episode_0100

I had been a coward my entire life.

Looking back, I felt like I had lived as a coward who had to humbly accept even physical abuse from those around me.

Meeting the partner I would spend my entire life with was, by all means, a perfect coincidence.

Running late to university, I met someone by chance at a crosswalk who ended up taking me to school, and that person turned out to be the second-generation heir of a chaebol family – it was truly a repertoire that would only appear in dramas.

To cut a long story short, I quickly married him.

Because he was in a hurry, our dating period was short, and we had a child quickly, so I had to take a leave of absence from the university I had struggled to get into, eventually dropping out.

Nevertheless, I was happy.

But the happiness I defined wasn’t merely because my husband’s family had an excessive amount of money, or because I garnered envy and jealousy from others.

It was because my husband was truly devoted to me, and I felt loved.

Though they were born out of a shotgun wedding, the children born after much pain were so beautiful that I could literally put them in my eyes, and I felt like I could do anything for them, which made me immerse myself in this happy married life.

However, being the daughter-in-law of a chaebol family was no easy task.

Even without a harsh father-in-law or the extreme drama seen on TV, simply staying quiet at home was enough for unsettling news to frequently reach me from outside, shaking my world.

That was none other than the news of my husband’s infidelity.

Occasionally, very occasionally, external media outlets pointed out that his private life was extremely impure.

Of course, my husband desperately explained himself whenever such unsavory rumors surfaced.

He would get irritably angry, grieve about why our family had to endure such things, then tightly grasp my hand, comforting me to endure it together.

What was I to do?

I hesitated and pondered quite a bit over the unsettling rumors, but I decided to completely believe him.

Honestly, even with a housekeeper, taking care of four children was time-consuming, so I didn’t even have time to seriously listen to such stories.

I simply recalled the happy dating days with my husband and covered it up for the sake of our growing, adorable children.

But even after this, the impure rumors never ceased.

The rumors, which rushed in like waves whenever there was an opening, stirred and shook my heart.

So, they accumulated and accumulated until, unable to bear it, I had no choice but to ask seriously for the second time.

After trying to endure it somehow, when Doyeon, our only son, was entering his upper elementary years, I had a serious discussion with my husband.

It was then that I received a huge shock in my life.

『I’ve been by your side all this time, and you still believe those trashy rumors instead of me?』

That sentence itself wasn’t wrong.

But the tone he used towards his seriously questioning wife… was one of extreme annoyance, like shooing away a fly.

After that, my husband’s excuses became increasingly insincere.

No, he didn’t outright deny it, and he even beat around the bush, as if admitting it was partly factual.

Nevertheless, he firmly asserted that it was not infidelity.

Entertaining clients was purely for business purposes, he said, clicking his tongue, claiming that reporters had nothing better to do than spread rumors.

Before I knew it, the once gentle man had become the stern face of a large corporation chairman, and his involvement in family matters was limited to occasionally favoring our youngest, Soeun, by giving her pocket money and playing with her.

‘Since when… did his face become so stern?’

Looking back, even the diverse expressions he used to show me had vanished.

I felt like I could close my eyes right now and recall him from our university days, shy in front of me, but somehow, he had changed so much.

My husband was at the company.

And I lived for our children at home, but because of this lifestyle, we grew apart even while living closest to each other.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and that separation solidified.

That was when it happened.

I tried my best to endure the uncomfortable confrontation, but this time, an undeniable truth, like hail, struck me.

Another rumor, hinting at infidelity, shook my heart.

The problem was that in this scandal—my own younger sibling was involved.

Not just some bar girl, but my husband was rumored to be having an affair with my own sibling.

This was truly an unavoidable checkmate.

If it had really gone so far as to involve my sibling, it was the worst scandal imaginable.

Tremble, tremble, tremble…

But I was a coward.

It had become a habit; I was a coward who couldn’t come out of her shell until the very end.

One phone call could end everything.

I could finally uncover the elusive truth about my husband, but I didn’t even have the courage to call my sibling.

I was afraid that if I witnessed the truth, it would become real.

I didn’t want our current life with the children to turn into chaos, I wasn’t confident I could endure the truth, and I had no will to resolve it even if I knew.

So, I covered it up.

By this point, it felt like I knew enough, yet I busied myself with raising my son and daughter, who hadn’t even gone to university yet, blinding myself.

In the end, I even turned away from a major incident that was absolutely unavoidable.

However, as if being punished for my habit of running away. After this, the situation around me began to change strangely.

『Can you hear me? Madam, the Chairman suddenly collapsed! Please hurry to ○○ Hospital…』

To my disbelief, my husband collapsed in the bathroom.

After using the restroom, for some unknown reason, he fell and hit the back of his head on the toilet bowl’s edge. He was discovered late by the chauffeur, and since some time had passed, his condition rapidly worsened.

My husband’s condition was critical, and he underwent emergency surgery as soon as he arrived at the hospital.

However, as if abandoned by the heavens, it was unsuccessful.

My husband, who had amassed vast wealth with the force to swallow the world, but now had limited time remaining… with trembling hands, he wrote his will and distributed his assets for the last time.

It was a will written on the spot, as he saw fit.

Thud.

Then he was gone.

My husband, who had dedicated his entire life to the company, passed away so emptily that life felt futile.

This was the belated punishment.

The punishment our gradually diverging couple had to receive.

The company, having lost its central figure, my husband, rapidly collapsed.

Furthermore, due to the hastily written will, disputes among the children naturally became difficult, and even our household became uncontrollable.

Of course, there was a way to fix it.

Through the will, my husband had given me full authority to control the traffic (business dealings), so I just needed to wield it.

‘I’ve lived as a housewife for half my life, how can I suddenly manage a company…?’

But it was impossible.

Managing the company, and mediating the already sharply contentious disputes among the children, was too much for me.

Especially the latter; beyond being impossible, I had no desire to get involved in my children’s quarrels and mediate.

As I mentioned repeatedly, I was a coward.

My husband, who had always been out and about, lost the sky-high prestige of the company.

Conversely, I, who had become accustomed to a passive life hidden behind my husband, could not stop my children’s cutthroat struggles.

At this point, I was mentally and physically exhausted.

I tried my best to prevent family division, stepping forward, but failed repeatedly.

In the end, at this age, I wandered, not knowing what was right or what the correct action was.

The darkness grew, with no answer in sight.

But just then… a ray of light descended upon me.

『Yes. This quarter’s performance is expected to exceed expectations, surpassing a 437% breakthrough, and…』

Doyeon had changed strangely, as if struck by lightning.

One could describe it as turning over a new leaf, but from my perspective, it just seemed strange.

He still pursued women excessively.

He was still arrogant and swaggered around.

But belatedly, he unleashed his hidden talents, and thanks to that, even on the internet, which used to be filled with insults about him, people were gradually acknowledging his abilities.

Even when the company was fragmented as if he was expelled by his sisters, he independently achieved success, proudly showing off his performance.

Before long, he even absorbed the second child’s capital, and astonishingly, he even convinced the hot-headed second child to say nothing.

My child, who had changed suspiciously.

『Don’t worry, Mom. Family is precious to me too.』

Doyeon even took care of my position as if he had become a superhuman.

He didn’t make empty promises with these words; he genuinely brought the family together, making us close like a harmonious family.

That was what helped me regain my composure when my heart was about to collapse.

The troublemaker, from whom I had no expectations, followed his father’s footsteps and became my reliable pillar.

“Mmm…?”

Is that why?

Perhaps because I finally let my guard down, today I had this dream while sleeping.

‘Is this… Seongtaek-ssi…?’

A scent came from the man above me.

It was a scent very similar to my husband’s.

A scent I had secretly missed since his passing.

Indeed, that’s right.

Even if I secretly resented my husband for the rampant rumors, I still leaned on him.

Although a distance had grown after his insincere excuses, my time still seemed to be stuck in the fresh days when he confessed to me, and I seemed to rely on those insincere excuses.

Because I, a coward who often hid in her shell, needed someone to reliably support me.

‘Am I so lonely… that I’m even having a dream like this?’

A shameful position, nestled in a man’s arms, I couldn’t remember when I had last been like this.

This vivid sensation, for a dream.

‘Something… is very different, though…’

Unlike him, the man in front of me had very sturdy muscles.

And the hard object that stood erect and touched *that place* of mine was large for Seongtaek-ssi, but…

‘Is it because it’s a dream…♥’

I considered it a dream.

I figured it was a dream, so the fantasies I wanted to see were added to it more than reality.

*Smack, smack*♥

“Mmm… Seongtaek-ssi…♥”

So, still in the dream, I embraced him.

I let him kiss me on the cheek and cling to me.

For the first time in a long time, caught between semi-consciousness and the alcohol intoxication on my lips, I hugged him tightly, feeling his increased weight.

*Squeeze, squiiish-*

“Ang. Aaaang…”

I was embraced.

For the first time in a long time, I was pleasantly embraced by my husband in a dream♥