Even the Devil Regrets it - Chapter 89

After returning to the townhouse, Juliana opened a letter brought by Atlante from the informant.

As she had instructed, it included a detailed report on the current financial state of House Barnett.

“If even one thing goes wrong, they’ll collapse in an instant.”

Juliana smiled slightly. Atlante, now used to that expression, smiled along without knowing the reason.

“I don’t really get it, but being the villain doesn’t sound so bad after all.”

Juliana sighed as she watched Atlante chuckle with a mischievous glint in her eye. With her small horns and wings, she truly looked like a servant of a demon.

Hopefully, corrupting a divine creature would not send her to hell someday. But even if that were the case, she would finish what she started. Her revenge would be complete.

“Thank you, Atlante.”

Juliana gently stroked her head, then opened the window and let her fly out.
These days, Atlante often returned to her room like this.

Not long after, Braeden arrived.

Juliana watched him closely. From the moment he had returned from the palace, it was clear he had been in a bad mood.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Am I supposed to be in a bad mood?”

Braeden smiled casually and wrapped his arms around her waist.
He buried his face in the side of her neck and took in a deep breath. Slowly, the tension that had been building inside him began to fade.

“So you were in a bad mood after all.”

Juliana softly stroked his hair as she spoke in a quiet voice.

He had been upset because he could not deal with certain people the way he wanted.
If he could have snapped Count Barnett’s neck on the spot, it would have lifted his mood immediately.
But that was not something he could say out loud to her.

“Look at me. I’m feeling great.”

Braeden pulled away with a smile, though it was clearly forced.
Juliana could not help but laugh.

“That’s good. I actually have a favor to ask, and I was wondering if I should wait until your mood improved.”

“A favor?”

Braeden raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.

Juliana rarely asked for help. She always tried to solve everything on her own.

“It seems that House Barnett’s financial situation is worse than we thought.”

Braeden frowned slightly, wondering if she was about to ask him to help them.

“So what I’m asking is this. Cut off just one of their financial lines. That way, their cash flow will stop.”

“I see. So, in short, you want them to go bankrupt?”

“Yes, something like that.”

Juliana shrugged, as if it were nothing.
Braeden’s mood improved immediately. If he could not destroy them physically, ruining them financially would be just as satisfying.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they go down completely.”

As he grinned, Juliana suddenly thought of Atlante’s mischievous smile earlier.
She wondered if it was just her imagination that the two expressions looked so similar.

She gave a slightly awkward smile. She had not expected him to be so happy about her request.

At this point, the fall of House Barnett had already begun. The countdown had started.

A few days passed after the confrontation between Countess Barnett and Aileen.

After selling all of Aileen’s dresses and jewelry to cover urgent debts, the household returned to a temporary calm, at least for everyone except Aileen.

Right now, House Barnett was on the edge.
If they failed to pay just one of their many suppliers, the rest would collapse one after another.

They were surviving only by shifting funds from one place to another, barely keeping their business going through a risky cycle of delayed payments.

Count Barnett was genuinely pleased with how his wife had handled things.
He never imagined that they could cover their financial gap this way.

They had managed to survive one crisis, so he believed they were finally getting back on track.
Feeling relieved, he let his guard down. But just when he began to breathe easier, shocking news reached him.

“My lord, something terrible has happened!”

“What is it?”

Count Barnett felt his heart drop and quickly stood from his seat.

The baron who managed the day-to-day affairs of the estate rushed in, his face pale as snow.
His hands trembled as he handed a thick stack of documents to the count.

“What is this?”

Feeling an ominous chill, Count Barnett flipped through the papers at a frantic pace.
Bright red words jumped off the pages—insufficient balance, unpaid debt, property seizure.

“I asked you what this is!”

He shook the papers angrily and demanded an answer.

“My lord… I regret to inform you that the estate has defaulted. We are bankrupt.”

The baron bowed his head in shame, his voice heavy and low.

At that moment, the door slammed open, and Tristan stormed into the room.
His expression showed that he had already heard the news, and he was clearly furious.

“Bankrupt? What are you talking about? Explain this right now!”

When no one answered, he grabbed the baron by the collar and began to shake him violently.

“What kind of failure are you? How could you let this happen?”

There was no one in the room willing to scold him for his rude behavior.
The baron simply swayed helplessly, unable to resist.

Eventually, Tristan ran out of energy and let go of the baron’s collar with a grunt.
He took a deep breath, then spoke again in a strained voice.

“There has to be a way. We can’t go down like this. There has to be something we can do.”

His eyes were wild with desperation, as if he truly believed a miracle would save them.
The sight of him was unsettling.

But there was no time to come up with a plan.

The butler arrived with more urgent news.

“My lord… we have unexpected visitors.”

“Who… who is it?”

“Representatives from our major business partners.”

Tristan’s voice exploded in anger.

“What are they doing here?”

The butler, sweating from nerves, replied anxiously.

“Well… they said that since they cannot recover their payments, they came to claim goods from the estate instead.”

Tristan shoved past the butler and rushed outside.
Count Barnett stumbled after him.

Servants who had gathered after hearing the noise stood frozen in place, panicking but unsure what to do.

Meanwhile, the visitors moved without hesitation, placing red tags on furniture and valuables to claim them.

“You can’t just show up and take our property without giving us a chance to repay!”
Count Barnett shouted in protest.

One of the men stepped forward and calmly replied.

“My lord, the bonds issued by House Barnett are now as worthless as paper.
And no one knows better than you that this estate cannot pay its debts.
You should be grateful we are limiting the damage to this.”

“What… what did you say?”

Count Barnett grabbed the back of his neck, staggering in disbelief.

The loud commotion brought Countess Barnett and Aileen outside.
Their eyes filled with confusion and shock at the scene before them.

“Who let such disgraceful people into this house?”

Countess Barnett raised her voice, scolding the servants.
But the servants had no authority to stop the creditors.

“My lady, please speak with the count. We are only doing what must be done.”

With a small nod from one of the men, the others began moving without hesitation.
They climbed the stairs and started placing red tags on the furniture in the upstairs rooms.

Aileen, who had already lost most of her belongings, quietly stepped aside to let them pass.
Countess Barnett glared at her with such fury it looked as if her eyes might catch fire.

Then one of the men entered the countess’s own room, and she gasped in outrage and shouted.

“How dare you! Do you know where you are? You have no right!”

But the man didn’t even acknowledge her.

When she saw red tags being placed on her most prized porcelain and furniture, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.

“My lady!”

The maids attending her screamed in panic, and the entire house fell into chaos.

Countess Barnett, who had so easily watched Aileen’s possessions being taken without flinching, crumbled the moment her own things were at risk.
Aileen watched the scene with thinly veiled satisfaction and a crooked smile.

But that feeling did not last.
Reality hit her quickly.

What was this?
She had thought she had grabbed onto something valuable, something like a golden rope.
But what was it really?

Aileen looked at Tristan, who was now yelling at the servants, and her face twisted in disbelief.

He had never looked more pathetic.

Everything about House Barnett seemed the same. On the surface, they were rich and impressive.
But there was nothing solid beneath it. It was all hollow.

They were like a shiny fruit with no substance inside—rotten and full of worms once you took a bite.
She felt nothing but regret for ever choosing to bite into it.

“Hahaha… What a joke.”

Aileen suddenly burst into laughter, her voice echoing through the ruined hall.

Tristan, already overwhelmed with frustration, scowled and snapped at her.

“Are you crazy? Can’t you be quiet?”

I wish I were crazy.
Aileen laughed again, wondering if this place was not hell after all.

That day, House Barnett was officially declared bankrupt.

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