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chapter 41
Yeon-seo slowly steadied her fragile mind and began to picture the future that awaited her.
She imagined tending the garden in front of the house with her child, cooking meals, sitting together at a café to enjoy delicious desserts—sharing an ordinary but precious daily life.
And she imagined that the child would resemble the very first man she had ever loved.
Amid the fragments of her breaking heart, a small spark began to glow.
Yeon-seo had never been someone with great desires. Her happiness was simply found in trimming pretty plants and flowers and gazing at the lakeside scenery from her front yard.
But now… she wanted just a little more. She finally understood why she had been so afraid that Do-heon might want the child gone.
Yeon-seo wanted to raise this child.
Even if Do-heon didn’t want it.
Even if she ended up alone, giving birth and raising the baby without a husband.
She believed she could raise the child happily.
It felt absurd to be thinking this way while holding a bank account filled with an enormous sum of money. But in the end, this was the only thing she truly desired from the contract.
After taking a taxi, Yeon-seo arrived at Myeongseon-jae. She quickly unlocked the front gate and entered.
There were things she had to finish before Seon-ae returned. She had to put the hotel key card—secretly taken—back in its place. She also needed to check the contents of the USB as soon as possible.
From somewhere in the garden, the pungent smell of cigarette smoke drifted over. Could it be Do-heon? Yeon-seo turned her head to find the source.
“It’s been a while, sister-in-law.”
An unwelcome presence lifted his hand and flicked the cigarette he had been holding onto the ground.
The colorful patterned shirt suited Kang-jae’s dark skin. To put it bluntly, he looked like a refined thug.
“Hello.”
Out of courtesy, Yeon-seo gave him a small bow.
His past threats meant nothing now. She didn’t need to fear that he might expose her lies to Do-heon—the contract was nearly over anyway.
She ignored his ferocious glare and tried to pass him. Just as her hand reached for the front door handle, a mocking voice behind her made her stop.
“You always avoid me like that. I’m already pissed enough, and you’re making it worse… damn.”
Once again, Kang-jae’s rudeness was unbearable.
Why is he doing this to me? Yeon-seo turned back, her expression stiff, and stared at him. Kang-jae sneered with his twisted lips.
“How much did you get? For sleeping with Seo Do-heon.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“Your acting sucks, you know that?”
Hands shoved into his pockets, Kang-jae swaggered toward her.
“Seo Do-heon’s such an idiot. If he was going to bring someone in, he should’ve picked a shameless, money-grubbing bitch. There are plenty of them in bars. But no, he brought someone clueless like you.”
Even acknowledging him out of courtesy had been a mistake.
His goal was only to drag her and Do-heon’s relationship into the mud.
Realizing that again, Yeon-seo ignored him and tried to open the door.
“Hey! You bitch, ignoring me while I’m talking? Do you know what I’ll do to you if I snap—?”
The first thought that struck her at his insults was of the child in her belly. The child who could feel every bit of the humiliation and venom directed at her.
Rage welled up at Kang-jae’s vile behavior. Clenching her fists, Yeon-seo glared at him with sharp eyes. Kang-jae tilted his head, puzzled.
“So what are you gonna do about it?”
“…”
“Going to kill me, is that it?”
“Hey, I never said—”
“All you know how to do is threaten, break the law, and live like a degenerate?”
Kang-jae pressed his forehead, then opened his eyes again, surprised by Yeon-seo’s sudden shift in attitude.
“Wow, unbelievable…”
“If you behave rudely to me again, I won’t stay quiet. I’ll make sure the world knows what kind of garbage you’ve been living as. People will know what a chaebol family heir has done—and no amount of money will be enough to bury it.”
“Hah! Look at you, threatening me now. Did Seo Do-heon teach you that? Damn, sister-in-law. But still…”
His cunning eyes roamed her body, finally landing on her stomach.
Yeon-seo instinctively wrapped her arms protectively around her belly, then quickly pulled her hands behind her back. She didn’t want to do anything that might arouse suspicion.
“…Go on, say it.”
“Too bad. I’m not scared of you at all…”
“…”
“How do you expect to survive in this world being so timid? Should I show you how to really threaten someone? Hm?”
“…”
“You better behave with me. Got it, sister-in-law? I’m already furious because that bastard Seo Do-heon stole everything from me…”
Kang-jae, who had been chuckling, suddenly changed his expression into a grimace. His face twisted into something eerie and chilling, hard to even look at.
Yeon-seo’s throat tightened; no words would come out. Seeing her like that seemed to please him.
“Good. Stay like that. That’s how you should be. Otherwise, I’ll want to take something important from you too.”
“…”
How could human eyes carry such malice? Goosebumps prickled up Yeon-seo’s arms.
Kang-jae’s eyes were exactly like his mother’s—so much so that they seemed copied.
Eyes that had never known empathy. Eyes that would eliminate anyone who stood in their way. The eyes of a killer.
“I’m not the type to sit back and take it. Remember that.”
Kang-jae tapped her forehead with his finger, leaving his warning, then shoved past her shoulder.
Her frail body wobbled dangerously, like a bird in the wind. By the time she regained her balance and looked around, he was gone.
Exhausted from dealing with him, Yeon-seo dragged herself back to the bedroom. She felt as if she might collapse into sleep at any moment.
But something sharp poking inside her pocket nagged at her mind. She pulled out the USB.
A small object glimmering with an ominous light.
What secret did it hold? Was she finally close to uncovering the truth of it all? Would she be able to handle what she found?
In her other hand, she clutched the hotel key card. Deciding she could no longer delay, Yeon-seo stepped out of her room.
Passing the kitchen, she made her way toward the bedroom used by Seo Jin-bae and Seon-ae. She was relieved not to encounter anyone on the way.
When she opened the door, the stench of alcohol hit her, making her gag.
Several whiskey bottles and glasses were scattered on the floor. No dishes—he must have been drinking without food.
Since Geum Seon-ae had been away from the house, this mess was clearly Seo Jin-bae’s doing. Yeon-seo recalled the words she had overheard while hiding in the closet.
“Seo Jin-bae is too stupid. By now he’s probably desperate, trying to sweet-talk his father. That man always loved Kang-jae more than the legitimate son anyway.”
“Sending you to such a worthless man—it burns me up inside.”
Pitiful, perhaps. A chaebol heir dismissed with nothing more than “worthless.” Seo Jin-bae, who didn’t even realize what kind of weapon the person next to him was hiding.
But still, he had inflicted wounds on young Do-heon that would never heal, and he had failed to be a protective father. He had not even been a good husband to Do-heon’s mother.
Kang-jae, Seon-ae’s son, was older than Do-heon. That meant Seo Jin-bae had fathered Kang-jae through his affair with Seon-ae before marrying Do-heon’s mother.
Seo Jin-bae was truly worse than a stranger to Do-heon.
Yeon-seo thought of the wounds Do-heon must have carried since childhood. His unique calmness, his reason-driven coldness—it made her ache for him.
But realizing it had all been shaped by his father’s immaturity made her blood boil. Whatever pity she had briefly felt for Seo Jin-bae vanished.
She slipped quietly out of the room. Carefully, she tucked the card key beneath the orchid pot. At last, the fatigue she had been holding back came crashing in.
Just then, she locked eyes with Paju-deok, who was in the kitchen.
“Did your hospital visit go well?”
“Yes. They said it’s reflux esophagitis.”
“Reflux esophagitis? Oh dear, no wonder you haven’t been eating properly…”
In truth, Yeon-seo didn’t want to talk to anyone right now—especially not about her own condition.
