Do Jun couldn’t take his eyes off Ga Eun’s face as she exposed Ja Young Fashion’s corruption on stage today.
His heart raced at her charismatic appearance, which he had never seen before. She seemed to shine brightly, as if a radiant light was emanating from her face.
Her voice conveyed affection and pride for her work and the clothes she designed. Seeing this unfamiliar side of her, Do Jun felt strong curiosity and interest, as if meeting her for the first time today.
Ga Eun’s heart wavered briefly at Do Jun’s confession. It was what she had desperately wanted to hear for 3 years.
But her feelings for Do Jun had already burned to ashes. There was no way her love could be rekindled.
She recalled Do Jun’s indifferent face when he heard her confession before losing his memory and gave no response.
“I don’t like you.”
Ga Eun cut off Do Jun’s feelings with those brief words. She added no excuses or apologies.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll come to like me too.”
For a moment, Do Jun’s gaze wavered upon hearing Ga Eun’s words. But he quickly regained his arrogant look.
Ga Eun’s heart raced for an instant at Do Jun’s provocation, as if she couldn’t breathe. But then she thought of Tae Yang. Her heated heart cooled down again.
“I don’t have time to indulge your whims.”
Though unintended, Ga Eun ended up throwing Do Jun’s own words back at him. Even after hearing such cutting words, Do Jun maintained a relaxed expression.
“Of course you should react that way.”
Ga Eun’s gaze wavered at Do Jun’s unexpected response.
“I’ll be the one to beg.”
His arrogant voice etched into her heart. It was an answer completely unlike Ji Do Jun.
Oh Jipsa already knew about my pregnancy, and Ji Do Jun would find out soon as well.
Just as Ga Eun was about to speak, her phone rang loudly. When she didn’t answer, Do Jun snatched the phone from her hand and answered it himself.
“What’s the matter?”
Hearing Do Jun’s voice instead of Ga Eun’s, a flustered voice came through the receiver.
[Where’s the young lady? Why are you answering?]Do Jun showed no intention of handing the phone to Ga Eun.
“She’s next to me. Tell me.”
Ga Eun’s in-laws still didn’t know about her accident or memory loss. She had been deliberately avoiding their calls.
[If you’re together, you should come home today.]Do Jun’s expression was nonchalant, as if he already knew why his mother was calling for Ga Eun.
“Alright.”
Only after hanging up did Do Jun return the phone to Ga Eun.
“You’ve been avoiding their calls on purpose, I see. It’s better to face the music with me around.”
Do Jun changed the destination with the driver.
“To the mansion.”
Ga Eun felt her chest tighten at the thought of meeting her mother-in-law Kang Ji Ae. Deceiving her would be too difficult for Ga Eun.
Kang Ji Ae was not a woman who easily revealed her true feelings. Moreover, she didn’t trust people easily.
Ga Eun wasn’t confident she could fool her mother-in-law Kang Ji Ae too. Seeing Ga Eun’s expression darken, Do Jun asked her:
“Was it written in your diary that you didn’t get along with your mother-in-law?”
Do Jun’s provocation snapped Ga Eun back to attention. She quickly hid her true feelings.
“I didn’t get along with my mother-in-law? Why?”
Ga Eun widened her eyes and stared directly at Do Jun, as if she knew nothing.
“Because no one meets mother’s approval.”
Ga Eun clearly recalled the hardships she endured from Kang Ji Ae. She treated Ga Eun like a cleaning staff at the mansion.
Making excuses that the staff were on vacation, she had Ga Eun single-handedly clean the large mansion.
“If you have nothing else to offer, you should at least use your body. You know how much Shin Oh Group invested in your company, don’t you?”
At the time, Ga Eun couldn’t say a word to her mother-in-law. Fearing her identity as not World Group’s real daughter would be exposed, she felt her chest tighten every time she encountered her.
“Why is she calling me?”
Ga Eun wondered if her mother-in-law was summoning her about today’s fashion show. She hoped Do Jun might know his mother’s true intentions.
“I don’t know either.”
Ga Eun couldn’t understand how Do Jun treated his own mother like a stranger. Her expectation that he would be cold to others but warm to family quickly shattered.
“She’s your mother, Ji Do Jun.”
In her urgency, Ga Eun ended up revealing her true thoughts to Do Jun. As the car stopped at a signal, Do Jun’s gaze shifted to Ga Eun’s face.
“She’s my stepmother.”
This was the first time Ga Eun had heard this since marrying Do Jun. When he uttered the word “mother,” a sharp, bitter emotion seemed to flash in his eyes.
“I didn’t know because of my memory loss…”
Ga Eun emphasized her amnesia in front of Do Jun to hide her true feelings.
“I’ve never told you this before.”
Do Jun spoke as if what he just said was nothing, like he was talking about someone else. In that moment, Ga Eun sensed layers of loneliness. She knew well how difficult it was to grow up with a stepmother.
“If you’re not enchanted by my face, you can stop staring and get out.”
The car had arrived at the mansion’s front gate. Since getting married, the times Ga Eun had entered through this gate with Do Jun could be counted on one hand.
Behind Do Jun, her mother-in-law Ji Ae would call Ga Eun separately to make her life difficult. And Ga Eun had never told Do Jun about this.
As soon as Ga Eun stepped inside, her legs felt weak, as if she had entered another world.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let her treat you badly anymore.”
Ga Eun was startled by Do Jun’s sudden words.
‘Did he know everything all along? If he knew, why didn’t he protect me?’
As old memories surfaced, Ga Eun felt resentment towards him rising again.
Her mother-in-law Kang Ji Ae was a woman who knew very well how much Ga Eun loved Ji Do Jun.
As if loving someone was a crime, Ga Eun had to endure shame every time she came to her in-laws’ house. As they approached the front door, Do Jun took Ga Eun’s hand as her steps slowed.
“You know how preciously I treat what’s mine.”
Ga Eun couldn’t understand why Do Jun was saying this now. But she could grasp the meaning behind his words.
As if there was an invisible line, Ga Eun couldn’t get close to Do Jun even when living in the same house. Moreover, she wasn’t allowed to touch his belongings carelessly.
The first time Ji Do Jun got angry at Ga Eun was when she cleaned his study out of goodwill.
“Why did you touch my things without permission?”
Ga Eun’s hands trembled at his ice-cold, firm voice.
“I’m sorry. I just…”
Before Ga Eun could finish, Do Jun cut her off.
“I’d appreciate if you didn’t touch my things from now on.”
As the past memory surfaced, Ga Eun’s hands turned cold. She pulled her hand away from Do Jun’s grasp. As they entered the front door, Ji Ae approached Ga Eun as if she had been waiting.
“It’s hard to see your face even once, young lady.”
Mother-in-law Kang Ji Ae’s words always carried sharp thorns. She leisurely uttered heart-piercing words in an elegant voice.
“Why did you call for her?”
Do Jun stepped in front of Ga Eun and asked Ji Ae.
“Does there need to be a reason to come home? I called you to have a meal together.”
As if to prove her words, a savory sesame oil aroma wafted from the kitchen.
“When have we ever sat at the table and eaten a cozy meal together?”
There was a chill in Do Jun’s attitude towards Ji Ae. Ga Eun, standing quietly in the middle, didn’t know how to treat Ji Ae.
She wondered whether to bow her head as before, or act confidently pretending to have lost her memory.
Ga Eun studied Ji Ae’s face. A faint smile used to appear at the corners of her mouth when she caught someone’s weakness.
Ga Eun became certain that she might already know about her memory loss. Though it wasn’t meant to be kept secret from the in-laws, Do Jun seemed to want his mother to find out about Ga Eun’s situation as late as possible.
“Shouldn’t we tell the in-laws about this situation?”
When Ga Eun first brought up the in-laws, Do Jun’s gaze turned cold.
“You just worry about yourself. I’ll handle my family.”
Is he worried I might become his disgrace?
Or is it because the situation is difficult to explain?
Ga Eun pondered alone, but found it hard to gauge Do Jun’s intentions. She could only tell that Do Jun wanted to hide her amnesia from his family as much as possible.
“Thank you. I should have helped prepare the food, but I’ve been busy lately.”
Ga Eun approached Ji Ae in a friendly manner, as if she had never experienced mistreatment from her.
“Let’s eat first.”
The two followed Ji Ae to the dining table. There was too much food laid out for just three people. Ga Eun, whose morning sickness had subsided a bit, felt her appetite return at the sight of the food before her.
Ga Eun picked up her chopsticks and started eating before Do Jun. A slow smile spread across Ji Ae’s lips at Ga Eun’s completely different attitude.
Do Jun reluctantly picked up his chopsticks too, but didn’t touch anything. When the meal was nearly over, Kang Ji Ae slowly brought up her main point.
“I heard you ruined Ja Young’s fashion show, young lady?”
Hearing her stepmother’s words, Ga Eun felt her chest tighten as if the food was stuck. She quickly drank some water and confidently replied to her words.
“Has the rumor already spread that far?”
Seeing Ga Eun’s different expression and tone, Ji Ae seemed certain of the rumors she had heard.
“I suppose the rumor about your amnesia is true as well.”
Ga Eun had no intention of backing down from her mother-in-law Ji Ae, unlike before.
The thought that she would soon be divorced made her feel she no longer needed to bow her head to Ji Ae. There was only one reason Ga Eun had endured the shame Ji Ae gave her.
She thought she was the birth mother of the man she loved.
Ga Eun looked straight into Ji Ae’s eyes and spoke casually.
“Yes. I hope you can be more understanding of me, mother.”
______
In This Life, I Won’t Be Foolish To Lose You Again (Female-dominant)
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]