Arriving at the emergency room, Serin could see one female police officer and one male police officer in front of a curtained emergency room bed.
“Are you Ms. Baek Serin from Sungwon Group?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“By any chance, what is your relationship with Seo Jiwon?”
“Before that, please tell me about Seo Jiwon’s condition first.”
Unexpectedly charismatic, when Serin spoke, the police officers hesitated for a moment. Then the female police officer took a step forward and opened her mouth.
“She’s in a severely beaten state, and… it seems like she has been sexually assaulted.”
The last words were whispered as if for Serin’s ears only.
“My family is in the province, but when Seo Jiwon is conscious, her family emphasized several times that she must meet Baek Serin from Sungwon Group. That’s why we had no choice but to contact you through the secretary’s office. However, we still don’t know why Seo Jiwon found Baek Serin in this situation.”
Even without looking at the situation, Serin could guess what the policewoman was talking about.
“I think I can answer that.”
“Yes?”
“I know the person who made Seo Jiwon like that. So, I think that’s why she asked me to come.”
In the end, everything exploded. Despite the warning to run away.
“For now, can we check Seo Jiwon’s condition first?”
“Yes. We’ll wait outside.”
After the police left, Serin approached the curtain. Then Taehoon, who had followed without knowing what was happening, grabbed her wrist. It seemed that he was very confused about the situation he had followed her into.
“It’s Minhyung’s doing. I’ll explain later.”
He let go of her wrist and took a step back. Although he said he would explain later, there was no need for an explanation on his face.
Just the name Minhyung was enough for him to understand.
As they pulled the curtain aside and entered, they saw Seo Jiwon lying as if dead.
Seeing the absurd state, Serin inhaled a breath of anger. Blood rushed through her veins, stimulating her heartbeat.
At that moment, she genuinely doubted whether what a person had done was right.
However, at that moment, Seo Jiwon wriggled and opened her eyes. In one eye, blood vessels burst, making it difficult to meet her gaze with the reddened eye.
Jiwon looked at her and raised the hand that was receiving medical treatment.
Serin firmly grasped that hand.
Fortunately, warmth was transmitted.
“You were right. I should have… I should have run away from that beast that day.”
Seo Jiwon, who ignored her warning, shed tears.
“You knew, didn’t you? That something like this would eventually happen.”
“It’s my fault. I should have warned you more strongly.”
“No. I told you enough for you to understand. I just plugged my ears and only heard what I wanted to hear.”
Jiwon’s voice sounded hoarse, like pieces of iron rolling in her throat. But Serin’s mouth felt sandy, too, as if she had bitten into sand.
It felt like her fault.
She couldn’t catch that crazy rascal and let him loose in the world, which was her fault.
“I’m sorry. For calling you so suddenly. But I couldn’t think of anyone else. The front is distant, and my mind is swinging back and forth, but only you came to my mind.”
It was really like that.
As if Baek Serin’s thoughts were the only escape from the hell created by Jominhyung, the only one.
“There are police officers outside. Looks like the doctors reported it.”
“Yes, I know. But even if that jerk committed a clear crime, I know too well that somehow he’ll find a way to escape, just like he has until now.”
Though unjust, Jiwon understood the workings of this world well enough to properly grasp reality.
That’s why she had come to the hospital instead of the police station and asked for a sexual assault examination. However, considering her past relationship with Jo Minhyung, such evidence could be distorted.
To exert power without distorting evidence, she needed enough strength.
The problem was that Jiwon didn’t have that kind of strength.
Her image, already ruined several years ago, might ironically become a disadvantage, giving Jo Minhyung the upper hand.
It seemed to be the case.
Even in such a distant situation, even in a situation where everything was dark, the reason was that only her face came to mind.
Baek Serin of Sungwon Group, she was a woman with enough power.
After Serin left, Jiwon searched for information about her on the internet. However, Serin’s actions were different enough to rule out her being Minhyung’s ex-fiancée.
Korea’s Top Rookie Female Power! Top Female Executive!
She, called the Iron Lady, entered the hotel industry and changed the landscape. Articles were full of praise as if watching the epic of new female power. Truly remarkable.
How on earth did such a woman get involved with a guy like Jo Minhyung was beyond understanding.
Jiwon uncomfortably propped herself up on the bed. Then she grabbed Serin’s hand as if it were her lifeline.
“So, help me a bit. I… can’t live like this. I want to see that jerk pay for his crimes.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“I know. It won’t be easy. Because he’s such a powerful guy.”
“No, what I mean is… I’m talking about Seo Jiwon’s perspective.”
For a moment, Jiwon’s eyes widened.
It was the first time. Someone was considering her perspective first.
“To catch Jo Minhyung, we need to expose Ms. Jiwon’s vulnerabilities.”
“…….”
“You might never be able to return to the entertainment industry. But… would that be okay?”
At Serin’s words, Jiwon chewed on her burst lips. The taste of bitter blood was felt in her mouth. Nevertheless, Jiwon couldn’t stop gnawing at her own lips.
To survive, she had to become vicious, and to rise, she had to become toxic.
While others pointed fingers at such Jiwon, she didn’t care. So, if she could climb back to normal, Jiwon could sell even her soul.
But now, those past days were starting to be painfully regrettable.
Except for the scars trampled and defeated by a human like Jo Minhyung, there was nothing left in her life.
There was no more retreat.
And she was okay without a future.
As she lived and breathed now, if she could only escape from this hell created by Jo Minhyung, she could risk everything.
“Yes. Even now, I have no future. So… I just want to live in the present.”
In response to Jiwon’s resolute determination, which was firm enough to make blood ooze from her lips, Serin nodded.
“Well then, I can… walk that path with you.”
On the thorny path that would bleed and become covered in wounds, Jiwon obtained the most reliable support in the world. However, in this desperate situation, she was curious about how they would break through and move forward.
“I know that I’m in a very disadvantageous situation. Also, the fact that our country’s laws are extremely lenient in cases like this.”
“That’s right. Even if you want to legally punish Jo Minhyung, it’s not only difficult to prove, but the punishment itself is much lighter compared to the suffering Ms. Jiwon has endured. And in the worst case, it might fail. Then Jo Minhyung will once again break through the legal system and confidently walk out.”
“Then… what do you plan to do?”
In response to Jiwon’s question, Serin answered hesitantly.
“I’m thinking of using the reputation I’ve built up until now.”
As someone who had searched her name, Jiwon could understand too well what that meant.
A power strong enough to turn falsehood into truth.
“I will confine everything about that jerk in my name.”
That was the power of her reputation.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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