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Episode 5: The End of a Catastrophic Marriage
He held Seowon with all his might.
Her shoulder soon became damp.
“…Ah, ah… yo…”
At Seowon’s faint voice, Kim Joo-up quickly loosened his grip and stared at her.
Sob……, I was so happy I did it without thinking. Do… do you know who I am? If it’s hard to speak, please just nod your head.”
Kim Joo-up’s trembling voice was heard.
His face showed worry that Seowon, who had been in a coma for 18 months, might not remember him.
Seowon nodded.
“Wow, what a relief. Oh, truly a relief, CEO.”
Tears like chicken droppings fell incessantly from his eyes. He roughly rubbed his eyes with his sleeve.
Still, she was truly grateful that someone was crying for her.
After being immersed in emotion for a while, Kim Joo-up clapped his hands.
“Ah, right! Look at my state of mind! This is no time for this! I’ll quickly… call Professor Park.”
“Ah, no…”
Kim Joo-eop, who was about to rush off at Seo-won’s small call, stopped moving and sniffled.
“Yes, yes?”
He blinked his eyelids looking at poem.
“Don’t… call…”
Having been in a coma for a year and a half, her lung capacity had decreased and her breathing had weakened, so she quickly became short of breath.
As Seowon slowly moved her fingers, strength returned to all ten of them.
It was still weak, but she was grateful she could move them even this much.
I’ve really come back.
Truly… I’m alive again.
It was a moment when a miracle also happened to her.
Seowon suppressed her overwhelming emotions and swallowed her tears.
Slowly, she parted her lips.
“Secretary Kim. Long time… no see, right?”
A faint smile crossed Seowon’s face.
At her smile, Kim Joo-up burst into loud wails again and embraced Seowon.
“Hwaaang, it’s the boss!!”
Five months had already passed since she regained consciousness.
Only Kim Joo-up and Park Kyung-tae, the professor currently in charge of Seowon, knew about this.
Being in the hospital, she could clearly see who was on her side and who wasn’t.
Seowon hadn’t revealed her hand yet. She steadily underwent rehabilitation therapy, hiding from their eyes.
From practicing sitting up in bed, to sitting in a wheelchair. And she had even completed standing training.
Although time was still needed for her motor skills to fully return, she persistently put effort into rehabilitation.
To find the person who made her like this.
To take revenge on Byun Ki-jun and Bang Jung-ah, who made her miserable.
“Ah, so annoying. How long do we have to keep doing this?”
Twice a week, Min Do-hee and Lee Hyeon-jung visited the hospital.
The mother-daughter pair seemed to visit periodically to show a family image to the media or her father.
“What can you do, we’re family.”
At Lee Hyun-jung’s words, Do-hee scoffed.
“Mom. Why are you still acting, even here? What, worried the Chairman might have someone watching?”
“That’s right. Is it my fault that something happened to Min Seo-won? I don’t know why he keeps nagging me. This is why blood ties are scary. You should be nice to the Chairman too. You never know when he might turn his back on us. Look at this, just because of Min Seo-won, how many billions has he invested in the hospital? It’s excessive, really.”
Seowon bit her lip tightly.
A surge of emotion welled up inside her.
She didn’t know that her father, who always treated her coldly, was looking out for her from behind.
“Then, Mom, you must be hoping Min Seo-won never regains consciousness.”
“What?”
“If Minseowon ever opens her eyes, she’ll tell the Chairman what we did to her, right? Then do you think the Chairman will just sit still? He’ll go crazy, won’t he?”
“Would Min Seo-won be crazy enough to say that? That was ages ago.”
“Why not? They say people change when they come back from the brink of death. But I wonder why Min Seo-won had that accident. It seems like someone did it on purpose.”
“Oh my. What’s with that look? Are you implying I tried to kill her?”
“Well, whether you did or not, I don’t really care. Honestly, I wished Min Seowon had died like that. If it weren’t for her, I could have had everything.”
“Hey, Dohee. But you’ve risen to Financial Director of Tike Hotel, haven’t you?”
Min Do-hee had also securely taken an executive position.
“But how long are you going to leave that bastard Byun Ki-jun alone? Don’t do that, shall we call our Woo-jin instead?”
“Nonsense! What would happen if Woo-jin found out Min Seo-won was in a coma? He’s worse than the Chairman.”
“True. It’s true love, Cha Woo-jin. His girlfriend changed again, and this time too, she’s a dead ringer for Min Seo-won…”
“Shut up! How dare you associate her with him as if there’s no one else to match. And you, why do you keep calling him Cha Woo-jin! It’s Min, Min Woo-jin!”
Min Do-hee burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. After laughing for a while, she even wiped away the tears forming in her eyes and answered loudly.
“Oh my,, my stomach. I nearly died laughing. Why are you like this? You used to shudder and say he takes after his father. Honestly, the special bond between those two is mostly your doing, Mom.”
“This girl must have eaten something wrong today. Stop talking nonsense. Woojin is the next successor of the Innovation Group. No matter what anyone says.”
“Yes, yes. Whatever you say.”
The two women’s conversation reached Seowon’s ears.
After whispering secretly for a while, the mother-daughter pair leisurely left the hospital room.
Seowon’s closed eyelids slowly rose.
As the two of them said, Woojin didn’t need to know.
She had planned to end the act of pretending to be in a coma if any clues were found.
The culprit was definitely someone among those close to her.
How severe was the accident that day, that only that memory was completely erased?
Whenever she thought of that day, her whole body trembled and her breathing became short. It was as if every cell in her body was screaming not to recall that memory.
Strength filled Seowon’s hand as she clenched it into a fist.
She intended to reclaim, one by one, everything she had lost.
Kang Tae-seung’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He could see Min Seo-won gripping the steering wheel.
‘Minseowon!’
The moment he reached out his hand, a large truck crashed directly into her car.
A blood-curdling scream of agony filled the road. The car crushed under the huge truck crumpled like a sheet of paper.
Strength left his legs as he got out from the driver’s seat, and trembling spread through his entire body.
One step, two steps.
His footprints were soaked with her blood.
As if to stop him from approaching her fallen body, someone began to pull him down into a deep, bottomless abyss.
No.
“Haa, haa…….”
Kang Tae-seung’s eyes flew open and he hurriedly sat up.
Damn. It was that nightmare again.
Heaving rough breaths, he touched his forehead. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
He picked up the mobile phone placed on the nightstand and called someone.
With a short signal, Lee Gong’s voice was heard.
― Yes, sir.
“Find the fastest flight back to Korea right now.”
― Understood.
As the call ended, he tossed the phone carelessly onto the bed and took off his t-shirt.
He immediately entered the shower booth and turned on the faucet.
Swaaaah―.
The stream of water poured down refreshingly. Strength left his clenched fist, and he bowed his head deeply.
Round water droplets fell drip-drip through his wet hair, flowing down his jawline.
Today, as always, that dream tightened its grip on Kang Tae-seung’s throat.
As if he absolutely couldn’t agree to her plan no matter how much he thought about it, Kim Joo-up kept shaking his head and spoke firmly.
“It’s dangerous. Of course, even though you’ve recovered to the point of walking somewhat, doing it alone is too much.”
“I know that too.”
“If you know, why are you suddenly doing this? You’ve collapsed several times from orthostatic hypotension. And what if, by chance, someone sees you?”
Nevertheless, she couldn’t miss this golden opportunity.
Kang Tae-seung, who had gone on a business trip to the USA, had returned, and now was the time when Byun Ki-jun or others wouldn’t come visiting.
“It’s okay, just call me a taxi.”
“Then I’ll follow you too.”
“Secretary Kim Joo-up must stay here and be my eyes and ears.”
She needed someone to provide an alibi in case her plan went wrong.
“No matter what, this is… How can I send you alone, CEO?”
“Secretary Kim. Do you trust me?”
“Of course. You’re the only person I truly trust and rely on.”
“Then trust my words and follow them. Even this argument is exhausting for me now.”
Letting out consecutive sighs, Kim Joo-up pulled the wheelchair closer.
Seowon didn’t even have time to change into plain clothes.
Kim Joo-up took off his own khaki jacket, draped it over Seo-won’s shoulders, and even put a cap and mask on her.
“Alright. Then, I’ll see you off to the main gate of the hospital.”
She nodded her head.
The time given to Minseowon was just one hour.
That’s why she couldn’t afford to delay.
As she came out to the main gate, the taxi Secretary Kim had called was already waiting.
Getting into the taxi, Seo-won looked at Secretary Kim.
He handed her a mobile phone, two 50,000 won bills, and even a medical cane, urging her repeatedly.
“If anything happens, call me immediately. I’ll come running.”
“Okay, but if anything happens at the hospital, you text me immediately too.”
“Okay! Yes, sir.”
Today too, Secretary Kim Joo-up sniffled.
Secretary Kim, looking at her with an endlessly anxious gaze, flapped his handkerchief wildly in the air.
As if sending Seowon far away, he wept sorrowfully, blocking his mouth with his fist.
Anyway, he always overdoes it.
