As Isaac left, Leticia came rushing in and appealed to Bridget with a sullen face.
"Are you just going to send him like this?"
Bridget knew what Leticia wanted and just smiled.
Leticia slumped down on the sofa.
"Why are you just smiling! It looks like this is the last time I'll see that face, and yet you're really sending him off so nicely?"
She believed that today would be a day of great fun.
It was because she heard from a familiar face among the soldiers guarding the main gate that Isaac had come with divorce papers.
She was secretly hoping that Bridget would pay back for everything he had done to her when they got divorced.
But Bridget had a boring face and said boring things.
"He will destroy himself. He is the kind of person who chooses to walk that path."
"If it's going to end anyway, wouldn't it be more satisfying to take revenge yourself?"
"There's no need to get my hands dirty by pushing someone who's already running towards the end, Leticia."
"But I don't understand why you sent him away after giving him money. What's so pretty about him? If it were me, I would have just kicked him out without giving him a single penny."
"How did you know that?"
"I heard a jingling sound from inside his arms as he passed by."
Bridget smiled faintly.
"Just wait and see. People who have too much and then lose it all are so lost that they can't see the present because they are looking back on the past.
***
Isaac, who had left the palace, wondered what he could do with the money in his bosom.
He was reminded of a friend he ran into on the street a while ago.
'Ha, you ignored me, that bastard.'
He was a friend he met while doing business.
"I heard things aren't going well these days. How are you doing?"
"It's not good. It just happens sometimes."
"If you need any help, just let me know. It's not like I'm just hiring you."
Isaac stared at the back of his friend who passed by with a smile as if looking down on him.
'You're not even a noble. What, hiring?'
It was ridiculous.
'You want me to go under the commoners and earn a salary? That's ridiculous.'
Isaac never considered the common businessmen his equals, although he only associated with them for business purposes.
'I have to show you who I am.'
Isaac ran straight to the tailor's shop and bought the most expensive ready-made clothes.
He then contacted commoner businessmen he had worked with in the past and took them to the most luxurious high-class bars in the capital.
It was a place that was mainly frequented by nobles and also served as a gambling hall.
"Bring me the most expensive liquor here! The one I always drink!"
As he loudly ordered expensive drinks and snacks, the waiter recognized Isaac and whispered to him.
"I... I'm sorry, but can I ask you to pay for the drinks in advance?"
News of Isaac's downfall quickly spread through the upper classes.
The bar owner instructed the clerk to collect the money first because he was feeling uneasy.
Isaac looked at his friends and became angry.
"How often have I come here and what do you think of me!"
Then he put his chin out as if to show off his money bag.
"I am so speechless."
"Excuse me. It's because of our business policy. Please don't take offense."
It was just an excuse the clerk made up, but Isaac looked back at his friends and laughed heartily on purpose.
"It's a business policy, a business policy! If you order this much expensive alcohol, that's just how it is!"
One of the two pouches disappeared into the bar clerk's hand.
Isaac enjoyed the luxury of his wealthy days.
He was so used to spending this much money that he didn't even realize how much he had and just spent it like crazy.
"Haven't you ever been to a place frequented by nobles like this? This is a place where no matter how rich you are, you can't enter unless you're friends with the socialites! Hahal I come here almost every day. It's an honor for a noble like me to hang out with you!"
And so, he willingly jumped into the gambling table.
Isaac felt proud whenever he spent money. He wanted people to look up to him for spending large sums of money without any worries.
In fact, as a businessman, his friends who were quick to follow the news could not have been unaware of Isaac's failure.
They just came to see how Isaac would flail at the ridiculous pretense of Inviting them.
They enjoyed laughing at Isaac's smugness.
Isaac spent all his money in one night, bragging to his friends who laughed at him.
The sweet day passed in the blink of an eye.
"Ugh."
The next morning, Isaac woke up in excruciating pain.
A hangover headache is a headache, but after pouring all sorts of alcohol into his stomach, which hadn't been able to properly digest porridge for days, his stomach couldn't be in good shape.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
He threw up so much.
Even though he was unconscious, Isaac had already vomited so many times that his whole body was covered in vomit...
The expensive clothes were terribly dirty.
But I was so upset that my stomach. felt like it was turning inside out that he didn't have the energy to look into it.
Isaac lay face down on the floor, retching several times before he was startled out of his sleep.
"Huh, gasp...!"
He realized later that what he had vomited up was not what he had eaten the night before, but blood.
Isaac, seeing the blood he had vomited, trembled and called out to those around him for help.
"Hey, hey! Is there anyone over there...?"
It was only then that Isaac realized he was lying down in an alley.
At the corner of the alley, a group of thugs sat smoking cigarettes and glared at Isaac.
Isaac noticed his precious ring on one of their hands. The other was wearing his shoes.
Only then did he look through his arms.
He didn't have any of his belongings.
"Hey, you thieves...! Cough! Cough!"
The tugs disappeared, laughing at Isaac.
Isaac didn't have the energy to catch them.
He rolled over, holding his stomach in excruciating pain, and then passed out for a moment.
When he woke up again, it was around noon.
His stomach still hurt, but it was better than this morning.
He sat there groaning and feeling helpless for a while, cursing the friends he had hung out with yesterday.
"You rascals! You gave me such a good show, so why are you just leaving me behind and going away?"
It was sad.
Isaac was angry and regretful that he had squandered all his wealth showing off to those guys.
He hit the ground a few times. That didn't bring back the money he had lost, and it only hurt his fists.
He had no choice but to get up, hugging his bitter heart, and feel his way to the house of a friend who lived nearby.
The servant looked at Isaac up and down, frowning.
"Who is it?"
"Go to your master and tell him that a friend has come. Viscount Isaac Winston has come."
"What a troublemaker. Can't you just get out?"
The servant glared.
Isaac did not give up and shouted.
"What safety is there in being cheap? I was the one who drank and socialized with your master yesterday! I bought expensive liquor that you will never see in your entire life!"
Then an old maid came out from inside and whispered to the servant.
"He is making a lot of noise, so he is telling the peddlers to get rid of him quickly."
"Did you hear that? It can't be turned off."
The servant pushed Isaac out over the fence.
"Ouch!"
Isaac fell down in front of the gate and groaned in pain.
"You're kicking me out...!"
As a nobleman, he treated him generously, but he was an ungrateful person who did not know gratitude.
Isaac went to see a few more of his friends but was turned away by everyone.
Some people even came out and criticized Isaac and sued him.
"I knew this would happen to you someday!"
"What, what are you doing? You little brat! Do you think I'll charge you with insulting the nobility?"
"If you can, try it."
Isaac tried to be brave, but he actually had neither the strength nor the will to do so.
He sat down on a bench by the side of the road with his aching body and thought about it.
'Shall I go to Benjamin's...?'
As things turned out this way, he thought of his younger brother, whom he usually didn't care whether was alive or dead.
He foolishly gave away his property to Eli and threatened Benjamin not to see him again.
He swore at him to his face, calling him a thief who dared to covet his brother's property.
'But still, my mother is there...'
His mother was always on his side.
"Sob, sob, mother...!"
Now Isaac remembers how good Eleanor has been to him and tears well up in his eyes.
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