TRPM 451

chapter 451

It didn’t take long for my mother and me to arrive at my maternal grandparents’ house.

As Yeon Mirae had said before, my maternal grandparents lived in our neighborhood.

“……”

Looking at the scenery near the house, my mother frowned. Could she be recalling bad memories?

‘This is confusing.’

My memories said that my maternal relatives were decent people, but my mother claimed they were obsessed with money. Which one is correct? Normally, I would trust what I saw myself, but since the person making this claim is my mother…

“There are a lot of cars. Looks like everyone actually came.”

Even though I was the one who called them.

The car stopped in front of a house—a house much smaller compared to Kang Garam’s mansion. Still, even though it was small, it was a proper house in the metropolitan area. It would require significant wealth to own such a house. Are they really a family obsessed with money, as my mother said?

“Let’s get out.”
“? You don’t need to park?”
“No. We’ll just go in for a moment and settle things, then leave immediately.”

There was space inside the yard for parking, but my mother stopped the car in front of the main gate. She got out with me and walked inside the gate. The door was already open, so she didn’t ring the doorbell. Even if it had been closed, given her current mood, I doubt she would have bothered.

Bang!

Standing at the front of the house, I could sense that it was noisy inside. What could they be doing that caused sounds of falling or things spilling? Of course, I could sense what was happening inside.

‘The little ones… probably my cousins, running around in the room and breaking something.’

I said “cousins” because I didn’t actually know them. I could only assume they were my cousins. Whatever they had broken, it was shattered into pieces.

“Waaahhh…!”
“Good grief! Didn’t I tell you not to run around so recklessly!”
“What just broke? A statue?”
“… It’s the plaster statue I brought today.”

Because of that, it was a bit awkward to go in right away. Perhaps it was better to wait until things calmed down… I thought so, but…

Rattle.

My mother’s thoughts were different. She confidently opened the front door and walked in. I followed her inside.

“? Who….”
“… Everyone, stay in your rooms with the kids.”

Suddenly, the house fell silent. Some didn’t recognize my mother, but the others were quietly staring at her.

‘… I’m still not sure if they’re really a family obsessed with money…’

From this atmosphere, it was clear that something serious must have happened when my mother left home or even before that.

“Jaehee, come in. You need to see your father and mother in the room, right?”

While the living room remained silent, a middle-aged man who seemed relatively older spoke to my mother. That man was clearly my eldest maternal uncle—the eldest son of this household.

“You don’t need to say anything; I know. But I really don’t feel like going in.”
“You really…”
“Leave it. I’ll bring our parents myself.”

My mother’s sharp attitude silenced anyone who tried to intervene, and the eldest uncle headed toward one of the doors. My maternal grandfather and grandmother must be inside. Meanwhile, the uncle I remember as the younger uncle spoke to my mother.

“Jaehee, I heard you’ve started your business again recently.”

…Again? Had my mother done business before?

‘Well, my mother has been running Shinsegyo and Shinse Herbs successfully.’

Even with help from technology once possessed by Oracle, I heard she had made a huge profit. My mother had been an ordinary office worker before that. Could she have had prior business experience before becoming a company employee?

“Why? Are you suddenly greedy because your younger sibling, who left home and quit business, became quite a successful entrepreneur?”

Although my question remained unresolved, judging by my mother’s sharp reaction, this topic was clearly not a pleasant one.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ll discuss the business here today anyway.”

At my mother’s words, the younger uncle fell silent. Everyone else did the same. It was clear that they were all intimidated by her.

There were two possibilities:

One, my mother’s fiery personality in the past prevented them from speaking freely.
Two, even if they had wronged her, the mistake was serious enough that they were wary of her reaction.

Since I didn’t know what my mother was like before I was born or what had happened to her, I could only speculate.

“… Jaehee, you’re here.”

While thinking this, my maternal grandfather came out of the room, someone I had seen even before the regression. Following him were my grandmother and eldest uncle.

“Everyone, take a seat.”

My grandfather looked around at those standing and then sat on the sofa with my grandmother. The others sat on other sofas or leaned against the walls, while my mother and I simply remained standing.

“… So, Jaehee. Why have you gathered everyone here after almost twenty years? What’s the reason?”

Even bringing along a grandchild for the first time. My grandfather asked, aware that my mother had no intention of sitting.

“The reason we came is that Geonwoo wanted to come at least once. And the reason for gathering everyone… is that we just wanted to settle everything at once.”

My mother took a breath and began speaking.

“When I became independent, my father told me this: He wouldn’t interfere with me, but he wouldn’t provide support either.”

And he had kept his word.

“Geonwoo and I do not intend to receive any support, just as we’ve done until now. And we do not intend to be interfered with, either. So, just as before, don’t try to interfere with Geonwoo or me.”

My mother repeated and emphasized her words multiple times: no interference, just like always.

“……”
“That’s all I have to say. I’ll be leaving now.”
“Hey, Han Jaehee!”

As my mother turned to leave, the younger uncle got angry, but the eldest uncle stopped him. I glanced at this scene and followed my mother out of my maternal grandparents’ house.

“Do you want me to investigate what your mother was like before you were born?”
“Yes. Is that possible?”

Back home, I asked Sophia this. I felt like I was using Sophia too conveniently these days, but I needed to know what had happened between my mother and her maternal relatives.

“… Before the artist was born, that’s at least sixteen years ago… asking me to investigate that long ago….”

Sophia looked flustered at my request. It was indeed a difficult task. Even a psychometry user couldn’t discover events from that long ago easily.

“I’ll try. But it would help if we could narrow down the focus…”
“Ah, my mother once ran a business, then quit and became independent. Something must have happened then. I want you to investigate that part mainly.”
“Hmm… that should be relatively easy. If she ran a business, there would be a business registration.”

However…

“… Why?”
“Could I get some financial support? I think I’ll need to hire a hacker…”

Sophia asked hesitantly.

‘… Now that I think about it, she did say she needed money recently.’

I transferred the necessary funds into her account. Sophia bowed slightly, stood up, and left the room.

‘If I wait, Sophia will get the information, but…’

I wasn’t going to just sit idle. I also planned to learn about my mother’s past. Discovering something from twenty years ago wouldn’t be easy, but it was possible.

‘I need to ask someone who knew my mother twenty years ago.’

First, my mother herself. But that was out of the question. Judging by her mood earlier, she didn’t want to recall those events.

Next, my mother’s friends. But most would be away for the holiday, making it difficult to ask right now.

So who could I ask about twenty years ago…?

“… Are they the only ones?”

The people involved in the incident that made my mother dislike her maternal relatives. They should know about the incident, and even if they’d forgotten, today’s events might have reminded them.

“Are they the only ones, son?”
“Ugh?!”

My mother had quietly entered the room and hugged me from behind. I knew she had come in. My psychometric sense was intact, so I could sense her. That’s why I muttered “those people” instead of “maternal relatives.” I had also deactivated my martial energy defenses to avoid accidentally harming her.

“No, I realized I didn’t send gifts to some people. I just consulted Sophia, and I was thinking if there were others I missed sending gifts to besides them.”
“Hmmm… really?”

My mother seemed to relax upon hearing this.

“But if I send the package today, will it arrive before the holiday ends?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’ll deliver it myself.”
“Oh, so you’re going out?”
“Yes.”

I said this and put on my coat. I planned to go to my maternal grandparents’ house under the pretext of personally delivering gifts.

“Take care… you’ll be back before dinner, right?”
“If they don’t hold me back, yes. I’ll be back then.”

Seeing me off, my mother watched as I successfully left the house.