Chapter 6 So You Do Know I’m the Lady of the House?
Chapter 6 So You Do Know I’m the Lady of the House?
The door quivered.
Claudia stood outside, face flushed scarlet, practically steaming. Her mind had gone completely blank.
Silence settled on both sides of the door.
A few moments later, Nero’s deep voice f
floated out, calm but dry. “I just knocked over the shower gel.”
“Mm. 1-1 saw that,” Claudia stammered.
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Why did you come here?”
“Oh! I–uh, I came to tell you something. About… my dad. If he tries to ask you for a favor-
Inside, Nero paused. His lips pressed into a straight line. A flicker of disappointment crossed his expression. The little ripple of emotion he’d felt earlier vanished without a trace.
Everyone said he was dying–that he was a madman, violent, cruel, cold–blooded. Under those circumstances, it wasn’t surprising for someone to marry him with ulterior motives.
But what disappointed him was that it had only been one day….
*…Then make sure you don’t agree to anything he says!”
Whatt
Thinking he hadn’t heard her clearly, Claudia hurried to explain. “If he uses me as an excuse to ask for something–like funding his company or whatever–don’t help him!”
It took Nero a couple seconds to confirm he hadn’t misheard.
“Why?”
Why?
Claudia’s eyes spun, then she answered casually, “Why? Because married you, not sold myself to you. I can spend your money, sure–but why should my family get to?”
Nero hadn’t expected her to say something like that. He went quiet for a moment.
*Alright”
His low voice made Claudia feel strangely tense. Especially after what she had just seen inside…
Her cheeks flushed again. “Well, I’ll go now. You should get some rest. Goodnight!”
She fled in a rush, completely missing the quiet response that came from the bathroom after the door closed
Goodnight.”
Back in her room, Claudia’s face was burning.
Even though she had married him in her last life–and even dated Chase–she’d never been that intimate with anyone. What she saw earlier… was a lot.
The next morning, Claudia woke up early,
Excited to finally have breakfast with Nero, she headed downstairs expectantly–only to find herself alone at the table.
“Where’s Mr. Nero?” she asked, unable to hide her disappointment
Did he go out this early?
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Chapter 6 So You Do Know I’m the Lady of the House?
Wendy replied blandly. “Mr. Nero doesn’t like eating with others.”
Claudia froze.
He had a habit like that!
In her past life, all she’d done was try to stay away from him. She hadn’t even known this.
She couldn’t help feeling a little let down.
Am I not doing well enough this time around? He still doesn’t want to eat with me…
She barely touched her food and got up.
“Where is Mr. Nero now?”
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“Mr. Nero is very busy. And he prefers to be alone when nothing urgent is going on,” Wendy said with a cold face. “If you. don’t have anything important, Ma’am, don’t disturb him.”
Claudia paused. “Wendy, what did you just call me?”
“Ma’am.”
Claudia smiled slightly, but the chill in her eyes betrayed her real mood.
“So you do know I’m Mr. Nero’s wife–the lady of this house. Then what I do shouldn’t be anyone else’s business, right? If Mr. Nero doesn’t want to be disturbed, he’ll tell me himself. No need for anyone else to speak on his behalf. Don’t you think so. Wendy?”
Wendy’s face turned an ugly shade of green.
Without waiting for an answer, Claudia turned and left.
She had no intention of starting a direct fight with Wendy, who had influence in this house. But that didn’t mean she’d let herself be stepped on.
Upstairs, she didn’t find Nero, but Simon was standing guard outside the study.
“Is Mr. Nero in there?” she asked.
“He’s busy,” Simon replied politely,
“Oh.” Not being able to see him in person left Claudia disappointed. “I need to go home for a bit. Can you let Mr. Nero know?”
She had received a call from her stepmother, Summer, that morning asking her to come home. She’d originally planned to ignore it but something important was still at the house. She had to go back.
Simon nodded.
At the Cloud family residence-
As soon as Claudia walked through the door, a refined, elegant woman greeted her with a warm smile. “Claudia, you’re back.”
Summer
Claudia’s eyes flickered with coldness.
She had been fooled by that gentle face for years, once even loving Summer like her own mother. What a joke.
She gave a hollow smile. “Yeah, I’m back.”
Summer faltered. For a second, her stepdaughter’s tone felt oddly distant–almost like she was a different person.
But when she took a closer look, she saw the same naive, easily controlled Claudia. She must have imagined it.
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Chapter 6 So You Do Know I’m the Lady of the House?
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She motioned to Henry, who was sitting stiffly on the couch. “Why are you being so stubborn with your father? Go apologize, will you?”
Apologize?
What did she have to apologize for? Refusing his selfish demand? Hanging up on him?
Every word out of Summer’s mouth was calculated.
If she’d used a softer tone, the Claudia of her past life–who had longed for fatherly love–might’ve walked over and bowed. her head without hesitation.
But no. She said “apologize“, clearly hoping it would trigger rebellion.
Now that she thought about it, wasn’t Summer the main reason her relationship with her father was so terrible?
Fine. In this life, Claudia had no intention of clinging to this so–called “father.”
She didn’t even glance Henry’s way. “I just came to get something from my room.”
With that, she tired and walked off.
Summer sighed theatrically. “Claudia’s upset. Don’t take it personally.”
Henry’s anger spiked again, and Summer’s lips twitched–just slightly.
Neither of them suspected anything unusual. Claudia had always been rebellious. Her disrespect wasn’t anything new.
Standing at her bedroom door, Claudia took a deep breath.
The room felt both familiar and foreign.
She walked in and immediately headed to a hidden drawer where she used to stash things.
There was one item she had to retrieve–her mother’s medical journal.
Her mother had once been a famed healer, and the notebook she left behind was invaluable. Chase had only approached Claudia in the past because of that book. It was one of his main goals,
Moments later, her expression changed.
The journal was gone.
