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chapter 09
“Mr. Kwon Suhyeok, I know it’s shameless, but I have a favor to ask.”
Thirty minutes earlier, as Yuseong was leaving the hotel room, she handed him a listening device.
“If you happen to hear what’s happening to me and decide it’s dangerous… could you come?”
“Where did you even get something like this?”
“…I guess I picked up a few things just by watching.”
Judging from her uncle’s furious voice, the news that she’d hit Kwon Hyukjun had clearly spread.
Her aunt and uncle had never used violence before, but just in case her life might be in danger, she had asked Suhyeok ahead of time.
And now—
Yuseong scoffed as she looked at the dozens of rough-looking men gathered there.
‘They really called all these people just because of me? Even brought weapons?’
Then she saw Yuna, staring at her with a swollen, balloon-like cheek.
And why does her face look like that?
She looked like someone who had been beaten.
“Unni. What happened to your face?”
“Ha…!”
As if she couldn’t contain her rage, Yuna shot to her feet and screamed.
“YOU! YOU CRAZY BITCH—IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU!”
“What are you talking about? Explain so I can understand.”
As Yuseong stared at the furious Yuna, Aunt Gyeonghee let out a deep sigh and spoke instead.
“Your mother-in-law stopped by earlier. Because you hit Director Kwon, that woman—Ha Myungsuk—made our Yuna’s face like that!”
“…What?”
“She said we raised our daughter wrong because of you, and then… haa.”
Ha Myungsuk hit Oh Yuna?
Ha Myungsuk was the same woman who slapped Yuseong repeatedly back in high school without batting an eye.
SLAP—
“Where does a little orphan brat think she is? Son, hit her, but not hard enough to kill her. If she dies, it’ll be troublesome.”
She was a vicious, rotten human being—someone capable of saying such things to a teenage girl.
Hearing her son was hit by Yuseong must have driven her mad.
And when she came home, Yuseong wasn’t there…
A normal person would’ve just left, but Ha Myungsuk knew better.
She knew how to torment, how to make people’s lives miserable.
“You were the one who should’ve gotten hit! Why did MY innocent daughter get slapped?! My daughter who never even touched a drop of water doing chores!”
The three of them looked at Yuseong like she was some kind of parasite.
A knot twisted painfully inside her.
“Oh? Really? But it was fine when I, your niece, got beaten for three whole years?”
Back then, the foolish younger Yuseong had relied the most on her aunt.
Aunt Gyeonghee tended to her bruises, cursed Hyukjun with her, comforted her.
But why?
How could someone—
“How could you ever think about marrying me to Kwon Hyukjun? HOW?!”
The injustice and betrayal surged up violently.
Her throat burned, her vision wavered—because she kept seeing her younger self.
“Yuseong, you’re still awake? Tired, right? Here, snack on this while you take a break.”
Her kind aunt giving her late-night snacks when she studied past midnight.
“I saw this and thought it might suit you. I don’t know if you’ll like it, though. What do you think?”
Her aunt giving her gifts out of nowhere for no reason.
“Auntie, I love it. Really… thank you!”
She had loved that aunt.
“Ma’am, I feel bad whenever I see the young miss. She seems so happy even when you give her leftover food or things the older miss doesn’t use anymore…”
“Watch your mouth.”
“But it really is like treating her like a disposal bin, ma’am.”
Even after learning her aunt’s true nature, she still liked her.
No—to be precise, she couldn’t let go.
Even if her aunt’s affection was all fake, she had been so starved for warmth that she clung to even the illusion of it.
She forced down even cold, unappetizing food, eating every last bite.
Because the hands offering it… felt warm.
Because that warmth—something she’d never had—felt precious.
Her aunt had been like a mother.
“Yuseong, I—I’m the sinner. I must’ve gone crazy for a moment. I’ll be good to you from now on. Please… please forgive me just once.”
So she forgave her easily.
Even knowing the apology was hollow, she deceived herself because the word “family” was so sweet.
“You think you’re the same as our Yuna?! Yuna is my daughter. You’re not even my daughter—you’re just my niece. Not even my blood niece!”
Right. She had known all along it would come to this.
What had she expected?
If she was guilty of anything, it was accepting affection that could disappear at any time.
‘Not even my blood niece.’
That line weighed heavily on her chest.
It was like being declared:
‘You’re not family.
You’re fake.
You’re an outsider.’
A nauseating silence followed.
Aunt Gyeonghee brushed her hair back, disgust twisting her face.
“You’ve always wanted too much. Always greedy. That’s what I hated about you.”
She looked like she was dealing with something unbearably bothersome.
It was the same expression Yuseong had seen glimpses of before—one she had insisted she was mistaken about.
“I knew your fatal flaws, and I still cared for you. So how could you repay me like this?”
Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
Her heart pounded violently, shaking apart every wall she’d built to protect herself.
“And that stupid talk about school bullying… ha. Can you stop already?”
Her voice stabbed into Yuseong’s heart like a knife.
Breathing, even standing, became difficult.
“Boys at that age bully the girls they like! Don’t you know the saying—men are boys forever?”
That was it.
That shattered whatever was left.
“You should’ve accepted it. Yuna’s right—he was just seeking your attention, playing around. Tsk.”
Completely broken.
“Ha… hahahaha!”
Tears clung to the corners of Yuseong’s eyes as she laughed.
She laughed because it was absurd.
Because nothing about her life had changed—not then, not now.
And because she found it downright hilarious that she had once desperately tried to be loved by these monsters.
“You’re laughing? You’re laughing right now?!”
Yuna shrieked, furious to the point of madness.
“I got hit because of YOU! Why should I get slapped?! For no reason!”
Yuseong, expression hardening, stared directly at Yuna as she approached.
“Then why did I have to get hit by Kwon Hyukjun? For no reason?”
Her voice was as cold as frost.
“Wh-what?”
“Go on, unni. Why did I have to be beaten for three years straight? Tell me.”
Yuna faltered—but only for a second—before raising her voice again.
“You had a reason! Why else would he bother?! You must’ve done something! You must’ve deserved it! Over and over!”
How could someone stab at another person’s wounds with such precision?
How could someone enjoy twisting the knife that deep?
Yuseong was almost impressed by how demonic Yuna’s personality was.
“Dad!! What are you doing just sitting there!!”
Unable to stand Yuseong’s calm expression, Yuna turned to Daeho, who’d been silently seated until now.
With the air of a judge or a god passing judgment, Daeho looked at Yuseong.
“This won’t do.”
He stood up, decision made.
“Yuseong, I’m sorry… but today, you need to be punished by your uncle.”
Crack, crack.
Daeho rolled his shoulders like he was warming up.
Yuseong understood immediately what that meant.
“Hold her. So she can’t fight back while she’s being hit.”
“…What?”
The security team beside her asked in disbelief.
Yuseong’s eyes also trembled.
These were the people who had been with her since she entered this household.
“Grab her. NOW! You bastards want to get fired—?!”
Sucheol, standing in front of her, glared fiercely.
“We won’t! We’ve protected the young miss ever since she entered this household. And now we’re supposed to help beat her? No—we refuse!”
“…You refuse?”
“I’d rather die. If you want to hit someone, hit me instead.”
“Ajusshi!”
Yuseong grabbed his arm in alarm.
And at that moment—
“Why would I hit you? Hurts my hand.”
“Ugh—Vice President, please! Let go!”
Daeho dragged in one of the housemaids, Seosandae, by her hair.
“…You—right now…”
She was the woman Sucheol secretly liked.
“Let go of her—right now!”
“Aagh!”
Just as Daeho’s kick was about to land on Seosandae’s stomach—
Yuseong shut her eyes.
‘My house really is the worst.’
She had tried to solve this on her own, but it seemed she had no choice but to use her last card.
Her eyes snapped open, sharp and fierce.
She took a deep breath.
“HONEY—!!”
And with a voice like a train engine exploding, she called for her husband.
