“Ha, haa….”

Soo-yeon, breathing heavily, opened her eyes wide and looked around urgently.

Unlike the pain even with the slightest movement, her body turned easily.

Everything reflected in her eyes seemed only unfamiliar.

“This can’t be. Why, why…!”

Soo-yeon rambled with a confused expression, lowering her head.

It was In-ho’s body. And in his hand, there was a candle.

“Why on earth, why…!!”

Tears flowed incessantly with desperate muttering.

Her chest pounded as if it would burst, and she took several deep breaths.

Half out of her mind, she shed tears for a long time, then hastily extinguished the candle when she regained her composure.

There was no time to linger like this.

By now, she could imagine the kind of trouble In-ho might be facing.

Soo-yeon dropped the candle and got out of the car.

It would have been nice if she could drive to Taesin-ga herself, but unfortunately, Soo-yeon didn’t know how to drive.
To her, who was nothing more than a beautiful doll and a means of social ascent, driving was an unnecessary task.

Claiming she didn’t need to learn because she always had a driver was just a convenient excuse. The real reason was not to give herself an excuse to escape.

Soo-yeon ran until she was out of breath.

She desperately wanted to see In-ho, as her heart ached.

After taking a taxi, Soo-yeon arrived at Taesin-ga in Hannam-dong and headed straight to the front gate without hesitation.

Her anxious touches on the doorbell spoke for her restless heart.

However, there was no response from inside.

Lost in her emotions, she forcefully slammed the door with clenched fists.

Even if it was In-ho’s body, it was utterly impossible to overcome the iron gate with sheer force.

Soo-yeon collapsed into a sitting position, defeated.

The despair she had felt so far seemed trivial as a nauseating darkness began to engulf her.

Hye-kyung, hearing the incessant doorbell, stared intently at the intercom.

In-ho’s face was vivid on the small screen.

“How did you find out? Did that woman mention coming here yesterday by any chance?”

Hysterical voices echoed in all directions.

Despite nothing happening, In-ho’s unexpected visit made Hye-kyung uncomfortable.

She nervously chewed her fingertips.

In the meantime, the intercom screen turned off, and Hye-kyung, with an impatient step, headed for the kitchen.

After gulping down cold water, she muttered quietly.

“No. Even if she knew the situation well, she wouldn’t have mentioned coming here. She must have come here without any contact because she couldn’t get in touch.”

Hye-kyung sat down at the dining table as if collapsing.

The already irritating pain in her stomach felt more constricting.

It didn’t feel good.

She had a bad feeling.

The situation seemed to be flowing in a slightly different direction than she had thought.

If that was the case, she might have to expedite the plan.

To do that, she first needed to appease Daeho, who had not yet come out of the room.

Hye-kyung quickly got up from her seat and hurriedly headed to the room.

The sound of Daeho’s heavy breathing, full of excitement, could be heard as she opened the door.

“Hey, stop it.”

“What should I stop?”

Hye-kyung grabbed Daeho’s arm, trying to restrain him.

However, the more excited Daeho, seemingly unable to control his emotions, forcefully brushed off Hye-kyung’s hand as if she were an invisible person. Sooyeon glared fiercely at her.

“I told you to stop!!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Hye-kyung shouted with an unprecedented intensity.

Only then did Daeho’s gaze turn towards Hye-kyung.

Still unable to control his emotions, his pupils trembled noticeably.

Hye-kyung sighed deeply and muttered with a trembling voice.

“Stop it and look at me. I have something to say.”

Finally, Daeho, sensing an unusual atmosphere, frowned but followed Hye-kyung without a word.
The sound of the closing door soon echoed heavily, and silence descended. Finally, In-ho could breathe comfortably.

“Ha, haa…”

With every labored breath, his entire body echoed with pain. He had sensed that Soo-yeon’s state was a mess, but now it was even more chaotic than before.

Experiencing the violence on behalf of her, In-ho realized it was more heinous than he had anticipated. With the little strength left, In-ho managed to sit up.

Then, he slowly scanned the room.

Despite being called a room, it wasn’t spacious; there were no furnishings, no wallpaper on the cement floor.

Just swinging in the room had consumed tremendous energy.

In-ho weakly shook his head.

The spot where his face had been moments ago was stained with blood.

He recalled coughing during the brutal assault, hitting the abdomen incorrectly.

The blood must have come from Soo-yeon’s mouth during that time.

In-ho, still breathing irregularly, maintained an expression filled with anger.

“Human scum.”

He spat out the curse instinctively, but even that felt too precious for them.

Especially at times like this, he needed to regain composure.