Chapter – 56
A Truth That No Longer Matters
Eunhee could guess why Mijeong had summoned her under the pretext of paying the success fee.
She wanted to check Eunhee’s condition.
“I’ve… decided not to have the surgery.”
Eunhee bit down on her cracked lips.
At least the thick clothes hid how much weight she had lost. She didn’t want to gratify Mijeong by letting her witness, inch by inch, how her breath was fading.
The day after meeting Yeongchun, Eunhee had called the hospital and told them she wouldn’t undergo the operation.
She didn’t want to crumble under Mijeong’s threats—but she had no choice.
If Mijeong wielded Yeongchun as a weapon, Eunhee could do nothing.
Because of Eunji.
“Let’s be clear. Not having the surgery was entirely your decision, Ms. Sa Eunhee. I never told your father to refuse it. That was his choice—to save himself.”
No matter how hard she tried to hide it, it wasn’t easy. Sensing the resentment on Eunhee’s face, Mijeong twisted her lips and snapped back.
“And a petition to strip parental rights? What parent wouldn’t lose their mind over that?”
At this point, Eunhee had nothing left to lose.
She met Mijeong’s gaze calmly, her eyes unwavering.
“Someone must have told my father about it. And because of that… my younger sibling may end up bound to him, just like I was.”
After Yeongchun came looking for her, Eunhee returned home to find the house in shambles.
The only thing missing was the registered letter from the family court.
Her biological father, having heard from Mijeong that proceedings to revoke his parental rights were underway, had stormed in to confirm it himself.
While Eunhee was meeting Younghun, she had been under Mijeong’s surveillance.
It wouldn’t have been hard for Mijeong to notice.
“Oh, that? I assumed your father already knew. Sneaking around trying to abandon your parents—are you insane?”
“……”
“No matter how much you’re their child, would any parent feel like protecting someone who’s trying to discard them?”
At Mijeong’s sneer, Eunhee pressed her dry lips together.
It was all meaningless to argue now.
While the surgery had been delayed because of Mijeong’s interference, the tumor had begun spreading rapidly again.
“It’s already over. I won’t go looking for him again.”
But Mijeong didn’t withdraw her suspicious gaze.
She narrowed her eyes. The heavily mascaraed lashes cast sharp shadows beneath them.
“Fine. I’ll tell Attorney Lee to transfer the money. The contract ends here. Considering you altered the contract on your own, I should slap you across the face—but if you never show up in front of Cha Younghun again, I’ll let it go.”
Eunhee shut her eyes, recalling Mijeong’s threat to destroy Younghun.
Mijeong had been about to leave when she suddenly stopped, her black quilted leather bag slung over her shoulder.
“Well then, I’m busy, so—”
“Why… was it me?”
Eunhee spoke softly, her swollen lips parting.
Despite her exhausted body, her gaze was firm enough to make Mijeong flinch.
“Why did you choose me…?”
For a moment, Mijeong let out a hollow laugh.
“You still have the energy to wonder about that, even while you’re dying?”
“And you already knew… that I wouldn’t live long.”
“You’re finally starting to understand how things work. You think I’d offer that much money for no reason?”
“……”
“That money was the price of your life, Ms. Sa Eunhee.”
At that moment, Eunhee’s painful groan weighed heavily on the room.
She turned her gaze away briefly, trying to calm the nausea rising in her stomach.
The office—plastered with money—boasted a painting by a young artist so popular it was nearly impossible to obtain, and a porcelain vase by a craftsman who’d supposedly received a presidential commendation. They sat there, flaunting themselves.
Eunhee looked back at Mijeong’s beautiful face.
The face of a woman who had priced her life like a shopping item looked especially grotesque today.
“So… because I was going to die soon… you approached me?”
Used like a disposable tool, she was now waiting to be discarded, her usefulness exhausted.
“No.”
Mijeong denied it flatly. Eunhee’s lower eyelids trembled as she waited for what came next.
“It had to be you. Because only then would Cha Younghun fall for it.”
Eunhee’s face stiffened instantly.
She tried to process Mijeong’s words, but they made no sense.
“I was wondering how to screw Cha Younghun over. Then I heard the woman he liked was dying soon, and I thought—what a jackpot.”
“What… are you—”
“After everything you’ve seen, you still don’t know him? Do you really think he’d fall for just any woman?”
Mijeong shook her head in disgust. Seeing Eunhee still confused, she snapped irritably.
“Why am I even explaining this?”
She clicked her tongue and slung the bag back over her shoulder.
She’d barely taken a couple of steps when she was stopped again.
“I saw you… the two of you together.”
Mijeong halted, rolling her eyes, her brow creasing as if she didn’t know whom Eunhee meant.
“Who? Me? Me and Cha Younghun?”
“I went there. To Attorney Lee’s office.”
“Ha.”
Mijeong let out a deep sigh.
She’d only visited Dojin’s office once recently. Remembering the rough sex that day, she clenched her jaw.
“That was blackmail, wasn’t it?”
Their gazes collided—Eunhee’s calm and steady, Mijeong’s violently shaken.
“Attorney Lee was very worried about you because of that. Thanks to him, I was able to revise the contract.”
“What are you even talking about? Are you laying the groundwork to see Cha Younghun again?”
A weak laugh slipped past Eunhee’s lips.
Mijeong’s body had grown older, but her heart was stuck at an age even younger than her sibling’s.
Lee Dojin was trying, in his own way, to protect someone like her.
Would she ever realize his feelings? The thought crossed Eunhee’s mind.
“You still think you’re in love with Prosecutor Cha Younghun, don’t you?”
“Ha. What nonsense.”
“That’s why you want to have him—even if you have to destroy him.”
“Sa Eunhee.”
“And do you really think that’s love—”
“Hey!”
Mijeong hurled the bag she was holding.
It flew through the air, struck Eunhee’s face, and dropped to the floor.
Eunhee collapsed with a dull thud. Mijeong glared down at her viciously.
Eunhee’s face had shrunk to half its former size since the last time they’d met.
She was breathing like an athlete about to collapse after a full sprint.
To Mijeong, the sight of this dying woman acting so bold was almost laughable.
“Are you threatening to tattle to Cha Younghun? You think that’ll let you see him again? You two are pathetic.”
Mijeong snorted loudly, then opened a drawer and dumped the pile of USB drives Eunhee had handed over onto the desk.
“He’s probably watched all the copies I gave him by now. If you think you can explain that, go find him. Oh—but wait. I’ve got more.”
She opened another drawer, rummaging noisily. Eunhee quietly followed the frantic movement with her eyes.
Mijeong pulled out another USB, leaned back smugly, and said,
“Remember the bar where you two met?”
She slammed it onto the desk. Eunhee sucked in a trembling breath.
“The CCTV footage from that night. Want me to give you a preview of the gossip that’s about to rock the world?”
Eunhee’s face twisted in anguish.
A flood of ominous memories rushed through her—and her fear was well founded.
With a grotesque grin, Mijeong began to spill a horrifying story.
