FGP 28

Chapter 28

Hyunjung begged through her tears, but Taegun had no intention of leaving. Yet, her tears wouldn’t stop because she was so worried about him.

Eventually, the situation escalated to the point where she cried so much she nearly fainted, forcing Taegun to reluctantly listen to her. One could see how much the man worried about her until the very moment he was about to leave.

In the end, Hyunjung was forced to be discharged from the hospital due to Youngwook’s insistence. Originally, her room was on the second floor, but since she couldn’t climb the stairs with her injured leg, she would have to stay on the first floor for the time being.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her mouth and cheeks, bruised from Youngwook’s blows, stung painfully even when touched by the cold air. She hobbled into the house on crutches, barely able to walk. Even just touching her heel to the floor strained her injured leg.

“It’s a mess because we had to clean up so quickly.”

Myeonghee headed toward the kitchen. She explained that this was the room usually used by the live-in helper, but it had a bed and was relatively tidy.

The dark room, located where sunlight barely reached, looked gloomy, and Hyunjung didn’t really want to go in.

“Mother, I’ll just use my room on the second floor. I think I can go up slowly.”

She had no memories to contend with, so there was no one she needed to see. Besides, somehow Youngwook had even taken away the phone Taegun had given her, so she couldn’t contact or meet him.

She would probably only leave the house when going to the hospital for her leg treatment.

“What if the surgery site opens up or it hurts?”

Looking at Myeonghee’s worried expression, she smiled and reassured her. If her injury were going to reopen so easily just from moving, she probably wouldn’t have been discharged at all.

“If it were going to worsen that easily, the surgery must have been done wrong. I’m fine.”

“No. Your father told you to use this room. Until you’re fully healed.”

“…But wouldn’t being in my room help me regain my memory faster?”

“Hyunjung, listen to your father. I’m scared he’ll hit you again. I know you already have bad feelings toward him, but if your relationship worsens, I’ll be so sad.”

With Myeonghee sulking and bringing up Youngwook, Hyunjung eventually had no choice but to yield. Although she had heard she was her stepmother, Myeonghee genuinely tried her best for her. When Youngwook violently attacked her, she even clung to his pants to protect herself.

“I’ll bring your pajamas from home. Just sit on the bed.”

Leaving Hyunjung to look around the room with her crutches, Myeonghee closed the door and let out a long, pent-up sigh of irritation. Then she glared at the door with sharp eyes.

“Ha, really. What a pain. If she’d stayed quietly in the hospital, none of this would have happened. Bringing a man here to make this mess. Tsk. Ah, my fate. And now I even have to nurse her.”

Myeonghee was extremely frustrated with Hyunjung. She had nothing herself, so even after becoming pregnant with Yerim, she couldn’t marry Youngwook. Moreover, Youngwook had to marry according to the arranged marriage between their families.

Her heart ached, and she felt frustrated, as if the world had ended, but Youngwook had promised to love only Myeonghee and consider only Yerim his daughter, even after marriage. However, with the birth of Seo Hyunjung, that promise was essentially broken.

That was why she disliked Hyunjung. The child of the man she loved, Youngwook, was more than enough in her own daughter, Yerim.

What she hated even more was Hyunjung’s gaze—eyes that looked at Myeonghee like she was a bug. No matter how much she tried to love her as a stepmother, she couldn’t.

“Her eyes are exactly like her mother’s. It’s creepy. Just a little more patience… she’ll be ruined soon enough.”

Hyunjung marrying Executive Cho wasn’t entirely positive either. She would be entering a chaebol family.

But considering the wretched Executive Cho, she imagined the hell Hyunjung would face right after marriage, and enduring that seemed worthwhile. At the same time, she imagined her daughter’s rise to success backed by the Joshu Group, which made her happy.

“Yes. If it’s for our Yerim, there’s nothing we can’t do. I can handle this much.”

Clenching her teeth, Myeonghee went upstairs and opened Hyunjung’s door. She had insisted Hyunjung stay on the first floor because of her leg, but it was all part of her plan.

If Hyunjung had any diaries or notes in her room, her memories would return quickly. Then it would only be a matter of time before she realized she hadn’t had a good relationship with Myeonghee and Yerim.

“I need to come up and search her room when I get the chance.”

Taking advantage of a brief moment, Myeonghee began thoroughly searching every drawer of the desk.

“She can’t regain her memories halfway through.”

Even yesterday, after sending Taegun away, Youngwook had brutally hit Hyunjung’s head and cheek in the hospital room, and Myeonghee had been anxious, worried that the impact might trigger her memories.

Near the Joshu Construction headquarters, a high-end Japanese restaurant.

Cho Jaeseok walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the room the staff directed him to. The staff bowed and opened the sliding door.

“Ah, Executive Cho!”

Inside, Youngwook was already seated. He stood and welcomed Jaeseok warmly.

“Sorry for being late. Work was delayed.”

Jaeseok greeted politely, though he didn’t really mean it. He had ignored Yerim’s persistent calls, so she had come near the office. She claimed she came to inform him that Hyunjung had been discharged, but in reality, it was likely because she wanted to be intimate with him. Seo Yerim had always been like that—acting as if she would give up everything for him. It was tiresome. She had long since lost any intrigue for him, having been trained as he wished.

While spending time in a quiet parking lot with Yerim, he had received a lunch invitation from Youngwook.

“Well, he’s busy, so it’s fine. Better that I wait than waste my time.”

“What do you mean by that, father-in-law?”

Cho Jaeseok respectfully poured a drink into Youngwook’s glass.

“Now, you should advance further with the support of our Joshu Group.”

“Hahaha, yes. Let’s see some benefits from my son-in-law!”

The two clinked their glasses cheerfully and drank. Glasses went back and forth—one, two, three drinks.

Youngwook seemed to want to say something. Seeing him drink repeatedly, Jaeseok pretended not to notice.

The more invested someone is, the more they reveal themselves.

“Executive Cho… I have something to ask you.”

“Please, speak freely.”

“Well… you see…”

It seemed difficult for Youngwook to say what he wanted, as he licked his lips nervously and kept drinking.

“No, it’s nothing. Pour me another.”

Jaeseok emptied Youngwook’s glass at once and poured again.

“Is this a difficult topic to bring up?”

“…”

“You may speak freely. Are we not family?”

Youngwook’s habit of starting seriously and then backing off was slightly annoying. But Jaeseok maintained courtesy, though he was curious.

“Well, listen carefully, and don’t misunderstand.”

Because Youngwook hesitated for a while, Jaeseok briefly worried whether he might have been caught with Yerim.

“When our Hyunjung had that car accident, it’s true that you saved her, right?”

Jaeseok froze mid-motion while lifting his glass. He didn’t know for sure but seemed suspicious.

He wiped off the spilled drink with a wet towel and smiled casually.

“Of course. Who else could have saved Hyunjung? The ambulance hadn’t even arrived at that time.”

“R-right?”

“Why do you ask? Did Hyunjung develop memory loss? Or hallucinations, maybe?”

“Oh, no. Other than losing her memory, Hyunjung’s fine.”

Youngwook wiped sweat from his brow, worried the marriage might fall apart.

“I don’t mean to offend you. Someone said they saved Hyunjung, claiming you abandoned her and ran away.”