‘I’m sure it’s hard for her, but she didn’t say anything because she was thinking about me.’

The director was that kind of person. She didn’t want to burden Lea, who had always been like an eldest sister.

As the treated maid left the pharmacy, Lea took out a piece of letter paper and a pen.

‘I should write a letter to Theo.’

Theo was a friend who grew up together in the orphanage. Rather than sending it to the director and receiving an answer telling her not to worry, she planned to ask Theo about the detailed situation.

And as she was about to leave the pharmacy with the hastily written letter,

[knock knock]

The pharmacy door opened with the sound of a knock.

“Ah! You’re here. A letter came for you, pharmacist.”

“A letter?”

As she accepted the letter handed over by the maid, she saw a familiar name written as the sender.

‘Theo.’

As if anticipating Lea’s letter, it was a letter sent by Theo. She opened the envelope in one breath and read the letter.

“Ha. As expected….”

As expected, the letter sent by Theo contained information that the orphanage was facing a severe financial crisis.

On top of that, rainwater that swept through the city flowed into the river, making it difficult to supply drinking water, and it was predicted that there would be victims of secondary diseases.

Lea held her forehead at the more serious situation in Tren than she had thought. There were about twenty children in the orphanage. Without city support, the children would have immediate problems with food and living.

Thinking of Lisa, Lea sighed deeply.

[The problem is not with the orphanage facility itself, but that the funding has been cut off. Plus, hoarding of food supplies has increased, and the price of a bottle of drinking water has gone up to ten coins.]

Tren was in the northern region, so it didn’t usually get a lot of rainfall.

Therefore, the economy must have been paralyzed due to unprecedented flood damage.

[On top of that, the director was scammed by some city rascals while trying to secure food… Life has become difficult right now. Lea, I’m really sorry….]

Lea’s gaze lingered on the word ‘scam’ written at the end of the letter for a long time.

‘Scam….’

Suddenly, a longforgotten memory swept through Lea’s mind. A memory from a previous life that she had forgotten. The story of when she was living as Kang Yoonji in Korea.

.

.

.

Yoonji was born an only child and lived an ordinary life like any other family.

Before her parents were scammed by a man named President Hwang, and lost everything from their house to all their assets.

[So why did you believe in that man! You said his credit was reliable! You said we could trust your friend!] [You nagging woman. Did I know this would happen? You also agreed to invest! Was this a decision I made alone? I also feel wronged!]

The arguments between her parents, who were swindled out of all their assets, became more frequent. There were even many days when they would fight by throwing things at each other.

And around the time Yoonji first started elementary school.

As she was about to start school, Yoonji’s family had to run away from loan sharks. It was hard for her to attend school like her other friends.

Because she had to change schools every one month at the shortest and four months at the longest.
One day, living as a fugitive, her parents left Yunji at the orphanage, promising to return one day.

Surely,

[Just stay here for a while. Yunji, go to school from here.] [If you go with mom and dad, it’ll be hard to go to school like now.] [Mom and dad will come back for you when our lives get stable. We’ll be apart for a while, okay?]

They tried to sugarcoat it with nice words, but in the end, they had abandoned Yunji.

From elementary school to middle school, high school, and even as an adult, her parents never came back.

Yes, they may have never intended to come back in the first place. But Yunji hesitated to mingle with her orphanage friends, believing their words that they would soon return.

She believed that she would leave this place someday.

‘I’m different from the kids here.’

‘I have parents. They said they would come back.’

‘I’m not abandoned.’

Perhaps, Yunji was afraid that if she gave her heart to the friends at the orphanage, her parents might not return.

So she repelled the friends who approached her.

She isolated herself alone, thoroughly lonely, in solitude.

One day, two days. A month becomes a year, and then ten years. The time of waiting grew endlessly like a snowball.

When she finally accepted that her parents had abandoned her, there was no one by Yunji’s side.

It was too late to regret. It was Yunji who pushed away the friends who approached her.

So, Yunji, now an adult, lived independently alone. Yunji decided never to be victimized in life.

‘I’d rather cheat. I will never live like my parents.’

She barely managed to get by through various parttime jobs. Running two or three parttime jobs a day, she slowly increased her household.

Then, while working parttime at a department store, Yunji encountered Mr. and Mrs. Hwang. She recognized the recognizable Mr. Hwang and his wife at once, even though ten years had passed.

[Honey, I’m going to buy this, right? Last time I saw, Haein’s mom had a luxury bag display in her dressing room. I won’t ask for that.] [Can’t stop you. Okay, I’ll buy.] [President, shall I give you this?]

The damned child who ruined her family was living too well. They looked luxurious and happy.

They took everything from Yunji’s family, served only seven years in prison, and now they were living lavishly with decent titles.

Yunji looked at them and tears welled up. Why was she so unhappy?

Why does her life have to be so pitiful?

‘You shouldn’t be this happy.’

It started with revenge.

She wanted to defraud Mr. Hwang, who drove her family to hell, and make him feel the same.

She wanted him to feel the same despair that Yunji and her parents had felt.

That’s when she approached Mr. and Mrs. Hwang, about to succeed in her plan. She saw a child walking out of Mr. and Mrs. Hwang’s car.

She should have just passed by, ignoring the child. But she saw her younger self overlapping with the child.

What’s the big deal about money?

Was she greedy for that measly sum of money, shaking her innocent life entirely?

Her heart felt like it was going to tear. Yunji wrapped her face, forgetting even the fact that she was at a crosswalk.

While crying, a truck ran in the pouring rain. And when she thought she should avoid it, it was already too late. That’s how she ended her life.

That was the last thing Yunji remembered from her previous life.