You’ll Regret Stealing Him from Me — My Sister Who Took My Fiancé and Celebrated Was a Fool - Chapter 18

“Thank you, Lord Roderick.”

She took my hand and bowed her head repeatedly.

The gesture was both pitiable and endearing. Her small hands clasped mine, her warmth seeping into me, along with her emotions. She must truly regret what happened.

I believe I made the right choice. This girl is genuinely good. This time, she just happened to falter a little. It was simply bad luck. Everyone makes mistakes.

My father, my mother, and the others, they’re judging her solely based on this outcome. But I’m different. I see through to Isabella’s true nature. Her kindness, her efforts, her talent. I understand them all.

“Now, about the cause of this failure, what do you think went wrong? Do you have any ideas?”

I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as I asked. I wanted her to learn from this and succeed next time. To identify the cause and use it to improve. Growth comes from learning through failure.

Isabella hesitated, biting her lip and lowering her eyes as if struggling to speak.

“Actually it might be because I pushed too hard during the preparations.”

“Pushed too hard?”

“Yes.”

She gave a small nod.

“I wanted to try so many new things. The fountain installation, foreign cuisine, the latest music, all unprecedented requests. But then, the staff grew increasingly displeased. They started openly defying my instructions.”

Her expression twisted with pain.

“Perhaps they grew tired of me. Maybe they deliberately cut corners. No, I’m sure they did. I checked everything so many times, yet the result was still a disaster.”

“What?!”

I couldn’t help raising my voice.

The staff involved in the party’s management. They sabotaged it on purpose? While serving the ducal house, they committed such betrayal?

“That can’t be…”

“The fountain installer claimed they ‘checked everything,’ yet the piping was faulty. The food didn’t seem to have the right amount of spices I specified. The musicians played different songs than the ones I selected. I remember asking for more subdued pieces.”

Listening to her, it made sense.

The fountain malfunctioned because the installer had done a sloppy job. The food’s poor reception was because the chef ignored her meticulous instructions. The mismatched music perhaps the musicians had changed the setlist on their own.

If so, this failure wasn’t Isabella’s fault.

She had given proper instructions. She had prepared. But those executing them had betrayed her.

The blame lay with the staff.

They had deliberately set her up. Maybe she had demanded too much, but even so, sabotaging her to this extent was inexcusable.

If this was true, Isabella wasn’t at fault. The real culprits were the staff, the traitors.

“Um… there’s one more thing.”

Isabella lowered her voice further, glancing around to ensure no one was listening.

“Those staff members, they were involved in my sister’s past parties too.”

“Seraphina’s?”

“Yes. Perhaps through that connection…”

She hesitated before continuing.

“They might have been acting on her orders. My sister may have wanted me to fail. She might resent me for taking her place as your fiancée.”

“No way!”

I nearly shouted.

But it was possible. Entirely plausible.

After the broken engagement, Seraphina might hold a grudge against us. No, she definitely does.

Was this failure orchestrated by Seraphina as revenge?

Had she secretly instructed the staff to ruin the party?

Seraphina was a professional at event management. She had the ability to control staff and manipulate people. She could have pulled strings behind the scenes.

“I see… So that’s it.”

Everything clicked into place.

Seraphina was capable of this. No, it was entirely within her nature.

A woman who had stolen her sister’s achievements, lied, and taken credit for her talent. A woman that despicable wouldn’t hesitate to scheme against her sister now.

This failure wasn’t Isabella’s fault.

Seraphina had been the one pulling the strings.

“Understood.”

My voice was firm, resolute.

“I’ll hold the staff accountable for this failure. Every last one of them will be dismissed.”

“Really?!”

Hope flickered back to life in Isabella’s eyes.

“Of course. I can’t keep those who tried to sabotage you. Incompetent people have no place in the ducal household.”

“Thank you, Lord Roderick!”

“And if they’re connected to Seraphina, that’s even more dangerous. Who knows when they’ll interfere again? We’ll replace them immediately. Hire new, trustworthy staff.”

Isabella nodded eagerly, her smile lifting my spirits.

Yes, I hadn’t made any mistakes.

Breaking off the engagement with Seraphina, choosing Isabella it had all been the right decision.

This was just bad luck. The staff had betrayed her. I had failed to anticipate Seraphina’s interference. Isabella wasn’t to blame.

“Next time, I’m counting on you.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder, full of expectation.

“This time, the circumstances were against you. You never got to show your true abilities. Next time, with a new staff, you’ll prove your real talent.”

“Yes…”

Her voice still trembled slightly, but hope had returned to it.

“Next time, you’ll succeed. You’ll show high society your true worth. Prove you’re far more capable than that wretched Seraphina. When you do, that spiteful woman will surely regret everything.”

“Lord Roderick…”

Tears welled in Isabella’s eyes; not of sorrow, but of hope.

“Thank you. I’m so happy that you believe in me. I won’t fail next time. I’ll succeed without fail. I’ll live up to your expectations.”

Seeing the determination in her eyes, I was certain.

Next time would be different. She would succeed. With new staff, Seraphina’s interference would be thwarted. Then, Isabella’s true potential would shine.

What Roderick failed to realize:

—was that the problem lay not with the staff, but with Isabella’s own incompetence.

—that the staff’s “defiance” stemmed from being given impossible demands.

—that dismissing their reports as “deliberate negligence” was sheer idiocy.

—that this decision would plunge him into an even deeper quagmire.

—that losing experienced, capable staff would lead to even worse outcomes.

—that he had personally driven away those with the expertise to manage events.

—that by believing Isabella’s lies and delusions, he was compounding his mistakes.

By the time he realized the truth—

—it would be far too late.

—he would have fallen beyond redemption.