Chapter 53

Like a person desperately searching for painkillers to relieve a headache, Taeheon hurriedly dialed the phone with restless hands.  

─ “Hello?”  

Hearing his wife’s voice brought an overwhelming sense of relief.  

It wasn’t just because the situation was bad. It was a deeper, more fundamental comfort.  

Somewhere out there, Yaein existed. Just confirming that simple fact put his mind at ease.  

“I just wanted to check if you’re okay.”  

─ “Your employee drove me, so I’m out shopping right now. Do you want anything specific?”  

“I was going to ask if there’s anything I should pick up.”  

─ “I’m scared to ask you to run errands because you’ll fill up the entire living room.”  

“I’ll stop once I fill up the storage room.”  

Yaein chuckled softly.  

Buying things while thinking of his wife made him happy.  

Taeheon’s own clothes were like packaging meant to present a product. Appearance mattered at work, and he had mastered the art of utilizing his exterior.  

There was no particular joy in buying office supplies.  

But when it came to buying things for Yaein to wear, his feelings were different. Just imagining how they would look on her made him smile.  

Even when she felt overwhelmed by the pile of items, Yaein would still thank him for thinking of her. Her joyful expression was addictive.  

─ “Call me when you’re on your way home. I’ll have something ready.”  

“I’ll get there as soon as possible.”  

Yaein answered kindly before hanging up.  

As soon as the call ended, something felt off. A vague sense of unease crept in, and Taeheon replayed the conversation in his mind.  

She said his employee drove her. There was nothing strange about that.  

But had he received any confirmation from the subordinate that they had arrived?  

Taeheon hesitated for a moment before calling the employee he had sent to accompany Yaein.  

The call rang once, twice, three times… and then a fourth.  

No answer.  

Taeheon quickly addressed the subordinate in the driver’s seat.  

“I sent Kyuseong to my wife, right? When was the last time you heard from him?”  

“This morning, sir. I reported to you right after he left.”  

“And after that?”  

“I haven’t received any confirmation of arrival.”  

It was exactly what Taeheon feared. He dialed Yaein’s number again. This time too, the call did not connect. His jaw clenched.  

Taeheon had swallowed every one of his father’s demands, doing as instructed.  

But if his father had touched his wife despite all that… Taeheon knew he wouldn’t endure it any longer.  

“Head straight to the house.”  

***

“Is this enough? Maybe it’s too much?”  

Yaein glanced inside the bag, estimating the amount.  

She had no idea what Taeheon would want most, so she ended up filling the bag with a bit of everything. At this rate, she felt just like her husband.  

These days, Taeheon would bring home excessive amounts of everything, but it was always focused on Yaein. Since her pregnancy, her appetite had greatly diminished, and she mostly ate fruits and vegetables, leaving the fridge with little of what her husband liked.  

When would he come home today? If she wanted to have dinner ready before he returned, she needed to hurry back.  

As she stared out at the road, her expression gradually grew cautious and suspicious.  

The surroundings felt unfamiliar. It wasn’t the way home.  

She didn’t go out often, but she vividly remembered the route they took earlier. The path they were on now looked completely different.  

“Where are we going?”  

“Oh, the coastal road here is really nice. I thought it would be good to take a little drive since we’re out.”  

The scenery to the side of the road was indeed beautiful, glittering waves sparkling under the sunlight.  

However, taking a detour without asking wasn’t particularly pleasant. It would be better to save a scenic drive for later with Taeheon.  

“Forget it. Just take me home.”  

The man remained silent, but he pressed down on the accelerator, speeding up without changing direction.

Snacks rolled out of the plastic bag. She didn’t feel like picking them up. Her appetite had completely vanished.  

“Who are you?”  

Yaein rummaged through her pockets. The phone she had put in her coat earlier was nowhere to be found.  

Her hands and feet turned cold. The car accelerated even more.  

“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything rough.”  

A leisurely voice came from the driver’s seat.  

“It’s just that someone wants to see the young madam.”  

That was all the man said.  

Yaein pressed herself firmly against the backrest. The glint from the window felt sharp enough to cut her cheek.  

She wouldn’t know who it was until she got out of the car.  

Whoever it was, it certainly wouldn’t be someone she would be happy to see.  

***

The car came to a stop.  

Yaein looked around the building connected to the outdoor parking lot.  

It looked like a grand, traditional Korean house, with a garden paved with stones and pine trees, exuding an antique elegance.  

Yaein knew this place.  

It was a high-end restaurant known only to those familiar with it, where reservations were extremely strict. It was a place her father-in-law particularly favored.  

Reservations were only made through introductions from existing patrons, and it was Yaein who first secured one.  

Her father-in-law, ranting about how ridiculous it was to discriminate who could dine just for eating and drinking, had furiously demanded the name of the place. So, Yaein managed to get an introduction from a women’s gathering.  

Despite cursing about whether the fish dishes were gilded with gold, her father-in-law beamed with satisfaction as soon as he entered. He even caused a commotion by tucking a wad of cash into a waitress’s chest, making everyone present break out in cold sweat.  

“Please step out.”  

The man offered his hand to help her out, but Yaein ignored it and got out on her own.  

It was clear he was there to make sure she couldn’t escape. Since she already knew who had called her, she might as well face him.  

As she entered the restaurant, a staff member greeted her.  

“There should be a reservation under Kwon Seonghwan’s name.”  

“Right this way, please.”  

Taking off her shoes, Yaein stepped onto the wooden floor. As they walked down the hallway, opening and closing sliding doors, they finally reached the innermost room—the most expensive one, as always reserved by her father-in-law.  

As expected, the scene inside matched what she had imagined.  

A spacious room with a large window overlooking the garden, where the dark green pine needles swayed gently. The soft sound of flowing water could be heard outside.  

Her father-in-law was sitting there, waiting for her. Sharp shadows from the pine trees cut across his neck like needles.  

“It’s been a while, Father.”  

Yaein sat down across from him.  

“If you had just called, I would have come on my own. Why didn’t you let me know to come up?”  

“You’re starting to sound just like your husband.”  

Seonghwan responded, clearly annoyed.  

“Acting so defiant, saying you’d get a divorce, but now you realize you need to cling on, huh?”  

“Did you call me to tell me to break up with Taeheon?”  

Instead of answering right away, Seonghwan gave her a once-over. A heavy tension filled the air.  

“Let’s fill our stomachs first and talk.”  

Just then, the sliding door opened, and the chef, accompanied by a staff member, entered.  

The staff unfolded a small table and placed a rectangular tank on it, where a large sea bream was swimming.  

The chef spread out a cloth, laid out his knives, and rolled up his sleeves.  

He reached into the tank, pulling out the fish, which flailed desperately, sending droplets scattering like tiny crystals.  

Holding down the fish’s body, the chef swiftly severed its head with a single stroke.  

*Thud.*  

At the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board, Yaein turned her head away.  

“Hey!”  

Seonghwan barked.  

“This is all part of the experience. You paid good money, so you should watch and enjoy.”  

If she didn’t look, he would likely force her to, so Yaein forced herself to stare at the cutting board.  

The fish’s innards were being ripped out, the bones pulled from its body. The white flesh piled up on the plate.  

The fish’s head, still gasping, was placed on the plate, along with the tail that continued to twitch.  

“Look at that. Doesn’t it look fresh? Just seeing it makes me hungry.”  

Seonghwan stabbed his chopsticks into the fish’s eye, piercing it.  

“This is a real delicacy.”

The squishy eyeball was relentlessly poked at with chopsticks until it was plucked out. The empty eye socket of the sea bream still moved its mouth, as if silently screaming.  

Yaein clenched her lips and endured. No matter how she reacted, Seonghwan would find fault with it.  

The staff who had prepared the sashimi left the room, leaving just the two of them.  

Seonghwan waved his chopsticks toward Yaein’s face.  

“Go on, eat.”  

“…They said I should be careful with raw fish.”  

“Who said that? A doctor?”  

“Yes.”  

“So, you’re saying a doctor’s word takes precedence over your father-in-law’s?”  

It was an obvious statement, but not to him.  

Seonghwan licked his lips, his oily eyes glinting. The round eyeball of the fish would be getting crushed inside that mouth.  

“Is that all you need to eat?”  

The fish, with its hollow eye socket, seemed to glare at her. Yaein chewed the fish flesh thoroughly, but she couldn’t taste anything.  

She hurriedly drank water, forcing the sashimi that refused to go down to finally slide down her throat.  

“If only Taeheon would just act as polite and obedient as you, there wouldn’t be any problems.”  

“Taeheon doesn’t have any intention of going against you, Father.”  

“That boy’s always been ungrateful since he was a kid. No matter how much effort I put into raising him, he never showed appreciation.”  

Yaein lifted her glass again, forcing down the urge to retort.  

Pleasing her father-in-law was like a tightrope act filled with traps—one wrong step, and Seonghwan would explode without mercy.  

“But then the kid crawled to my hospital room, begging me to leave you alone.”  

Hearing him brag, Yaein bit her lip hard.  

She already knew that Taeheon had asked his father to stop pressuring her for a divorce, but hearing it directly from Seonghwan gave it a different feeling.  

Now, she understood what it meant for Taeheon to bow his head and beg his father. She could imagine what he must have felt.  

“I didn’t call you here to tell you to leave him.”  

Seonghwan put on an air of exaggerated generosity.  

“Rather, I was planning to tell you two to get along well.”  

The fish sashimi she had forced herself to eat seemed stuck in her chest, stabbing painfully at her sternum.  

“Talk to Taeheon properly. Tell him that if he just bows his head and follows his father’s words, everything will go smoothly.”  

“…”  

“If it looks like he’s going to act out, make sure you handle it well. Huh? Men depend on women, you know.”  

His tone was disgustingly syrupy.  

What he meant was that he wanted to use Yaein to control Taeheon. To manipulate Taeheon by using Yaein as a tool.  

If Yaein proved to be useful, perhaps he wouldn’t cause her any harm, as both Gyeongju and Taeheon had feared. Maybe it was the peaceful choice.  

But what about Taeheon?  

Yaein looked at the now motionless head of the sea bream.  

“Why are you so cruel to Taeheon?”