Click.

With the sound of the door unlocking, Taeyun appeared.

Ina, who had been standing in front of the entrance, flinched and instinctively took a step back.

“So you really came.”

As if he hadn’t expected her to actually show up, Taeyun gave a crooked smile and slowly looked her up and down.

Her hunched shoulders seemed to reveal just how tense she felt.

Holding the door open, he stepped aside. The hesitation flickering in her eyes did not escape his notice.

“Come in.”

Clasping her small hands together, Ina lowered her head slightly and stepped forward.

Bang.

The moment she entered the doorway, he shut the door.

Then Taeyun walked past her first, striding ahead without another word.

Letting out a small breath, Ina followed behind him.

Walking down the long hallway after Taeyun, she soon arrived at a spacious living room.

“What are you doing standing there instead of sitting?”

Since she hadn’t come to visit, sitting down on the sofa felt out of place.

After glancing around uncertainly, she stood beside the sofa.

It felt as though someone were tightening their grip around her throat.

She had carefully prepared what she wanted to say on her way there, but the moment she saw him, her mind went completely blank.

She hadn’t come to tell him that she would repay the money.

How could she possibly ask him to lend it to her instead?

Considering how furious he already was, how could such a request possibly be reasonable?

No matter how she thought about it, the idea sounded absurd.

“You don’t look like you plan on sitting. Then say what you came to say.”

Her gaze lowered, and at the end of it she saw his feet.

Taeyun was dressed casually. The sight unexpectedly stirred memories of the time they had once spent together.

“How frustrating. If you came to pay the money back, you wouldn’t be standing there like this without saying anything.”

His sharp remark made her lips go dry.

Ina moistened them slightly and steadied her breathing.

Clenching her fists tightly, she hesitated for a moment before finally making up her mind and speaking.

“Could I… repay the money slowly?”

Of course.

A mocking smile formed at the corner of Taeyun’s lips.

He had never expected her to repay it in the first place.

He knew her situation well enough, and he had sent those demands out of anger anyway. Yet even seeing her standing there like a criminal still twisted something unpleasant inside him.

“If you were going to live like this, you shouldn’t have run away in the first place.”

The words slipped out without a filter.

It was pathetic. After everything he had gone through to help her get into university, she had walked straight back into the gutter with her own feet.

In the end, she hadn’t even managed to graduate and was now living her life raising a child.

It was utterly pitiful.

“So when are you going to pay it back? Or should I charge you more interest?”

Even with his mocking tone, Ina couldn’t say anything. Because she not only had to admit she couldn’t repay the money—she also had to ask to borrow more.

Among everyone Ina knew, the richest person was Han Taeyun.

There was no one else.

That was why, even knowing this was not the right choice, she had come anyway.

“Please… lend me more money.”

“What?”

As if he had misheard, he asked again.

In the end, the words left her mouth.

Her heart began to pound wildly in her chest.

What if he refused?

Why hadn’t she considered that possibility before coming here?

Should she just accept Jinho’s money after all?

Why was her life so miserable?

On the brink of despair, all she could feel was deep sadness. But she couldn’t just sit there and feel sorry for herself.

She was the only person who could resolve this situation.

Slowly, she lifted her head and looked steadily at him.

His brows were deeply furrowed, as if he were angry.

The coldness of his gaze made the change in their relationship painfully clear.

“I… need money. And as you know, you’re the only person I can borrow from.”

“Hah. That’s interesting.”

He let out a hollow laugh, clearly incredulous.

“So you didn’t come here to repay the money—you came to borrow more.”

“Yes.”

She answered without hesitation.

Recently, Secretary Sung had reported that she had been travelling to and from Seoul.

He had heard that she had been meeting real estate agents to find a place to live, and that she had visited the hospital with the elderly woman who ran the shop.

She needed money.

From what he could piece together, it seemed that the elderly woman must be unwell.

“How much do you need? And if I lend it to you, do you even have the ability to repay it?”

“Yes. Even if it’s only a little each month, I’ll definitely pay it all back.”

Ina answered immediately, her voice filled with desperation.

Taeyun let out a short laugh.

“What exactly can you do? You’re a university dropout raising a child. With what ability are you going to repay that money? You can’t even pay back the one hundred million you already owe.”

His words pierced like knives.

There wasn’t a single lie in them.

She couldn’t even repay that one hundred million right now.

No matter how many times she said she would pay it back, those words would never sound sincere to Taeyun.

“Why? Go ask the bastard who got you pregnant.”

Ina’s eyes trembled at those words.

Watching her reaction, Taeyun twisted his lips with amusement.

“What kind of useless bastard is he that he can’t even take responsibility for his own child?”

“Ha…”

A quiet sigh escaped from between Ina’s parted lips.

In a life that had been nothing but darkness, Han Taeyun had once been the single ray of light—her entire world.

Him… and her daughter.

He must never find out.

But watching him spit cruel words without knowing anything made her eyes sting. Even then, Taeyun didn’t stop.

“Or how about that doctor? That would work too. Doctors make plenty of money, don’t they? You’ve got plenty of people who could help you, so why come to me?”

He was talking about Jinho.

If he had already investigated her, he probably knew everything about Yeongja and Jinho. But Ina had no intention of receiving any more help from Jinho.

He had already done more than enough for her. And now that she understood Jinho’s feelings, she couldn’t give him any more false hope.

“Please… help me. My grandmother is very sick. She’s like family to me… no, she is family. If I lose her too…”

She might become an orphan again.

Yeongja was the one who had taken her in and cherished her like her own child.

Compared to that, this kind of humiliation meant nothing.

She was that important to her.

“If you’re that desperate, then get on your knees and beg. Who knows. Maybe if your sincerity moves me, if I feel sorry for you, I might lend you the money out of charity.”

It irritated him.

After everything, things had come full circle.

She had disappeared without a word, yet now that she needed money, she came looking for him.

The situation was absurd.

And yet, even then, he couldn’t help noticing how exhausted her face looked.

‘D*mn it.’

Grinding his teeth, Taeyun glared at her with sharp eyes.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. I’m not as kind as the twenty-three-year-old Han Taeyun anymore. If that’s what you came here expecting, you came to the wrong place. Leave.”

Just as he turned to walk away—

Ina suddenly dropped to her knees in front of him.

Taeyun’s expression turned cold.

Lowering his gaze, he saw her hands politely clasped together as she bowed her head.

“Please…”

“Yoon Ina.”

Taeyun clenched his teeth.

Her thin body was trembling like a shaking leaf.

Hearing the wetness in her voice made anger surge up in him again.

“You’re the only one I can borrow from… no, the only one who can help me, Mr. Han Taeyun. The hospital appointments are all pushed far back… and the three of us have nowhere to live in Seoul. I’ll work while taking care of her, and I’ll repay you every month, even if it’s just a little. Even if it takes time… I’ll definitely pay it all back.”

Taeyun let out a sigh and briefly closed his eyes before opening them again. Seeing her cling to him so shamelessly, without even a trace of pride, made his vision spin with irritation.

“Please help me.”

Even for a moment, Ina hoped his heart might soften.

If he would just help her this once—if Yeongja could safely receive treatment and remain by her side and Dahyeon’s.

That alone would be enough.

She could endure this humiliation.

“Ms. Yoon Ina.”

A cold voice fell over her head.

Ina clenched the hands resting on her knees.

“The house, the hospital, every expense for treatment. I’ll cover all of it.”

“……”

“But in return.”

“……”

“Whenever I call, you come. Anytime, anywhere. Don’t expect me to consider your situation.”

“I will.”

She answered immediately.

At that, Taeyun’s lips twisted.

“Do you even know what that means?”

“……”

At his question, Ina slowly raised her head and looked at him.

Her reddened, swollen eyes caught his attention.

Why did she always look so pitiful like this?

Watching her, Taeyun continued.

“I’ll deduct one million won each time. Try to repay it however you can. Who knows—maybe you have the ability to knock off a few hundred in one night.”

Only then did the meaning seem to reach her.

Her eyes trembled violently.

“You can’t answer.”

“……”

“……”

“Should I call that innocence… or pretending to be innocent?”

He sneered.

Then, with a cold expression, he spoke firmly.

“I’ll give you one day. Even if it’s selling your body, you deserve time to think.”

“Right now, with me…?”

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I don’t have a hobby of sleeping with women who’ve already been touched by other men.”

His words, sharp as blades, pierced Ina’s heart.

The last bit of hope she had shattered.

At last, tears slid down her pale cheeks.

“Get out of my sight right now. I don’t even want to look at you.”