Chapter 35
The Owner of the Bracelet
‘That man is after you.’
Lily bit her lip hard. Was the purpose of a man being kind to a penniless orphan of low birth really her body?
The disappointment and sadness that surged up from the depths of her heart overwhelmed every other emotion.
“Why are you saying things like that to me?”
“Because…”
Timothy wiped his dry lips. Those words split Lily’s heart in two.
“Don’t say it. Stop talking, Timothy. Please, just stop.”
“You know it. You’ve known all along.”
“No, that’s not true. We’re friends, Timmy. It’s just familiar affection.”
“Is love really such a grand thing? Even when I was at university, I thought about you all the time. I wanted to know what you were doing, what you liked. I’ve been like that ever since we were kids!”
“Stop it!”
Lily ran straight into the hotel.
She heard Timothy calling desperately from behind, but Lily hid herself behind a large Chinese-style vase in the lobby.
Only after standing in front of the lavishly arranged roses did she manage to catch her breath. Her face was burning hot.
‘Is love really such a grand thing? I want to know what you’re doing, what you like.’
Lily began to cry. She cried without even knowing why, thinking she must be out of her mind.
After the tears finally stopped, she rubbed her blotchy face with her palms.
After calming herself, Lily entered the room attached to the penthouse through the side door and quietly opened the door to check on Cecil’s bedroom.
‘Thank goodness.’
Cecil was still fast asleep. Before she woke up, Lily needed to change her clothes and put away the dress she had left carelessly the night before.
As Lily hurriedly began undoing her blouse buttons, she suddenly blushed. The tightly sewn fabric buttons had been fastened crookedly from the middle down.
‘Did Timothy see this?’
Considering she had been in such a state while trying to lie to him, it was no wonder Timothy had been angry. Lily took a deep breath and untied the pale blue sash around her waist.
Thud—
At that moment, something cold and metallic fell at her feet.
‘A bracelet?’
It was an elegant diamond bracelet, luxurious at a glance. It must have been dangling from the soft belt and finally fallen when it could no longer withstand its own weight. The sight felt strangely unreal, and she stared at it for a long time.
She noticed a thread from the sash had been torn where it had caught on the clasp. It was the kind of accessory only noble ladies would wear.
Lily suddenly remembered that she had kept his coat on her lap the entire ride back. The bracelet was clearly adjusted to fit a slender woman’s wrist—there was no way it belonged to him.
She covered her mouth, but couldn’t stop a gasp from escaping. The bracelet, appearing so suddenly, glittered coldly as if asserting its presence. Lily picked it up from the floor and examined it.
Wherever it had come from, it was obviously the possession of a woman of high status.
“El… Elizabeth.”
Cecil stirred in her sleep and impatiently pulled the bell.
Lily quickly shoved the bracelet into her pocket and opened the door.
“You’re awake, Miss.”
As Lily hurried to open the curtains, Cecil frowned.
“Ugh… my head hurts. I drank too much wine yesterday. Bring me some water, will you?”
Lily had expected a scolding, but Cecil only clutched her temples in pain.
It seemed she had drunk herself senseless at the party and returned in the carriage without even realizing Lily was missing.
“I can’t remember much about last night…”
Cecil took the glass of water and stared at Lily.
‘Was this girl beside me when I threw up in the carriage?’
“Are you sick?”
“Me? N-no.”
“Your face is red. It looks like you’re the one who drank.”
Cecil roughly handed back the empty glass.
“Mind your behavior. I hate maids who suddenly run off or quit because they’re pregnant.”
With that, Cecil buried her face back into the pillow. Lily nodded while holding the glass.
“I guess Lord Belmore doesn’t like me.”
At Cecil’s words, Lily was about to quietly withdraw but stopped.
“What about him? Is he kind?”
Startled, Lily dropped the glass.
Even though she knew Cecil couldn’t possibly know what had happened the night before, her hands trembled. The fallen glass left a stain on the carpet.
“Wh-what are you talking about, Miss?”
Lily barely managed to answer.
“Men usually say flattering things, don’t they? Like they like you, or that they think about you all the time.”
“If they’re in love… they’d say things like that, wouldn’t they?”
When Lily spoke as if it had nothing to do with her, Cecil crossed her arms.
“I was asking whether Timothy Rutland says those things to you.”
Cecil tilted her head. Seeing Lily blink innocently, Cecil relaxed a little and offered some generous advice.
“If it’s a relationship where even those words aren’t spoken… well, you’re not a noble, after all.”
“Yes, Miss. I’ll make sure nothing like that happens.”
Lily thought of the bracelet in her apron pocket. In her mind, images of a faceless woman and that man tangled together kept repeating.
“Oh my, the daffodils have bloomed in the garden.”
Trying desperately to change the subject, Lily exclaimed while looking out the window. Daffodils had burst into bloom all over the hotel garden.
Cecil still looked thoroughly unimpressed.
Knock, knock.
“Miss Cecil?”
Only when the manager knocked on the penthouse door did Cecil force her expression to relax.
“You, go to your room.”
Wanting to have a private conversation, Cecil pointed toward the adjoining room. Lily nodded and went inside.
The manager seemed to deliberately raise his voice—clearly a conversation Lily wasn’t meant to hear.
Left alone, her thoughts drifted back to that man again.
‘Is love really such a grand thing? I want to know what you’re doing, what you like.’
Lily shook her head, but the thoughts spread like ink in water. She slipped her hand into her apron pocket.
‘Should I just go and throw the bracelet in his face?’
As she touched it, the bracelet had warmed from her body heat.
Handled wrongly, she might even be accused of theft. But confronting him directly with it would likely make her explode in anger.
No—what kind of relationship did she even have with him?
Whether he made excuses or admitted the truth, she would be the one hurt in the end.
Instead, Lily sat at the small desk in the room and picked up a pen. Looking down at the Belmore Hotel stationery, she dipped the pen into ink.
[Christopher, your bracelet somehow ended up with me. I’m enclosing it with this letter.]
No.
The moment she finished the sentence, she crumpled the paper and threw it away.
[Christopher, I hope you realize that what you said about last night not being a mistake was itself the real mistake.]
She crumpled that one too before finishing.
[I suppose someone helped me realize that the words you whispered while kissing me that night were all lies.]
That wouldn’t do either.
Lily tore the page out and tossed it aside.
[Christopher, do you normally wear women’s bracelets?]
Even she knew how ridiculous that sounded. She scribbled harsh lines through it.
Finally—
[Christopher, please find the rightful owner of this item that ended up with me that night. I apologize for the inconvenience.]
At last, satisfied, Lily pressed a firm period at the end. She placed the bracelet and the note into an envelope and sealed it with wax.
On the front she wrote: “Room 301, To Mr. Christopher.”
But once it was finished, she realized how risky it was to send something so valuable through ordinary delivery. And sending a letter from Belmore Hotel to Belmore Hotel would look suspicious to anyone.
“El… Elizabeth.”
Cecil called her in a sharp voice.
Lily wanted to run and leave the letter at his door immediately, but Cecil’s tone sounded serious. She hurriedly tucked the envelope into a drawer.
“You called, Miss?”
The manager was just offering his final greetings.
Cecil’s face looked pale and tense, and the manager seemed eager to escape the uncomfortable situation.
“I’ll… find out.”
“Please do. As quickly as possible.”
Cecil swallowed the words she had been about to say when she noticed Lily standing by the door.
“You won’t regret cooperating with me.”
The manager glanced at Lily, nodded to Cecil, and left.
“Miss, what’s going on?”
“My wedding date has been set.”
In truth, Cecil and Lord Belmore’s marriage had been little more than rumor for some time. Issues regarding dowry and inheritance had delayed the union.
Cecil had wanted March, but with Lent falling in that month and Belmore’s circumstances, it had been postponed to May.
Lily imagined Cecil cutting a wedding cake beneath fresh spring trees—but Cecil herself looked far from happy.
‘A relationship with no romance.’
Though the wedding was now becoming reality, Lord Belmore still felt distant and elusive to her.
While her father and Lord Belmore negotiated finances and inheritance, Cecil cared only about one thing—affection.
“Soft salmon-colored flowers would be nice for decorations.”
Sensing her mood, Lily tried to cheer her up.
“I agree. May will be full of green. I like mimosas, but since March isn’t possible, roses will have to do.”
Cecil answered with a small smile. Even though Lily wasn’t a lady’s maid, she was surprisingly good at styling clothes and choosing accessories.
“It’ll be beautiful. Lord Belmore won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”
Lily said this with sincere warmth—though her heart told a very different story.
