CHAPTER 43

Siyeon suffered all night. Her entire body was boiling like a furnace. Despite taking fever-reducing medicine, her temperature didn’t drop, so she had to rush to the emergency room in the early morning.

She needed to find Suwon grandfather quickly to deliver the message that she couldn’t get married, but she couldn’t move her body. She managed to call him and could only ask him to eat well and wait for her, promising she would visit him in a few days.

Upon hearing the distress in her voice, Suwon grandfather sensed that something was seriously wrong. He arranged for her to be transferred to the hospital where he was admitted, to a VIP room on the same floor.

“…”

Siyeon slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the brightness all around, she could tell that morning had passed.

“Siyeon, are you feeling a bit better now?”

Siyeon turned her head to the side. Her mother was trying to hold back tears as she gently caressed her hand. She was still feeling a bit dizzy, but her fever had gone down.

“Would you like some water?”

She nodded, and her mother filled a cup with water and handed it to her. As the lukewarm water went down her throat, the dryness that had made swallowing difficult had improved.

After taking a deep breath, Siyeon finally looked around the room. It was a room that felt both familiar and unfamiliar to her.

“Where is this…?”

“The Baekya Food Chairman asked to move you here. I wanted to refuse, but I was afraid that something might go wrong with you…”

Her mother wiped away tears without finishing her sentence. She must have had a hard time saying yes to a complete stranger moving her daughter to this place. But she decided to move her here out of concern that something might go wrong if she stayed in the small hospital.

“What about father?”

“Your father stayed until morning and then went to work. Oh, right, let me get my senses together. When you wake up, I was supposed to call the nurse.”

As soon as her mother left the room, a nurse entered. She checked Siyeon’s temperature and blood pressure, then advised her to rest and left the room.

“I’m fine now.”

“It seems that way, but let’s stay in the hospital until we hear that you’re completely recovered. I should contact your father now. He was so worried, and he’ll be relieved to know that you’re awake now.”

Siyeon nodded, and her mother called her father to let him know that Siyeon had awakened.

“I’m hungry. I know it’s early, but do you want me to go out and get some porridge? Or is there something else you want to eat?”

“It’s okay. I’ll eat later when lunch is served.”

“You shouldn’t wait until then if you’re not feeling well.”

As they were talking, the door to the room opened. Both of them turned their heads towards the door, their expressions freezing in unison.

“Mother and daughter are so sweet. That’s why people say children raised like this are unnecessary.”

“Eunhye!”

Her mother, who had risen from her seat to run to her, halted abruptly as she realized that Siyeon was conscious.

“If someone saw, they might think you really care about me and love me.”

“Why would you say that? I was so worried about you!”

“What? You don’t worry about me at all. You only worry about your real daughter. “

“You didn’t answer my calls. Do you know how sad I was?”

She said with a pitiful voice, not knowing what to do with Eunhye.

“Mom, the things that were supposed to be mine were taken away. And now, she’s still trying to take away what’s mine.”

Eunhye’s gaze upon Siyeon was menacing. She was desperate and angry.

“…How did you find out about this place?”

However, Siyeon had no strength to raise her voice or argue with her.

” I was worried about the chairman, so I took half a day off, and there was a name I recognized on the door of this room. I couldn’t believe it was really you.”

It was not going to be a short and peaceful conversation. The exchange words could easily turn hostile.

“I’ll have porridge. Just buy me vegetable porridge from downstairs, please.”

Siyeon used the excuse of ordering porridge to ask her mother to leave the room for a while. She went out with her wallet and repeatedly told Eunhye to wait and not go anywhere. It seemed she didn’t want to send her away like this after seeing her for the first time in a long while.

“Did you see Gwihyeon oppa?”

“Why are you asking about Gwihyeon oppa to me?”

She asked with a sharp tone. Her voice was very sensitive.

“The only thing I can talk to you about is Gwihyeon. Just because you keep your mouth shut doesn’t mean the fact disappears. Is there anyone besides me who knows that you’ve been dating Gwihyeon for five years?”

“So what if they know? What’s wrong with breaking up because our personalities don’t match? Is that acrime? I had planned to break up with him from the beginning!”

Eunhye’s eyes flared with intensity.

“Don’t lie. On the night of the accident, Gwihyeon was going to reveal your existence to the Suwon family. He said the woman who would wear a wedding dress in spring and hold his hand wouldn’t be me, it would be you, the real great-granddaughter, Choi Eunhye, and beg for permission to get you two married.”

“So did he eventually tell them? No, he didn’t. Did I marry Gwihyeon oppa? No, I didn’t!”

Sigh…

Siyeon tightly closed her eyes, then opened them. Just dealing with her own problems was enough to make her head explode, but looking at Eunhye’s face, the suppressed anger began to resurface.

“I really like Ijun. I mean it. I liked him from the moment I first saw him in front of the Hannam-dong house. I did waver briefly because I met Gwihyeon in between, but I originally liked Ijun! If I had known that he was Gwihyeon’s brother, I wouldn’t have started dating him in the first place!”

“Why are you pouring out your feelings to me like this?”

Siyeon asked, pressing her temples.

“Because you’re trying to pull a fast one on the chairman right now! But it doesn’t matter. Grandmother said she’d go talk to the chairman herself and make him keep the promise.”

“Okay then, if Grandma is going to persuade the chairman, I don’t need to worry.”

“Besides. Ven. Jeongseon said Ijun and I will get married.”

“Ven. Jeongseon…?”

Seeing Siyeon’s surprised expression, Eunhye approached her with a smug smile.

“Yes, Ven. Jeongseon. You know who that is, right? The monk who arranged for us to switch places. Grandma recently met that monk, and he said that the owner of Baekya would return to his rightful place.”

“…That can’t be the whole story.”

“What do you mean?”

“Grandmother must have a reason to suddenly be so sure and want to send you to Ijun.”

Eunhye, noticeably taken aback, avoided Siyeon’s gaze and looked away. Watching her, Siyeon bit her lower lip in frustration.

“Did he… Did Gwihyeon oppa, never made it?”

“…”

Siyeon’s voice quivered. Regardless of the negative emotions she had towards Gwihyeon, she never wished for him to die or get hurt. If Gwihyeon never made it alive, many people would suffer for the rest of their lives, and grandmother was well aware of that.

Siyeon knew that if there was no hope for Gwihyeon at the Ichon-dong house and grandmother had planned to marry Eunhye to Ijun, Siyeon would never treat them as human beings.

“Answer me! If Gwihyeon never makes it, is your family going to switch to Ijun?!”

“Yes, that’s right! Yes, they said it was difficult for him to recover. The monk said that the old ancestor held onto him tightly and wouldn’t let go. He said he only feels the successor spirit in one person, and that person is Ijun oppa!”

Excited, she shouted loudly, trembling with intense emotions. She couldn’t control her heightened feelings and continued to breathe heavily for a while.

After a stormy outburst, a calm silence settled in the hospital room. At some point, Eunhye regained her composure and spoke in a soothing tone.

“Choi Siyeon. Ijun dislikes you, you know it. So, persuade the chairman. Since I’m the only one by Ijun’s side now.”

“…It’s not like it’s definite.”

Siyeon murmured in a low voice. Her gaze was fixed somewhere on the floor of the room.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“No. I’m just too clear-headed.”

Then, slowly raising her head, Siyeon looked at Eunhye.

“Well, then, you can be discharged right away.”

Eunhye retorted sharply and turned away. But she didn’t leave the room immediately, as Siyeon had expected. And she soon understood why.

Standing outside the room, Siyeon’s mother had a pale face. When her eyes met Eunhye’s, a wallet slipped from her hand and fell to the floor with a thud.

“Mom.”

Looking at her pale-faced mother, Eunhye was taken aback.

“I, I left my phone… and…”

She started to stammer nervously, her eyes darting anxiously around. Eunhye, watching her, pursed her lips with a determined, cold expression.

“I never had the chance to thank you for raising me. Thank you. Take care of yourself.”

With those words, Eunhye walked toward the door of the hospital room. She tried to pass by her mother, who was blocking her way, without showing any reaction. However, when her mother continued to block her path without moving, Eunhye furrowed her brows with a cold expression.

“Step aside.”

“…”

“I said, move aside.”

At that moment, a faint sound of a door closing came from somewhere, but no one paid any attention to it. However, her mother, as if the sound was a signal, finally slowly stepped aside.

As soon as Eunhye disappeared, she collapsed on the floor as if her legs had given way. Her eyes, which had been deeply shocked, were empty, devoid of any emotion.

“Mom.”

“…”

Siyeon called out to her, but her mother stared at the ground with vacant eyes, as if she couldn’t hear anything.

“Mom.”

This time, Siyeon called her with a strong, forceful voice. It was only then that her mother slowly raised her head and met Siyeon’s gaze.

Her face had completely lost the will to live, and her expression was all too familiar to Siyeon. It was the face of her mother that she had last seen in her previous life.

“…Please don’t abandon me this time.”

“…”

“Then I’ll be alone again.”

“…”

Siyeon stared straight into her eyes, giving her full strength, her eyes brimming with tears.

“The words ‘I was happy every day’ were a lie. I was in so much pain, suffering, and every morning, I wished I could die. Without Dad, without Mom, I… I was really suffering to the point where I wanted to die.”

“…”

“The daughter you gave birth to lived in hell every day, every hour. So, please, this time, do your best to take care of me, so I won’t get sick, so I won’t suffer. Stay with me until the end.”

Trembling, she nodded faintly. Siyeon’s cheeks were wet with tears.