BR - 52

She cried for two whole days.

The bruise that had turned bluish-purple under her cheekbone made Eun-chae’s heart ache more deeply and made her feel more miserable than the physical pain.

Seok-kyung had broken off the engagement. She knew through his eyes that his words of love weren’t lies, but she couldn’t understand why he had gone through with it even after she had clearly rejected him.

Foolish man. What on earth are you planning...?

“I told you that having a head full of flowers is only worthwhile if you have the value to back it up! Someone as worthless as toilet paper dares to covet Seok-kyung!”

Madam Cha was right.

Compared to Seok-kyung, Eun-chae’s worth was less than a piece of toilet paper. Wasn’t it absurd for someone like her to even think of coveting him?

She picked up her phone, which had been turned off for two days, and turned it on. Dozens of missed calls and messages flooded in.

Most of them were from Seok-kyung.

He started by asking where she was, then got angry that he couldn’t reach her, and finally pleaded for just one message to let him know she was okay because he was worried.

She had to keep in contact with him eventually to repay her debt, but right now, she didn’t want to meet him or even hear his voice.

Because she would break down if she did.

The phone in her hand suddenly rang, and Eun-chae was startled, almost dropping it.

Thankfully, it wasn’t Seok-kyung, but her mother.

“Hello?”

-Why haven’t you been answering your phone? You turned it off. Are you trying to drive me crazy?

Her mother snapped in an irritated voice.

“What’s wrong?”

-You should have told me you moved! I had to sleep in a shabby motel because of you!

“You’re in Seoul?”

Eun-chae awkwardly got up and looked in the mirror. The bruise on her face still drew a slanted line across her left cheek.

It could be covered with makeup, but the question was whether her mother would fail to notice it and move on.

-Yes, I’m in Seoul. Where did you move to? Send me the address quickly, I’m exhausted.

“It’s a small studio apartment, it’ll be hard for you to rest even if you come here. There’s no bed either.”

-Are you even listening to me? I told you to look for an apartment, an apartment for the three of us to live in.

“How can I do that right now when I don’t have the money? Where are you? I’ll take you to the terminal.”

Her mother grumbled and told her where she was.

Eun-chae hung up and quickly got ready. She covered her face with concealer and foundation and pulled her hat down low.

Even though it was still early summer, the streets were filled with heat, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

Eun-chae entered the cafe where she had arranged to meet her mother and looked for her. She was truly speechless.

Her mother was dressed so flamboyantly that other customers glanced and whispered. She was wearing a dress-like, extravagant one-piece, heavy makeup, and the table was full of shopping bags.

“Oh, Mom?”

“Why are you so late?”

“What is all this?”

Eun-chae felt dizzy at the sight of the luxury brand logos on the shopping bags.

Could it be...? Could it be...?

Had her mother secretly used her card again? The credit limit wouldn’t be enough to buy all this. Where did she get the money?

Unable to control her trembling body, she sank into a chair. Her mother smiled brightly and opened one of the shopping bags.

“Isn’t this so pretty? It’s a new bag that just came out. How is it? Does it suit me?”

“Where did you get this? You didn’t use your card, did you?”

“No, honey. I received all of this as gifts.”

“Gifts? From whom?”

“Well...”

Her mother frowned as if embarrassed, then smiled sheepishly.

“Madam Cha contacted me yesterday.”

What? Who?

Eun-chae doubted her ears.

“No, suddenly she was bowing her head, apologizing for not being able to help in the past. And even though I said it was fine, she insisted on buying me all these gifts.”

Insisted?

That couldn’t be right. When Madam Cha had taken her to the luxury department store and told her to pick out whatever she wanted as a gift, her mother must have been thrilled and enjoyed shopping without any pride.

Her head throbbed, and her stomach felt queasy.

“But don’t worry too much. I told her I had no choice but to accept all this. When she asked where I was staying and offered to book a hotel, I told her I had money and asked her to drop me off at the W Hotel...”

“You didn’t actually sleep there, did you?”

“No. I watched Madam Cha leave and quickly went to a motel.”

Eun-chae’s stomach churned as her mother spoke with a bright smile.

It was miserable, pathetic, and shabby.

At this rate, wouldn’t Madam Cha’s words prove entirely correct?

“Maybe she felt bad for pushing you away like that and not helping our family? Or maybe that woman has some kind of illness? Like she’s dying...”

“Is this a joke to you right now?”

Bang!

Eun-chae slammed her hand on the table, and her mother looked at her with wide, startled eyes.

“How could you just accept these things because she said they were gifts? Do you even know what these items are?”

“What are they? I picked them out at the department store. You don’t think Madam Cha would buy me fakes, would she?”

Her mother, completely clueless, retorted with an absurd question.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what? Are you worried I only got things for myself? I bought you something too. Here, your favorite brand.”

“Mom!”

Unable to hold back any longer, Eun-chae shouted. People’s attention turned to them, but she didn’t care.

“Hey, why is she shouting like that?”

“What Madam Cha did to me... How could you accept these things from her?”

“What are you talking about? What did that woman do?”

Tears welled up in Eun-chae’s eyes.

This was Madam Cha’s warning. A warning that she could encourage her mother’s overspending and push Eun-chae further into the abyss.

At the same time, it was as good as payment for the slap she had received on her cheek yesterday.

Her mother had received the price of her daughter’s bruised face in the form of a few luxury goods.

“Why? What is it? What happened between you and Madam Cha?”

Ignoring her mother’s question, Eun-chae lowered her head and took a deep breath.

Her tightly clenched fist turned white, the knuckles protruding sharply. Her fingernails dug painfully into her palm. She held back her tears and raised her head to look at her innocent-looking mother.

“Let’s go, we’ll miss the bus.”

Making up an excuse about the pre-booked bus time, Eun-chae stood up.

She felt like she would burst into tears if she talked any longer with her mother.

She couldn’t help but resent her for always doing things that stirred up trouble without any consideration.

“No! I came all the way to Seoul, I’m going to stay for a few days before going back.”

“I told you, there’s no bed.”

“It’s okay, I have these babies. Right now, I’d be happy even sleeping on the street.”

“Mom, please...”

“I am absolutely not going.”

Her mother pouted and said firmly.

Eun-chae’s desire to argue with her mother completely vanished. She sighed deeply and turned around.

“Let’s go together. Huh? Let’s go together.”

Her mother struggled to pick up the shopping bags, one on her shoulder and the others in both hands, and followed Eun-chae, who had already left the cafe.

Not wanting to touch those items even with a fingertip, Eun-chae pretended not to know her mother and hailed a taxi.

________________________________________

-The customer is unavailable, and the call will be forwarded to voicemail. After the tone...

“Damn it.”

Seok-kyung hung up the phone and tossed it onto the desk.

He was on the verge of going crazy because he hadn’t been able to reach Eun-chae for almost three days.

Where on earth had she disappeared to?

Instead of immediately embracing her when she came to him, he should have asked where she had been all this time, where she had gone, and how she had been living.

Damn.

A wave of nausea washed over him again.

“Secretary Won, Eun-chae is...”

Frustrated, Seok-kyung flung open the CEO’s office door, looking for Secretary Won, but he froze in his tracks.

Secretary Won, who was greeting Madam Cha who had just arrived at the office, looked at Seok-kyung at the same time.

With a look of great trouble on his face, Secretary Won looked back and forth between Seok-kyung and Madam Cha, swallowing hard, unsure of what to do.

“What brings you here?”

“I have something to say. Secretary Won, coffee for me.”

Madam Cha patted Seok-kyung’s shoulder and walked into the CEO’s office.

Seok-kyung slowly closed the office door and watched Madam Cha sit down on the sofa.

Inappropriately for a woman who had just held her husband’s funeral a few days ago, she was wearing a stark white suit. Her bright red lipstick and nails indicated that the mourning period was already over.

Secretary Won brought in a cup of drip coffee, placed it in front of Madam Cha, and left.

“What is it that you wanted to say?”

Seok-kyung returned to his desk, sat down, and asked, his eyes fixed on the monitor.

“Stop playing childish games and marry Joo-eun.”

Childish games.

Seok-kyung realized that the words referred to his relationship with Eun-chae.

“I barely managed to stop Joo-eun from going to your uncle and making herself your weakness.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?”

A vein popped out on Madam Cha’s forehead.

“Yes. It doesn’t matter. Inheriting Baedo Group is my mother’s dream, not mine.”

“What did you just say?”

With a shout, Madam Cha threw the coffee cup in front of her at Seok-kyung.

Seok-kyung didn’t dodge and was hit directly by the cup.

The hot coffee had already spilled onto the floor and desk as it flew, and only the ceramic cup hit his forehead before shattering on the floor.

A dull ringing sound echoed, and something warm flowed down his forehead.

Seeing his right vision turn red, he realized it wasn’t coffee, but blood.

“After all the hardship I endured in this family!”

Madam Cha, even more agitated by the sight of blood flowing from her son’s forehead, continued to raise her voice.

“Even if they didn’t give it to me, they’re giving Baedo Group to your father and you, so I’m helping you in every way, do you understand?”

Seok-kyung knew it all too well.

How his mother, who grew up in a poor family and met his father at a young age, had been treated by his in-laws.

How she had suffered all kinds of insults from her mother-in-law, Seok-kyung’s grandmother, because she couldn’t conceive easily, and had even been on the verge of being kicked out.

Fortunately, she maintained her marriage by having Seok-kyung, but that was it.

Because she was a poorly educated woman from a poor family, she didn’t receive any of the company shares, small subsidiaries, or even the management rights of the gallery that were gradually distributed to the other daughters-in-law.