“Why are you doing this? This isn’t the kind of person you are.”
“Not that kind of person?” Rachel laughed. “And what kind of person am I? Someone who doesn’t know her husband is cheating on her, or at least acts like she doesn’t? Someone who begs a man, who has never before in his life seen her as a woman, to love her?”
“Rachel…”
Theodore, her husband who had been cheating on her for over seven years with a woman nine years younger, looked devastated. The woman whom he had thought would forgive him and love him no matter what he did, was staring at him with a cold face.
“I won’t ask for anything else. All I want is a divorce.” Rachel tossed the papers she was holding at him. The papers sailed through the air, a stray piece cutting Theodores cheek, then fell to the ground. Theodore picked up the divorce papers with trembling hands, looking at them.
“Divorce, I can’t…”
“I knew you’d say that. The divorce papers are only a formality, you can tear them up if you’d like. I’ve already applied to the Noble Senate to have this marriage annulled on charges of tax evasion, misappropriation of funds and dishonor to a Countess. Do you still not understand?”
There was no answer. Rachel removed the ring from the finger on her left hand and tossed it to Theodore as well, simply explaining, “It means our marriage is over, whether you like it or not.”
***
There are two kinds of people in this world, those who are fools and those who are not.
Unfortunately, Rachel Elrosa was a fool.
“Madam, why don’t you try taking care of your skin? Rumor has it that there is a new balm at the general store that can make your skin smoother. If you would like, I can get you some on my next visit!”
Those were the first words Jane, her husband’s mistress, had said to her when she came to the door. Rachel, being the good person that she is, turned to her husband and gushed, “Jane is such a sweet, young lady. May I invite her again next time?”
“Of course,” Theodore had smirked as he said this.
Theodore, who was usually out and about doing something outside the manor, always stayed in the manor when Jane visited. This pleased Rachel. She loved her handsome, gentle husband with all her heart, even if it was an arranged marriage.
But, Theodore did not love her.
He had only married her for the money and the title, he had loved Jane from the beginning.
Theodore was the eldest son of the Countess of Elrosa, and his mother, Berengela, was a high-born woman. He knew she would never accept Jane, a commoner.
His and Rachel’s marriage had been over the moment she had borne him a son, Graham. In recent years, he hadn’t even been willing to hold her hand. Unaware, Rachel assumed it was because he was tired from working so hard.
Over time, Theodore and Jane’s affair intensified. Eventually, when their son Graham was five years old, Rachel caught them naked in the act.
It happened on a day she decided to take Graham on an outing alone. Theodore said he was unable to join them because he was busy with work. With his wife and son gone and him busy with work he gave Carl, the butler, and all the other staff some time off.
The morning was full of mishaps- broken cups, a sudden downpour of rain, a broken wagon wheel and, not long after they set out, Graham became ill.
They bought medicine from a nearby apothecary for him, and were no longer able to travel, so they headed home. Thinking no one was home, she stayed up late to care for Graham. It wasn’t until his fever broke around dawn that she finally got some rest, going back to her room to change clothes.
“I love you, Jane.”
“Me, too! I love you too!”
Theodore and Jane were sprawled on the bed naked, right where Rachel slept every night.
Everything seemed to click into place and, for the first time, she learned of her husband’s infidelity. It had been eight years since Theodore had started dating Jane and only seven since he married Rachel.
“Theo, were you and Jane always like that?”
“Like what? What are you talking about?”
“I saw it! I saw you two doing that… thing…!”
Theodore denied it.
The betrayal of the first man she had ever loved, the man she so firmly believed loved her, hurt like hell. All Rachel could do was take Theodores word for it that it wasn’t true and let it rest. She hoped that Theodore was telling the truth, that what she had seen was the lie, and that even if it was true, his relationship with Jane was over.
It was a ridiculous hope. She could still smell Jane’s perfume on him.
That wasn’t the only problem though. There was also a hole in the family’s finances.
Unable to bear it anymore, Rachel spoke up,” I love you, Theo.”
“What are you talking about so suddenly?”
“I love you, even though it was an arranged marriage. What about you?”
“Me?”
“Yes, do you love me?”
Sadly, Theodore shook his head.
“You are a good wife, frugal and gentle, and you’ve given me an heir who will inherit the title, but… I don’t love you. That’s how things are in an arranged marriage.”
The night she witnessed his affair, he had whispered to Jane that he loved her, but when she thought about it, he had never told her that he loved her after their marriage.
Rachel hired a man to follow Theodore. Theodore and Jane would regularly meet outside the manor and make love. They had barely even given an effort to hide it at that point. When she asked the man how many times the word ‘love’ escaped from their mouths, the man said it was too many to count.
She was desperate now.
Rachel thought her life no longer held any meaning, she hung herself in her husband’s bedroom.
It happened when their son, Graham, was only six years old. The death of his mother devastated him. Graham grew up alone in a sprawling mansion with neither a mother nor a father.
He closed off his heart, no longer believing in love.
He became a cold, heartless killer.
Fortunately, Graham met the gentle and warm Princess Dolorosa, who was tenacious, determined and upright. She didn’t let Graham’s broken heart go unnoticed, embracing him and keeping him close. Her sincerity melted Graham’s frozen heart and they became lovers, living happily ever after.
This was the plot of the novel ‘What is Love?’.
In the novel, Rachel’s role was so insignificant, it was hard to even feel sorry for her. She was overtly good and vulnerable, which led to her making tragic choices due to unbearable pain. She was the mother who traumatized Graham. It was nothing more, nothing less, and to possess the body of such a woman was just plain bad luck.
Before she had become Rachel, she had lived a life more similar to Graham. Her father had cheated on her mother, his mother bullying her frail mother, and she had witnessed it all as she grew up. She wished she could have possessed Rachel before she got married and broken off the engagement to the cheating bastard, but Graham had already been born.
Theodore was in the midst of a steamy affair with Jane. To make matters worse, tomorrow was supposed to be the day he brought her home for the first time. There was nothing she could do now except make him pay for defiling the sanctity of love and marriage and deceiving his wife.
Luckily for Rachel, Theodore and Jane had left evidence of their affair everywhere.
Preparing for divorce would be easy, but just like in the book, Count Elrosa was in a financial mess. As it was, it would be difficult to get a fair division of property or any child support. She didn’t want to do anything to help Theodore, but she needed to get the manors finances in order before the divorce.
“While someone is out having fun, I’m stuck with this.”
Late at night, as she was trying to figure out how to deal with her cheating husband, she heard a voice call, “Mom, I need to pee.”
When the big door opened, a four-year old Graham walked in.
He was hugging a soft teddy bear tightly, eyes stinging from the sudden bright light. He rubbed them with the back of his hand, frowning. It was unbelievable that such a young child would later lose his mother and become a cruel, ferocious killer.
Rachel stood up quickly and grabbed his hand.
“Okay, let’s go to the bathroom. Where’s Martha?”
“She must have gone to bed, I couldn’t find her.”
Martha, Graham’s old nanny, was extremely lazy. She told Rachel that Graham was a very difficult child and had a terrible temper. Rachel had taken Martha’s word for it, thinking her job was very difficult. In reality, Graham was a gentle, sweet child and Marsha was just disappearing often without taking proper care of him.
Tomorrow morning, she planned to kick her out of the mansion with all the evidence she had gathered.
“Mom?”
“Oh, sorry. I got distracted. Here, you go into the bathroom and come back out when you’re done. I’ll wait here.”
“Mmm. I’m scared, can you sing me a song?”
“Alright.”
Humming, she waited for Graham to finish his business and come back out. She could hear the sound of him washing his hands, and a few moments later, Graham walked out of the bathroom stumbling.
“I peed and washed my hands.”
“Really? Good job, Graham.”
I praised him, and he giggled in response, cheeks blushing.
‘Ohhhh! So cute!’
Taking his hand, she led him back to his room and tucked him into bed. Martha had apparently disappeared without cleaning up after dinner. The room was also a mess of toys. Rachel clicked her tongue quietly as she got up from the bed.
“Mom, can you come closer for a second? I want to tell you a secret.”
“A secret? What is it?”
Graham leaned in close to Rachel’s face when she approached. He then gave a her a peck on the cheek.
“The truth is, I love you a lot mom.”
Rachel smiled as she whispered back into Graham’s ear.
“What a coincidence? I’m actually really in love with you too.”
“We’re the same.”
“Yeah.”
She patted Graham on the head and left the room. As important as the divorce was, there was something that was even more so. Rachel had no intention of traumatizing Graham or turning him into a murderer by hanging herself like Rachel had in the original story. This meant that Dolorosa, the heroine, wouldn’t feel sorry for him. There was a good chance they wouldn’t end up together, which was a no-no given how well the two had gotten along.
“Don’t worry, Graham,” Rachel mumbled to herself as she looked at Graham one last time before closing the door, “Your mother will match you and Dolorosa together no matter what.”
***
The next day dawned and, as expected Theodore brought his mistress to the manor. To Rachels disgust, Jane greeted her with an innocent smile.
“Good morning Countess Rachel, I’m Jane.”
“Rachel, this is the woman who helped me buy your gift at the general store the other day. She’s a lady from a decent middle-class family, albeit without a title. I told her about you and she said you sounded like a very nice person so I invited her over to meet you. Is that all right?”
Theodore had never given her the gift he bought from the general store. He had mistakenly thought he gave it to her but had given it to Jane instead. Rachel grinned at her idiotic husband.
“Of course not. Welcome, Jane. It’s nice to meet you.”
