Chapter 10.2

The moment he heard the name Kim Eun-sol, blood began to flow through Gi-jo’s heart again—a heart he thought had long since rotted and decayed.

“Is this child’s name really Eun-sol?”

That was the name he had chosen for his daughter. That name became the answer to Seol-hwa’s feelings over all those long years.

Gi-jo wept.

You didn’t hate me. You didn’t resent me. You missed me, too.

He recalled the contents of a letter Seol-hwa had sent him during his military service. It was a reply to his question about why she loved tulips.

[The reason I love tulips isn’t because they’re rare.

Tulips continue to grow even after their stems are cut. As long as you give them water, they’ll grow and grow.

Even without roots, they keep growing and bloom into flowers.

Isn’t that amazing? They look just like a prim and proper princess.

I’ll love you like that. Even if I’m cut off again and again, I’ll keep loving you.]

The love he thought had withered, rotted, and crumbled away… she had continued to nurture it.

Gi-jo wiped his tears and made a decision. If that was the case, it was now his turn to keep his promise.

Just as the meaning of the name “Eun-sol” implied—evergreen and smiling throughout all seasons—he vowed to protect Eun-sol for the rest of her life.

The fact that Eun-sol was not his biological daughter did not matter. She was Seol-hwa’s child, and she bore the name he had given her. That made her no different from his own daughter.

That was the story of his unfulfilled love.

“So, I established a foundation. I secretly supported Eun-sol and her mother through it. That was the only thing I could do for them.”

“I see.”

Writer Hong, who had by now become fully immersed in Kwon Gi-jo’s story, nodded.

“If Eun-sol wanted, I was prepared to support her with overseas studies or anything else she needed, both materially and emotionally. I wanted to convey the love I couldn’t fulfill, even if it was in that way.”

The wrinkles on Kwon Gi-jo’s face deepened, and his expression grew gaunt. His eyes were moist with tears.

“But I let my guard down. Hye-rin’s son, Kwon Jeong-hyeok. Like mother, like son. That psychopathic brat, who took after his cunning mother, schemed something even worse than she ever did. How could I have known?”

Kwon Gi-jo trembled for a long time before barely managing to continue the story.

What followed was shocking. Writer Hong was left speechless, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

As Kwon Gi-jo continued his account, he grew visibly exhausted, his breathing becoming labored.

“That’s all of my story. Now, you just need to deliver this recording directly to Eun-sol.”

“Me? Personally?”

“Yes. I want to meet Eun-sol myself, but there are circumstances that prevent me from doing so.”

It was a story he had already told Eun-sol once. However, shortly afterward, a car accident occurred, and Eun-sol lost her memory.

He had hoped that her memories would naturally return over time, but seeing no sign of that happening, he knew he had to meet her again and tell her the story.

The timing was perfect, as Jeong-hyeok’s official visit to a foreign country provided the ideal opportunity. Jeong-hyeok would be far away in another land, and even if he became suspicious, it would be difficult for him to return of his own accord.

“But how on earth am I supposed to deliver it?”

Writer Hong was flustered.

“You can do it. Isn’t your wife, Nurse Lee Yu-rim, a friend of Eun-sol? That’s why I hired you as my ghostwriter.”

“Excuse me?”

Writer Hong’s eyes widened in astonishment. No wonder the name Eun-sol didn’t feel entirely unfamiliar.

He had heard from his wife that she had a friend who married a wealthy husband, but he never imagined that friend would be Kim Eun-sol from this story.

“Hurry. Before Jeong-hyeok returns to Seoul—or if he’s already back, before he can confess the truth himself—you need to act.”

“What?”

Writer Hong couldn’t understand at all.

“In any case, if CEO Kwon Jeong-hyeok tells the truth, wouldn’t it result in the same outcome of Eun-sol learning the truth?”

If that were the case, he wondered if there was really a need to go through the trouble of delivering this recording.

“It’s different. I want the two of them to separate. I want my son to pay for his sins in the most painful way. The names Kwon Jeong-hyeok and Kim Eun-sol should never have been connected in the first place—unless they were siblings!”

Kwon Gi-jo became agitated.

Writer Hong hurriedly left Kwon Gi-jo’s mansion. The torrential rain had grown even fiercer.

He called his wife, Yu-rim. He would need her help to meet Eun-sol.

* * *

The rain poured down with a ferocity that seemed capable of overturning the heavens and the earth.

[The Chairman seems to have noticed that you have returned to the country, CEO.]

Chief Cheon’s message came through on his phone. It didn’t matter. This time, it seemed his father was a step too late.

Jeong-hyeok slowly walked over to the sofa and sat down. The sofa at Vice Minister Yoon’s house was cold and stiff.

At a distance that seemed close yet unreachable, Eun-sol stood.

Even amidst the deafening roar of the rain, the sound of Eun-sol roughly flipping through the genetic test results was vivid.

At first, he thought the document was something like a letter sent by his father. But unexpectedly, it was mail from a genetic testing center.

For a brief moment, he wondered why she had suddenly done a genetic test. The thought didn’t linger long. It wasn’t an unreasonable misunderstanding, after all.

At one point, even he had wondered if Eun-sol might be his father’s hidden biological daughter.

That was why he had handed the envelope to Eun-sol. Because that wasn’t the secret.

He almost found her misunderstanding amusing. He had thought this was the worst-case scenario, but now it seemed like it might not be so bad after all.

‘Turns out the couple were siblings.’There could hardly be a more horrifying scenario than that.

But soon, his jaw clenched with doubt.

‘Is that really true? Is this really not the worst?’

Perhaps, for Eun-sol, it might be even worse than the worst-case scenario. If it was the secret he had been hiding.

After thoroughly reading the genetic test results, Eun-sol was at a loss for what to do. She gasped for air for quite some time.

He focused on every aspect of her. Her heaving chest, lips pale as lilies, and even the bangs that had grown long enough in just a few days to nearly poke her eyes.

‘So all of this… isn’t a dream.’

Once again, he felt as though he might laugh.

“Then why… why did you shut down the noodle shop?” 

She demanded sharply.

‘Ah, so it was the noodle shop. That was the beginning of it all.’

Despite all my efforts to conceal the truth, how had it been uncovered so quickly?

“How did you find out about it? The noodle shop owner?”

“So it really was you. I met the noodle shop owner by chance.”

He let out a hollow laugh, unable to believe it.

By chance…?! After going to such lengths to hide it, to think it was all undone by mere coincidence?

It felt as though fate itself had struck him from behind. No matter how meticulously one plans, the realm of coincidence is beyond control.

“This wasn’t what you were trying to hide in the first place, was it?”

Eun-sol scattered the genetic test results onto the floor. The rain-soaked papers didn’t even flutter but instead landed with a wet plop.

“I thought… once I checked the genetic test results, it would be over.”

Her voice trembled with tears.

“I thought whether my suspicions were true or not, it would all end cleanly. But….”

Yes. It would have been better if it had ended there. If it had concluded as an absurd misunderstanding, a hollow ending… how much better that would have been.

“What exactly… what are you hiding from me?”

The sound of rain pounding outside grew even more intense.

He lowered his gaze. On the table were two teacups, now completely cold, along with scattered articles, reports, and photographs.

One of the people in the photographs, Kim Seok-beom, was a face he knew well. He was Eun-sol’s father, his father-in-law, and a pitiful victim of a twisted love.

He extended his slender fingers and gently touched one of the photographs. Silently, he cast a steady gaze toward Vice Minister Yoon.

“Ah, I should probably give you two some privacy.”

Vice Minister Yoon tactfully excused herself to the second floor. Soon, only the two of them remained in the dining room.

“I’ll tell you. Come and sit here.”

“No. I’m more comfortable here.”

Eun-sol stood at a distance. Like a hedgehog with its quills raised, she was on full alert. Although it wasn’t the first or second time that Kim Eun-sol had been wary of him, today, every quill she raised seemed to pierce his heart.

“It’s hard to hear your voice over the sound of the rain.”

It was a feeble excuse, but it worked. Reluctantly, Eun-sol took a step closer.

“Sit down.”

“I’m more comfortable standing.”

Stubbornly, Eun-sol clenched her small fists tightly.

“Sit down. I don’t talk while looking up at someone.”

He wanted to close the distance between them, even if just a little. Just enough so that, before she could run away, he could grab hold of her in an instant.

Eun-sol glanced over his disheveled appearance once more and hesitated, her lips parting slightly. Then, she approached and sat down on the sofa opposite him.