episode_0029

“Now, from here on, it’s more of my own tailored conjecture than a deduction based on clues, Auntie.”

Jung Chaewon slammed the table repeatedly, venting her frustration over the dark past that had been brought up again.

Though it was made of wood, it had been varnished, and as it was such a sturdy, high-quality piece, only Auntie’s wrist hurt.

However, as if such trivial pain meant nothing, she perked up her ears and listened intently to what this person was saying.

“First, as I mentioned earlier, my father—Cha Seongtaek—distanced himself from Auntie once the scandal mounted.

He would have used money to silence those around him, and instead of meeting Auntie ever again, he would have continuously provided her with living expenses… or perhaps, in addition to that, he might have even added threats to silence her.”

“……”

“After that, Auntie felt a great sense of loss, but since she had secured the promise of continuous financial support, she remained silent.

…But here, another significant variable comes into play.”

Ahem, after clearing his throat,

“Cha Seongtaek, the group’s chairman, passed away due to a sudden illness.”

Life is a continuous series of unpredictable twists.

Flip one more page of a thick book, and something immense awaits.

From Auntie’s perspective, it must have been confusion itself, as if she were dreaming.

The hateful man who had embraced her, claiming to love her, only to cut ties when the scandal was exposed, had now returned with news of his obituary.

Her mind must have struggled to process what action to take.

Only Auntie would have known how she felt at the time.

“What were you thinking back then, Auntie?”

So, when asked directly,

“………Should I speak politely, or tell you as it is?”

At the question, she ground her teeth, then,

“…Still, since you’re my nephew, I’ll show a little courtesy.

Of course, I thought he got what he deserved, that son of a bitch in a wolf’s skin! When they said he died of a heart attack, I wanted to piss on his grave!”

So she said.

Contrary to her warning that she would speak politely, profanity abounded, but it was likely a restrained expression nonetheless.

What would it feel like when a magnate who controlled South Korea, once a reliable lover, turned into an enemy?

Given Cha Seongtaek’s personality, surveillance to prevent contact with Jung Sooran would have been basic, and he would have probably wanted to completely remove the source of trouble.

He must have shaken the other person’s mental state so strongly that it might have seemed like he was encouraging suicide.

Jung Chaewon’s tragedy was that the man she fell for at a young age was a businessman thoroughly buried in cold, hard calculations.

The more Auntie dwelled on the past, the more venom filled her, turning her into a ghost-like figure.

She stared intently at her face, then, as if she saw a ghost from the past, her lips twitched upwards towards him.

“Did it feel like shit to hear me badmouth your dad to your face?”

“I wonder?”

After looking at the corner of the room filled with liquor bottles,

“This person doesn’t have much deep paternal affection either.

After listening, I think I’m going to side with you, Auntie.”

“!”

After hearing a story like this, there was no intention of forcibly defending Cha Seongtaek just because he was family.

Anyway, the core essence currently occupying this body isn’t his real child.

“More importantly, why did you end up staying cooped up at home even after that?

Since Father is dead, isn’t it time to be active now?”

At that, Auntie’s eyes grew even dimmer.

She hesitated, as if there was even worse news remaining.

“…First, it’s all as you said.

After your father died, the money that was supposed to be long-term support for my silence just disappeared. And you know I wasn’t even mentioned in his will, as expected, right?”

Hah, after sighing,

“By relation, he was at best just an uncle, so I didn’t expect much, but it truly felt like I was a lost duckling in the Nakdong River, treated as if I didn’t exist at all.”

“……”

“My daily life had already completely fallen apart.

If I continued like that, I’d stay at the bottom, so I tried to step out, even if it meant covering myself in filth, using the old scandal as an excuse.”

Just recalling that time made her choke up, coughing heavily.

She bit her thumb, as if even imagining who she met brought on overwhelming anxiety and nervousness.

“If it wasn’t for Cha Seonmi, that bitch from hell….”

‘Ah….’

As soon as he heard the name, he inwardly gasped.

It made perfect sense immediately.

With just that name, it was obvious how things must have unfolded.

If it was his eldest sister, she would have blocked any element harmful to the company at its source.

Just as she tried to remove even her own biological brother like a flea, she would have judged Auntie, tainted by unpleasant rumors, as a risk factor among those trying to get a share of the group’s wealth.

Furthermore, at the time, she was in a position to inherit the most of her father’s estate, so there would have been nothing to stop her.

She must have applied even stronger pressure than Father, preventing her from uttering a single word about the past.

It was all too easy to imagine a scenario where her pride was crushed without a single penny to her name.

“And then…”

“? Besides Seonmi noona, who else did you meet?”

She fell into thought.

She gazed into space, deep in thought, then timidly veered off topic, as if she didn’t want to recall something.

“…It’s nothing.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. Now you know why I slammed the door in your face, right?”

“Well, I guess….”

Auntie, who was ruined by Father and then badly burned once again by a daughter as calculatingly shrewd as that man.

He felt sympathy.

Because this person could easily sympathize with the feeling of a shrimp caught between whales.

Nevertheless, Auntie also needed to keep in mind that she herself was intoxicated by the taste of money.

The time that had passed since those major incidents was, looking back, quite long.

She originally had the capital and time to regain her composure.

The fact that she was still treading water was simply because Jung Chaewon couldn’t abandon her many desires.

Since her university days, or perhaps even earlier, Jung Chaewon had learned about the convenience, violence, and luxury that money offered through Cha Seongtaek, which is why she couldn’t escape this isolated, vanity-filled life.

It was all revealed in her quick acceptance when he offered the luxury bag.

A smirk.

Therefore, Auntie could be used.

He would propose a solution to this poor woman, who was utterly broken and entangled in unfortunate events.

“Alright.

Auntie, since you’ve laid everything bare, let’s work on something together, shall we?”

“………Work?”

“It’s simple. Let’s get revenge together.”

At that, she let out a snort.

“Are you going to piss on your old man’s grave too? Well… I guess you were also an abandoned child, weren’t you?”

“I was indeed an abandoned child due to the idiotic things I’ve done so far… but trivial revenge like pissing on the deceased is just a waste of time.”

After calmly accepting it, he immediately added his true objective.

“Revenge on the dead, like ‘digging up graves and whipping corpses,’ is meaningless, so why don’t we get revenge on the living?”

“The living…?”

To Auntie, who wore a bewildered expression, he revealed three characters of a name.

The name of the person she must already be cursing in her heart.

“Jung Sooran. In other words—let’s work together to ruin my mother.”

She was startled the moment she heard it.

Like fake madness encountering real madness, Auntie flinched.

With her sister’s name suddenly brought up, she seemed embarrassed and averted her gaze.

“Oh, all sorts of trashy things were done by your father.

Why suddenly my sister’s name….”

“Since we’ve come this far, let’s speak frankly.

I already know everything. That Auntie is insanely jealous of Mother.”

“……”

Her face flushed with resentment at how accurately he pinpointed every single detail.

It was simple.

There was a reason for mentioning the name of Jung Sooran, who was alive, rather than the deceased Cha Seongtaek at first.

Because, looking at the major events from Jung Chaewon’s perspective and piecing them together, it was clear that after Cha Seongtaek’s death, her unchanneled rage would have been directed at one of two parties.

One was the children of Hwaryeong Group, who still lived ostentatiously in Korea.

The other was her sister, the mother of those children, who still lived as the wife of a conglomerate chairman.

Jung Sooran knew nothing about the affair connecting her sister and her husband.

That’s why this would fuel even more hatred in Auntie’s eyes.

Because the sister she once liked and followed still regarded Cha Seongtaek only as a wise husband.

She must have found it repulsive that her sister idolized Cha Seongtaek, completely unaware of the other side of her own husband.

Though she herself had once enjoyed money and secret rendezvous with her brother-in-law, humans are fundamentally selfish beings who only consider their own position.

Moreover, her sister’s current life was a complete contrast to her own.

Her sister, living elegantly, owning splendid hotels, and herself, having lost everything and living miserably cooped up at home.

A hawk soaring freely in a glide versus a falcon in a cage that has forgotten how to fly.

“What… are you going to do?”

“It seems you’re interested.”

Behind his mask, he smiled victoriously.

Because he was on the verge of obtaining Auntie, a truly excellent card, for free.

The enemy of my enemy is my ally.

After being ousted this time, he had learned something very valuable from Cha Seonmi.

Rustle, rustle…

“The story will be long, so I’ll leave a business card.”

“? You’re not going to talk about it now?”

“If you are genuinely interested, come directly to the company.

Because right now, Auntie, it seems you need to wash up and tidy your surroundings first.”

“……”

He gave her a knowing look, glancing around the messy room.

He widened the distance they had been narrowing by half a step again.

A full hawk does not hunt.

When it’s famished like now, that’s the perfect time to make it hunt.

“By the way, I’m no longer Hwaryeong Group.”

“?! What, what?”

“I decided to go independent due to internal circumstances. The signboard hasn’t changed yet, though.”

It seems she had been living in seclusion, not even watching the news.

It was essential for her to stop her recluse-like existence and tidy up her surroundings.

“Contrary to Auntie’s imagination that the children would live in luxury, it’s quite fierce here too.

In a way, perhaps our goal isn’t just to target Mother, but also to collapse Hwaryeong together.”

“Collapse Hwaryeong…?”

Her lips twitched faintly as she savored the words.

Fwoosh, a second passion welled up in her eyes.

She now had the kind of face that would come to the company even if he tried to stop her.

This was enough, so he stood up.

As he conveyed that she didn’t need to see him out, Auntie asked one last thing.

“You, are you really Cha Doyeon?”

“Huh?”

“You’re so different from my childhood memories and the rumors going around… Was your mind always that sharp?”

Auntie looked at him skeptically.

At that, he casually shrugged it off.

“What are you talking about? Anyone can see I’m your cute nephew.”

* * *

Woof! Woof!

“Woof! Woof!”

“…What are you doing?”

After the long conversation, as he stepped out into the yard, Woo Miae was crouched in front of a wildly wagging dog.

The moment she heard his voice, she sprang to her feet, brushed off her clothes, and turned around with an impassive expression.

“The conversation ended faster than I thought?”

“Did it? I thought it took about two hours.

…More importantly, what were you doing in front of the dog?”

“It’s a relief it ended quickly. I’ll call the car for the next schedule.”

“No, the main business today was here, so there’s no need to rush…

More importantly, you were definitely barking ‘Woof! Woof!’, weren’t you?”

“I sent a text.

It’s parked in a nearby parking lot, so it should arrive in 3 minutes. Shall I escort you out to the main gate?”

Woo Miae forcibly changed the subject.

As she tried to pass it off as if it never happened until the very end, he approached her with a face full of teasing intent.

He tidied her hair, which had fallen forward as she bent down to avoid having to make excuses.

‘Seems she likes dogs? Enough to talk with them?’

“……”

Miae, finally speechless.

Soon after, she shyly blushed and replied as if protesting.

“Could there truly be anyone who dislikes that cute symbol of loyalty?”

A dog lover.

Upon discovering Woo Miae’s hidden side, he smoothly put an arm around her waist.

After patting the cute bitch’s backside, he lightly pressed his lips against hers.

“Ah… Young Master♥”

He agreed.

It’s fine to raise as many loyal bitches as he pleased to hunt with him.

He was willing to raise them in his pen, as many as he wished.

+ + +

She showered.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t washed before, but she washed everything away in the icy cold water of winter.

It felt refreshing.

More than her body, her scattered, messy mind was tidied.

Into her life, which had been bogged down, vitality returned, and a new goal was etched.

Creeeak!

When she turned off the faucet, her true face was finally reflected in the bathroom mirror.

As a faint smile blossomed on a face that had only known a blank expression, she muttered a sinister monologue.

“Yes, Big Sister also needs to experience the bitterness of the world….”

Coming out, she tidied her house.

As her nephew had mentioned, each time she cleaned, it felt like she was breaking free from the past.