Chapter 2.2

After a few more minutes of massaging, her grandmother waved her hand and sat cross-legged. 

“Tell me. You came here because something happened, didn’t you?” 

“Nothing happened.” 

“Liar. You’re terrible at lying. Does your husband fall for that too?” 

“I’m doing fine, Grandmother.” 

Her grandmother’s brusque way of asking about her husband made her smile slightly. 

Unbeknownst to her grandmother, her entire marriage had been built on lies. Not only had she lied about being raised by her father’s legal wife, but she had also lied about her emotions. 

She pretended not to like him even though she did, acted indifferent when she felt regretful, and lived that way. If she had wanted more from a marriage that was doomed from the start, she wouldn’t have lasted three years. 

Of course, she didn’t know whether her lies had worked on her husband. 

Perhaps he simply didn’t care about such things. If so, that was fortunate for her. 

“How’s your mother-in-law? Is she still talking about divorce?” 

“Well… she’s been quiet about it lately.” 

During the early days of her marriage, Madam Shin would call almost every day. When that wasn’t enough, she even sent a housekeeper to her home. 

In the beginning, Madam Shin had visited her house, tasted the food she had cooked, and immediately threw it into the trash. While she wasn’t the best cook, she hadn’t expected it to be that bad. 

“Well, that’s good. Now get up.” 

“You want me to leave already?” 

“What do you mean, ‘already’? Don’t you usually go to your mother-in-law’s after visiting the hospital?” 

“Not today.” 

Since she hadn’t mentioned going to the hospital when she left, it was fine. The housekeeper might be in a bit of trouble, but she would handle it well enough. 

Perhaps it was because she had already decided on divorce. 

She used to rush to Madam Shin’s calls, but now she wasn’t afraid anymore. 

If Choi Jin-wook was no longer her husband, Madam Shin would no longer have much influence over her. 

“If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll kick you out of here.” 

“Please don’t. Let me stay for just one more hour.” 

At her grandmother’s words, she glanced at the clock and replied, 

“All right, then.”

Even though she usually answered questions readily, this time she didn’t, and Yun-ja let her be. Deep down, Yun-ja instinctively felt that something must have happened to her granddaughter. 

Ah-jin shared a few mundane anecdotes involving the housekeeper. Although they were just everyday stories, Yun-ja listened with interest. 

Before long, an hour had passed. As promised, Ah-jin got up from her seat. 

<Ah-jin, you’re making plans for today? What’s the occasion? But can you come all the way near the broadcasting station?>

On her way to the hospital, she had sent a text to her friend Eun-hee. Now, she received a reply. She quickly texted back, saying she would take a taxi right away. 

Thinking about meeting her friend after such a long time lifted her mood slightly. 

After saying she would visit again next time, she closed the hospital room door and left. 

***

“She’s so thin. Definitely haven’t been eating or sleeping properly.” 

Leaning back on the sofa, Yun-ja muttered to herself. 

Her granddaughter had left without mentioning what was bothering her, only talking about trivial matters. 

She always claimed to be doing fine, but every time she visited, her condition seemed worse than before. 

She thought back to when she first met Ah-jin.

She had been a bright child, even though she wore a school uniform that was clearly secondhand. She spoke well and was polite, far better than Yun-ja’s son, his legal wife, and their children, who treated her like an irrelevant old woman. 

Now, Ah-jin wore much more expensive things. Her beautiful face should have looked even more radiant, but instead, she looked like she was dying. 

Why did her son’s words, that Ah-jin was marrying because she wanted to, bother her so much?

Perhaps it had been the intuition of an old woman. 

She hadn’t seen that supposedly wonderful grandson-in-law’s face since the wedding.

Even the grandson-in-law’s mother she saw at the ceremony was cold. It could only be called a family without warmth.

“As long as he’s handsome and earns well, is that enough? Being indifferent to his wife is a fault too.”

Clicking her tongue, Yun-ja muttered to herself. 

***

“Is Ah-jin not home?”

Jin-wook questioned the housekeeper sharply after returning from work. His voice was as flat as usual, but the sound of his fingers cracking filled the living room as he sat on the single-seater sofa. 

He was clearly in a foul mood. 

To make things worse, the year-end was approaching, and winter events at the department store were lined up one after another. 

It was the best time to boost sales in the short term. 

He also needed to closely examine the new brand set to launch in the first half of next year. 

Today’s meetings had been crucial, lasting all day. The problem was that he had barely been able to concentrate. 

The reason for his distraction was his wife. 

Divorce? The very notion was absurd, and ignoring it completely seemed to be the best approach. 

Objectively, their marriage wasn’t a losing deal for her. 

Her father ran a small company, while his DH department store was one of the top five in the country. 

Why would a smart and realistic woman like her bring up something so ridiculous? 

Unable to understand, he had rushed through all the briefings and left the office. 

The thought of going home to check on her had consumed him all day. 

“Please divorce me.” 

“You’re still half-asleep.” 

“No, I’m wide awake. Please.” 

Last night, when she brought up the word “divorce” during their intimate moment, he had sensed it immediately. 

Initially startled, he quickly felt his anger boiling. 

Whenever he came home and saw her lying on the bed, his body would heat up, but last night, his blood had surged to his head. 

How could he describe it? 

Yes, it felt as if she had told him she had another man. 

The mix of betrayal and fury shook him to his core. 

It must have been her whim. 

Surely, she was upset about something but would soon get over it. 

In the past, she had sulked on her own and then recovered on her own. 

Leaving her alone had always worked before, so he thought it would work this time too.  

But this morning, when she followed him as he left for work, still insisting on divorce…. 

The sight of her small hands clutching his coat had torn at his heart. 

Afraid he might shove her against the living room wall if he stayed any longer, he had thrown off his coat and stormed out of the house. 

‘Go Ah-jin, how dare you ask me for a divorce?’ 

She had never begged him for anything, never asked for anything. 

Even when shopping, she seemed unsure of what she wanted. 

Instead of saying, “I want this; buy it for me,” she would simply stare at the item. 

In response, he would guess what she was eyeing, hand his card to the staff, and have it wrapped up for her. 

For her first request to be a plea for divorce…. 

The more he thought about it, the more outrageous and infuriating it became. 

“Well, she went out, so I asked where she was going, but she didn’t tell me.” 

The housekeeper hesitated before speaking. 

Jin-wook’s piercing gaze made her feel as if she were being scolded. 

Though he was young enough to be her son, he was undeniably the master of the house. 

Having watched him grow up, she had always known Jin-wook was the strictest of Madam Shin’s three sons. 

He tolerated no mistakes, not even from his mother. 

After his marriage, she thought he had softened, but clearly, that wasn’t the case. 

“Well, Senior Madam was furious earlier too. She said she tried calling the Young Madam, but she didn’t answer, so she threatened to come here herself. Oh, but she didn’t come—I told her Young Madam had the flu and managed to talk her out of it.”

The housekeeper, standing opposite the sofa where Jin-wook was seated, felt overwhelmed and began rambling nervously. Just sitting in Jin-wook’s presence made it hard for her to breathe. 

Still, she thought she had done well to prevent Madam Shin from coming over. After all, Jin-wook was someone who cared deeply about his mother and usually went along with her wishes. 

“Why is my mother making such a fuss?” 

“…Pardon?” 

Caught off guard by his question, the housekeeper reflexively responded without understanding his meaning. 

She quickly replayed the conversation in her head, trying to figure out if she had said something wrong. 

Yet somehow, it felt like she had misunderstood the essence of Jin-wook’s words. 

“Well, of course, Senior Madam is just worried about you, Young Master Jin-wook.” 

The housekeeper still couldn’t grasp the intent behind his question. 

She assumed Madam Shin’s meddling in her daughter-in-law’s affairs stemmed from her deep concern for her son. 

It had always been that way, and Jin-wook had never voiced any objections. 

So the housekeeper had simply thought it was an unspoken agreement between mother and son. 

“My wife is supposedly down with the flu, but she’s worried about me?”

Jin-wook cracked the knuckles of his other hand.