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Chapter 54
“Ha-min. Seo Ha-min! Wake up.”
Mi-gyeong shook her daughter awake in a hurry.
“…What? Why? I only fell asleep a few hours ago.”
Grumbling, Ha-min pulled the sleep mask her mother had removed back over her eyes.
Just as she was about to drift off again, smack!
Mi-gyeong’s palm came crashing down on her back.
It hurt so much it felt like her skin had split open.
“Ow! That hurts! Seriously, what’s wrong with you?!”
“I need your help. Get up. Now.”
“…Sigh. What is it?”
Mi-gyeong didn’t have time to explain everything.
That morning, as part of her usual routine, she had checked the CCTV cameras installed at Ha-jun and Eun-jae’s house.
Ha-jun, who was supposedly on a business trip to Japan, had actually taken time to return home—and embraced Lee Eun-jae.
Then Mi-gyeong remembered something.
Exactly twenty-eight days earlier, the gynecologist had told them it was Eun-jae’s ovulation day.
Back then, Ha-jun had immediately left for Germany.
But things were very different now.
Mi-gyeong couldn’t afford to sit still for even a moment.
She had already decided to make the two of them divorce.
Under no circumstances could Eun-jae become pregnant.
Now that Ha-jun had left on another business trip, this was her only opportunity.
If the embryo isn’t going to implant… the mother’s body has to be under stress…
Deep in thought, an old superstition suddenly crossed her mind.
Grinding up the nose of a Dol Hareubang stone statue and eating it helps women conceive.
When she’d genuinely wanted Eun-jae to become pregnant, she’d dismissed the superstition as complete nonsense.
Who in their right mind would grind up stone and drink it?
But now…
It seemed like the perfect method.
Even I think it’s ridiculous. Imagine how ridiculous someone as spoiled and sheltered as Lee Eun-jae—who grew up with her father doting on her—would find it.
It’s the perfect way to create “maternal stress.”
So early that morning she’d ordered one of the servants to bring her a fist-sized rock.
Now all that remained…
…was getting Eun-jae to obediently swallow it.
Looking at Ha-min, who was rubbing her aching back while muttering complaints, Mi-gyeong offered an irresistible deal.
“If you help me today, I’ll lift your overseas travel ban.”
“Really?”
While studying abroad, Ha-min had caused one incident after another and had eventually been dragged back to Korea.
She hadn’t even managed to graduate university and had been forbidden from leaving the country—a punishment she hated more than anything.
The moment Mi-gyeong offered to lift it, Ha-min’s eyes lit up like a hyena spotting prey.
Better to involve her own daughter than anyone else.
She wouldn’t leak the secret.
“I’ll talk to your father. Here’s what I need you to do…”
Mi-gyeong lowered her voice.
“…Grind this stone into powder.”
***
The front door opened.
Thinking Ha-jun had somehow returned after leaving for his late-night flight, Eun-jae immediately stopped what she was doing and hurried to the entrance.
“Ha-jun?”
She called his name happily.
But the person entering after typing in the passcode wasn’t Ha-jun.
It was Mi-gyeong.
“Mother, you’re here. Hello, Miss.”
She was sure they’d changed the passcode recently.
Did Ha-jun tell her the new one?
“Yaaawn…”
Behind Mi-gyeong, Ha-min wandered in wearing a baseball cap pulled low over her face, stretching lazily as she waved one hand at Eun-jae.
Without another word, Mi-gyeong walked straight into the kitchen.
Ha-min followed, taking a mug from the cabinet and filling it with lukewarm water.
Watching the two move around as though it were the most natural thing in the world, Eun-jae quietly stood on the opposite side of the kitchen island.
Mi-gyeong carefully removed something from her handbag.
Wrapped in an elegant golden cloth was a small package.
She gently unwrapped it and placed it on the counter.
“Look.”
“…Is that black sesame powder?”
At the question, Mi-gyeong exchanged a glance with Ha-min before smiling brightly.
“That’s right. But not just any black sesame. It’s premium Korean black sesame. Do you know how precious this is? They say it’s wonderful for helping women get pregnant.”
Ha-min poured the finely ground black powder from the wax paper into the cup of water and stirred it thoroughly.
“Mmm. Smells nice and nutty.”
Maybe my condition is so bad I just can’t smell anything, Eun-jae thought as she stared blankly at the murky liquid.
Just then—
Mi-gyeong suddenly grabbed her hand.
A strange sense of unease crawled up Eun-jae’s spine.
“I went through a great deal to get this.”
She pressed the cup toward her.
“Drink every last drop.”
Slowly, Eun-jae lifted the cup and brought it to her lips.
The moment the liquid entered her mouth, something felt terribly wrong.
The so-called sesame particles were unusually coarse.
They scraped against her mouth, refusing to go down.
“Cough…”
After barely swallowing a mouthful, she erupted into coughing.
Her throat burned.
She had no desire to drink another sip.
“Mother… it’s too rough…”
“Things grown naturally without chemicals are always rougher. Hurry and finish it.”
“But… it hurts too much to swallow. Right now… I’m not even taking medicine whenever I’m sick… because you told me not to affect my womb…”
“Why are you worrying about getting sick already? You need to think positively. The reason you can’t get pregnant is because you’re always so negative.”
Maybe I’m just imagining it…
Trying to convince herself, Eun-jae forced herself to drink another mouthful.
“…Ugh…”
It still felt horribly wrong.
She winced, coughing as though she’d choked.
Mi-gyeong immediately snapped.
“I came all this way for my daughter-in-law, and you’re making this much of a fuss?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Her trembling hand reached toward the cup she’d set down.
But she simply couldn’t make herself drink any more.
In fact…
Compared to this…
Even the disgusting herbal medicine Mi-gyeong usually forced her to drink now seemed preferable.
Seeing that half the cup still remained, Mi-gyeong raised her voice again.
“Don’t tell me you’re acting like this because I asked you to cook that meal the other day.”
“No, Mother.”
“So because I asked you one single time to prepare food for guests after you got married, you’re going to hold a grudge?”
Ha-min immediately joined in.
“Mom personally begged people all night and paid a fortune to get this. You’re unbelievable, Sister-in-law. You’re completely ignoring everything Mom’s done for you.”
She crossed her arms.
“And honestly? That dinner you made was awful. My brother practically eats outside every day, doesn’t he? Have you ever considered it’s because your cooking is terrible?”
“We’re trying this hard to make up for your low-class family background, yet our daughter-in-law won’t even appreciate it.”
Mi-gyeong clicked her tongue with exaggerated disappointment.
“If you hate it that much, then don’t drink it. Other people would kill for something this precious. But something valuable only works if the person knows its worth.”
“Seriously, Mom shouldn’t have gone through all that trouble. If I’d known she’d be treated like this, I would’ve stopped her.”
“The executive director’s wife managed to get pregnant all on her own. We finally found something to help someone who can’t conceive, and our daughter-in-law just sits there making faces.”
“Calm down, Mom. She wasn’t raised properly. That’s all.”
Every word chipped away at Eun-jae’s self-esteem.
Yet…
Painfully…
Each accusation seemed to strike exactly where she felt weakest.
Biting her lip, she picked up the cup once more.
“…No, Mother. Miss… I’m sorry.”
She forced another swallow down.
The gritty substance still refused to dissolve.
“Urgh…”
“Cough! Cough!”
It scraped painfully down her throat.
Unable to bear it any longer, she retched violently, spitting the liquid back out.
Tears welled in her eyes.
“Oh dear. Such a waste.”
Only after more than half the cup had disappeared did Mi-gyeong and Ha-min exchange satisfied glances and nod.
Eun-jae clutched at her chest, gasping like a fish stranded on dry land.
“You’re not pretending to drink it just so you can throw it all up later when we’re gone, are you? Because that won’t do.”
Fearing Eun-jae might run off to the bathroom alone, Mi-gyeong tightly gripped her arm.
***
In the end, Eun-jae was taken to the emergency room in an ambulance.
After forcing herself to swallow the strange mixture, she’d begun suffering severe abdominal pain and had vomited a dark green liquid.
Only then had Mi-gyeong finally called 119.
When Eun-jae slowly regained consciousness, she found herself lying in a hospital room.
“I already spoke with the doctor.”
Mi-gyeong addressed the dazed woman, whose eyes slowly turned toward her.
“He said your stomach probably reacted because of stress.”
“They said you could probably go home after finishing one IV drip…”
“…but since you were so out of it, I told them you should stay hospitalized a little longer.”
“…Thank you.”
“I only wanted you to take it because I heard it was good for getting pregnant. I never imagined you’d be so stressed that you’d react like this.”
She let out a long sigh.
“Perhaps I was too greedy.”
With a sorrowful expression, Mi-gyeong pulled out a handkerchief and gently dabbed at the corners of her eyes, as though holding back tears.
