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chapter 19
But she decided against saying she had blocked him — that would only make the conversation drag on. After carefully pulling down the last blind, Yoona returned to the table where her bag sat and pretended to check her phone.
By then, Seong-hee had pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down. He looked at her and said:
“Where were you all day that you didn’t even notice my calls? You weren’t at the café, and your old place already has a new tenant. Do you know how long I waited in that damn public parking lot?”
“……”
“I ended up leaving and coming back again. What kind of manners are those?”
Yoona didn’t answer his barrage of questions. Instead, she lowered her phone and idly stroked the heart doodle drawn by Maeumi. She had no intention of sharing her recent life with her ex-husband — which was why Seong-hee had no idea she’d enrolled in university.
She changed the subject. All she wanted now was to get this unwelcome guest out of here.
“It’s not even the agreed day. Why are you here?”
“I told you, I can’t make it next week. I messaged you this morning to change it to today.”
Lee Seong-hee furrowed his brows in exasperation. Yoona sighed lightly, then finally said what she hadn’t wanted to.
“I didn’t know. I blocked you. I told you last time, don’t contact me unless it’s necessary.”
“Hah, so you blocked me? Guess you don’t want the money?”
“The alimony payment dates are already set in the agreement. If you don’t follow it, it only hurts you. If you pay interest on top of it, that’s fine by me.”
“I’m saying I wanted to pay you earlier.”
“Then pay early and leave.”
Seong-hee let out a dry laugh and stared silently at Yoona, who looked back at him with a hardened expression.
“What are you staring at? And if you’re really here to pay, why are you alone? You always dragged your lawyer with you.”
“The lawyer left ages ago. You never showed up.”
“Then come back on the original date — next week.”
Yoona threw the words out, sounding more annoyed by the minute, and began to rise from her seat. But Seong-hee slyly stretched out his foot, blocking her path.
“I told you, I can’t come next week. My lawyer wants a signed confirmation that you received the alimony. And don’t you have something you need to hand over, too? I’d like to get rid of it sooner rather than later.”
“……”
Yoona frowned and reluctantly sat back down. As she rummaged in her bag for something, Seong-hee pulled a laptop from his briefcase and flipped it open.
She pulled a card-shaped USB stick from her wallet.
“Transfer the money first.”
Without replying, Seong-hee pulled out his phone. A moment later, Yoona’s phone buzzed with several incoming transfer notifications. When he looked back at her, he held out his hand.
“Had to take a hit converting it to cash. You’re ruthless.”
Not my problem. Yoona cursed inwardly, then slid the USB across the table instead of placing it in his palm. Seong-hee picked it up and plugged it into his laptop.
Inside were black box recordings, messenger screenshots, photos — all evidence of his affairs. The other party was a well-known TV announcer, which made the materials even more dangerous for him.
Perhaps desperate to silence her, he had offered a settlement larger than what Yoona could have won in court. His condition: complete disposal of the evidence. Since he couldn’t pay all at once, he transferred the sum in installments.
But Yoona had long since buried any trust in her ex-husband. She suspected he’d break the deal, so she used the evidence as leverage. Better to see his miserable face a few more times and secure the money than be left with nothing.
In the end, the payments came through without issue — her strategy had worked.
As he checked through the files one by one, Seong-hee clicked his tongue.
“Hiring a private investigator with your wedding jewelry money… unbelievable.”
“I let it go twice already, and you still treated me like a fool. That’s your—”
“The first time was just business. No man climbing the ladder avoids hostess bars. You’re calling that cheating?”
Yoona’s face froze in outrage at his shamelessness.
Her chest still pounded when she remembered that night. She’d gone to Yeoksam-dong to pick up her mother-in-law. Her husband, who claimed to be working late, was instead embracing a glamorous woman outside an upscale bar, before calling a chauffeur and heading off somewhere.
Her mother-in-law, sitting beside her in the car, saw it too. Yet she dismissed it the same way Seong-hee did: That’s just how men are in the business world. You have to understand.
Yoona had left her hometown behind as if sold off, and her entire world consisted only of her husband and his parents. That world began to collapse then. She realized she had no one truly on her side.
Still, she endured. She wanted to protect the “real family” she had so desperately wished for. But once planted, the seeds of suspicion never died.
She wondered who he was texting whenever he had his phone. She suspected schemes whenever he visited his parents alone. She questioned whether he was really going to the hospital when he left for work.
She hated herself for constantly doubting while insisting she wanted to protect her family. Out of desperation, she even followed her mother-in-law to church, hoping faith might anchor her.
But the result was laughable. Just when she’d begun to feel grateful for her husband’s rare attentiveness, he started an affair with a woman he met at church. Another sanctuary in her life had been shattered.
She had wanted to confront him, but with only circumstantial evidence, she held back. Her heart was in pieces, but for the sake of family, she swallowed the pain.
Then, not long after, Seong-hee began seeing the announcer. That was the wake-up call. She realized this wasn’t a family at all. From then on, she no longer played the fool — and that led her to this moment.
While Yoona remained silent, her brows drawn together, Seong-hee finished checking the files and asked:
“Seeing anyone these days?”
“Not worth answering.”
“You look healthier, that’s all.”
Her dark circles sagged under her eyes, yet he said she looked healthy? Just how hollowed out had she been during their marriage? Fury rose in her chest.
“Maybe because I’m finally free of someone awful.”
“Then where were you all day today?”
“Give me the documents. I’ll sign.”
“Judging by that reaction, you’ve got a guy. See? In the end, you can’t live without—”
With the end of this wretched tie in sight, all Yoona wanted was to put the final period. But he clearly had no intention of leaving quietly. Having paid her so much, he must have been itching to find some excuse to needle her.
Genuinely angry now, Yoona snapped:
“I’m in university!”
“…What?”
“Yeonhui University. The very one I gave up after I’d already been accepted — because I married trash like you! I’m enrolled there now. Satisfied?”
“…So that’s why you opened a café in this neighborhood? To be near school?”
“Yes! Now hand over the papers!”
“You really… couldn’t let it go, huh?”
What’s with all these questions? Annoyed, Yoona snatched the documents from him the moment he pulled them from his briefcase.
She had told him many times during their marriage that she wanted to attend college. Had he dismissed it as some childish whim? Frowning deeply, Yoona scanned the contract while Seong-hee spoke again, his tone suddenly serious.
“You know I graduated from Yeonhui Med School, right? Keep your mouth shut—”
“I have kept it shut. So spare me the lecture.”
What spell was I under back then?
Now that she was free, he looked more pathetic by the minute. Yoona scribbled her signature and shoved the papers back to him.
This really was the end. Her tie to Lee Seong-hee, the man she loathed, was cut. The thought lifted a weight from her chest. Rising briskly, Yoona walked over, pulled up the blinds, and opened the café door.
“It’s over. Leave. And don’t come back.”
“……”
Gathering his things, Seong-hee also stood. He stepped close, speaking to her with a twisted expression as she stared out the door.
“…See you again, Yoona.”
“……”
Has he been shot in the head? Not even worth a reply. She shut the door the moment he stepped out.
Returning to the table where her bag lay, Yoona stroked Maeumi’s heart doodle once more. Somehow, she longed to see Yeong-won’s steady back tonight.
