Sean blamed himself. He thought he was the reason she was unhappy.
The moment she realized this, Lianna broke.
Tears poured down in a way she hadn't allowed in years. She pulled her son into her arms, hugging him tightly, desperately, burying her face in his small shoulder.
"Sean… Sean, my baby…" her voice cracked. "You didn't do anything wrong. Mom was never unhappy because of you. You're my joy. My light. I love you so much… so, so much…"
Sean froze for a moment, then hugged her back, trembling, clutching her as if he had feared she would fade if he let go.
In that room, under the soft hum of the sea breeze, Lianna allowed herself to cry.
She truly thought she had hidden it well, her pain, her despair, every ounce of torment she endured, just so her son could grow up normally like any other child.
She could bear all of it alone. But for Sean to think he was the reason his mother was often sad, it felt as though her heart had been torn into pieces.
"Sean, I'm sorry…" Lianna swallowed hard as tears streamed down her face like a sudden flood. "I'm really sorry… I tried my best, but you see… Mommy has been unwell for a very long time. It has nothing to do with you."
Sean shook his head as he cried, "You're not at fault! The big sister said you're just not happy because you can see ghosts!"
Lianna: "…"
"I'd be sad and scared too if it were me," he continued earnestly. "Mommy, even if you don't want to live in the house anymore, it's okay. Sean is a good boy. I'll visit you every day."
Despite her swollen eyes and aching chest, a soft laugh escaped Lianna. Somehow, this heavy conversation still managed to lift her heart a little.
She gently patted his head and smiled. "Alright. But remember, don't believe everything other people say, okay? What you should always know is that Mommy loves you the most."
She chose not to correct the "ghost" part. In a way, it wasn't completely wrong, maybe she was haunted, not by spirits but by the ghosts of her past, slowly eating away at her.
"Then Mommy… I'm still your little lamp, right?" Sean asked, his round watery eyes gazing up at her with trembling hope.
"Of course. No matter what happens, you'll always be my little lamp." Lianna nodded without hesitation.
Yeri had apologized in her note about telling the child a harmless white lie, but Lianna didn't mind at all.
It was true what people said, sometimes an outsider sees a situation more clearly than those caught in it.
None of them realized what Sean had been going through… not even Zahn's mother, who always claimed to adore her grandson.
"Then Mommy," Sean continued innocently, "do you think Grandma is the evil witch who summoned all the ghosts in our house?"
Lianna nearly choked on her own saliva. At the end of the day, Sean was still just a child too easily influenced by the cartoons he watched, mixing fantasy and reality without a second thought.
"And why do you think that about Grandma?" Lianna asked carefully.
"I always hear Grandma muttering that you're a plague who wants to devour the family's money, and that as long as she's alive she won't allow it…" Sean frowned, his small brows knitting together with concern. "Isn't that cursing? The book said witches are good at inflicting curses."
A sharp sting hit Lianna's heart. She had long grown used to the old woman's contempt, but she hadn't expected her to be careless enough to let a child hear such venom.
Before, Lianna would have fought to come up with excuses, anything to keep the peace in the family. But now, she no longer wished to cover for someone so intent on creating a rift between her and her son.
With a long, weary sigh, Lianna finally admitted, "Mommy isn't in good terms with Grandma… but what matters most is that mommy loves you. That will never change."
Suppressing the sting in her chest. She pulled out a pen and began writing in the same notebook, telling Sean that if he ever saw that big sister again, he should let her read it.
Sean stared at the page filled with dense words he couldn't understand. "Mommy… is this a magic scroll to vanquish a witch's curse?"
Lianna: "…"
She could only apologize inwardly for his innocence and nodded, reminding him not to let his father or Grandma see it.
Sean suddenly remembered something. "Grandma doesn't live with us anymore. Last week Dad sent her away… and everyone in the house too. I saw a lot of police."
Lianna froze, stunned into silence.
Before she could ask more, Sean's exhaustion finally caught up to him. He yawned, fell asleep in her arms, and she carefully lifted him onto her bed, tucking him in with gentle movements.
A soft knock sounded at the door. Zahn entered.
"He fell asleep? Let's eat first," Zahn suggested. His voice was calm, almost casual as if there had never been a rift between them.
In the dining area, the long table was filled with sumptuous dishes, the kind fit for a celebration. Yet the atmosphere was suffocatingly quiet, broken only by the soft clink of utensils.
Just as Lianna was finishing her meal, Zahn finally spoke.
"I sent my mother back to the main house. She won't be bothering you or Sean anymore." His gaze stayed lowered.
When she showed no reaction, he continued, "All the servants are currently under investigation. And the people from the villa in Sin Melle… I submitted all evidence and the recovered surveillance."
Lianna's hand paused mid-air for a heartbeat, but she said nothing and resumed eating, expression unreadable.
Zahn swallowed, throat bobbing. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, struggling with words he seemed to have rehearsed countless times.
In the end, all he managed was, "Lianna… I know I wronged you. My negligence made you suffer. I'll… make it up to you from now on."
Only then did Lianna lift her gaze. Her eyes were devoid of tenderness, stripped of understanding and gratitude. There was nothing left there for him.
She had long grown weary of this. She had no desire to reminisce, accuse, listen to false promises, or compensation. The only thing she wanted now was divorce.
Earlier, when she learned Sean didn't resent her, she had felt a fleeting temptation to fight for custody. But she dismissed the thought. No matter what, Sean would undoubtedly have a better life in the Neri household.
"You investigated?" Lianna asked quietly.
Zahn's eyes were slightly bloodshot as he nodded.
Lianna remained silent.
Anyone could see the tension in Zahn's posture, the faint tremor in the veins at his temples. He looked like a criminal awaiting his verdict, breath held, fate uncertain.
Lianna stared at him, taking in the face she once adored, the man she once promised to love wholeheartedly and give her everything.
Negligence? Make it up to her?
So even after seeing the truth, even after everything, he still refused to let her go? Still thinking they could mend what was long gone?
"Then… that means your mother is also going to jail?"
Zahn froze as if struck by lightning, staring at her in shock.
She had echoed the same thing Shin Keir once said, yet Zahn never imagined he would hear it from her.
The Lianna he knew was gentle, forgiving, magnanimous, someone who endured silently rather than provoke.
Did she truly want to persecute her mother-in-law? Or was she saying it merely to hurt him?
Lianna let out a soft laugh. He didn't need to speak for her to understand the truth.
So, those who merely followed orders were guilty, but the true mastermind was simply sent away, sheltered behind the Neri family's immense influence and the old woman's status.
"Zahn Neri," she said quietly, "when you insisted on marrying me and defied your family, I was genuinely grateful. I told myself I would never let you down, that I wouldn't let you fight alone. So no matter what others said, I didn't care. I trusted you. I trusted the years we spent together… the way you made me feel I could endure the world's harshness as long as you stood by my side. You were once my everything. I won't deny that truth."
Her gaze dimmed with a weary nostalgia.
"I used to think it was fine if everyone hated me, as long as you didn't. It was fine if people drowned me in their malice, as long as you didn't. It was fine if my own family treated me like a tool, as long as there was at least one person who truly loved me. That's why… when you suddenly became indifferent, when all you had for me was contempt and blame… I felt completely lost."
Zahn's throat tightened violently. He wanted to say he could make things the same again, that he would be her pillar from now on, but Lianna continued before he could speak.
"So when I entered your family, and your mother made sure my life grew harder the longer I stayed, I honestly thought nothing of it. I naively believed that if I worked hard, if I proved I married you not for money but for you, she would eventually soften toward me. That the accusation of drugging you would one day be proven false."
Her voice remained calm, almost detached, as she revisited that time.
"I remember after giving birth to Sean, your mother gave me a schedule…" Lianna tilted her head slightly, as if reading from an invisible list. "I had to wake up at 5 a.m. to prepare breakfast. At 6, tend to Sean. At 8, let the head maid teach me housework. At 10, help the gardener water the garden. At 11:30, prepare for lunch. At 1 p.m., learn how to make Madam Neri's preferred tea. At 3, prepare for tea-"
"Lianna, I know, I- " Zahn's voice trembled.
Hearing these things directly from her, spoken calmly as if she were narrating someone else's life made him uncomfortable.
He had seen the surveillance footage; she had moved around like a housemaid with no rest. He knew she wasn't exaggerating.
But knowing was different from hearing it from her own mouth.
"I'm not done yet," she said, cutting him off. Her tone remained quiet, steady. "Don't think I'm telling you this to earn your guilt or sympathy. But since you investigated everything, shouldn't you also hear it from the very person who lived it?"