Since the start of her incarceration, Lee Je Ni hadn’t been able to fall into a deep sleep even for a single day.

She had become so sensitive that she couldn’t sleep without medication.

And now, being moved from solitary confinement to a place with several other inmates, she was on the verge of going insane.

“Hey, hey. Bring some toilet paper over here.”

Je Ni ignored those words and just kept biting her nails.

“What, can’t you tell what’s going on? Did you grow up all sheltered and pampered?”

They already knew the rumors about Je Ni and were deliberately provoking her.

Their law was that even a chaebol’s daughter had to mop the floors according to the hierarchy here.

“I told you not to mess with me, ajumma! You’re the type that can’t even make eye contact with me outside!”

Je Ni raised her voice with her unbroken pride.

“Who do you think you are? Who are you?”

One of them said, pushing Je Ni’s head with her finger. Je Ni grabbed that finger and bit it.

“Aah! Ah! Ah!”

With that sound, the place instantly turned into a fighting scene.

Je Ni was beaten nearly to death and transferred to the hospital.

There too, Je Ni burst into tears, demanding to see her mother.

“This is all because of Cheon Ha In.”

Je Ni ground her teeth, resenting Ha In.

The lawyer cautiously approached Je Ni.

“Now that you seem to have recovered, you need to go back.”

At those words, Je Ni was startled and looked at the lawyer as if seeing a ghost.

“Whose side are you on?!”

It wasn’t even the lawyer sending her back, but Je Ni confronted the lawyer.

“I can’t go! I won’t go! I can’t be in that hellish place for even an hour! Not even a minute! Let me go!”

Je Ni was determined to stay put in the hospital, citing all kinds of health problems.

At least she could be alone here, and compared to the detention facility, the environment was way more pleasant.

“Use money however you need to, even hundreds! Figure something out! Aren’t you a lawyer? Did you really tell my mom? How many times do I have to tell you to at least convey it to my mom if you can’t do it! Call my mom!”

Je Ni instructed the legal team several times to call Hyun Baek Hap, but they said it was difficult.

“We also have limitations in contacting the young lady. Moreover, visitation with outsiders is nearly impossible.”

“Does it make sense that parents can’t even see their daughter who’s on the verge of dying? Then my dad, our dad! Who can stop him?”

The legal team just repeated that it was difficult.

In reality, visitation was difficult, but Hyun Baek Hap had given an order to the legal team.

It was to not create any troublesome issues because of Je Ni.

Je Ni was trapped within her own walls due to the legal team’s attitude. She was confused whether her mother had really abandoned her as Ha In said.

No matter how much she tried to reassure herself that it couldn’t be, it wasn’t working well.

Moreover, if it was as Ha In said, it could be something she alone would have to take all the blame for.

“I’ll try to buy you some more time to stay in the hospital.”

Je Ni blankly stared at the handcuffs attached to the bed and her wrists.

She was anguished that even now, she had no idea what she had done wrong to be suffering like this.

The words that she really wanted to die just came out automatically.

Je Ni’s eyes filled with tears. She wailed loudly. Crying like that, she fell asleep from exhaustion.

She was so tired and weary that she fell asleep. Falling asleep without even medication meant her stamina had hit rock bottom.

Je Ni woke up from her sleep, sitting up abruptly at the illusion she saw through her eyelids.

She had made eye contact with the child who was trembling and being beaten in front of her when she was young.

“Ah…! Haa…! Ha…! Ha….”

* * *

At the same time, Hyun Baek Hap also woke up from a nightmare.

She was startled awake by the feeling of someone grabbing her ankle tightly.

The grip strength of the hand squeezing her ankle was intense. It felt like when Ha In’s mother was passing away and grabbed her ankle, begging to be saved.

But the flesh that touched her was endlessly soft. It felt like Yoon Joo Hwa’s skin that she had touched during massages.

The blanket felt so heavy today that it was suffocating. Baek Hap wiped the cold sweat and stretched her legs out from under the thick blanket.

She looked to see if her ankle was intact. Fortunately, it was still properly attached to her body.

Baek Hap rubbed the red scar left on her ankle and caught her breath, then searched for the dream catcher by her bedside. But seeing that the dream catcher was gone made her furious.

Baek Hap gritted her teeth, got up from her spot, went outside, and contacted the butler.

Everyone working at the Cheon Ha Group mansion was summoned due to Baek Hap’s outburst.

“Why wasn’t the dream catcher put in my room?!”

The manager in charge of the bedroom hesitated to say something.

It felt like being slapped in the face after clearly being told not to put the dream catcher since she had spilled the dream catcher water last time, and now she was being scolded for not bringing it.

“I apologize. I will bring it right away.”

Knowing it was useless to argue his position, the manager just repeated that he was sorry like a parrot.

“Are you looking down on me right now?”

Baek Hap approached the manager threateningly. The manager shook his head, trembling.

“Answer me! Am I a joke to you? Why? Are you treating me so flippantly because I’m not Yoon Joo Hwa?!”

Baek Hap’s outburst, bordering on insanity, didn’t end until dawn.

Even after venting like that, Baek Hap didn’t feel refreshed, perhaps because of her unsettling dream.

She wanted to move out right away, but Baek Hap wanted to die in this house even if it killed her.

She thought leaving this house meant being pushed out by Yoon Joo Hwa.

Baek Hap looked around the house, huffing and puffing. She examined each item with an obsessive gaze.

“I can’t leave even if I die and come back to life… How did I come to sit in this position…”

She gritted her teeth, determined not to have a single thing taken from her.

The sun had fully risen, but Baek Hap lay back down on the bed. At least with Chairman Lee gone, she could rest at ease.

Just then, her cell phone rang. She picked up the phone irritably.

It was a call from the law firm.

“Ha….”

She started the call with a sigh.

“Hello?”

The lawyer hesitated, as Baek Hap had previously told him not to convey any news about Je Ni.

“Hurry up and talk. I was just about to sleep. These days, I can’t sleep comfortably at all.”

– Director, the young lady is not doing well.

“Ha… Just leave her be. She’s always like that.”

For a day or two? Baek Hap spoke as if she was annoyed.

– She almost had a big incident early in the morning.

The fine muscles on Baek Hap’s face reacted reflexively.

Rather than worry, irritation rose. Since she didn’t die, the call probably came like this. She hung up and lay down on the bed.

But suddenly, an ominous thought occurred to her. It would be a big problem if Je Ni couldn’t endure it and stupidly blurted out what she knew.

Baek Hap got up again. Then she called the lawyer again.

“I got it. I’ll go see her.”

– What? You’re coming. You said you couldn’t come, so I just told them that outsiders can’t have visitation.

“Our child doesn’t know such things. I’ll take care of it. Make it possible to visit in 3 hours.”

Baek Hap was about to put on makeup but stopped, threw on some random clothes, and put on sunglasses.

When Baek Hap arrived at the hospital room, her face was haggard.

Fatigue and stress had taken their toll, and she couldn’t manage her expression.

As soon as Baek Hap appeared in the hospital room, Je Ni threw herself towards her, forgetting that her handcuffed wrist was attached to the bed.

“Ah…! Mom! Sob…! Why did you only come now! Waaah…!”

Je Ni cried, gasping with sorrow.

“Je Ni!”

Baek Hap acted as if she had missed Je Ni terribly.

Je Ni looked terrible, but Baek Hap didn’t notice such things.

“Mom, I saw Cheon Ha In.”

Je Ni spoke with a utterly frightened expression. Since Je Ni had seen her too, it seemed time to tell her.

“Did that wicked girl threaten you too, Je Ni?”

“You knew too, Mom? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Je Ni spoke with wide eyes, utterly terrified.

She had thought about where to start explaining to her daughter who wouldn’t understand even if told, and whether it would be more efficient to keep her mouth shut.

Now that she found out like this, there was no need to use a calculator.

“It’s not a pleasant story. Whew….”

Baek Hap spoke gravely. She actually took Ha In’s existence seriously too.

“It’s all because of that Cheon Ha In, that girl. She seems vicious. You think she can live well after tearing apart the bonds of blood? Je Ni, don’t worry. Mom won’t let this slide.”

Baek Hap spoke, taking Je Ni’s side. Je Ni hugged Baek Hap and wailed.

“So, Je Ni, you just need to keep your mouth shut. You’re doing so well right now. Don’t worry and just stay like this.”

Baek Hap stroked Je Ni’s hair, emphasizing again that she should be careful with her words.

After the short visit, Baek Hap called Je Ni’s lawyer as she left the hospital room.

“Troublesome issues keep arising because you let her wander outside. Hurry up and send her to the detention center.”

The lawyer hesitated for a moment and then agreed.

“Oh, and when you send her, use the prosecutor as an excuse.”

“Ah, yes….”

In the car, Baek Hap’s mind went blank from fatigue. Still, she had to meet with Director Song before leaving.

She had fed him a large amount of money under the table, but she knew better than anyone that human nature was to become endlessly selfish when backed into a corner.

She felt she wouldn’t be at ease unless she definitely silenced him, alternating between intimidation and appeasement, as she had done with Chairman Lee.