The Stepmother Keeps Stealing the Male Leads - Chapter 2

However, Helene’s grand dream was shattered by the sound of Shakia’s applause.

Clap! …Clap! …Clap!

The slow, mocking rhythm of his claps was taunting.

“You should’ve saved that bluff for the gambling house.”

A con artist always recognizes another con artist.

Shakia didn’t believe a single word of Helene’s story. She had lied too many times before.

But she couldn’t just sit back and watch her fingers get chopped off.

At this point, she had no choice but to go all in.

“This mansion, no matter how well it sells, won’t go for more than 200,000 gold.”

“What?”

“Have you even thought about where you’ll get the remaining 100,000? Are you just going to let it disappear into thin air?”

“Hah~?”

“If you cut off my fingers, the engagement with the noble will be ruined. Then what will you do?”

At the moment of death, people undergo remarkable transformations.

To Shakia, torturing debtors was also a study of human nature.

Some would weep and beg for mercy, while others would suddenly spit out vile insults or threats.

He thought he knew all there was to know about people like Helene, but now, she felt unfamiliar.

“Go ahead and cut off my fingers if you dare. I’ll report you to the Imperial Inspectorate and tell them it was you who did it! No matter how much I owe you, I’m still a noble! Do you really want to be chased down for the crime of harming a noble?”

Contrary to his expectations, Helene was arguing with logic.

Shakia scratched his head with the handle of his knife, clearly thrown off.

He hadn’t expected a street-born woman like Helene to know how to wield noble privilege.

Stupid nobles were usually the easiest prey.

Yet here she was, acting completely different from before.

“I never said I wouldn’t pay the 300,000 gold. In fact, didn’t I already tell you? I’ll pay it back doubled—to 600,000 gold. So think carefully. Do you want the 600,000 gold, or do you want to be hunted down by the Inspectorate and have your little underworld empire destroyed?”

Shakia had planned to cut off one of her fingers to keep her in a perpetual state of fear and extract the full 300,000 gold over time.

But Helene had countered by threatening to report him.

He could just get rid of her entirely, but that would make things even more complicated.

Helene was already infamous across the empire, and even though House Emeldia had fallen, its reputation still held some weight.

Her sudden disappearance would be noticed immediately.

The Emeldia mansion was ancient. At best, it would fetch around 200,000 gold, and due to its long neglect, repair costs would be high.

Helene was a terrible gambler with no talent for deception.

Had she suddenly gained a new skill?

Or had Shakia simply underestimated her all this time?

If he set aside his prejudices about her, her proposal actually made sense.

Was he supposed to believe the words of the Red Witch…?

Shakia had become the boss of the underworld at the young age of twenty precisely because of his adaptability and quick thinking.

Knowing when to push forward and when to retreat was key to survival.

Right now, retreating seemed like the best option.

After all, someone like Helene could always be reeled back in later.

“…Three months.”

“Are you joking? Do you think arranging a noble marriage is child’s play? Large sums of money require great patience.”

Helene’s heart pounded.

Shakia had undoubtedly encountered countless liars.

If she was too desperate to please him, she’d come off as a fraud or a mere amateur.

She genuinely intended to pay him 600,000 gold.

Of course, that was assuming everything went according to plan.

To succeed, she had to negotiate confidently, no matter how terrified she was.

“Six months. Any shorter is impossible.”

“300,000 gold in six months. 600,000 gold within a year. Of course, if I make money sooner, I’ll pay it back right away.”

Debtors always grabbed onto any chance they could get.

That’s why they readily agreed to any absurd terms, despite having no real plans to repay the debt.

And to pay off their growing debts, they always returned to gambling.

However, unlike those gamblers, Helene was stating calculated figures.

Was the sun rising in the west? Shakia, affected by her confidence, began to consider the possibility that she might actually repay the money.

But the deal had to be solid.

“What if you can’t pay?”

“…Then you can take my fingers… No, my wrists.”

Helene held out both wrists as she spoke.

She regretted saying it immediately, but she couldn’t spend her life being dragged around by loan sharks.

The old Helene might have run, but as Han Yena in her past life, she knew that loan sharks would always track her down and find a way to collect their money.

If ‘The Disgrace of the Empire’ and ‘The Red Witch’ wanted to start anew, she had to take this risk.

Was it because she had already failed once as Han Yena? This life was proving to be just as difficult, but she wanted to try living it properly this time.

Besides, being a countess was still better than being an unemployed debtor.

The fact that her past life’s memories had surfaced at this moment was no coincidence.

‘This is the real gamble.’

Helene licked her dry lips.

“…You actually think you’ll live through this?”

Shakia’s slitted eyes opened slightly, revealing his menacing shark-like gaze.

A chill ran down her spine.

Had she been too careless?

Maybe it was better to lose a finger now rather than end up dead later… Just as she considered this, Shakia spoke again.

“If you can’t pay, be my lover.”

“…What?”

Did she hear that correctly?

This wasn’t some shounen manga where someone demanded, ‘Become my ally.’ No, he had said, ‘Be my lover.’

And an underworld boss’s lover at that?

Could anything be more disastrous?

“My body is oddly reacting to you. I’m curious what the infamous Countess and Red Witch is like in bed.”

Shakia, back to his usual squint, grinned widely, seemingly pleased with his own imagination.

‘Which is worse—being the lover of an underworld boss or dying?’

This situation was becoming increasingly impossible to calculate.

But there was no turning back now.

If she successfully matched her stepdaughter with a perfect male lead in half a year, this problem would be solved.

“…Fine.”

The moment she spoke, Shakia gestured to his men. It seemed they had already drawn up a contract.

Despite their rough appearances, they were unexpectedly efficient workers.

She carefully read through the document, looking for any suspicious clauses. Fortunately, there were none.

Then again, the contract was already unfair enough as it was.

“Sign it.”

Shakia pointed at the signature line with the knife he still held.

Helene neatly wrote ‘Helene Emeldia.’

“Ow!”

Suddenly, Shakia sliced her thumb with his knife.

There was a reason he was called the most insane man alive.

Blood dripped from the cut on her thumb.

“If I had cut your finger off, it would’ve hurt more, right? You need to stamp it with your blood.”

Shakia grinned, eyes curved into slits.

‘This crazy psychopath…’

Helene barely restrained her rage and pressed her bleeding thumb onto the signature line.

What kind of chaotic life awaited her as this lunatic’s lover?

Whether intentional or not, she now had all the motivation she needed to pay off her debt.

“If you need anything, let me know. I’ll stop by occasionally if I feel like seeing you.”

‘Don’t come. Ever.’

But as the subordinate party in this agreement, Helene had no choice but to force a smile and wave goodbye as Shakia and his men exited the mansion.

Helene let out a deep sigh.

Strangely, the moment Shakia left, she felt an almost medicinal sense of relief.

At least she had bought herself six months to a year.

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, the three sisters emerged from their rooms and surrounded her.

Jaina, the second sister who had once taken her down in an instant, strode forward. Her tall frame cast a shadow over Helene’s face.

“We heard everything you said.”

Helene instinctively took a step back, only to realize she was already cornered.

It seemed the crisis was far from over.