Large eyes, distinctly bright brown sparkling pupils.

When Taeein imagined how this child would look when grown up, tears unknowingly welled up. Was it because Ari was even more on his mind? Because she was the child of his father and mother, in other words, his sister?

“Where is this child? What happened?”

Taeein interrogated the woman.

“I really don’t know. Please believe me.”

The woman choked up.

“Think carefully; those people won’t protect you.”

Under Nokhyun’s chilly tone, the woman pursed her lips.

“Someone comes to pay respects once or twice a month.”

Perhaps it was Joyoungkap.

The woman spoke again, glancing around.

“That person took her away.”

Does Seohonggyu know too? Or did the siblings Jo Youngmi and Jo Youngkap plan this without Seohonggyu knowing?

“All I know is this, please send her back.”

The woman pleaded with clasped hands.

“Stop bothering, figure out what happened here.”

At Taeein’s words, Ikeung let go of the woman.

“Thank you for finding our mom, I’ll take care of things here, so you should go.”

Taeein calmly organized the situation.

“No, I’ll stay here.”

“No, when my mom wakes up, there’s something I need to discuss separately.”

Despite Nokhyun’s refusal, Taeein sent him and Ikeung away without hesitation.
Taeein sat in a chair, gazing at his mother who had fallen asleep without him noticing. Her body seemed excessively emaciated, as if she hadn’t eaten properly. Tears welled up in Taeein’s eyes as he looked at his sleeping mother.

While he felt relieved that she was alive, anger surged when he thought about those who had caused the separation between his mother and him.

Taeein gently touched his mother’s frail bones. Memories from his childhood automatically flashed before his eyes. The hands that had once felt so large now seemed thinner and smaller than his own.

“Now I will protect you, Mom.”

Taeein whispered sincerely.

“Taeein.”

At that moment, Eunseon, who he thought was asleep, called out to Taeein.

“Mom, weren’t you asleep?”

“At that hospital, they tried to put me to sleep every day. Pretending to be asleep is my specialty.”

Eunseon weakly smiled and then tried to sit up. Taeein quickly moved, placing a pillow behind Eunseon’s back and offering her water at the right temperature.

“You must have a lot of questions, right?”

“Yeah, too many.”

“I didn’t intentionally leave you.”

After saying that, Eunseon frowned.

“I thought there was no way. I did resent you for a while.”

“Sorry, I tried countless times to come to you, but it didn’t work out.”

“No, Mom has nothing to apologize for.”

Taeein raised his head firmly. Looking at Taeein like she wanted to etch him into her memory, Eunseon spoke again.

“You must be twenty-eight.”

“Yeah.”

Eunseon, with a face that seemed about to break, continued speaking.

“Your father had a twin sibling. His name was Seo Honggyu.”
“Yeah.”

“There was another grandmother, not the one you know. She gave birth to your father and Seo Honggyu but left only with Seo Honggyu. Your father went to meet his younger brother late, several times after finding out about the fact. And…”

Eunseon explained, shedding tears, about what she knew to Taeein.

Honggyu, who had lived an extremely impoverished life unlike his brother, accidentally killed Jeonggyu.

Jo Yeonggap, who went with him, covered up the murder that Honggyu committed, pretending Honggyu to be Jeonggyu.

And he poured molten metal on top of his head.

Taeein, who had been listening to the story indifferently, couldn’t help but shed tears in the end. Although he had a hunch that his father had died, hearing it directly felt like his heart was being torn apart.

“How did Mom find out about that fact?”

“Something seemed strange. The voice and face were the same, but the behavior was too… So, I found out by watching the black box video. And they found out that I found out.”

That’s why she had been trapped in that hospital for a long time.

“Jo Yeonggap is a really scary person.”

Wiping away Taeein’s tears with the back of her hand, Eunseon wrinkled her forehead as if she remembered something.

“He took away my child too. Jo Yeongmi, Jo Yeonggap took the child as soon as he saw it.”

Taeein couldn’t fathom Eunseon’s heart, which had no choice but to helplessly lose her child.

Taeein took out his phone and showed her a photo.
It was a picture of Arin holding a robot and smiling.

“Seo Arin. Smart, bright, and kind, just like me.”

“It looks exactly like you when you were little. Is this child safe? Is she doing well?”

“Don’t worry, just focus on recovering. I’ll bring her back for sure.”

Taeein reassured Eunseon. There was no reason to leave Arin in that house any longer.

Seyoung moved busily. She had to make another 5 billion somehow. After confidently promising Director Hwi, she couldn’t say it was impossible now.

She had sold all her belongings, and the only money left in her account was 5 billion to give to Hwi.