Chapter 118

"Chae Mu-Seok's father wanted to convalesce in France, so that woman moved into our house as soon as his parents left the country." Perhaps thinking about that day still made Kang Hye-Min feel sick - she clenched her teeth and continued.

"We weren't living with my in-laws, but it seemed like the woman had been walking on eggshells, trying to be cautious. Back then, I truly thought that Woo-Ra was your daughter. Every week when Woo-Ra said she was going to see her mother...I never imagined her mother would be that woman."

When that woman suddenly barged into their house, she had kicked Kang Hye-Min out of the master bedroom. When Kang Hye-Min first saw her, Kang Hye-Min wondered what that woman was doing in her house because she was a very famous actress.

"You've been occupying someone else's room up until now, so you should be behaving yourself."

That was what the woman had told her when Kang Hye-Min said she would call the police. What was even more ridiculous was that all the employees at home knew who that woman was and treated her with the utmost respect.

As soon as the shocked Kang Hye-Min called her husband, he seemed to be clueless about it. At first, he was so flustered to the point that she could sense it over the phone. That woman had acted on her own accord. After Chae Mu-Seok got home, before entering the master bedroom, he told Kang Hye-Min, 'Now that things have come to this point, you just have to understand'. Kang Hye-Min tried to follow him into the room, but the woman blocked her.

"This is our room. You can't enter it."

"What are you talking about! This is our room, we're married. You're the one who has to leave!"

"Tsk, tsk - it has been our room for a very long time. Our Woo-Ra was conceived on the bed in that room, you know."

Seeing how she spoke in such a dignified manner without the slightest hint of embarrassment, Kang Hye-Min was dumbfounded. She even boasted to Kang Hye-Min about how they had a longer history. After all, that woman had been using the bedroom since Chae Mu-Seok's first wife went to stay at her parents' house during her second pregnancy because of her severe morning sickness.

"We'll be living in the same house from now on, so I hope we get along."

That woman shook Kang Hye-Min's fingers half-heartedly and proudly entered the master bedroom. Kang Hye-Min couldn't bring herself to go after her.

The next day, that woman redecorated the master bedroom, and Kang Hye-Min's items were relocated to another room. Kang Hye-Min did her best to raise Woo-Ra because she didn't want to be viewed as the stereotypical stepmother. However, as soon as Woo-Ra saw that woman, she went 'Mom~! Are we living together now?' and jumped for joy. Kang Hye-Min tried to clarify the situation and questioned Chae Mu-Seok, but all she received was an indifferent response.

"Instead of whining about it in such an undignified manner, we can just get a divorce if you can't stand it."

Chae Mu-Seok then proceeded to compare Kang Hye-Min with his ex-wife, Park Eun-Soo. He commented 'Indeed, a person's upbringing shapes that way they act,' and clicked his tongue. Afterward, he said that just because he had gotten a divorce once, it didn't mean he couldn't do it again and that he'd do whatever she wanted.

"You'll do whatever I want? In that case, kick her out of this house...our house."

She added that if Chae Mu-Seok did that, she wouldn't care what they did outside. Upon hearing that, Chae Mu-Seok laughed out loud.

"You're the only person in this house who acts as you please. Ever since you came to this house, was there anyone else apart from you who could act as they pleased?"

That was the moment when she realized why this man had chosen to marry her. That was the same with his in-laws as well. They knew their son so well that they were sure he would never change. Kang Hye-Min was the best candidate to marry their son.

Someone as perfect as his first wife had no reason to tolerate and continue living with Chae Mu-Seok. Kang Hye-Min was the perfect candidate - there wasn't that big of a social difference but she would keep quiet and put up with it even if she was treated with disrespect. As a reward for her obedience, her father was able to become the president of the university. The moment Kang Hye-Min and Chae Mu-Seok finalized their divorce, her father was fired for being involved in a corruption scandal.

"I put up with it for three more years, but that was my limit. In exchange for leaving Woo-Young behind, I received a huge sum of alimony." Nevertheless, she believed that since Chae Mu-Seok loved his son a lot, that woman wouldn't be able to treat Chae Woo-Young badly. Kang Hye-Min also thought it would be better for her son to stay and become the Chae family's heir instead of leaving with her.

"With regards to being an heir... Did you not think about what would happen if that woman were to give birth to a son?"

It was silly of her to expect something like unconditional paternal love from Chae Mu-Seok. It would've been more comforting for her if he was someone who had a patriarchal mindset and only loved and treasured sons. However, Chae Mu-Seok was simply obsessed with the idea of having only one son and that only his son could carry on the family name.

"He got the surgery done after Woo-Young was born. He said he didn't need any more children." He had two sons and two daughters; he was considered to have accomplished an amazing feat in his family compared to the past few generations by having so many children. Park Eun-Soo finally understood what Kang Hye-Min was trying to say and nodded.

"I heard that both of them fought about it. That woman wanted to have more children... obviously. But he said this: 'Judging from Woo-Ra's behavior, I can tell what kind of children you'll give me. Even if you give birth to ten children, it's pointless,' and turned her down."

Even though both of them seemed to love each other a lot, they had a difference of opinion. And Kang Hye-Min learned that Chae Mu-Seok had no respect for anyone - not even that woman.

"So, assuring myself with that, I divorced him and left Woo-Young in his care..." As she looked back to the past, Kang Hye-Min suddenly started crying. Park Eun-Soo held her hand tightly with both hands because as a mother, she could feel it in her heart that the death of one's own child was unimaginably painful.

"After the divorce, I never heard from them ever again. I only knew he had remarried and had a son." That was why Park Eun-Soo was relieved as she learned that that man would no longer have any lingering attachment to Woo-Jin. She was suddenly no longer at risk of losing him. A few years ago, Park Eun-Soo had run into that woman at the department store and found out that Chae Mu-Seok had gotten a divorce once again and the two of them finally got married.

"However, I was shocked to hear Woo-Ra say she was an only child on TV last year. I knew he had another child, so I was confused and decided to look into it..." After watching TV Star, Park Eun-Soo investigated the matter to clear her doubts and found out that Chae Woo-Young died in an accident two years ago.

As soon as Park Eun-Soo found out about it, she halted both the process of changing the children's last name, as well as the adoption process. Her children could change their last names without the consent of their father, but that was not the case for adoption. Additionally, there were even incidents where the biological father raised an objection to changing the last name and thus, it was reversed.

Right now, Chae Mu-Seok hadn't thought about Woo-Jin yet. There was no way that woman would let that happen. Under such circumstances, there was no need to draw his attention to them and create unnecessary trouble. Additionally, now that Park Eun-Soo had mended her relationship with her father, she didn't have to worry too much about legal issues, but there was no reason to wake a sleeping dog. That woman was also doing all she could to prevent it from happening, so it was best for them to stay silent until her wishes come true.

"I don't know what to say to console you." Park Eun-Soo patted the back of Kang Hye-Min's hand and tried to comfort her while feeling sad. As someone who was once terrified of losing her child, Park Eun-Soo never wanted to experience the feeling of losing a child forever.

"That woman must have killed Woo-Young!"

"That can't be true." Park Eun-Soo comforted Kang Hye-Min, telling her it was just her own speculation. If that had been the case, there was no way Chae Mu-Seok wouldn't have known, and he would never forgive her. However, Kang Hye-Min shook her head vigorously.

"No, you have no idea how much of a terrible human being she is. You should be careful too." Kang Hye-Min held Park Eun-Soo's hands tightly as she trembled with anger.

"I may seem like an insane woman, but there's nothing wrong with being careful. No one knows what she's capable of doing...when she doesn't get what she wants. She's the type of person who does things without thinking and disregarding the consequences. She doesn't care about dealing with the aftermath or taking responsibility. The only thing that motivates her is greed."

Kang Hye-Min struggled to calm herself down; her hands were shaking so much that Park Eun-Soo could feel it even though she was sitting across from her. Park Eun-Soo started to get emotional as well, and that woman's face came to mind. Even though that woman was shameless and audacious, she couldn't break Park Eun-Soo. She had tried a couple of times but to no avail. Ultimately, all she could do was to be sarcastic and pick fights with her.

Perhaps, that was the reason why Park Eun-Soo thought of her as nothing more than a pathetic person. And that was probably a generous evaluation after taking into account the satisfactory life that she was living right now. If she were in Kang Hye-Min's shoes, would she be able to remain this calm? Knowing that the answer was no, she understood where Kang Hye-Min's sadness and anger came from.

However, such anger and speculation took a toll on Kang Hye-Min's mind and was bad for her body. Hence, Park Eun-Soo tried to think of ways to calm her down and comfort her, but she couldn't come up with anything, so she had no choice but to stay silent. At times like these, it was better to lend a listening ear than to come up with something lame just for the sake of consoling her.

"I wanted to be like you."

"...?"

"I wanted to be a proud and dignified mother like you, so I worked really hard... while looking forward to the day when I could live with Woo-Young..."

While Kang Hye-Min was preparing for the divorce, she went to dig for information about Park Eun-Soo. She wanted to know how Park Eun-Soo had managed to get custody of her children after divorcing Chae Mu-Seok. Initially, when Kang Hye-Min looked at Park Eun-Soo's family background, she thought it was only natural for Park Eun-Soo to be able to do so with her family's backing. Since she came from a family of legal professionals, Kang Hye-Min thought Park Eun-Soo would have been able to brazenly take her children with her and walk away from Chae Mu-Seok.

However, Kang Hye-Min was shocked to learn that Park Eun-Soo had severed ties with her parents because of the divorce. She was also shocked to find out Park Eun-Soo was living in a jeonse-based [1] rental house with her son and daughter, while living a difficult life. That would have been her future if she got a divorce and took custody of Woo-Young.

At that time, Kang Hye-Min's resentment towards her parents who were vehemently opposing her divorce lessened. She could even understand them a bit - even Park Eun-Soo's family was against her divorce with Chae Mu-Seok, let alone my parents. So she didn't hate them any longer.

Even though Kang Hye-Min admired Park Eun-Soo, she couldn't follow in her footsteps. Kang Hye-Min couldn't turn down Chae Mu-Seok's alimony, and she didn't have the confidence to live alone with her son without anybody's help, like Park Eun-Soo did. Kang Hye-Min asserted that it was better for Woo-Young to live with his father and become his heir, but in reality, she was scared. She knew she had nothing to offer her son because of her incompetence. She was used to a life of luxury, so she didn't have the courage to go back to her old life.

"If I had lived with Woo-Young even though we were poor...would we be happy now?" Nobody could answer Kang Hye-Min's question. There wasn't a conclusive answer to a hypothetical situation. There was no way Park Eun-Soo could answer something that even God didn't know the answer to.

"Because you are different from me...I hope you will protect your son..." That was the reason why she followed Park Eun-Soo blindly after seeing her by chance. Park Eun-Soo had taken a different path, and Kang Hye-Min hoped that she would reach a different ending. She wished her departed son's older brother and sister would live a healthy and happy life.

Kang Hye-Min had imagined all the different possible scenarios pertaining to the past and future. Right now, they were just pointless 'what if's' to Kang Hye-Min. The future she had dreamed about had been crushed two years ago.

1. Jeonse is a housing rental system in Korea where instead of paying a monthly rent to a landlord, a large lump-sum payment is deposited for the duration of the contract, which is usually between 50% and 70% of the property's value and is returned to the tenant in full after two years. ☜