Ch#87
Ch#87
Ch#87
Chapter 87
~Chapter 87~
‘So this is Harriet Listerwell…….’
Howard Scott, the branch manager of Perillas Aseti Bank, felt the fog in his memory begin to clear the moment he laid eyes on her. Her calm gaze, her firmly pressed lips—something about her features evoked a face he had met long ago.
He recalled Harriet’s late father, Arthur Listerwell. He had been a man of quiet strength, gracefully shouldering another noble’s debt.
Back then, Arthur had spoken to him with unwavering eyes.
“Baron Belburn may have made this mess, but I can’t just wash my hands of it. I’ll take responsibility. It’s not urgent right now, but I’d like to make a proposal to the bank…….”
Looking at Harriet now, Howard could clearly see the resemblance. The same calm confidence, the same steadfast integrity. Father and daughter were truly alike.
“Please, have a seat.” Harriet gestured politely and said. “I’m Harriet Listerwell. You’re the branch manager of Perillas Aseti Bank, correct?”
Howard gave a brief nod and sat in the seat across from her.
“Yes, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m Howard Scott. Do you…… happen to know why I’m here?”
Even as he asked, he could guess what her answer would be.
“Hm…… Should I?” She replied with a puzzled smile. “Until today, I’d never even heard of Perillas or Aseti Bank.”
Just as he’d expected.
Now everything made sense. John’s evasiveness, the endless delays, the vague excuses. Harriet hadn’t been dodging responsibility. She had been kept completely in the dark all this time.
Howard opened his bag and pulled out a neatly prepared stack of documents. He handed them to Harriet and began the long explanation.
“About eleven years ago, Lady Harriet’s father, the late Baron Arthur Listerwell, lent a considerable sum to Baron Thomas Belburn. In exchange, he held the title to the Belburn family’s lands and mansion as collateral.”
Harriet nodded slowly as Howard explained how the Belburns had fled in the night without repaying the debt. Arthur had taken possession of the land, but instead of profiting from it, he used it to pay the workers and merchants the Belburns had abandoned. When that wasn’t enough, Arthur had borrowed more money from Aseti Bank, using the same land as collateral.
Howard then explained that ten years later, Arthur had designated Harriet as the sole heir to those assets. The contract stipulated that the transfer could only be completed with Harriet’s personal appearance.
What came next was shocking. Her uncle John had tried to seize the property using a forged power of attorney. He had ignored repeated requests for her attendance, claiming she was too busy traveling. Even today, he had tried to deceive Howard at Listerwell Mansion.
Howard felt uncomfortable, as if he were meddling in another family’s scandal. Throughout the entire story, Harriet’s expression remained unreadable. Calm. Composed.
‘What is she thinking right now?’
She looked barely into her early twenties, by his estimate, yet she showed no anger or tears. Her poise surprised him.
Finally, she set the documents down and looked straight at him.
“How did you know I was here?”
“The Listerwell family coachman told me. He brought me here himself.”
Her eyebrows rose slightly.
“You don’t mean…… Uncle Terry, do you?”
“I don’t know his name, but he was a lean man in his early fifties, with some white in his hair.”
Harriet’s eyes widened in surprise. Of everything she’d heard today, this shocked her the most. The old family coachman, Terry, had deliberately brought the banker to help her.
‘Could it be…… he did this to help me?’
Terry had served the Listerwell family for over thirty years. He had known her since she was a baby. He would lift her into the carriage with his strong, gentle arms and smile at her as if she were the light of the world.
But when John took control of the household, Terry and many of the old servants had started watching his moods. Harriet had thought they no longer cared about her, that everyone had chosen her uncle over her.
‘Maybe…… I was wrong.’
That quiet realization gave Harriet an unexpected strength. And a touch of regret.
If only I had opened my heart sooner…… If I’d looked around instead of giving up, maybe I wouldn’t have felt so alone.
She gazed down at the documents before her. Her lips curved ever so slightly, but it couldn’t quite be called a smile. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“So…… if I sign these papers, the land and mansion become mine?”
Howard nodded. “We still need to complete the final identity verification, but yes. The property is yours, my lady.”
“That’s it? Just like that?”
Howard paused for a moment before answering carefully and earnestly.
“Signing might be simple, but the events that brought us here…… were anything but.”
“……”
“Do you think it was easy for your father to insist that only you could claim these rights in person and designate them to you?”
At last, Harriet smiled, though sorrow lingered in it.
“I remember the date on this contract. It was signed just three days before my parents passed. That’s why Uncle John didn’t know. Father didn’t have time to record it in the ledgers.”
If he had, John would have destroyed it. She had been too young back then to oppose him.
‘Father passed so suddenly that this contract survived……’ Harriet thought. What a cruel irony.
“Will signing as Harriet Listerwell prove who I am now?”
“It’s not that I doubt you, my lady,” Howard said gently. “But we must follow procedure. Please sign this document first.”
He placed a sheet of paper in front of her, then set another beside it—an old document bearing her childhood signature.
Howard had worked in banking for decades. He could spot even the slightest changes in handwriting.
Once she wrote her name, he compared it meticulously to the old one.
“Your handwriting hasn’t changed much,” he said. “Good. Now for the second verification.”
He handed her another page. “Please fill in the blanks appropriately.”
Harriet tilted her head curiously as she examined the page.
Then her eyes widened.
Her hand flew to her mouth, and her breath caught.
「Our dear sweet Harriet. Playing with Mommy, off to dreamland, fast asleep. \_\_\_\_ and \_\_\_\_ together, far away in the sky to \_\_\_\_, happily flying away.」
Tears welled in her eyes. Her mother’s voice seemed to return, soft and soothing like the warmth of sunlight filtering through the window.
This was her lullaby.
Her mother, Lilian, had sung it to her every night. More than ten years had passed, but the words came back as if it were yesterday.
“Playing with Mommy…… off to dreamland, fast asleep…… butterfly…… and bullfinch together……”
She whispered the melody like a prayer. Her voice trembled.
Howard sat quietly, watching her.
When she reached the final line, “happily flying away to dreamland,” he handed her his handkerchief.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said softly.
The only sound in the room was Harriet’s quiet sobs.
She allowed herself just a moment, one brief instant of grief. Then she set her jaw, straightened her back, and sat tall.
“I…… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break down like this.”
“No need to apologize,” Howard replied kindly. “I understand.”
Harriet took a deep breath and looked down at the final page, the property transfer confirmation.
She picked up the pen again.
This time, her signature flowed with firm resolve.
Howard reviewed it, then slid over a new stack of documents.
The official deed to Belburn Mansion.
It included 165 hectares of fertile land, 12 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, gardens, stables, and a separate servants’ quarters in a grand mansion.
“All the farmland is currently leased out. We’ve been collecting the rent and depositing it into your account,” he explained.
He handed her the passbook.
Harriet opened it slowly.
The balance read 213,000 dirham.
Her eyes went wide.
“We’ve never touched that money. But if you manage it wisely, my lady, it can grow even more. If you continue doing business with our bank, we’d be happy to share our investment insights.”
“I will,” Harriet said quietly. “The mere fact that you didn’t hand all this over to my uncle proves your bank’s integrity.”
She extended her hand across the table.
Howard took it with a proud smile.
For the first time, he felt that his strict principles—often criticized as outdated—had finally borne worthy fruit.
After Howard left, Harriet waited for Trisha to wake from her nap.
When Trisha awoke, Harriet sat by the bed with Roxana and told them everything.
But Trisha didn’t respond with joy.
She reacted with fury.
“What the hell has that damned John been up to?” She slammed her frail fist against the blanket and shouted.
Roxana quickly handed her a glass of water.
“Ma’am, please calm down. It’s not good for your health. Lady Harriet has reclaimed the land. That’s what matters.”
“How can I stay calm hearing this?” Trisha snapped. “He badmouthed the girl and chased her away empty-handed, and now he’s trying to steal her inheritance too?”
As she trembled with rage, Harriet reached out and gently took her hand.
“I’m all right now,” Harriet said softly. “And thanks to you, Grandmother…… I have something I can call my own again.”
Trisha clenched her teeth, her eyes flashing with a mix of pride and disgust.
“You’ve been through so much. But I promise you, that bastard will pay for what he’s done.”
And this time, Harriet felt no fear.
This time, she knew she wasn’t alone.
