Chapter 6
From the moment she learned of her mother’s unforgivable sin, every second of Eun-jae’s life had become hell.
Woo-kyung’s stepmother and Do-young’s wife, Oh Hye-joo, had been someone Eun-jae felt endlessly grateful and thankful toward.
“Since Eun-jae is the same age as our daughter, she’s so diligent, studies hard, and is really admirable. She’s pretty too. That’s why I want to take good care of her.”
Occasionally, Oh Hye-joo would give her clothes or food. During her school days, she covered the expensive school trip fees under the guise of a scholarship.
She even worked hard to ensure Eun-jae received a scholarship from the Do-young Welfare Foundation to cover the astronomical tuition of law school.
And even after learning that Woo-kyung and Eun-jae were in a serious relationship… she let it slide.
In a situation where she would have been perfectly justified in getting furious—how dare the lowly daughter of a housekeeper set her sights on her son—she didn’t.
“I’m not that old-fashioned, you know? Actually, I approve of you two.”
“Madam Chairwoman…”
“You know how it is. To me, Woo-kyung is no different from a son I gave birth to myself. As long as Woo-kyung is happy, that’s all that matters.”
Instead of anger, she offered warm comfort and consolation.
She told her there was no need to bow her head in guilt when she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I respected Woo-kyung when he gave up group succession to go to law school. If his choice this time is you, Eun-jae, then I’ll accept it.”
Oh Hye-joo had been Eun-jae’s shield.
Thanks to her, even though Eun-jae lived a poor life in a detached annex, she never once felt lacking.
To Eun-jae, Oh Hye-joo was someone she could never repay in her lifetime.
And yet… that very person’s husband and Eun-jae’s own mother—that is, the father and mother of the man she loved—had been in an improper relationship.
For years. Steadily. Deceiving everyone.
It was unbelievable, and at the same time, despair crashed over her like a wave.
Should she have suspected her mother earlier, when her spending habits suddenly grew lavish?
When her mother suddenly started buying earrings and necklaces and dressing up, Eun-jae had even cheered her on. Like a fool.
After the shock came a bone-chilling, aching despair.
The day she dropped out of the law school she had longed for so much—Eun-jae sobbed until she could barely breathe.
She hated herself for not being shameless enough to keep taking the scholarship from the Do-young Foundation while pretending not to know.
Naturally, she gave up on becoming a prosecutor—her dream, her goal. So easily. How absurd and empty it felt.
But no moment had ever been more painful than letting go of the most precious thing she had.
“Let’s just… end things here.”
The sparkling first love.
A one-sided love so natural she didn’t even know when it began—like breathing.
The miraculous man who understood her heart and became her lover.
The most beautiful and precious thing she owned. Her everything.
“I don’t love you anymore, oppa.”
She had to cut Baek Woo-kyung off.
Forcibly. Painfully. Miserably.
Her family had ruined his family. Her mother had hurt him.
How could she smile, hold his hand, and let him embrace her? She couldn’t. She shouldn’t.
After unilaterally declaring the breakup to Woo-kyung and fleeing the Do-young household with her mother, it was nothing but despair.
No sooner had they tried to start anew than her mother got scammed.
She fell for an acquaintance’s sweet talk about opening a side-dish shop, signed as a joint guarantor, and ended up shouldering the enormous debt the acquaintance had borrowed from a loan shark.
Her mother, unable to speak about it, suffered alone and eventually harbored dark thoughts. When Eun-jae barely managed to find out and stop her, she couldn’t even cry anymore.
To pay off the debt, she worked every part-time job she could find, and eventually applied to become a prosecutor’s investigator using the knowledge she had gained during her single semester of law school.
One thing after another piled up, and Eun-jae lost all vitality.
Just getting through each dry, lifeless day was exhausting.
“…Let’s stop talking about it, Mom. I’m tired.”
Eun-jae, who had been retracing those painful moments, let the strength drain from her first.
What was the point of recalling things that had already passed? It only hurt more.
“Okay… I’m sorry, Eun-jae. I promise I won’t fight anymore.”
Her mother shrank her shoulders, hair completely disheveled. She looked so pitiful that Eun-jae’s chest burned again.
No matter how terrible a thing her mother had done, she couldn’t abandon her only family.
Even if people pointed fingers and called her an illegitimate child, her mother had stubbornly raised her alone. She couldn’t bring herself to leave her.
So she decided to become the foolish daughter who would cover up her mother’s wrongs.
After leaving Woo-kyung, the only person left on her side was her mother.
“Ahh, starting tomorrow I need to find a job right away! Mom’s going to pay off all the debt quickly and get our Eun-jae married!”
Her mother, who had been cautiously watching Eun-jae’s softened expression, quickly linked arms with her.
The two walked deep into the alley and stopped in front of a small silver gate.
Beyond the gate, down half a flight of stairs, was the worn door that led to their home—mother and daughter’s little nest.
“Aigoo, home is the best.”
As soon as they entered, her mother flopped onto the bedding. She must have been very tense at the police station.
“…Mom.”
Eun-jae lay down beside her, staring at the yellowed ceiling before speaking.
“Once we pay off all the debt… shall we go live abroad?”
“That sounds wonderful to Mom! Where should we go? Which country?”
Listening to her mother’s bright, chattering voice full of hope, Eun-jae covered her eyes with her arm.
It had been an excessively exhausting day.
It had already been a week since she submitted the request for departmental transfer. But the awaited news never came.
Since the elevator incident, she had had no personal contact with Woo-kyung. That was fortunate.
In truth, it was peace she had obtained through tremendous effort.
During commuting hours, in the hallways, in front of meeting rooms—she did everything possible to avoid running into him.
Inside the office, she worked like a mouse, trying not to cause him the slightest annoyance.
Today too, she had diligently avoided Woo-kyung and managed to get through half of an ordinary day.
But the last schedule of the day inevitably required her to coordinate with him.
It was the full criminal team investigative report meeting presided over by the deputy chief prosecutor.
“Eun-jae!”
A welcome voice called out as she was heading to the meeting room.
“Ah, oops. We’re at work. Investigator Jung Eun-jae. Long time no see.”
From the far end of the corridor, Prosecutor Ahn Jin-hyuk approached with a bright smile.
“Hello, Prosecutor. How was your business trip?”
“Don’t even ask. A month-long long-term dispatch is not something a human should go through. Ugh.”
Belatedly checking their surroundings and switching to polite speech, Jin-hyuk was both her university senior and law school senior.
“It’s just the two of us. Relax.”
Jin-hyuk pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses, then noticed the mobile cart Eun-jae was pulling.
“Meeting materials? Give it here.”
“No, it’s okay. I can handle it.”
Ignoring her refusal, Jin-hyuk took the cart handle from her hand.
“But why didn’t you answer my calls? I even adjusted for the Korean time difference on purpose.”
“Ah… I’m sorry. Was something urgent?”
“I heard Baek Woo-kyung came to our district office. And as your direct superior, no less.”
He lowered his voice and leaned in close.
“I was so dumbfounded I called you. Also, I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Baek Woo-kyung and Ahn Jin-hyuk, who were in the same law school class, had never gotten along.
Because Woo-kyung had never once lost the top spot, Jin-hyuk had always been second.
“Are you okay? How are you going to handle that crazy bastard’s temper?”
Fortunately, Jin-hyuk had no idea that Eun-jae and Woo-kyung had been deeply involved. That allowed her to brush it off calmly.
“I’m… fine.”
“Why did that annoying jerk suddenly crawl back to Korea instead of staying planted in America? Do you know anything?”
Right. As far as Eun-jae knew, he had been serving as an exchange prosecutor in the U.S. and was scheduled to enter a doctoral program at law school.
So why had he suddenly returned to Korea?
It was a question she had momentarily forgotten amid the shock of the sudden reunion and her mother’s incident.
“…I’m not sure. I don’t know either.”
“Well, yeah. That stiff wooden block of a guy probably wouldn’t bother having a real conversation with you anyway.”
After that, they exchanged various trivial topics—mostly Jin-hyuk talking while Eun-jae listened.
As she started to feel tired from the endless conversation and turned the corner—
“…!”
She came face to face with Woo-kyung, standing there like a massive wall.
“Oh? Perfect timing. Hey, Baek Prosecutor. I heard you transferred to Criminal Division 1?”
Dressed impeccably in a dark gray suit with a vest, he alternated his gaze between Eun-jae and Jin-hyuk.
Normally, his expression was impassive with just a hint of arrogance as default.
But today, the jet-black eyes looking at the two of them carried an unmistakably threatening glint.
“You should at least greet an old classmate when you see one—”
“What is it.”
Completely brushing off Jin-hyuk’s complaint, he gestured with his chin toward the cart piled high with materials—almost as tall as Eun-jae’s torso.
His narrowed eyes were clearly filled with displeasure.
