Hyang Mi went straight to meet Cheon Bosal. Just a little way up across the stream was Cheon Bosal’s prayer house.

As she opened the red gate, a creaking sound was heard. Just as she was about to enter, a chilling voice pierced her ears.

“Why, because of your son?”

Cheon Bosal, who had approached Hyang Mi silently from behind, abruptly asked.

As Hyang Mi turned her head with a worried face, Cheon Bosal clicked her tongue, saying she knew it would be like this.

“Come inside quickly.”

Hyang Mi followed Cheon Bosal, who walked ahead, with hurried steps. The chickens eating feed in the yard flapped their wings noisily.

The musty smell of old rice mixed with incense irritated her nose.

Cheon Bosal tossed the rice onto the table and carelessly tapped it with her finger.

“This is not ordinary. Something very malicious is attached. It’s properly cursed.”

Cheon Bosal kept clicking her tongue. Hearing what she had feared from her mouth, Hyang Mi’s heart sank.

“It will sever the ties of heaven. Remove it immediately.”

Hyang Mi flinched at Cheon Bosal’s intensity. Her fierce gaze made Hyang Mi’s knees weak. Cheon Bosal scolded Hyang Mi nine times out of ten. But there was one time Cheon Bosal had praised her. It was when she said she would marry Young Hoon and Da Eun.

“You’ve brought a proper one. Don’t worry about anything else, just keep that lacking son of yours in check.”

Was it a noble person who had come to her son with such terrible luck, even destined for a short life?

She had felt it was a bit disappointing to marry her son off just trusting his kindness, but hearing Cheon Bosal’s words had made up her mind.

“Se-severing the ties of heaven, you say?”

“What happened to that girl I mentioned before? You’ve brought something strange instead.”

“We broke off the engagement, my son was caught cheating.”

“I told you time and time again. Keep that pathetic son of yours in check. I said he was destined for a short life.”

At the mention of a short life, Hyang Mi’s eyes reddened, and soon tears fell down her cheeks.

“She said she’s pregnant, how could I…”

“Pregnant? Did you see it with your own eyes?”

She felt dazed as if cold water had been poured over her head, but soon came to her senses.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t even properly seen an ultrasound image.

‘Could she be deceiving us? Trying to catch my smart son?’

The next day, Ju Ri went to work and spent all day looking for ways to get rid of Go Young Hoon.

She didn’t want to marry Young Hoon, let alone see his face anymore. He shed so much hair, she thought living with a primate would be better than that.

However, because of the lie about being pregnant, it was uncertain if she could easily get rid of him. If she acted as pathetically as she did with Song Da Eun, it was obvious that the image she had built up at the company would hit rock bottom.

With no particular gain, as it became time to leave work, the new employee Ji Hye linked arms with Ju Ri and spoke to her.

“Ms. Yang, would you like to go to a cafe together after work today?”

“Cafe?”

“Yes, there’s a new cafe that opened in front of the company, right?”

“Ah, right. Sounds good.”

It seemed much better to chatter with stupid female employees than to be at home with Young Hoon.

They were moving to the cafe with three people, including another employee, arm in arm.

In the distance, a tacky woman in her sixties dressed in red appeared. Ju Ri recognized her immediately. It was Young Hoon’s mother, Hyang Mi.

“Oh, I just remembered I had a prior engagement. It just came to mind.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah, Ji Hye and Yoon Ji, you two go. Make sure to send me pictures.”

“Okay!”

Ji Hye and Yoon Ji waved goodbye and disappeared. As if Hyang Mi’s target was indeed Ju Ri, she was approaching from afar.

“Hey! Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

Hyang Mi, who had come right up to her face, shouted abruptly. Ju Ri took out her phone from her pocket to check. There were ten missed calls.

“Why did you come all the way here?”

Ju Ri said this while checking her surroundings. Fortunately, being far from the subway station, no one from the company was in sight.

“You, let’s go to the hospital with me. I’ve made the appointment, so you just need to follow along quietly.”

Ju Ri was dumbfounded. Hyang Mi was glaring at her as if she was going to kill her.

Could she possibly know something?

“It’s fine. I’m going to the hospital well on my own. Rather, I wish you’d take Young Hoon with you.”

“As a mother-in-law, I naturally need to check. Whether the baby is growing well, what the gender is. Come along quickly.”

“I went not long ago. And I don’t want to go with you, mother.”

When Hyang Mi grabbed Ju Ri’s hand, she quickly shook it off.

“You’re lying, aren’t you? Trying to ruin my son’s life. Right?”

Ju Ri sighed deeply. One of the methods she had only imagined in her mind was now clearly taking shape.

“Then let’s stop by the house and go with Young Hoon.”

“What, with Young Hoon?”

“Yes. Let’s go together. Young Hoon took a day off today. Since he doesn’t have his phone and can’t be contacted, let’s stop by the house and go to the hospital together. On the way back, the three of us can have dinner at the beef rib restaurant.”

Ju Ri smiled brightly and linked arms with Hyang Mi.

“W-well, if you say so.”

Ju Ri, who had been looking at Hyang Mi’s softened face with a cold expression for a moment, hailed a taxi.

Ju Ri’s house was close. Ju Ri entered, arm in arm with Hyang Mi.

“Would you like to wait here, mother? It’s only the 4th floor, so it won’t take long to go up anyway.”

“No, how old is this place that it’s 4 floors but doesn’t have an elevator?”

“Then will you wait here? It might take some time for Young Hoon to get ready and come out.”

“No, let’s just go in.”

Ju Ri climbed the stairs, linking arms with Hyang Mi as if supporting her.

“Why are these stairs so steep? If you fall, you could get seriously hurt.”

As befitting an old villa, the stairs were narrow and steep.

Arriving in front of the house, Ju Ri was about to open the front door but turned to look at Hyang Mi.

“Ah, I forgot Young Hoon said he was meeting his army buddies.”

“W-what? Why are you saying this now!”

“Because I just remembered.”

Looking at the panting Hyang Mi, Ju Ri chuckled before speaking again.

“By the way, mother, if we get married, how much can you give us?”

Ju Ri asked, leaning against the front door. Unlike her gentle demeanor earlier, she asked with a cold face, causing Hyang Mi to let out a scornful laugh.

“Are you planning to send only your son’s body?”

Ju Ri looked Hyang Mi up and down. From the cheap-looking clothes that seemed bought at the market to the tacky butterfly hair clip and worn-out shoes. It was hard to believe they were from a wealthy family based on her appearance.

“My goodness, look at how this girl talks.”

“I see. So I was right, I was deceived.”

“What, deceived? You’re the one who deceived us. Da Eun said she’d manage on her own, she was affectionate, but where did this ill-mannered girl come from asking how much we can give? I wouldn’t even give you a single 10 won coin, understand?”

“You don’t even have a single 10 won coin, do you?”

Ju Ri laughed incredulously.

“You, you greedy b****. How dare you, not only separating me and my son…”

Enraged, Hyang Mi grabbed Ju Ri’s hair. Perhaps from farm work, her grip was stronger than expected, snapping Ju Ri to her senses. However, she didn’t panic and slowly moved towards the stairs.

“Are you not going to let go?”

“Let’s both die today. The pregnancy was a lie too, right? Would a pregnant woman shout like this?”

The excited Hyang Mi seemed to hear nothing and was focused on pulling Ju Ri’s hair.

Finally, Ju Ri stood right in front of the stairs. She was about to fall backwards from here.

Hyang Mi was panting, seemingly running out of strength. It was then. Ju Ri put her foot on the edge of the stairs and shifted her weight backwards to fall.

“Oh my! What’s wrong with this girl?”

Hyang Mi, who had been loosely holding Ju Ri’s hair, tightened her grip.

This crazy old hag!

She had intended to pretend to fall lightly, but because of Hyang Mi, she really lost her balance and was about to fall head first. Spinning her arms to try to regain balance but failing, Ju Ri instinctively grabbed Hyang Mi’s collar. Hyang Mi, who was trying to catch Ju Ri, lurched forward as her collar was pulled.

Thanks to pulling Hyang Mi, Ju Ri barely regained her balance and sighed in relief. However, soon a loud thudding sound was heard from behind. Turning around, she saw Hyang Mi who had fallen quite far down, as if she had rolled.

“Oh, what should I do…”

Ju Ri quickly went down the stairs. She saw the broken butterfly hair clip behind Hyang Mi’s head. As Ju Ri was about to pick it up, she covered her mouth. Blood was seeping from the back of Hyang Mi’s head. It seemed her head had been pierced by the hair clip when it hit the floor.

“M-mother…”

Ju Ri nudged Hyang Mi’s body. But Hyang Mi didn’t move at all. Just then, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the lower floor. Ju Ri quickly took off her shoes, held them in her hand, and ran up the stairs. Then she opened the front door and went inside.

Young Hoon really wasn’t home. Ju Ri put her ear to the front door and held her breath.

“Mom! Mom! What happened!”

Young Hoon’s scream-like voice was heard. It was truly a coincidence. Of all people, it was Young Hoon who discovered Hyang Mi.

Ju Ri quickly changed her clothes and wet her hair. Her hands kept shaking, causing her to drop the shower head.

Taking a deep breath, Ju Ri dried her hair with a towel and opened the front door.

“Young Hoon? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Ju Ri! Phone! Quickly call 119!”

Young Hoon was wailing while holding Hyang Mi. Ju Ri quickly picked up her phone and called 119.

“Is this 119? Mother… I mean, a woman in her sixties seems to have fallen down the stairs. She seems to be bleeding from her head and has lost consciousness. The location is between the 3rd and 4th floors of Hyonam Villa, Building A in Yeoksam-dong.”

After finishing the call, Ju Ri quickly ran down.

“Is, is she breathing?”

“Yes, she seems to be breathing but can’t open her eyes. Mom, please open your eyes. Sob sob…”

She’s not dead…?