Taeyun watched Seungah quietly. She was sitting opposite him.

Since she had come to his office unexpectedly, he couldn’t just send her away. So they sat facing each other on the sofa.

Looking somewhat anxious, Seungah steadied her breathing and took a sip of jasmine tea.

“Ms. Seungah.”

Unable to wait any longer, Taeyun broke the silence.

Seungah set down her teacup and looked up to meet his gaze.

There was a hint of unease in her expression, which made Taeyun raise an eyebrow.

“What is your purpose? There must be a reason you came to see me.”

He had rejected the idea of marriage countless times, yet Seungah ignored each refusal.

Although she couldn’t defy her parents’ wishes, did she really want to marry without love this badly?

When he thought that Dahyeon wasn’t his daughter, he had never considered marriage. Now that he knew she was his daughter, the idea of marrying Seungah was absolutely out of the question.

“I believe I’ve already made my position clear. Do I need to say it again?”

“I’m in a situation where I have no choice.”

“I have no interest in considering your circumstances. You should leave now.”

“Please.”

Seungah spoke with desperate sincerity.

Taeyun, who had been about to stand up, paused with a puzzled look on his face.

‘Please?’

Until now, he had assumed she was simply being dragged along because she couldn’t refuse an arranged marriage.

But now he was beginning to wonder if there really was some other reason.

Taeyun looked down at her quietly.

“Ms. Seungah.”

“….”

“I have a daughter. She’s five years old. And there’s a woman I love.”

Seungah looked visibly startled at those words.

Her lips parted slightly as she stared at him with trembling eyes.

“I’m planning to marry that woman. So let’s end this here. Do you need any further explanation?”

“Did Madam approve of it as well?”

In response to her question, Taeyun let out a short laugh.

What was she so desperate for that she kept asking this question?

Even after hearing that he loved a woman and a daughter, all she cared about was whether his mother had approved.

The corner of Taeyun’s mouth curled up.

“I have a child. I don’t need my mother’s permission for something like that. Please see yourself out.”

He tilted his head slightly and left the office first.

“Ha…”

Seungah let out a hollow laugh.

Sitting alone on the sofa in someone else’s office made her feel unbearably pitiful.

‘What am I supposed to do now?’

How could she possibly untangle this complicated situation?

She still hadn’t said anything to Taeyun.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Seungah slowly moved her hand and carefully placed it over her lower abdomen.

Tears gathered in her eyes at the bleakness of her situation.

***

“You didn’t even say you were coming. What’s going on?”

After leaving the office, Taeyun went straight to his family home.

He needed to talk to Namhee about the marriage and Ina.

He could not allow things to continue as they were.

The only option left was for him to take charge and resolve everything himself.

It was infuriating to realize that he was only now addressing an issue that he should have resolved five years ago.

However, he had to set things right as soon as possible.

“….”

Taeyun stood in the living room, his gaze landing on Namhee.

As he stared at her silently, she looked slightly flustered and watched his expression carefully.

‘Does he already know Dahyeon is his daughter?’

If she was the kind of mother who wouldn’t hesitate to investigate her own son, then perhaps she already knew.

After all, that was exactly how she had handled things five years ago.

“Why? Did something happen to my son?”

Namhee spoke as if she knew nothing.

Yet at the same time, she was anxiously awaiting his response, wondering if her son had found out everything.

It hadn’t even been half a day since she found out that the little girl was her son’s daughter.

However, the fact that he had come straight over when he found out made her uneasy.

Taeyun stared at Namhee with an emotionless gaze and spoke.

“Why did you do it?”

The cold question echoed through the living room.

At those words, Namhee’s eyes sharpened. She tried to compose herself, but the corner of her mouth trembled as if seized by a spasm.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Ha…”

Watching her continue to feign ignorance, Taeyun let out a bitter sigh.

He had expected her to deny it. But seeing it with his own eyes left him speechless.

Taeyun looked at her, determination evident in his eyes.

“I’m getting married.”

Namhee’s face flushed at the sudden declaration.

She had been so worried.

Her anxiety melted away.

Smiling warmly, she took Taeyun’s hand.

“That’s more like it. Do you know how worried your mother has been all this time? My son would never act like that. I kept wondering why you refused to marry.”

“….”

“Seungah may not seem very affectionate at first, but she’s a wonderful girl once you get to know her. She’s gentle and sincere. Most importantly, she’ll treat you very well. The amount her father invested this time is unbelievable. If she’s willing to get pregnant straight away, she’ll be a good wife, too.”

The life of the woman who was practically sold into marriage for the sake of her family’s business was pitiful in its own way.

Taeyun remembered her anxious face as she waited for his answer in the office.

‘So that’s why she said she had to marry me.’

Taeyun lowered his gaze and looked directly at Namhee.

“I’m bringing my daughter home. I’m marrying Ina.”

Namhee’s lips pressed into a thin line.

‘So he knows.’

It seemed he had learned everything.

The words struck like a bolt from the blue.

With trembling eyes, Namhee finally managed to speak.

“What do you mean… daughter?”

“You must be disappointed. You tried to get rid of her right in front of you, but failed.”

“Taeyun.”

“How long did you think I wouldn’t find out? Is that why you went all the way to Tongyeong yourself to look for Ina?”

Her son’s bloodshot eyes were frightening.

Namhee’s face turned cold.

He had never shown her that expression before.

He had always been kind and gentle.

He was a son who had never once disobeyed her.

A son who had never caused her any trouble since he was young.

But seeing him so changed twisted something inside her.

It must all be because of that woman.

Namhee clenched her teeth.

“I truly don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Then keep pretending you don’t. I’m going to bring my daughter back. The woman who carried and raised my child—I will not abandon her. I will never lose her again.”

After speaking in a firm voice, Taeyun turned away.

But Namhee rushed forward and blocked his path.

“That’s what happens when you lose all sense and act recklessly. I thought you might even set up a household with that girl who’s ruining your future! Ah… actually, you probably already did.”

Namhee dropped her mask.

The gentle, kind mother she had always pretended to be disappeared.

Taeyun had believed that she had raised him out of love.

He had never realized how twisted that love had been.

Seeing his mother’s true face sent a chill down his spine.

Even her gaze had changed.

Taeyun clenched his large hand into a fist, his knuckles turning white.

“Stop while I’m still speaking politely.”

He no longer felt there was any reason to continue this conversation.

Taeyun walked past her.

“So that girl told you, did she? That it’s your daughter? Did she tell you everything I did?”

“Ha.”

Namhee’s words struck his back like knives.

Taeyun let out a hollow laugh and stopped walking.

He turned around and looked straight at her.

Namhee shouted, consumed with fury.

“Why? Why now! I don’t know what sweet lies she filled your head with, but get a grip. Don’t ruin your future over some girl who’s only using you for your money.”

“Mother.”

Taeyun spoke calmly.

The low voice that emerged, restrained but heavy with emotion, sent a chill through the air.

“If she’s my daughter, that means your blood runs in her veins too.”

“So what?” Who asked for that? Why did she give birth to the child alone? Was it to trap you? The thought of my blood being mixed with that child’s is disgusting. She’s a mixed-race daughter, mixed with the blood of some worthless girl.”

Hearing these words, Taeyun clenched his teeth and took a deep breath.

With a mother like this, it was no surprise that she had kidnapped Ina overnight to force an abortion.

He could almost see it: Ina alone, facing everything without him.

Slowly opening his eyes again, Taeyun looked straight at Namhee.

“This is the last day I will treat you as my mother. The only reason I’ve endured this much is because you are still my mother.”

“You’d better listen to me instead. This is a warning.”

Namhee shot back without backing down.

“I’m going to reclaim the time my daughter and Ina lost. Don’t interfere with me anymore.”

Leaving those firm words behind, Taeyun walked out of the family house.