CGC 04

Chapter 04

Jihyuk chased after his father, Jaewang, belatedly.

He saw Jaewang just about to get into the car parked in front of the funeral hall’s main entrance.

“Father!”

Driver Kim, who had been about to close the door, stepped back.

Jaewang paused mid-gesture as he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief and snapped at Jihyuk sharply.

“What are you doing, leaving your post?”

“So… where is it?”

Jaewang’s reddened eyes widened.

“You mean Doha right now? Good grief, you sure ask fast. You never even looked at the kid while they were alive, acting like you hated children, and now after showing up for the 100-day celebration, you’re already asking! Unbelievable!”

He scolded Jihyuk as if rebuking him for having ignored his nephew all this time.

Jihyuk fell silent.

He had never liked babies.

He’d never really had to deal with them, and, well, they say only someone who’s received love knows how to give it.

Having grown up solely under his father’s hand from childhood, he hadn’t felt anything special when he heard his first nephew was born.

They say affection grows the more you see someone, but he had been too busy with work to visit.

So, for Jihyuk, his nephew Doha never held much presence.

Even when he heard early that morning that his brother and sister-in-law had died in an accident, he hadn’t thought of the child at all.

Only when his father had sorrowfully referred to “the little general” at the funeral had he finally remembered.

“…So, where is the baby, Father?”

Even as he asked, fear prickled in him.

He wasn’t attached to the child, but what if the nephew had died together with his parents?

But no—there had been no mention of the child at the funeral.

Everyone mourned only his brother’s death.

“Where else? The helper is watching him at your brother’s house. Close the door!”

At his father’s command, Jihyuk instinctively shut the car door.

The car sped off the moment the door closed.

Left alone, Jihyuk inhaled sharply as cold air brushed his nose, then let out a dry laugh.

He thought he had been handling his brother’s death rationally, but apparently not.

The moment he remembered the nephew his brother left behind, a stinging wave swept through him, making everything suddenly feel real.

So now…

His father’s strongest successor candidate was dead, and the child was alive.

A child who would surely inherit all of his brother’s shares.

A month later, at Yuel Bakery.

As always, all the bread sold out before lunchtime.

She felt like she was the only person still devastated enough to die from grief over her sister’s death.

Whether the baker was grieving or not, customers were busy hauling away bread.

She was staring blankly into space at the counter, swallowed by an indescribable emptiness, when—
Smack. Someone hit her on the back.

It was Jieun.

“Stop zoning out already. If you’re going to keep this up, just close the shop for a month and go travel or something.”

Yuel slowly lifted her head toward Jieun.

“…Maybe I should. Maybe I should just close the shop. I don’t even have a reason to earn money anymore.”

“…Geez.”

Jieun sighed, sounding truly upset.

“What do you mean you have no reason? You have to live for yourself.”

For me? What for? My sister is gone.

Her life had been driven solely by her goal of repaying her sister for raising her. Once that goal disappeared, all the effort she’d put in felt like it had evaporated.

Her sister’s death alone was painful, but the doubts that surfaced afterward hurt her even more.

Had her sister lived an oppressed life at their aunt’s house because of her?
Was she so sick of everything—including Yuel—that she cut off contact?

But the dead don’t speak.

In the end, she would carry these unanswered questions like a bruise on her heart for the rest of her life.

“…Jieun.”

“What.”

“My sister… she must have really loved her boyfriend, right?”

“Mm… Well, I mean, she was going to be buried next to your parents, wasn’t she?”

Then maybe she should give all the money she’d saved to that boyfriend.

Maybe that would ease her sister’s heart in heaven, even just a little.

As she was thinking that, the bakery door burst open loudly.

It was her aunt, Seo Yeonsook.

“Aunt?”

“Why aren’t you answering my calls?!”

Yeonsook stomped toward the counter, visibly angry.

Of course she couldn’t answer.

She’d blocked her.

Ever since the funeral, Yuel hadn’t seen her aunt or her family.

They had kept talking about life insurance payouts and money all the way to the columbarium, and she’d had enough.

“Don’t you dare set your eyes on your sister’s insurance payout.”

Had she seriously come all the way here to talk about insurance again?

“Sigh…”

As Yuel let out a long breath, Yeonsook said something bizarre.

“Suyeong turned out to be such a wench!”

“What?”

Her aunt had just straight-up slapped the word “wench” onto her dead sister. Yuel shot to her feet, anger flaring.

“What did you just say?!”

“You don’t know who she was seeing, do you.”

Was she talking about the boyfriend who died with her?

“I don’t. I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend until after she died.”

“Him.”

“Yes.”

“She was seeing the eldest son of the Sehan Group chairman.”

Yuel’s eyebrows knitted.

“…What?”

Sehan Group—one of the top conglomerates in the country.

Even she knew at least three of their subsidiaries—entertainment, construction, and automotive.

Wait.

Suddenly, she remembered the massive wreaths at the funeral, many of them bearing the name “Sehan.” Lots of politicians and businessmen had sent them.

But she’d been too busy grieving to think deeply about it at the time.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?! She died while seeing the chairman’s eldest son!”

“…Okay. Let’s say that’s true. That my sister dated a chaebol heir. So what?”

Both of them were already dead.

And if it was true, it was a miracle the family hadn’t come demanding responsibility for the death of their precious son.

“They lived together in a common-law marriage for a year!”

“Common-law… marriage?”

Yuel’s eyes widened, all reason flying away.

They weren’t just dating—they’d lived together?

“They had a kid.”

It felt like someone struck her in the head. Her vision went white.

“…A… a kid?”

“Yes! She gave birth! I don’t know if she did it for that family or what, but based on the timing, she must’ve cut contact with us once she got pregnant.”

“W-wait, hold on. I—I can’t even process this right now—”

“What’s there to process?! Suyeong gave birth to the Sehan chairman’s grandchild! Don’t you get what that means?! Go get your nephew!”

Yuel was utterly overwhelmed.

So… her sister had a baby.

“H-how old is the baby now? Huh?”

“Six months? Seven? I don’t know—anyway, still an infant, so go get him! He’s left all alone without his parents!”

A baby she had never seen—a baby who might look just like her sister—filled her mind.

Yuel, dazed, began heading toward the entrance.

But Jieun, who had been listening, grabbed her hand and asked the aunt:

“Auntie. Isn’t the baby with the chairman? The baby’s grandfather?”

“So what?”

“Then to him, the baby is his own grandchild. Why would he just hand the baby over? And honestly, Yuel isn’t even legally related to Suyeong.”

“Exactly.”

Her aunt curled her lips into a sly smile.

“If they won’t give us the baby, then get something else.”

While Yuel’s mind was finally clearing, she spoke in outrage.

“Aunt, are you insane? You want me to use my sister’s baby as leverage to extort money?!”

“At least if we take some compensation, they’ll take better care of him.”

“A baby isn’t a pet! Stop talking nonsense and get out!”

“I don’t understand why you’re so angry. The kid will inherit a Sehan subsidiary someday anyway. Better to settle things now than show up later claiming to be the maternal family.”

Now understanding her aunt’s filthy intentions, Yuel shoved her out of the bakery, rage boiling to the top of her head.

Her aunt kept screaming as she retreated to her car.

“I’m not taking it for myself! It’s your sister’s share, so you go get it! I’ll even give you half!”

This woman who had never raised her sister properly after adopting her—who had already tried to take the life insurance payout—now wanted to use her sister’s child to extort even more money.

What kind of demon behaves like that?

Yuel shouted to Jieun:

“J-Jieun, s-salt—can you get some salt…?!”

Jieun hurried to bring the salt.

Even with the salt in her hands, throwing it on her aunt wasn’t easy.

She’d been gaslit since she was young, and she had never truly stood up to her aunt.

Her hands trembled and fear rose, but thinking of her poor sister—abused by their aunt until death—and the nephew left behind, she felt courage surge.

She closed her eyes and flung the salt.

“You crazy bitch!”

Startled by the sudden shower of salt, her aunt cursed and rushed to her car.

“Yuel, that’s enough. You did great. Let’s go back inside.”

Jieun led the shaken Yuel inside, but then her expression darkened as something occurred to her.

“Yuel… but…”

Yuel was too overwhelmed to respond.

“Sehan Group… Aren’t they basically a gangster company? Remember? Taehun said when he lived in a redevelopment zone as a kid, those hired thugs caused his dad’s death.”

“…What?”

“Those reckless thugs—didn’t they grow into Sehan? And your nephew is in their hands.”

Yuel’s face drained of all color.