64. Even Now

Back at the funeral hall, when Haerin had struck him and pushed him away, Soohyun had thought that once she got over the grief of losing her sibling, she would look at him again.

He had thought it was just because she was so angry. With her sibling’s death and Chairman Park’s outburst, he had figured she might not be in her right mind.

He repeated to himself several times that it was an understandable situation.

Haerin’s fists, relentlessly pounding him, didn’t hurt in the slightest. The small fists held in her delicate hands were merely gestures of defiance, causing no real harm.

What hurt were her words and her gaze.

The words that dismissed him without a trace of acknowledgment felt like they were scraping away at his heart. In her resentful words towards Soohyun, there was no hint of lingering affection.

He was the one who had so desperately wanted things to turn out this way, the one who had led her while intentionally inflicting pain.

But now that he was facing it, he didn’t know what to do.

He was surprised that Haerin was capable of such an expression, but he couldn’t get used to the sight of her face distorted with contempt and hatred, glaring at him without any restraint.

Even while meeting her eyes, he couldn’t believe it.

Conversely, the thought that Haerin might have faced such an expression of his every day made his chest feel like it was about to burst. Yet, she had smiled at him, while Soohyun couldn’t bring himself to smile.

Intellectually, he understood, but his heart wouldn’t accept it.

His heart was crumbling, the ground beneath his feet was collapsing, and he couldn’t make any expression.

He even wondered if the things he had intentionally done to hurt and pain her, believing it was for her own good, were what had led to this, and his heart tore.

‘I just want you to disappear from my sight.’

Just thinking about it felt like a knife slicing across his chest.

‘I’m sick of you all. I’m sick of Taesung. Please, just leave me alone!’

Haerin had said ‘you all’. Soohyun felt wronged.

You all?

It felt unfair that those words lumped Chairman Park and him together. If only he had a chance to explain, but until the day of the funeral procession, Soohyun didn’t get the opportunity to go to her side.

Because she had become overly sensitive whenever she saw him, even though she was pregnant, he had kept out of sight until the day of the procession. He had quietly helped from behind, looking for an opening, but he hadn’t stepped forward.

Once her grief subsided, she might even apologize to him. Yoon Haerin was that kind of woman.

It didn’t occur to Soohyun that Haerin would dare to leave him.

Even if she was angry now, he was certain that she would realize later, upon careful consideration. As long as she was carrying his child, Soohyun’s protection was absolutely necessary.

Soohyun, who had followed Haerin to the columbarium from dawn on the day of the procession, was lost in such thoughts.

His indifferent gaze lingered at his feet before moving towards the entrance of the columbarium.

He couldn’t call and ask when she would come out, so he kept his car parked and his eyes fixed on the entrance.

He didn’t want to give her even a moment to think of anything else after the funeral. After all, after everything was over, Yoon Haerin’s only place to return to would be his home.

And he had no doubt that that home was where she would stay with Soohyun.

His gaze, which had been fixed on the entrance, naturally shifted to the people going in and out of the columbarium.

People wailing, people holding back tears, people with calm, expressionless faces.

The area in front of the building was a space where various kinds of sorrow floated. The columbarium, standing against the gloomy weather, looked desolate.

After waiting for a long time, when Haerin came out of the building, Soohyun straightened his posture and looked at her.

Here, I’ve been waiting for you, he looked at her with desperate eyes.

________________________________________

Barely a few days after hearing she was pregnant, he heard that she might miscarry.

He had barely held Haerin’s gaunt hand when, regaining her senses, Haerin rejected Soohyun once again. Because of Haerin’s frantic screaming, Soohyun had no choice but to be kicked out of the hospital room.

Despite commuting daily to the hospital where Haerin was admitted, a journey of nearly two hours from Seoul, Haerin didn’t even give him a chance to show his sincerity.

In the end, Soohyun had no choice but to entrust everything to Secretary Seok.

“Please.”

On the day Secretary Seok arrived at the hospital, Soohyun bowed deeply to him. If Chairman Park was plotting something, the only people who could dissuade him were Secretary Seok and his father.

“For the time being, you don’t need to worry about Madam’s safety.”

Secretary Seok, who had met with Chairman Park, conveyed the atmosphere at the main family residence.

Chairman Park, who had collapsed in front of Haerin that day, had not yet regained consciousness.

“I don’t know what Chairman went through that day, but his condition is very poor.”

“To what extent?”

“They say he’s barely sleeping, and the attending physician says it seems he’s not taking his nerve medication as prescribed.”

“Hmm...”

It wasn’t recent that Chairman Park was arbitrarily overdosing on his prescribed medication. However, none of his children had stopped him, and the only news was that Taehoon occasionally expressed his concern cautiously.

Now, Soohyun’s task became even clearer.

There were things to take care of before Chairman Park was diagnosed with a loss of judgment. Soohyun first asked Secretary Seok for the attending physician’s opinion.

“What did the attending physician say about the Chairman’s condition?”

Secretary Seok already knew Soohyun’s intention in asking, even without detailed explanation.

“He said that he’s fine for now, but he cautiously mentioned that the Chairman seems to be experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations. If he reaches a state where he can’t make sound judgments, as you know...”

“We’ll need to discuss voting rights and power of attorney.”

“Yes. It would be best if Vice Chairman Jung Taehoon were appointed as the legal guardian, but family agreement would take precedence.”

“The time has come to present the gift I’ve been preparing for so long.”

At the end of his words, Soohyun wore a bitter smile. Finally, the end of everything was in sight.

“Please be careful until the very end.”

“Yes. We’ll be able to finish this quickly and decisively.”

After exchanging one last look with Secretary Seok, Soohyun gazed at the tightly closed hospital room door. Secretary Seok, giving a slight nod as a farewell, opened the door and went inside.

Through the opening and closing door, Soohyun saw Haerin sitting on the hospital bed.

‘I’ll be right there. Just wait a little longer. By then, I hope your sadness will have lessened...’

Thump.

But even long after the door closed, Soohyun stood there.

Revenge.

He had to go and achieve what he had so desperately longed for, but his feet wouldn’t easily move.

________________________________________

In the few days after returning to the company, Soohyun was busy handling the backlog of work he had neglected while staying at the funeral hall. In addition to that, he had to review all sorts of data detailing the corruption and scandals of the Taesung family.

These were things that Soohyun and Taehoon had meticulously collected over the past ten years.

The more he looked, the more appalling it became. Putting aside business matters, it was a household where it was difficult to find even one person who was morally sound.

The cousins whom Chairman Park had forced into arranged marriages were all having affairs, and there were countless people who were freely misappropriating company funds for personal use.

No, in fact, there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t doing so.

They were all just like Park Yoon-hwa, the head of the family, outwardly criticizing their grandmother but inwardly living in the exact same way.

What was laughable was that the incompetent children, who hadn’t learned Park Yoon-hwa’s management skills, had only learned his tyranny. Listing their offenses, they all deserved to rot in prison for more than ten years.

They might have moved meticulously, using nominee accounts and siphoning money overseas to avoid leaving traces in their own way, but if the tail is long, it’s bound to get stepped on.

Soohyun’s hand, which had been passing over the documents, stopped on one photograph.

It was a picture of his cousin Daeho and Im Seyoung entering and leaving a hotel.

‘...’

Frowning as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, Soohyun abruptly threw the stack of documents he was holding onto the desk.

Everything he had prepared was proceeding smoothly without a single hitch.

He should have been overflowing with joy, but he wasn’t happy in the slightest.

They were already unpleasant relatives, but seeing the data made him feel even more disgusted. It was also true that their ugly behind-the-scenes actions weren’t a pretty sight.

Soohyun pulled at the tie around his neck, loosening it.

Beyond feeling good or bad, everything just felt empty.

He had lived his life countless times imagining how it would feel to complete his revenge. It had been the sole purpose of his life. But from the moment Haerin had pushed him away, nothing he held in his hands felt important anymore.

Beep.

The cell phone on his desk flashed.

As soon as he answered, Chief Choi reported urgently after a brief greeting.

-President, Madam is on her way to the Hannam-dong residence.

Hearing that Haerin had been discharged from the hospital and was going straight to Hannam-dong, a smile spread across Soohyun’s lips.

That’s right. Yoon Haerin wouldn’t abandon me.

Soohyun hurriedly jumped up from his seat. It was time to see his wife’s face after a long absence from home.

In the car heading home, Soohyun repeatedly rehearsed the words he would say to her today. He was going to properly comfort her about her sibling’s death and tell her that he was willing to accept the child if that’s what she wanted.

The child.

Yes, it was a variable that Soohyun had never considered in his life, but now nothing else mattered.

If Haerin couldn’t give up, then he would have no choice but to give up himself. If the child was the only means to tie the two of them together, then Soohyun thought he had to abandon what he had stubbornly insisted on.

He had instantly abandoned thoughts he had never been persuaded to change by anyone, but he didn’t care in the slightest.

Haerin, my wife.

The most important thing was to use every means to bind her to him.

No sooner had the car arrived than Soohyun forcefully flung open the front door. Seeing a pair of Haerin’s shoes placed at the entrance, he first let out a sigh of relief.

She had returned.

Hurrying inside, he saw Haerin just as she was coming down the stairs.

But something was strange. Haerin was holding a travel bag in her hand. It was the same bag she had brought with her on the day she first came to this house.

“Haerin-ah!”

Calling his wife’s name, he went to her in an instant.

Soohyun was flustered by the unexpected situation. And as he met Haerin’s gaze looking up at him, he lost his words.

It wasn’t the face he had been expecting.