Chapter 1 (Part 7)

Receiving Eung-soo’s curses with the back of his head, Do-jin got out of the car, which then mercilessly drove off.

Barely having time to stare at the empty space, Secretary Yoo got out of a car parked further back.

“Managing Director, shall I take you home?”

Do-jin looked at him silently and pulled a cigarette from his jacket pocket.

“Secretary Yoo.”

“Yes, Managing Director.”

“She’s not the legitimate wife’s child.”

Watching the indifferent hand tapping the cigarette pack with the other hand, Seok-young slowly opened his lips.

“Ah… yes. She’s not the legitimate wife’s daughter; she came into this house when she was in middle school.”

“Is her biological mother still alive?”

“Yes. But she’s practically a living corpse. Her health is very poor, and she’s been in the hospital for 10 years.”

Do-jin slowly nodded and put the cigarette in his mouth. Biting down on it, he spoke in a slightly muffled voice.

“Who is prettier?”

Seok-young raised an eyebrow as if he had heard wrong and took a step closer.

“I didn’t hear you well, Managing Director.”

“You must have seen their faces while investigating. Who’s prettier, the older sister or the younger one?”

Click—the lighter’s lid opened, and a flame was lit.

Inhaling the acrid scent that quickly filled the air, Seok-young cleared his throat unnecessarily and replied.

“I haven’t seen the younger one’s real appearance. As you know, photo technology is quite advanced these days…”

“She’s prettier in person.”

“If that’s the case, then the younger one…”

Do-jin smiled, stretching his lips. The cigarette precariously hung from his lips.

He picked up the cigarette with his hand and continued the conversation.

“Alright. You can go.”

Seok-young hesitated.

“Leave the keys and you can leave for the day.”

Seok-young immediately handed the keys to Do-jin, bowed, and disappeared down the alley.

***

Crash!

A glass cup struck Seo-hye’s forehead directly.

There was no time to dodge. Hae-mi, who had been gulping down the water Chae-seon had given her to calm down, suddenly threw it at Seo-hye.

It felt like the world had turned upside down, with her head ringing and the pain spreading across her forehead as if it would shatter.

They say when you’re truly in pain, you can’t even groan. It hurt so much that she couldn’t properly exhale and just closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to subside.

Then, with Hae-mi’s scream of rage, a chair fell backward.

Then came the thumping sounds, and Hae-mi approached, grabbing Seo-hye by the collar and pulling her up.

Seo-hye, who barely managed to regain focus in her blurry vision, staggered and tried to push Hae-mi’s arm away.

“Stop…”

“Stop? I haven’t even started yet, take it off!”

Hae-mi was trying to tear the front of Seo-hye’s dress without any regard.

The skin below Seo-hye’s collarbone, scratched by Hae-mi’s rough hands, swelled red with nail marks.

And then, as if it wasn’t working,

“Auntie! Bring me scissors! I’m going to cut off this ragged girl’s hair and clothes!!!!”

Hae-mi spewed cruel words, scratching and pushing Seo-hye recklessly.

Her hair became a mess, and her cheeks and neck bore clear marks from Hae-mi’s nails and slaps.

The more shocking thing was that no one was stopping Hae-mi from doing this.

“Ah, stop it!”

Seo-hye finally mustered the strength to push Hae-mi away.

Hae-mi glared viciously and screamed.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you? Just like your lowly mother, trying to steal someone else’s man, wearing my clothes like a sly fox and putting powder on your face! You ragged girl!!!!”

“Enough!!”

Hwa-woong belatedly shouted, trying to stop them.

“Hae-mi, you stop it too!”

“Grandfather! Does this make sense? This marriage proposal was meant for me!! But how can a dirty illegitimate child like this steal that proposal from me!!”

“Who said it was stolen! The marriage proposal will proceed as planned with you. You will get married! So stop causing a scene and go upstairs!”

Suddenly, Hae-mi pouted her lips and burst into tears. Then she left the kitchen without looking back.

Seo-hye rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand, feeling something warm flowing.

Blood was flowing from Seo-hye’s forehead, where the glass cup had struck, indicating a wound.

“Father-in-law. Now that it has come to this, please send her away from this house! What a disgrace to the family!! Right?”

Chae-seon glared at Seo-hye and spoke passionately to Hwa-woong.

“And you’re too much, Father-in-law. I say this because things have turned out this way, but how could you think of seating that girl here?!”

“I just showed all the family members so that there wouldn’t be any faults to find. I planned to show her once today and then not let her appear again. Publicly, this child is also family. I did it to avoid giving any unnecessary grounds for criticism.”

“Is that family just any ordinary family?! It’s Seonghan, Seonghan! If they really decide to investigate, it’s too easy to find out that she’s of dirty blood! Even if you hadn’t thought it through, they would have figured it out anyway! As usual, you should have hidden that girl tightly and only seated Hae-mi!!”

“Oh my!”

Chae-seon, with eyes wide enough to pop out, gave Seo-hye one last glare before abruptly standing up.

In the end, when only Hwa-woong and Seo-hye were left in the kitchen, Hwa-woong called her.

“I’m saying this out of concern, but know your place as you have until now. Don’t even dream of overstepping.”

“…I’m not overstepping.”

“Think of your mother.”

……Bringing up Mom again.

She clenched her teeth, swallowing her anger.

“I’ll go up first.”

As soon as she slowly left the kitchen, she came face to face with Mr. Kim, who was standing at the kitchen entrance.

Instead of saying a word, he handed Seo-hye a handkerchief.

“Wipe it, Miss.”

“…”

“If things continue like this, it will leave blood drops everywhere you go.”

Seo-hye tightly gripped the handkerchief he gave her and nodded slightly.

Then she stepped past him towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

“Ugh, I’m so upset I could die! I wish that girl would just disappear! You know how much I’ve been looking forward to today!!”

“Yes, I know, Mom knows well. Don’t cry, darling, okay? Grandpa said he would marry you off. It’s adult business, so my daughter shouldn’t worry!”

On the stairs, Chae-seon was comforting Hae-mi, holding her tightly.

Seo-hye, judging that she shouldn’t go up now, stepped back and headed towards the entrance.

As she turned around briefly on her way, Mr. Kim’s gaze shot straight at her.

“…I’ll be in the yard for a while.”

His silence made her uneasy, but fortunately, he didn’t follow her until she stepped out the front door.

Well, he probably couldn’t imagine where she would go looking like this.

She didn’t have a wallet or even a cell phone in her hand at the moment.

Moreover, it was obvious that Hwa-woong’s threat using her mother in the kitchen would keep her from making any moves.

And that was true.

She was filled with fear that if she moved Hyo-young, whom she saw today in a seriously bad condition, to another hospital or stopped treatment, she might never see her again.

She couldn’t afford to upset Hwa-woong in any way.

“Ugh.”

Seo-hye removed the handkerchief she used to stop the bleeding and felt her forehead with her palm.

It was swollen.

“Not a spoon, but a cup…”

Thinking about the moment the cup flew at her still sent shivers down her spine.

She frowned slightly to endure the pain and stepped onto the stairs.

However, she had to stop immediately.

This house was on higher ground compared to the surrounding houses. The second floor of other houses was about the level of the first floor of this house, so while descending the stairs from the front door to the gate, she could clearly see the road outside the gate.

And on that road stood a man she thought had long left, seamlessly blending into the lonely stillness of the autumn street.

He didn’t seem to have any intention of discarding the cigarette in his mouth, blatantly looking up at her.

She should have looked away, but she couldn’t.

Just like when he pushed her to her limits and pinned her beneath him.

With all her strength, she barely managed to regain her composure and tried to turn around with force in her steps.

“I’ll smoke just one more.”

The man’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“I have something to ask, so wait.”

Even though his voice wasn’t loud, the precise pronunciation and the weighty undertone rendered her helpless.

She gritted her teeth and attempted to flee once more.

“Before I take the hotel elevator CCTV footage and send it to this house.”

“…Are you… good at it?”

“Experience it for yourself.”

“Stay, Ms. Seo-hye.”

However, his chilling remark brought back memories of the intense physical encounter they had shared in the elevator that night, flashing through her mind like a lantern.

She exhaled a deep, stifled breath from her lungs without showing it and eventually stood facing him directly.

“Could you come down a little more? I can’t see well.”

Seo-hye hesitated and then took two more steps down.

His eyes, which captured her in detail, glinted coldly.

“…Did they hit you just because I said I’d marry you?”

“If you know… don’t ask.”

He laughed helplessly.

“How can I not ask when I know? So what did you get hit with?”

Seo-hye pressed her lips tightly together and avoided his gaze for no reason.

“Well, I guess you deserved it.”

Seo-hye raised her eyebrows and looked at him again.

“Leaving someone behind and running away, it’s a punishment.”

“Wh-why would you say it like that…”

“Why? Does it upset you to hear you deserved it?”

“…Who wouldn’t be upset hearing something like that?”

“After I went out of my way to hold you, how do you think I felt being abandoned?”

Seo-hye kept sighing out of frustration.

“…I’m sorry. It wasn’t a situation where we could wake up together and share breakfast nicely. As you saw today.”

Do-jin slightly squinted his eyes and tossed his cigarette to the ground.

Then he crushed it with his shoe, looking up at Seo-hye even more intently.

“I’ll accept your apology, so come down when I leave.”

“…Pardon?”

“To pick up the trash.”

Without waiting for her response, he opened the car door and got inside.

In an instant, his car was gone.

She let out a baffled laugh, staring blankly outside before opening the gate and stepping out.

And she looked at the spot where he had stood.

Three cigarette butts.

She crouched down and she thought he might be crazy, but she was grateful he didn’t try to have a deeper conversation with her.

If he had suggested marrying her instead of her sister, or threatened to tell the family about what happened that day, her head would have exploded.

At least she had gained some time to organize her thoughts.

As she sighed in relief and was about to stand up after picking up all the cigarette butts, she heard the engine sound again, and the car that had left reversed back.

Click—the car door opened.