“Miss Yuri, what should we have for lunch?”

Jinman asked while putting his computer into sleep mode. Since hearing the news of her pregnancy, colleagues always gave Yuri first choice for the menu.

“Anything is fine as long as it’s not fried food.”

“Then should we go for jeyuk rice bowl?”

“Yes. If Seonyoung agrees, let’s go for that.”

While Jinman called to ask Seonyoung who was out on field work, Yuri grabbed her wallet and stood up from her seat.

Jeho had been on a business trip to Jeju Island with Manager Kim since the day before yesterday. He returns tomorrow, Saturday. At first, he was reluctant to go on the trip. But since there was no morning sickness yet at 5 weeks pregnant, Yuri persuaded Jeho not to worry.

There was no problem with any food except those with strong oil smells. Aunt Miyeon said it was because Yuri took after her mother. Soyeon apparently had no morning sickness at all when pregnant with Yuri.

[Still, she had many cravings, wanting Pyongyang cold noodles from Eulji-ro in the middle of the night, or famous braised chicken from Incheon, she had a lot of demands.]

Miyeon had said this during a phone call a few days ago. Recalling old times, Miyeon continued in a somber voice.

[Your father may have been brusque, but if your sister wanted something to eat, he would get it without complaint. I suppose that was his way of expressing love. It’s just a shame your sister died without hearing him say it directly.]

Having learned that Hyungsik truly loved only Soyeon, Miyeon’s hatred towards Hyungsik seemed to have subsided somewhat, as she no longer treated him with the same icy coldness as before.

Perhaps because life was growing inside her?

Lately, Yuri found herself thinking of her deceased mother more often.

Did Mom feel this way when she was pregnant with me too?

That the fact of carrying the baby of the person you love could bring such great happiness.

If only Mother were alive to share in this joy together…

“Seonyoung said okay too. She said she’ll go ahead and save us seats since it’s nearby.”

Yuri snapped out of her reverie at the sound of Jinman’s voice beside her.

“Let’s wait for Seonyoung. Let’s hurry and go.”

Just as they were leaving the building, suddenly someone blocked Yuri’s path. As she tried to see who it was, there was a sharp slapping sound and Yuri’s head turned to the side.

Yuri cupped her stinging cheek with her hand and looked at the person who had struck her with an incredulous expression.

“You wicked girl!”

Lady Na Dohee glared at Yuri with a distorted face, breathing heavily.

Lady Na already had a history of causing a disturbance by coming to the company when Yuri was in the Middle East.

After spending an astronomical sum on lawyer fees but failing to get Minwoo’s suspended sentence, she blamed everything on Yuri and hurled curses at her.

“My son’s life is ruined because of you! What are you going to do about it now?”

As Lady Na lunged at Yuri again, Jinman quickly spread his arms to block her. But Yuri patted Jinman’s shoulder as if to say it was okay, and stepped forward to face Lady Na.

“Why do you say it’s because of me? The one who ruined his life was Minwoo himself.”

“What? What did my Minwoo do wrong?”

“You attended the trial regularly, and you still don’t know what Minwoo did wrong?”

“How is that such a big mistake? Couples can fight when they’re dating. And those girls were all gold diggers. They threw themselves at Minwoo because he’s from a rich family!”

“Please come to your senses.”

Yuri looked at Lady Na, who was spouting nonsense, with pitying eyes.

“The one who turned Minwoo into a monster was you, madam. What do you think Minwoo grew up seeing?”

“Agh!”

As Yuri hit the nail on the head, Lady Na screamed and raised her hand high. But this time, Yuri caught her hand.

“Hit me one more time. I’ll sue you for assault.”

As Lady Na flinched, Yuri let go of her hand and said coldly:

“You should be apologizing to me, not getting angry. Minwoo tried to kidnap and even kill me.”

“That’s because you were cheating…”

“Cheating? I was clearly broken up with Minwoo at the time. If anything, it was Minwoo who slept around with other women even while engaged to me.”

“Shut up!”

As the truth poured from Yuri’s mouth, Lady Na screamed with her face red up to her neck. Seeing Lady Na unable to accept the truth, Yuri shook her head. It was obvious that talking further would just be a waste of time.

“A normal person would feel ashamed rather than angry… Instead of taking it out on me, why don’t you go get some counseling somewhere?”

With those final words, Yuri walked past Lady Na.

“Hey! Stop right there!”

Lady Na tried to chase after Yuri, but was immediately grabbed by the arm by Jinman.

“That’s enough. Should I call the police like last time?”

Lady Na had been arrested on the spot for her previous disturbance but was released with a warning. However, she was warned that if she caused trouble again, it wouldn’t end with just a warning.

She wanted to chase after Yuri and grab her by the hair and shake her, but it seemed better for her own good to back down for now.

After divorcing Director Kwon, everything in the world had changed. Though she had secured quite a bit of property in the division of assets, money alone wasn’t enough to wield power. Without KG Group’s protection, all that money was of no help at all.

Her parents had already passed away, so her siblings who remained in her maiden family weren’t a strong background either. Her media mogul family was ashamed of Minwoo’s actions and tried to cut family ties.

“Alright, let go of me!”

Lady Na pulled her arm free from Jinman and glared at Yuri’s retreating back.

Hmph, at least I got to slap that insolent girl once.

Lady Na tried to console herself as she turned her back and walked in the opposite direction.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day, before going to pick up Jeho at the airport, Yuri met Hyunkyung outside for tea. Drinking tea with a mango cake in front of them, Yuri told Hyunkyung about Lady Na’s visit yesterday.

“Wow! Is she crazy? That lady really needs some counseling.”

After hearing the whole story, Hyunkyung gaped in disbelief.

“I know, right? Even if it’s her own child, how can she say such things? Knowing what kind of things Minwoo did…”

Yuri frowned, still seeming upset.

“Among the victims, there’s even someone who became infertile for life…”

Yuri recalled Shin Dahee, who had testified as a witness.

Though she hadn’t expected it at all, Dahee had returned to Korea to testify despite being abroad.

Seated in the witness stand, Dahee testified about everything from beginning to end with a calm face. She also submitted medical records diagnosing her infertility due to Minwoo’s assault, along with photos she had kept as evidence of the violence.

After the trial, Dahee approached Yuri to apologize.

“I’m sorry. Those anonymous texts and videos… I sent them all.”

“I suspected as much. But why did you do it?”

At Yuri’s question, Dahee gave a bitter smile.

“…I don’t know. I was just so angry then. I was ruined like this, but you looked so happy, so I felt jealous too… I wanted to shake you up a little. …But instead of feeling better, my heart just felt heavier.”

In extreme situations, some people lose their reason and become extremely wicked. Was Shin Dahee one of those cases?

“To be honest, I can’t say it’s okay. I didn’t want to find out the truth that way, even if it was the truth. But I know how hard it must have been for you, so I’ll try to understand.”

After a brief pause, Yuri continued:

“…That aside. It couldn’t have been easy, but thank you for testifying.”

“No. I should be thanking you. For giving me a chance for revenge.”

That day, Dahee handed over the original video to Yuri. Thanks to that, Yuri was able to watch the rest of the video that had cut off after Jeho said there was nothing to fear.

―There’s nothing to fear.

―Why is that?

―Because I’ll accept whatever situation comes. That’s the resolution I started this with.

The look in Jeho’s eyes in the video was so heartbreaking that Yuri couldn’t help but choke up. She could see that Jeho too had suffered greatly while hiding the truth, which pained her heart.

“Yuri, are you listening to me?”

At Hyunkyung’s voice, Yuri snapped out of her reminiscence and turned to face Hyunkyung.

“Oh, sorry. What did you just say?”

“You didn’t hit that lady back, did you?”

“No. I wanted to, but I held back. It would’ve become mutual assault.”

“Right, you did well to hold back. I’m proud of you, our Yuri.”

Hyunkyung patted Yuri’s shoulder approvingly and began dialing a number on speakerphone. The dial tone rang and soon the call connected.

[Yes, Hyunkyung.]

Assistant Kim’s voice came through the phone speaker.

“Taehoon, can I ask you for a favor? Can you get the CCTV footage installed near the Bauhaus building? From noon to 1 pm yesterday.”

[That’s not difficult.]

“Thanks. I’ll come to the center and explain in detail.”

Yuri frowned in confusion as Hyunkyung hung up the phone.

“But Hyunkyung, I already said I’m not going to press charges.”

“Hey, who said anything about pressing charges? This kind of thing should be put on the internet. ‘Perpetrator comes to assault victim’ – something like that. How about it, sounds good right?”

Only then did Yuri nod with a grin. She could have stopped Hyunkyung, but decided not to.

If public opinion stirs up due to Lady Na’s assault this time, it would work quite unfavorably for Minwoo facing his second trial. It was also obvious that she would grow even more distant from her already estranged media mogul family. In short, it was self-destructive.

“Oh my, it’s already this late. I need to head to the airport now.”

“Okay, you’d better go. Say hi to Jeho for me.”

After checking the time on her wristwatch, Yuri hurriedly got up from her seat.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Hmm.”

Hyunkyung hummed happily as she watched Yuri leave the cafe. And a moment later, she too gathered her bag and got up.

Leaving the cafe, Hyunkyung drove to the legal counseling center. Saturday wasn’t her usual volunteer day, but the earlier call had given her a reason to meet Taehoon.

“Haah.”

Just the thought of seeing him soon made her heart flutter.

She had seen Taehoon by Congressman Chae’s side for a long time, but only started conversing with him after Yuri’s kidnapping incident.

Taehoon, who was quite older, was very polite and considerate unlike men of Hyunkyung’s age. As a result, she gradually began to develop romantic feelings for him.

And those feelings developed into love as she frequented Congressman Chae’s house daily in place of Yuri who had gone to America.

What was it? She thought he was just polite and considerate, but he had a bit of an edge too!

Sweet yet spicy, refreshing yet with a kick!

Yes, that’s it. A mature man should have this kind of deep flavor!

Taehoon was the ideal man Hyunkyung had been searching for all along.

It was a bit frustrating that she only realized it now when he had been right in front of her, but she could be relieved that she discovered it at least now.

“Kuk.”

Recalling the day her feelings turned to love, Hyunkyung burst out laughing without realizing it. She could still vividly picture Taehoon looking at her with a bewildered expression.

After pushing Yuri off to America, bringing up the tale of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl and the Magpie Bridge, Hyunkyung had dropped Yuri off at the airport and immediately headed to Congressman Chae’s house.

It was to keep her promise to take care of Congressman Chae in Yuri’s absence, to see Taehoon, and to kill two birds with one stone.

“What brings you here so suddenly?”

Taehoon looked at Hyunkyung, who had shown up unannounced, with troubled eyes. In contrast, Hyunkyung gazed at Taehoon with enchanted eyes.

Today, he was far from the perfect appearance she had seen so far.

The top two buttons of his dress shirt and tie were loosened, and below his rolled-up sleeves, smooth muscular forearms were revealed.

But what caught Hyunkyung’s attention most was the deep blue apron.

He was wearing an apron, presumably in the middle of cooking.

Who knew the combination of a white dress shirt and blue apron could be so dizzying!

Hyunkyung could only stare blankly at Taehoon, lost in a daze.

Wow! Is a man in an apron allowed to be this sexy?