“When did she give birth?”

It must have been around the time Seo Ha disappeared. Yoo Na estimated the child’s age and calculated the time of pregnancy.

“Is the child the reason Kim Seo Ha disappeared?”

She wanted to believe it wasn’t Tae Kyung’s child. But the child’s striking resemblance to Tae Kyung plunged Yoo Na’s heart into despair.

Yoo Na’s mind was in turmoil.

‘As Lee Hyo Jae said, is that child really Tae Kyung’s? Does Tae Kyung know Kim Seo Ha has a child and still can’t give up on her?’

If Tae Kyung knows this fact, it would be the worst for Yoo Na.

And if Yoo Na’s father Chul Wook learns about the child’s existence, he will predictably oppose the marriage.

But how could Yoo Na give up on Tae Kyung?

Yet she cannot raise Tae Kyung’s child in place of that child.

Absolutely not.

It’s the son of Kim Seo Ha, who is like a thorn in her eye, no, whom she wants to curse.

If it weren’t for Kim Seo Ha, Tae Kyung would have been Yoo Na’s man long ago.

“It might not be Tae Kyung’s child. It mustn’t be!”

Whether that child is Tae Kyung’s or not, Kim Seo Ha and Tae Kyung must be separated.

Yoo Na furrowed her brow and clenched her teeth. She gritted them so hard her jaw ached, but she didn’t even feel the pain.

She began to recall memories of Seo Ha that she had buried deep inside.

“Ah! Kim Seo Ha’s birth mother! Lee Hyo Jae’s tone when talking about Kim Seo Ha’s birth mother was definitely strange.”

Yoo Na had seen Seo Ha’s birth mother before.

During college, in front of the central library, Seo Ha was arguing with a middle-aged woman.

When Seo Ha tried to run away, the woman grabbed her wrist and dragged her, speaking harshly, not caring if others saw.

She was a woman who oddly resembled Seo Ha yet had a completely different aura.

Seo Ha covered her face with her hands, not knowing what to do.

And the image of her being dragged away by that woman came to mind.

“It must be that woman. That vulgar-looking one.”

Yoo Na turned on her phone’s camera app as she watched Seo Ha come out to play in the sand with the children in the kindergarten yard.

After secretly taking several shots of Seo Ha from afar, she made a call somewhere. A sinister smile spread across Yoo Na’s face.

“I’m looking for the child’s birth father and maternal grandmother. Kim Seo Ha, a teacher at Onnuri Kindergarten in Yangpyeong. Age 28. Graduated in Child and Family Studies. The child should be about 7, no, 5 years old.”

− Is there any other information? Anyone suspected to be the child’s father?

“Please do a paternity test with T&K CEO Han Tae Kyung. Isn’t that enough?”

− Alright. We’ll start as soon as you send the retainer.

“As quickly as possible.”

Yoo Na ended the call, twisting up the corners of her mouth.

She glared at Seo Ha and muttered.

“I must prevent Kim Seo Ha and Tae Kyung from meeting.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Hyun Young didn’t want to tell her son everything about the past.

She thought it might be better if she were misunderstood instead.

She leaned deep into her office chair and let out a long sigh.

Hyun Young hadn’t strongly opposed Seo Ha. She was the woman her son had chased after, saying he liked her.

Hyun Young trusted her son’s judgment. From what she had observed, Seo Ha was neither too much nor too little. She thought a girl like that would be fine.

She didn’t want to strangle her son’s life with a so-called chaebol strategic marriage.

Being a victim of a strategic marriage herself was enough.

She didn’t want to place the heavy burden of the company on the shoulders of Tae Kyung, who wasn’t even the eldest son but the second son.

However, Seo Ha’s mother, who barged into the chairman’s office, was someone Hyun Young simply couldn’t accept.

Her lips, painted with bright red lipstick, were full of desire. Her attire was so excessively flashy it looked tacky, blatantly revealing her vanity.

“For a big company chairman’s office, it’s quite modest. Ho ho. I’m Seo Ha’s mother.”

“You say you’re Seo Ha’s mother? What brings you here?”

“Our Seo Ha is pregnant with your family’s child, what are you going to do about it?”

Hyun Young’s feelings towards Seo Ha cooled because of Seung Ae’s rude attitude.

“What do you mean?”

“How can she get pregnant before marriage? I can’t accept this child, so you need to compensate us. You’ve ruined our child’s life, so at least give us a building in Gangnam. After all, Tae Kyung’s family has money to spare, right?”

Hyun Young just stared at Seo Ha’s mother Seung Ae, who abruptly started talking about money, without even blinking. When Hyun Young showed no reaction, Seung Ae started to get anxious.

‘Whether she gets angry or accepts it, I need to extort money.’

Seung Ae chewed on the inside of her lip, calculating inwardly.

She became impatient as she needed to pay off overdue credit card bills and her lover Hyung Jin’s gambling debts.

“Well, if you think that’s too much, I can be reasonable. We’re in a hurry too, so if you just give us an apartment, we won’t hold Tae Kyung back using the child as an excuse. We’ll take care of the child ourselves. I tend to keep such promises well.”

Seung Ae, in her nervousness, started to negotiate on her own. She slurped the tea in front of her loudly.

Hyun Young twisted her lips and let out a cold laugh.

“If you’ll take care of it, we’d be grateful.”

“Pft! What? I, I won’t just let this go! Do you think I’ll stay quiet about this? I’ll spread it all over the media. What will happen to Tae Kyung’s image then?”

Unlike the anxious Seung Ae, Hyun Young wore a relaxed expression with a smile hanging at the corner of her mouth.

“Do as you please. Why should I clean up the mess that Tae Kyung boy made? The parties involved should handle it themselves. They’re not little kids anymore.”

Seung Ae’s eyes shook greatly. This wasn’t what she had in mind.

She thought Hyun Young would at least be flustered, if not trembling, and bow down to her for her son’s future. But Hyun Young seemed to be looking down on Seung Ae with a tremendous aura.

That pressure made Seung Ae’s hair stand on end.

But she couldn’t be afraid of the tiger when she came to catch it.

“What, what are you going to do about our Seo Ha? Ruining the child’s life like this! She’s still a bud that hasn’t even bloomed!”

“It’s regrettable if I think about Seo Ha, but.”

“If you feel regretful, send money, think of it as compensation. I’ll take care of the rest, I told you.”

“How do you know if the pregnancy is real or not, if it’s Tae Kyung’s child or not?”

Seung Ae started to get angry at Hyun Young who wasn’t doing as she wanted. Finally, she roughly pulled out a piece of paper. It was an ultrasound image.

“He, here it is! The ultrasound image! It’s definitely Seo Ha and Tae Kyung’s child! For this child’s sake, 100 million! Send 100 million won!”

“Hmm. I’ve heard what Seo Ha’s mother has to say. I’ll contact you soon.”

Hyun Young stood up abruptly and called the secretary’s office.

“The guest is leaving now, so see her out.”

And then Hyun Young personally opened the chairman’s office door. It was a clear dismissal.

Seung Ae couldn’t withstand Hyun Young’s fierce energy any longer and hurriedly gathered her things, gulping down the remaining tea in one go.

“Ahem. The tea was good. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Seung Ae left with a prim face, making clicking sounds with her heels as she swayed her heavy body.

As soon as Seung Ae left, Hyun Young’s face contorted.

Even if Seo Ha was fine, such a mother was unacceptable.

Although she felt guilty about not allowing the child in the womb, she thought it might be better for Tae Kyung to cut ties with Seo Ha through this incident.

It’s still just a childish love affair. Emotions can change anytime, and he could live loving a better person.

Hyun Young felt sorry for Seo Ha, but Seung Ae was too much of a concern to allow her as her son’s match.

‘I’ll bear the dirty work. That’s what a parent should do.’

[This is the timeline separator]

Emerging from her long reverie, Hyun Young closed her eyes.

She knew that Seo Ha had given birth to a child and was living with it.

She felt guilty about sending Seo Ha away like that.

Moreover, she knew that Seung Ae had run off with the 100 million won Hyun Young had handed over.

Knowing that she was carrying Tae Kyung’s child, she couldn’t just ignore it, nor could she bring her back.

She had entrusted Seo Ha to Yoon Hee, her distant relative, asking her to take good care of her, but she had never visited.

Yoon Hee also never contacted Hyun Young separately.

She lived thinking no news is good news.

But she didn’t expect Tae Kyung to find that child like this.

She took out a headache pill from the drawer and swallowed it with water.

She lost confidence in her judgment from 5 years ago.

[This is the timeline separator]

Seung Ae looked at Hyung Jin sprawled out sleeping in the room.

She loved him enough to abandon her husband and child, but Hyung Jin was incompetent.

He lived relying on the money Seung Ae brought in.

In fact, the money Seung Ae directly earned wasn’t much. More accurately, it was closer to money Seung Ae extorted from others.

Seung Ae’s extortion targets were first her abandoned husband Myung Hoon, then Seo Ha.

And most recently, she aimed for a big score with the 100 million won sent by Hyun Young, but ended up losing it all.

“Wake up. Go out and do something! The rent is overdue, what are we going to do?”

“Oh please, you always handle that well. Don’t bother me.”

Hyung Jin turned away from Seung Ae who was shaking him awake.

Judging by how he couldn’t leave the online gambling site all night and is now sleeping late into the day, it seems he lost all the money again.

Seung Ae felt suffocated thinking about her bank balance.

It’s a miserable life for her.

‘God is truly unfair. Some become conglomerate owners buried in money, while I have to worry about living expenses right now.’

Seung Ae glared at Hyung Jin and muttered to herself.

“I should have asked for more money then. Or I should have had the child and used it to extort at least a billion won.”

“Are you on about that again?”

Hyung Jin replied wearily to Seung Ae’s regret.

When Seung Ae first received the money, she was happy. Even when Seo Ha disappeared, she didn’t even think of looking for her.

She didn’t look for Seo Ha when she ran away from the hospital, fearing that if Hyun Young found out, she might take back the 100 million won she had given.

At that time, because of Hyung Jin’s gambling debts, they were always chased by creditors, so it was important to have even 100 million won in hand immediately.

Hyung Jin yawned as he fumbled for his mobile phone. Then he asked indifferently.

“Isn’t there anywhere we can get money from?”

“If I had such a place, would I be like this?”

“Do you really not know where your daughter is? Even if your ex-husband won’t give money anymore, your daughter would, right? Surely she wouldn’t abandon her birth mother?”

“How would I know where she is? Whether she’s sunk into the ground or risen to the sky, it’s hard to find even a strand of her hair.”

Seung Ae shook her head with an irritated face. Hyung Jin, whatever he was thinking, suddenly sat up.

“No. If we go to Han Tae Kyung, we might know. Or we could use the information about Seo Ha, about the child, to extort some money.”

“Han Tae Kyung? The second son of HY Group? What if the chairman finds out? We received money on the condition of keeping quiet and not sending the child.”

As Seung Ae asked worriedly, repeating the same question, Hyung Jin replied as if frustrated.

“We don’t need to tell them outright, right? Don’t you know nuance? We just need to drop hints subtly.”

“Like suggesting there’s some kind of secret?”

“That’s right. As expected, my wife gets it when I explain. And in the meantime, we can find Kim Seo Ha. If she’s had the child, that’s even better.”

Hyung Jin gave Seung Ae a thumbs up with a pleased look. But Seung Ae was still anxious.

“What if that chairman comes looking for the money back?”

“Then we deny it! Why are you worrying so much? Leave it to me.”

Hyung Jin raised the corner of his mouth and thumped his chest with his fist.

Seung Ae was uneasy about Hyung Jin, but she had no choice but to trust him. Right now, she couldn’t find any other good options.

Neither Seung Ae nor Hyung Jin could work steadily in one place.

Hyung Jin was humming for some reason. He got up and opened the wardrobe door, scanning it thoroughly.

Then he clicked his tongue.

“Tch, there’s nothing to wear. I need to dress well to be taken seriously. Wife, don’t you have any money?”

“Where would I have money? Didn’t you hear me say I don’t have any money earlier?”

When Seung Ae glared at Hyung Jin, he slammed the wardrobe door shut and spoke haughtily.

“Fine. This husband will take care of getting money, so don’t worry.”

Hyung Jin went out dragging his slippers, dressed in his workout clothes.