It felt like it had become a farewell gift to the child, and the thought alone made her mouth bitter.
At that moment.
From the direction of the front gate, along with familiar footsteps, a warm voice reached her ears.
“You came out quickly, Little Madam.”
“…Secretary Jung.”
As she raised her gaze from the suitcase, there stood Secretary Jung, as Chaeha mentioned last night.
Uncertain whether to be glad or sad, Seolwon showed a vague smile.
Even though her posture was awkward, Secretary Jung seemed indifferent to such things.
Wearing his usual gentle expression, he approached her step by step.
“The Vice President said he would deliver the letter without any explanation, so I wondered if that was the case. Are you indeed leaving?”
“…Yes. That’s how it turned out.”
“There’s nothing we can do. Things in life don’t always go as planned.”
In his experienced gaze, Seolwon simply remained silent.
Why did one have to leave the company of such good people, or why did one have to let them go?
It had come to a point where she could only sigh at her fate.
“Um, about my mother’s letter…”
“Oh, right. I came to give it to you. Please take it here.”
…?
Although she expected him to immediately produce the letter, Secretary Jung held something else in his hand.
It was an ordinary key with no distinctive features.
For some reason, his expression was completely different from before, and he handed the key to Seolwon without taking a thought.
Perplexed, Seolwon accepted the key, not even considering what it could be, and just blinked her eyes.
Although she asked for the letter, she couldn’t understand why he suddenly handed her a key.
With a more serious tone, Secretary Jung continued.
“That’s the key to the cottage you see over there.”
Rolling her eyes, Seolwon followed Secretary Jung’s gaze.
A small building situated at the innermost part of the garden was standing there as always.
The cottage that Chaeha neither intended to enter nor showed any curiosity about.
To the bewildered Seolwon, Secretary Jung kindly added an explanation.
“The letter is inside there. I had no choice but to have the key since you couldn’t have it. ”
“…I see.”
That must be it. Probably, this was the reason Secretary Jung would convey the letter through him.
Although she was curious about why Secretary Jung had the key instead of Chaeha herself, Seolwon decided not to ask.
Now was the time to quickly get out of Kwon Chaeha’s world.
Leaving everything behind and departing.
However, Secretary Jung suddenly intervened in her decision.
“Little Madam.”
“Yes?”
“Forgive me for asking since you’ve been wearing it for a while, but have you ever felt that the bezel part of your wedding ring is a bit strange?”
“The ring?”
Now that she thought about it, when she took off the ring to return it last night, she felt a sense of discomfort.
Even when Chaeha put the ring back on her fourth finger for the first time when she entered this house, he had definitely said something like this.
‘The bezel is bent.’
“Oh, yes. It was a bit bent. I was told it was fixed to its original state.”
At that time, with so many other things on her mind, she didn’t pay much attention to those words.
It seemed a bit strange now.
Why would the bezel of such an expensive ring be bent?
Unless someone intentionally applied pressure.
‘Wait… intentionally?’
As soon as the thought grazed the corner of her mind, Secretary Jung, as if waiting, threw the next question.
“Have you ever seen a scar on the Vice President’s chest?”
“A scar…?”
Why was her voice trembling?
Simultaneously, she felt oddly uneasy yet her heart was pounding.
Why, her voice began to tremble.
Simultaneously, with a strange uneasiness, her heart pounded.
A premonition that she shouldn’t delve into further, but conversely, a premonition that she must know.
That’s right. Like the firmly locked door of the cottage right in front of her, it felt as if some hidden truth was waiting for Seolwon to open it.
And Secretary Jung was undoubtedly here for that.
“Yes, it’s a scar.”
“That…?”
She couldn’t possibly say she didn’t know.
The strange sensation felt when their bodies were tightly pressed together, the traces left under the brilliant sunlight streaming through the window, she, who never forgot those moments.
Seolwon was the one who felt Chaeha’s chest wound as if it were her own.
“Judging by your expression, you seem to know. Well, you couldn’t not know. It’s a wound that kept festering without healing.
“…Yes?”
Forgetting to hide her expression, Seolwon widened her eyes.
In an instant, something flashed in her mind.
The wound that felt like it had been stabbed several times by something small and sharp… Could it be…?
“That wound is a scar caused directly by the Vice President. After Little Madam left, he bent and twisted the bezel of the marriage ring she left behind into a necklace. Then, he pierced his own chest with it every time you came to mind. It was too painful for him to endure the agony every time you crossed his mind after you left.”
“What…?”
It was an incredulous question, and furthermore, an unimaginable story.
Kwon Chaeha caused a wound on his chest with the bezel of the marriage ring she left behind?
Moreover, enduring the agony every time she crossed his mind…?
Finally, as if urging her, Secretary Jung reached out the key toward her.
“Do you still not know? For a long time, the Vice President sincerely loved Little Madam. After you disappeared, he went through such a difficult time that I can’t express with my lacking words. That’s why I’m giving you this key.”
“…”
“Open it. Open the door yourself and confirm the Vice President’s sincerity. If you still decide to leave afterward, I won’t stop you.”
As if spellbound, Seolwon accepted the key.
Right in front of her, a starry painted cottage was waiting.
Despite having seen the building for the past few months, it felt strangely unfamiliar.
With trembling hands, Seolwon inserted the key into the keyhole.
Click, accompanied by a sound, the handle turned.
The moment the door finally opened, a strong shiver ran down Seolwon’s spine.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”