He wanted to get up from his seat and follow him right away. He wanted to hug him and confess that it was all a lie. But he couldn’t do that.

Yuri clenched her hands and took a deep breath, but the suffocating feeling didn’t improve at all.

“Even if it’s hard now, you’ll be okay soon.”

“I hope so too.”

Yuri replied coldly and got up from her seat. She felt like she would suffocate if she kept sitting next to Assemblyman Chae. He probably wouldn’t want Yuri by his side either.

She could tell why Assemblyman Chae hated her so much. Because she was the eldest daughter who looked just like his dead wife. Every time he saw Yuri, who resembled his wife, uncontrollable hatred and resentment must have grown.

Why do the mother and daughter have the same fate?

An unwanted marriage. A love that can only be seen from afar.

No tears came out. It wasn’t even worth crying over.

Yuri lifted her head and looked at the dark night sky. Hope had been shattered since she learned of another hidden truth. The days when she dreamed of happiness, even for a moment, felt so distant.

That day, in the study, Assemblyman Chae showed Yuri the last card he was holding.

[This is the timeline separator]

A few days ago, in the study.

“This is evidence that your dead mother had an affair,” Assemblyman Chae said in a cold voice to Yuri, who was holding the photo with a puzzled expression.

“That’s absurd…”

“Be quiet and listen to me first.”

Assemblyman Chae raised his hand to stop her from arguing, as if not allowing any rebuttal.

“The man your mother loved was not me, but Jung Taehyuk. The two of them were originally lovers. Your mother married me to save Jung Taehyuk.”

At the time, Prosecutor Chae Hyungsik met Soyeon for the first time while arresting Jung Taehyuk, the leader of the student movement. Soyeon was both Taehyuk’s lover and an executive leading the student movement. When Yuri’s maternal grandfather, who was the chief prosecutor at the time, found out, he confined Soyeon at home and submitted a leave of absence to the school.

“I fell in love at first sight with your mother who came to visit Taehyuk. She looked quite pretty, glaring at me haughtily without hiding her hatred.”

Soyeon would sneak out of the house at every opportunity to visit Taehyuk and participate in student movement meetings. In the end, her grandfather handed Soyeon over to Chae Hyungsik, whom he had picked as a son-in-law.

On the condition that if she married Prosecutor Chae, Jung Taehyuk would be released. Otherwise, he threatened to make him rot in prison for at least 10 years.

He didn’t expect Soyeon to sacrifice herself so much for her lover. But Soyeon sacrificed herself for her lover.

Although he gained Soyeon as a wife, he was so jealous he could go crazy. How much did she love Jung Taehyuk to marry a man she didn’t love? The more he loved his wife, the more his resentment and jealousy grew.

Pointing to a photo of the two having tea together, Assemblyman Chae said:

“That day was my birthday. In the morning, she told me to come home early, but she was meeting him outside.”

“You were spying on mother?”

“It wasn’t me, it was your grandfather. Your grandfather didn’t trust your mother until the day he died.”

Assemblyman Chae continued with a bitter laugh.

“That day, I couldn’t go home. I didn’t know how to treat your mother. The person who stood by my side then was Secretary An Misook.”

“So your affair with my stepmother is justified? Did mother betray you?”

“That’s not it. You know your mother well too. Even if her insides were rotten, she never crossed the line.”

“Then these photos are useless.”

“Well, others might not think so.”

Assemblyman Chae was right. Most people only see what they want to see and listen only to what they want to hear.

“I’ll have to recover my damaged image even if I have to sell out your mother.”

A wife who falls in love with an opposition assemblyman. A husband who pretends not to know even though he knows. It was a plausible image strategy.

“You know it’s not true, but you’re going to recover your image even if you insult the deceased?”

“What else can I do? You’re going to tarnish my image…”

Yuri realized once again that she was no match for her father. He was an unshakable fortress.

“…What should I do…”

Her throat clogged up and she couldn’t finish her words properly.

“Get married as it is. Otherwise, you’ll see your mother being pointed at as an adulteress by the whole nation.”

“That’s cruel.”

“Cruel? You should say that to your mother. She lived wearing the mask of a good wife and wise mother, mixing flesh with a man she didn’t even love for the sake of the man she loved…”

Assemblyman Chae’s eyes turned red with anger.

“She was perfect even at the moment of her death. Holding my hand and saying she’s sorry for going first… I knew too well that I wasn’t the one who should be hearing those words.”

Among the photos was one of Assemblyman Jung Taehyuk visiting the hospital.

“You thought I didn’t know. That Jung Taehyuk came in the middle of the night and held Soyeon while tears welled up in his eyes.”

“Stop it.”

Unable to listen anymore, Yuri covered her ears with both hands. But Assemblyman Chae’s voice kept flowing in.

“When the car accident happened. Jung Taehyuk was there too. He was about to marry the daughter of an opposition assemblyman. I don’t think your mother tried to save the child with a pure heart.”

“…H-how can you think that.”

“She couldn’t stand seeing her old lover marrying another woman. She couldn’t stand them losing the election either. Your mother was that kind of woman.”

“I said stop it. Please, stop!”

Yuri’s face crumbled miserably as she looked at Assemblyman Chae. She was so horrified that no tears came out. All the beliefs surrounding her had collapsed.

She wanted to scream until her throat burst, but no sound came out. Yuri pressed her chest with both hands. If only she could cry.

Assemblyman Chae, who had been looking down at her with cold eyes, walked out of the study past Yuri.

As the door closed, Yuri’s body fell limply to the floor.

A dark curtain poured down around her.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I understand. Please investigate further. Yes, the sooner the better.”

After hanging up, Jeho frowned and put his hand on his forehead.

As expected, it was clear that Assemblyman Chae had a weakness caught by Minwoo and was pressuring him to proceed with the marriage using that as an excuse. He had just confirmed through an informant that the photos from the Geoje resort had flowed into Minwoo’s hands.

But why did Yuri change her mind? Was she threatened too?

“I was too complacent. I shouldn’t have left it all up to Yuri…”

“So what are you going to do?” Wogyeol, who had been listening to the call next to him, asked with a worried face.

“Wogyeol, can you contact Brandon and see if we can get that thing done sooner?”

Wogyeol’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected it at all. And soon a dark shadow fell over his face.

“Do you have to go that far? Actually, even if Yuri marries Minwoo, it’s not a big disadvantage to us.”

He knew. Rather, marriage would be advantageous for shaking Minwoo and secretly extracting information. But that was before he knew the pain Yuri was going through. He didn’t want to hurt her even if the whole world did.

He wanted to protect her. He couldn’t protect her 10 years ago, but not anymore.

“I’m sorry. At first, I just started it to shake Minwoo, but before I knew it, it had grown out of control.”

Emotions, feelings, and…

“Okay. I’ll contact Brandon.”

Seeing Jeho’s face crumbling, Wogyeol couldn’t say anything more. Seeing him collapse to that extent, it didn’t seem like it would be solved even if he tried to stop it now.

Wogyeol went out and Jeho sat on the sofa, covering his face with both hands. He couldn’t stand how pathetic he was for letting things get this far.

He only thought about stopping the marriage, but he didn’t think about what kind of pain Yuri would suffer. Even though he knew how Assemblyman Chae would react.

He could guess how he reacted this time, even if there was no visible physical violence like with one resort photo. There must have been mental violence no less than that.

―Ha, like Minwoo said, you’re a bXstard, Jeho.

Yuri’s face as she spat out those words looked so devastatingly wretched. He wanted to pull her, pale and trembling, into his arms. He wanted to comfort her by putting his lips on her forehead and running his palm down her back.

How much was she blaming herself? How much was she crumbling inside as she spoke those words? He had to hold back desperately from embracing and kissing her to stop her from speaking anymore.

She would never tell him what happened. She would think she had to bear it all alone. That was more than enough with Yuri’s personality.

What should I do with you?

I can take it all on, if it’s for you… As long as you’re not hurting.

“…Yuri.”

Just whispering her name hurt like a needle piercing his heart.

[This is the timeline separator]

Not long after returning from Chairman Kwon’s house after dinner, Yuri came to the room. She had clothes covered in dry cleaning in her hand.

“Unni, didn’t you pick up these clothes you left at the cleaners? The owner gave them to me when I went to drop off a coat today.”

The clothes in Yuri’s hand were Jeho’s jacket. After dropping it off for dry cleaning, she had completely forgotten about its existence.

“Oh, thanks.”

Yuri took the jacket from Yuri with a dazed face.

“It’s not Minwoo oppa’s clothes… Is this Jeho oppa’s?”

“Huh?”

When Yuri couldn’t answer properly with a blank expression, Yuri sighed and shook her head. She approached Yuri, who was clutching the jacket as if it were a treasure, and hugged her with arms wide open.

“Unni, live a little easier. If that’s not possible, at least run away.”

Yuri patted Yuri’s back and left the room. Even after Yuri left, Yuri stood still for a while, just staring at Jeho’s jacket. It felt like he had come to her, and she choked up.

When she took off the dry cleaning cover, a unique pungent smell pricked her nose. But Yuri didn’t mind. She buried her face in the jacket and inhaled the scent with all her might. His scent must have completely disappeared by now, but…

Hoping to feel him even a little, even the slightest bit, Yuri hugged the jacket tightly.

“I miss you.”

Even though she had just seen him, she missed him terribly.

Even though she had sharply scratched his heart with vicious words…

“…Jeho.”

Shamelessly, she wanted to be in his arms right away. Yuri buried her face in the jacket as if it were Jeho and rubbed her cheek against it.

“Sob.”

The tears she had been holding back until now poured out uncontrollably like a broken dam.

How long had she cried? When she lifted her head, she saw the jacket ruined with foundation and tear stains. It had been very clean until just a moment ago.

“Ha.”

Ironically, a snort flowed from her mouth. It was like seeing him ruined by her malicious words…

“No. It can’t be like this.”

Muttering to herself, Yuri ran out of the room with the jacket.

[This is the timeline separator]

At the sound of the doorbell ringing incessantly, Jeho slowly got up from his seat. Wogyeol had just gone home, and there was no one who would visit at this late hour. He was about to ignore it, but reluctantly pressed the intercom button. Surprisingly, Yuri’s figure appeared on the screen.

He ran out and opened the front door, and Yuri was standing in front of him with a pale face. She looked so unstable, as if she might collapse at any moment. After staring at Jeho for a long time, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Can I come in?”

When Jeho didn’t say anything, she continued.

“It’s okay to go all the way, so please let me in.”