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Chapter 30
“How could you! I brought you here thinking you were clever, yet you went and chose the most foolish thing in the world to do! What do you think people are saying about our family now? I’m already too ashamed to show my face in public—my face!”
Madam Jang Joobin clutched her chest in frustration. After all, she had been the one to select Lee Sooha through a marriage broker. There was no one else to blame but herself.
“It’s all my fault. My fault.”
“Mother, how could this possibly be your fault? I’m sorry. I acted rashly.”
“Don’t you dare call me ‘Mother.’ You’re not even married yet—what am I to you?”
At her outburst, Sooha lowered her head in shame.
“Mom, that’s enough. It’s just a dance. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”
To Sooha’s surprise, the one who stepped in to defend her was none other than Yoon Ji-hwan himself. He couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
“A woman should know her place. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Know her place? She didn’t strip on stage or anything! She just did a dance that’s trendy right now. Is that worth humiliating her like this?”
“You—you’re siding with her now? You’re about to marry her, and she goes on stage and does a vulgar dance, and you don’t feel the slightest bit angry? ‘Trendy,’ you say? These days young people call every bizarre, grotesque thing a trend.”
“Anyway, enough is enough. Don’t you realize scolding Sooha like this in front of everyone only looks bad for us? Times have changed, Mom. You can’t talk like that anymore.”
“Times changed? Is this the time to talk about that?”
“Just drop it.”
Ji-hwan cut his mother off and led Sooha upstairs. He slammed the door behind them so hard the sound echoed through the house.
The room fell into awkward silence. Sooha’s tears finally spilled over.
“Thank you… for standing up for me…”
“Do I look like I did it for your sake? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? There’s a limit to how much embarrassment one person can cause.”
Though his voice was lower than his mother’s, Ji-hwan’s words struck just as hard.
“I understand why she keeps praising Jung Hana. Jin-woo doesn’t care about business, so he can play around however he likes. But Kang Da-som? Don’t you think that’s too much? She’s barely been around, yet she knows exactly how to win over Mother—matching her moods, flattering her at every turn. And you? You were the first to come into this family, you’re older, and you still can’t manage it?”
“I… I never imagined it would turn out this way!”
“I’ll have the PR team take down the articles and scrub social media. But don’t you realize who you’re supposed to align yourself with in this family?”
“….”
“If you can’t use your brain, at least learn to read people. You were brought here for the family’s sake, so at least conduct yourself properly.”
“What am I supposed to do when the two of them are always together, leaving me out?”
“Don’t you see? That’s exactly why you need to drive a wedge between them. If you can’t even manage that, you might as well give up.”
“No! No, I’ll do better. If this marriage falls apart, my father will kill me.”
“Then do better—while you still can.”
Ji-hwan snapped before storming out. Sooha stayed behind for a while, then finally came downstairs. Just then, she ran into Kang Da-som, who had arrived carrying a gift.
“Oh my, our future daughter-in-law is here.”
“Yes. I baked too many cookies during my class today, so I thought Mother might like some.”
“I don’t care much for cookies—they’re too sweet and fattening.”
“These are sugar-free. They’re not sweet at all. Please try them.”
“Really? Well, since you made them, I’ll give them a taste. Oh, listen to me, leaving you standing there. Come in, come in. Sit down, dear. Hey, what are you doing just sitting there? Go fetch tea and plates!”
Joobin barked the order at Sooha, who flinched. Da-som hurried to rise.
“Mother, I’ll go.”
“No, no. Sit. Why trouble yourself?”
“I’ll get them.”
“Stop dawdling and bring them already.”
“Yes…”
Sooha had no choice but to retreat to the kitchen, returning with tea and a plate of cookies.
“Oh my, these aren’t sweet at all! Our little daughter-in-law not only dances beautifully, but she cooks as well.”
“I’m not really that skilled at cooking. I just followed my teacher’s instructions.”
“And if following instructions yields such results, what does that say about your classmates?”
Sooha sat stiffly, silently watching as the two women chatted as if she weren’t even there. Beneath the table, she clenched her fists tight, teeth gritted to hold back her tears.
“Ah, Mother, didn’t you mention wanting a massage recently? I’ve asked an aesthetician I trust to come by. She’s excellent.”
“You remembered that?”
“She should be here in about thirty minutes, if that’s all right with you.”
“Oh, how thoughtful! Of course it’s all right.”
“I worried I might be imposing.”
“Nonsense. How could a gift from my daughter-in-law be an imposition?”
Da-som excused herself to call the aesthetician. True to her word, half an hour later, the woman arrived with equipment in tow. Da-som guided her and Joobin into the home spa.
“I hope I’m not keeping you waiting. Why don’t you have a treatment as well?”
“Oh, no. I already had one this morning. Please, don’t mind me. Just relax.”
“All right, then.”
Joobin glanced at Sooha with disdain before sweeping into the spa. Left behind, Sooha’s face burned crimson.
“Are you all right?” Da-som asked gently.
“Y-yes. I’m fine. Really, I don’t even know what I’m saying. Ha… ha…”
“You must be suffering after what happened at the performance. I’m sorry. I never should have recommended Hana to you…”
Sooha quickly waved her hands.
“No, no. How could that be your fault? I was the one who chose the song and the dance. I was just careless. That’s all.”
She swallowed back tears, breathing deeply. Seeing Da-som’s flustered face, Sooha thought perhaps this was her chance.
“Why don’t we wait upstairs until Mother is finished?”
She suggested they sit in the terrace lounge where few people would disturb them. Da-som agreed at once. Tea and cookies were brought up, and the maid closed the terrace doors behind them.
Soft classical music drifted from a large speaker, and on the hundred-inch television, slow-moving landscapes of blooming flowers played.
“To be honest, I was a little taken aback,” Sooha began.
“It’s understandable. I really am sorry,” Da-som replied.
“No, I don’t mean it that way. I mean Hana… When I think about it, asking the concierge for a protocol binder and choosing those kinds of songs and dances—it all seems like she nudged me in that direction when I wasn’t thinking clearly. Don’t you think she did it on purpose?”
“What? Really? Hana deliberately?”
“She doesn’t like me. Didn’t she speak ill of me to you?”
“….”
“It’s all right. I used to look down on her a lot. I mean, I’m a Harvard MBA, and she—what was it? She trained to be an idol, failed to debut, and scraped into some arts college, right? She probably just wanted to see me humiliated. That’s her level, plain and simple.”
As she spoke, Sooha felt her resentment toward Hana flare into rage.
“Think about it. If I end up disgraced, who suffers most in the middle? Isn’t it you?”
“…Yes… I suppose so.”
“Exactly. She knew I couldn’t lash out at her, so she used you too. You were just another pawn.”
“She wanted me humiliated… and used you in the process.”
