My Own Mother’s Distorted Love (1)
It was a heavenly feeling when my oldest son, Shepherd, got engaged.
Shepherd, who was brilliant from an early age and looked like me, was truly intelligent and a genius.
In contrast, Marie, my eldest daughter, was a failure who did not resemble me much.
She was plain, dull, and not cute at all, just like my husband.
If she had been a little more beautiful, she would have been useful, but she really was no good at anything.
A woman is all about beauty and charm.
I was proud of my beauty even within our fief, but unfortunately, I was forced into a political marriage with my current husband during the great famine 30 years ago.
Originally, I would have liked to be a married to a Count or higher, but the Ranford family chose a man of a lower ranking baronet as their son-in-law.
He was a brilliant but boring man.
He was not worth my time, and I felt that he was an unsatisfactory husband.
He would not disobey me, though.
I thought that since he was a live-in son-in-law, I would be the head of the family and he would only be my assistant.
But then, my Father passed away.
“Why did the position of the head of the family pass to my husband!”
“The former head of the family left his last will.”
“Then why is it, Diaz? He’s not even his biological son?”
Father liked the mediocre but diligent Diaz.
He was more affectionate to me than him, so why is the son-in-law receiving special treatment!
Why!?
“By law, you do not have to be a biological child to inherit a household. If you adopt a child…”
“I haven’t heard anything about this.”
“He had no need for your permission, Madam.”
No matter how much Mother pleaded, the hard-headed lawyer would not listen.
Father even wrote that if she declined his last will, he would donate the entire estate to the state, so I was forced to agree.
But from then on, the Ranford family’s money was to be managed by me and my Mother.
There was no need to have Diaz, the son-in-law, hold onto it in the first place.
However, even though the business got on track little by little, we were still only a Viscount’s household.
I could not stand in line with the high nobility.
That is why I didn’t want Shepherd to lead a life as trivial as my husband’s.
I had to make sure that all of the Ranford family’s wealth went to Shepherd.
After my Mother passed away, I thought only of Shepherd’s happiness.
I thought that the talented Shepherd could get engaged to a high-ranking noble’s daughter if he went to the Capital.
But…
I applied him to the Royal Academy, ran by the royal family themselves, but he failed the first test and then the second.
I thought it was impossible.
He managed to get in by filling the vacancy, but Shepherd wasn’t the only one nominated for the free slot.
So I did some backdoor work.
Shepherd was able to pass the exam, but he didn’t do well in the general curriculum, so he had to repeat the class.
Marie, on the other hand, passed straight through, was chosen as a special student, and became a staff of the student council.
I couldn’t forgive her, who bribed her way through, to look so self-important.
She is a ruthless woman who thinks nothing of humiliating Shepherd.
But Diaz spoiled her and she got carried away.
Something must be done.
I will feel sorry for Shepherd if I don’t do something about it.