Chapter 12
“The doctor said it will still take some time,” I answered. Who would’ve thought that as soon as she heard that, she exploded in anger over the phone: “Still going to take some time? How long has it been since you last came home! Living outside costs money!”
“Mom, isn’t it because you wouldn’t let me live at home…”
“Stop saying that! Today you go and find that doctor again and have him check you. If you still can’t get better, then hurry up and divorce our Yu Jin! And don’t talk about getting pregnant or not— with your illness, even if you did get pregnant it wouldn’t turn out well anyway!” With that, she immediately hung up.
When I heard that, I actually felt amused. This was basically the final notice. If I fooled her one more time with that infectious disease diagnosis, she’d definitely force me to get divorced.
When the time comes and they start talking about bride price money, well, I never took any bride price. Whoever took it can deal with it. And I would finally be able to leave that disgusting place. Even if I don’t get married again, I refuse to stay under the same roof with those people.
Thinking of this, I suddenly felt excited. After work, I headed straight to the hospital, planning to get another diagnosis slip to show my mother-in-law.
As soon as that doctor saw me again, he greeted me warmly.
“How is it? Did the medicine I gave you last time help?”
I smiled at him and said, “Doctor, my skin condition still hasn’t gotten better. It’s actually spreading more. Could you give me some more medicine?”
“Of course, let me take a look.” The doctor held my wrist and started speaking seriously. The office door wasn’t closed, and a few patients were walking past outside, but none of them looked inside. Taking the chance, I slipped a red envelope to him under the desk. Then I lifted my phone and turned on the recording.
The doctor withdrew his hand, frowned, and said to me, “Your condition is still unstable. You absolutely must avoid contact with too many people. It’s contagious, and highly contagious at that. It won’t be fatal, but it seriously affects daily life. It’ll probably still take quite a while to recover, so you should just stay home and rest in isolation for now.”
As he spoke, he wrote me another diagnosis slip and prescribed the same medicine as last time. I nodded, took the papers, and headed out. Just then, I saw a woman standing at the door, then hurriedly walking off to the other side in panic, her high heels wobbling. Somehow, her back looked familiar. Those heels looked exactly like the pair I’d seen at the Yu house that day.
But I didn’t think too much of it. I turned away and happily left the hospital.
Because I didn’t want to seem too eager, I didn’t take the initiative to tell the old lady. I figured I’d wait a few days until she asked me herself.
But before the old lady even called, two days later when I returned to my rented place, I found Yu Jin sitting at my door. I froze, then immediately tried to run. But the moment he saw me, he lunged at me like a vicious dog. He grabbed me, took the keys out of my bag with his other hand, opened the door, and dragged me inside.
At first, I struggled, but then he simply grabbed me by the hair and dragged me forward. I was scared of the pain and didn’t dare move, then he threw me onto the bed. He didn’t say a single word, just glared at me viciously, like he wanted to kill me. I almost thought he’d pull out a knife the next second and stab me to death like a madman.
I was afraid, but couldn’t speak. He suddenly pressed down on me, pinning my arms so hard I thought they’d break. Then he used his other hand to undo my belt. Panic surged through me and I struggled desperately.
“What the hell are you doing!”
“Doing you. Isn’t it obvious?”
