Chapter 6 (Part 1)

Is it really true that I’m living in the same world as this man?

According to what he told her last time, if the 30 pieces she painted for Lee Hwa-woong over 10 years were converted into a price, it would be 5 billion.

But how could he so readily suggest spending in mere seconds the amount she had earned in value from her paintings over 2 years?

However, the most absurd thing in this situation was that she couldn’t outright refuse.

Even if he spent such a large sum of money, even if it was shameless.

She wanted to find out where her mother was.

She hoped Mr. Kim would gladly take the money and spill everything.

When Seo-hye didn’t continue the conversation, his low laughter tickled her ears.

But she couldn’t consciously bring herself to look at him.

Seeing his relaxed demeanor, she felt embarrassed about having whined and acted immaturely all the way from Okcheon to here.

When Seo-hye remained silent, he quietly moved the steering wheel and gently spoke.

“Doesn’t seem like you dislike it.”

“…If that money is really spent, please put it all under my name.”

“Alright. Then under the name Seo-hye, 10 billion won, or more. And the next dinner date. Is that okay?”

Seo-hye glanced at him with her lips tightly pressed together.

At that moment, she was caught by his gaze directed at her, and she flinched.

The corners of his eyes are slightly curved.

Her heart pounded uncontrollably.

“Is there anything else you need? I can let you borrow more.”

“…If I take more, I’ll live as a debtor until I die.”

“That won’t happen.”

He corrected her words with a low laugh.

“Just a few paintings and you’ll have more than enough to pay off the borrowed amount.”

Seo-hye couldn’t respond.

The only person, besides her mother, who recognized her worth.

Her chest felt heavy, and her throat kept tightening.

The opening for her voice had shrunk so significantly that she could only make a very faint sound.

“…That won’t happen. My paintings won’t sell. They’ve all been sold under my grandfather’s name.”

And Do-jin, who heard her clearly, refuted once more.

“That’s because people don’t know the truth.”

Seo-hye just gave a bitter smile and straightened her head again.

The truth would probably never come out until Hwa-woong passed away.

Nevertheless, knowing that there was someone who recognized her paintings kept her heart from feeling completely heavy.

“You know.”

“What is it?”

At his playful response, Seo-hye chuckled.

“Earlier… in Okcheon. I’m sorry. I wasn’t in my right mind….”

“When you clung to me saying you were dying of happiness and then said you felt like throwing up?”

Seo-hye was completely at a loss for words.

She repeatedly fidgeted with her hands resting on her skirt, but since she was the one at fault, she mustered the courage once more.

“I didn’t mean it… really.”

“Of course. You wouldn’t have made such a sound and expression if you meant it.”

“NoI!”

Seo-hye raised her voice and turned to look at him.

Just then, the light changed, and the car stopped, with Do-jin turning his upper body towards her.

“What do you mean?”

Her heart began to pound fiercely at their eye contact.

“What do you mean, Lee Seo-hye?”

“…I… I wasn’t talking about that… act. I meant the words I shouldn’t have said to you, Do-jin. I didn’t mean them.”

“I know.”

He replied quietly and turned his gaze back to the front.

Inside the smoothly moving car, only Seo-hye was restless.

***

Hae-mi was crying and turning the living room into a mess.

Chae-seon, startled from sleep and rushing out, grabbed Hae-mi, asking what was wrong.

“Hae-mi! Hey! What’s wrong? What happened? Huh?”

But when Hae-mi pushed her away and started throwing all the ornaments in the living room, screaming, she approached Mr. Kim, who was standing silently by the entrance, watching the scene, and asked for an explanation.

“Mr. Kim! Why is she like that? Huh? Did something happen? Is it that Seo-hye again? Did that girl do this to our daughter, right?!”

When Mr. Kim didn’t answer, Chae-seon took it as a confirmation, sighed deeply, and pressed her forehead, feeling exasperated.

Then she rushed back to Hae-mi.

“Hae-mi. Calm down. Look at your mom! How could you act so uncultured? Do you know how much all this costs? These are things your grandfather cherishes. How much trouble do you want to get into?!”

“Screw it! What? I’m the one who’s supposed to get married?!”

Startled by Hae-mi’s profanity, Chae-seon widened her eyes like a frog and took a step back. 

Hae-mi pointed towards Hwa-woong’s room.

“You heard it too, Mom! Grandpa said not to worry because I’m the one who’s going to get married no matter what! He even said he met the Chairman today!! So why was that filthy girl getting out of Do-jin’s car… why… from Do-jin’s car!!”

Suddenly, overwhelmed by her emotions, Hae-mi’s eyes welled up with tears, and she soon collapsed into her seat, sobbing like a child.

“Do you know how affectionately they were touching each other right in front of the house, as if to show me? He took that girl away, flaunting it in front of me… sobbing… He did it on purpose, on purpose… I’m finished, Mom!”

Chae-seon looked at Mr. Kim with a face that said she couldn’t understand.

Today, Hwa-woong said he met the Chairman of Seonghan and sealed the marriage deal.

When she told Hae-mi, who had gone out, the news, she was so excited that she said she would have a drink with her dance troupe friends, and Chae-seon had also fallen asleep with a rare sense of ease.

She quickly checked the clock in the living room.

12:30.

No, what on earth could have happened in just two hours?

When Chae-seon glared at Mr. Kim, he finally revealed the situation.

“…The grandson of Seonghan came. He took Miss Seo-hye away.”

“…What? Who, who did he take?”

Chae-seon thought she must have misheard.

Without listening to all of Mr. Kim’s words, she headed upstairs.

When she flung open Seo-hye’s door, only the cold air and silence greeted her; not a single strand of Seo-hye’s hair was to be found.

She thundered down the stairs, almost sliding.

“…Mr. Kim, did she go to that class earlier and still hasn’t come back? Is that it?!”

As she lunged at Mr. Kim, grabbing his collar as if she would kill him, he gently pried her hands off his clothes as politely as he could and said,

“No. She came back. However, as soon as she returned, she had a fight with Miss Hae-mi.”

“….”

“Won Do-jin took Miss Seo-hye away again. As if he would never let her come back to this house.”

“What?! Is she crazy…? Crazy… ha, no, no. I can’t just sit here like this.”

Chae-seon ran to her room, grabbed her phone, and came back out. She dialed Seo-hye’s number.

After a few rings, all she heard was the automated voice saying the call couldn’t be connected.

Seo-hye must have deliberately hung up.

With a pale face, Chae-seon dashed to the master bedroom.

After knocking several times and opening the door, she found that even Hwa-woong was not there.

Hearing from Mr. Kim that he was in the study, she quickly headed there.

Entering the study, she saw Hwa-woong sprawled out asleep in a chair, oblivious to the situation outside.

He was snoring with his mouth wide open, a truly ridiculous sight.

The smell of alcohol filled the study, and it seemed pointless to wake Hwa-woong for a discussion right now.

Chae-seon first went to the living room and helped Hae-mi, who was still whining and dragging her legs on the floor, to stand up.

“Hae-mi, aren’t you going to get up? You’re turning 30 next year! What are you doing acting like an elementary school kid? Get up!”

At Chae-seon’s shout, Hae-mi stopped and slowly got up.

Then, clinging to her mother, she whimpered with a trembling voice.

“Mom. I’m upset. Every time they asked if I could get married well without a dad… you always said I would, better than anyone else… right?”

“…….”

“I believed those words completely and waited… I really thought I was going to a wealthy family….”

Hae-mi started to shed tears again.

“I bragged to all my friends, but if this marriage gets taken by that girl, how ridiculous will I look to them?”

Chae-seon felt a burning rage inside her.

There was nothing wrong with what Hae-mi said. And the fact that she was on the verge of losing a once-in-a-lifetime marriage prospect to Seo-hye, an illegitimate child, made her furious beyond endurance.

If you think about it, it was all because of that damned person.

Her deceased husband, Lee Hwa-jun.

If only he hadn’t messed around with the maid, Hyo-young.

If only Hyo-young hadn’t been forced to have the child.

Hae-mi wouldn’t have had to be so upset.