something I must take.’
Cecilia opened a small drawer in the dressing table and rummaged inside. Then she pulled out a small box caught on her fingertips.

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