Chapter 32
“I’ll Raise Him Myself”
Everyone’s attention turned to Hye-won the moment her sudden confession ended. Then their gazes naturally shifted toward Gi-seok.
Confused, Gi-seok raged, calling her statement absurd and nonsensical, but under Chairman Kwak’s intimidating presence, he had no choice but to remain silent.
Regardless, Hye-won continued speaking.
“At that time, I was just a powerless junior secretary. Moreover, I had only recently learned that I was pregnant with Jio. I was afraid of losing my child, so I had no choice but to leave.”
As she revealed the truth she had hidden so carefully, she felt relieved, yet for some reason tears welled up in her eyes.
Hye-won lifted her head, trying to hold back her tears. There were still things she needed to say.
“I don’t know whether you will believe my words in this situation, but I resolved never to appear in front of Director Shin-woo again when I left. In fact, I did not appear for the past seven years.”
“Does that mean you have another reason for standing in front of our Shin-woo now?”
As a leader who had led a company for many years, Chairman Kwak had sharp insight.
Hye-won nodded and added,
“Yes. I moved dozens of times over the years, but I discovered that someone was continuously monitoring my child and me. In a situation where I didn’t know what kind of threat the other party might pose, I judged that I couldn’t protect my child with my own strength alone. That’s why I came to Shin-woo.”
Looking back at the past life where Jio had died, nothing seemed out of place—his death had been treated as a perfect accident.
That meant someone must have been tracking Jio and her movements very closely. That was her inference.
Shin-woo still said nothing.
She was slightly worried that he might feel hurt because she hadn’t told him in advance, but her priority was to persuade Chairman Kwak.
Before she could add anything else, Se-ye-na interrupted.
“What she’s saying is that as long as the child is safe, that’s all she cares about! I’ll raise him! I can raise him well! So please keep our engagement going, Chairman!”
“No. I’ll say it again. I have no intention of maintaining this engagement. Especially not with any woman other than Hye-won.”
Shin-woo’s firm rejection made Se-ye-na rush out of the Hannan-dong residence with a wounded expression.
Gi-seok again emphasized the union between MTC Media and them, trying to push Shin-woo and Yena’s engagement, but Shin-woo dismissed it, saying that continuing the engagement was meaningless since the child’s existence was already known externally.
As Shin-woo and Gi-seok’s voices grew louder in confrontation, Chairman Kwak, unable to tolerate the scene any longer, shouted,
“Both of you, stop! Shin-woo, bring Assistant Yun and verify once again whether that child is truly your son.”
As soon as she entered the house, Se-ye-na stormed into her room and began throwing whatever she could grab—starting with her bag.
“Aaah! Kwak Shin-woo!”
The sounds of objects hitting the wall and breaking mixed with Se-ye-na’s screaming, creating a chaotic noise.
Startled by the sudden commotion, Yoo Ji-hyun ran into Yena’s room.
“Oh my, what is all this about!”
Understanding that a proud, strong-willed child had been publicly humiliated, Ji-hyun hugged Yena, who was in a mess, and stroked her face.
“Let me go! Let me go!”
“Yena, stop! Get a hold of yourself! Are you going to fall apart just because of one secretary!”
At Ji-hyun’s shout, Se-ye-na collapsed onto the floor and burst into tears.
“Then what am I supposed to do! That bitch stole Shin-woo oppa right in front of me!”
“What do you mean, what should you do? Just forget her! It’s not like Kwak Shin-woo is the only man in the world. Why are you making such a fuss?”
“To me, Kwak Shin-woo is the only one!”
Wiping tears with the back of her hand, Yena shouted angrily.
She had always believed that only the best was meaningful, and that applied to men as well.
As far as she knew, the best man was Kwak Shin-woo.
But she couldn’t believe that some lowly secretary who came from nowhere had taken that man away and even secretly given birth to a child.
What made her even angrier was Hye-won’s lie.
Hye-won had said she had a husband and a child, which made Yena believe that she would never be involved with Shin-woo.
She had relaxed her guard without any doubt—only to be stabbed in the back like this.
Se-ye-na trembled all over with resentment.
“I will never let you go, Lee Hye-won!”
“That girl, seriously! Watch your words!”
Yena’s screams startled her father, Chairman Seo, who entered the room.
Approaching Yena immediately, he wiped the tears from her eyes and said firmly,
“Forget him.”
“Dad!”
“Why would you, with nothing lacking, marry a man who already has a child? I didn’t like that stiff young man anyway. This is rather fortunate. Opportunities like this don’t come again, so just get what you can and pick another son-in-law.”
“For example, the second son of Myeongjin Construction or the grandson of Shinjin Food.”
At her father’s added words, Se-ye-na glared at him with contempt.
She wondered if her father knew about the second son of Myeongjin Construction’s womanizing reputation or that the Shinjin Food grandson had recently married.
If she said that she was attracted to Shin-woo because he was different from her father, what kind of expression would that face make?
Holding back a hollow laugh, Yena thought about her useless, greedy father.
“I don’t want to. I will never marry anyone except Shin-woo oppa!”
At Yena’s firm answer, Chairman Seo’s already short patience exploded.
“Why did you choose someone who hates you so much! How are you going to take that position? You can’t remove that woman and child either!”
After saying that, Chairman Seo left the room.
‘…Yes! If those two disappear……!’
Suddenly, a dark thought flashed in Se-ye-na’s eyes.
In the end, the only one she could rely on was Gi-seok, who believed she was his daughter.
Yena quickly sent Ji-hyun out and closed the door.
Then she opened her bag and began searching for her phone.
An eerie smile spread across her now-brightened face.
Hye-won felt both physically and mentally exhausted.
Thinking that the day was very long, she put Jio into the car.
Shin-woo stayed behind in Hannan-dong to finish some remaining business.
He said nothing about what happened today except telling her to go home first with Secretary Im.
‘He must be angry.’
If she had explained the reason she had to leave when they first reunited, would things have been different?
But even if she went back to that day, she felt she still wouldn’t be able to speak.
He would not seriously listen to words that slandered his family after meeting an ex-lover after seven years.
Hye-won tried to comfort herself by thinking that she had done well and shifted her thoughts elsewhere.
Things were probably chaotic by now.
Hye-won took out her phone and opened a portal site.
As expected, the first page of the social section was filled with articles about the Reim family and MTC Media’s broken engagement.
The provocative headlines made her frown.
[Reim Group third-generation strategy planning director Kwak Shin-woo has a hidden son? Will MTC Media accept the broken engagement?]
[Sudden engagement cancellation — what happened to the Reim family?]
The article content even included absurd speculation, creating a complete mess.
The opportunity to take Yena’s position as she wished was not bad as the beginning of revenge, but since comments insulting her and Jio were lined up under every article, she could not hide her complicated feelings.
She could endure criticism about herself as much as needed, but seeing comments attacking Jio made her heart ache.
‘In the eyes of people who don’t know the circumstances, Jio and I will look like immoral people.’
The only good thing was that Yena and Shin-woo’s breakup meant that Jio’s death had also moved further away in the timeline.
Of course, it was impossible to know what Se-ye-na, who bore resentment over the broken engagement with Shin-woo, might do…
If something happened to Jio right now, she would be highly suspected, so Yena would not be able to act carelessly.
‘Still, just in case, I must be careful, very careful.’
Hye-won gently stroked Jio’s hand, trying to push away her worries.
Ensuring Jio’s absolute safety was the priority. To do that, she would first need Shin-woo’s permission to marry him.
