“Why, are you upset?”

“You… crazy!”

As Jung Hwa spoke with lips full of mockery, So Yeon slowly threw out a sharp voice.

“Well, sure. You said you’d testify at the trial, did you think I’d be in my right mind knowing that? You should be more careful. You brought this on yourself by coming here today, so don’t blame me too much.”

“So, what are you going to do to me?”

“Why ask. You already know. But even if I let you go, I want to let you know your crime before I do.”

It meant she would cut off the chain of ill fate that had been dragging on. So Yeon was so chilled she couldn’t say anything.

“A famous doctor father. A mother who incubates her children diligently like a hen. You must have been quite happy growing up between them. Right? You must have grown up like a princess in a blessed family.”

“…”

“But unlike you, I was very unhappy. To a degree you can’t even imagine. So how could I forgive you for taking away the happiness I worked so hard for? Your son is the same. Since you gave birth to my man’s child, your son is as good as mine, isn’t he?”

“Say something that makes sense. Even delusions should be kept in check to be accepted.”

So Yeon could only laugh hollowly at Jung Hwa’s forced claim.

She wanted to see a frightened Eom So Yeon, but she was rather calm. Jung Hwa, who couldn’t be more irritated, spoke with a sharp look in her eyes.

“Ha! Alright. It seems you want to get to the point, but where is your son right now? No, is he dead or alive?”

“…!”

It was as soon as Jung Hwa finished speaking. So Yeon, who sincerely wanted to strangle Yoo Jung Hwa, jumped up from the sofa. But immediately, two men grabbed her shoulders and sat her back down.

“Yes, this is it! This is how Eom So Yeon should react for me to feel satisfied.”

“You’re crazy! How can a person be like this!”

“Oh my, crazy you say. Is that what you say to me when I’m feeling the best? Will those words go away when you see the child?”

As expected, she knew she would crumble at the mention of the child. Jung Hwa, who finally felt a little better seeing So Yeon’s agitated appearance, ordered one of the men.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and show her the child.”

The man who connected the video call lowered the phone under So Yeon’s eyes.

So Yeon’s numb gaze fell on the screen.

The child was smiling well as usual, and was snugly held by a man in a black suit.

“Hyunwoo…”

– Oh? It’s Mom!

The child reacted only after So Yeon’s voice flowed into the phone, as the camera on this side was turned off.

“Yes, it’s Mom.”

“Where is Mom? Hyunwoo is having fun playing with the uncles…”

As if that was enough to confirm, the man took the phone away from So Yeon’s eyes and turned it off.

“You know what? With just one word, ‘Kill her,’ you’ll never see your son again.”

Jung Hwa uttered terrible words without even batting an eye.

It was such a horrific thing to even imagine that So Yeon couldn’t even breathe properly. As a result, her trembling voice, like a candle flickering in the wind, was suppressed and came out in small pieces.

“What… do I… need to do?”

“Are you willing to do as you’re told?”

“…”

So Yeon’s silent gaze lowered was enough to be taken as affirmation. At Jung Hwa’s gesture, the man promptly placed a small, transparent glass bottle on the table.

Then Jung Hwa explained about the liquid in the medicine bottle.

“They say within 30 minutes, the blood vessels shrink up and the heart is destroyed along with it. It was hard to get, want to try drinking it?”

So Yeon, who had her shocked gaze fixed on the small bottle, asked.

“Why… should I die?”

“Then, should we send your son instead of you? Is that what you want?”

“Ha…”

As So Yeon let out a short sigh, squeezing her large eyes shut, Jung Hwa pushed the medicine bottle towards So Yeon with her fingertip.

“Come on, don’t hesitate, drink it now.”

Jung Hwa, who spoke kindly as if offering a drink, stared intently. At the trembling of those large, weak pupils. At the pitiful maternal love, utterly predictable and boring, as she slowly picked up the bottle and brought it to her lips.

“…”

Jung Hwa, cruel beyond measure.

There was no one crazier.

No, she wasn’t just ordinarily crazy, but a mad demon.

As the trembling hand tilted the glass bottle, the transparent liquid quickly flowed into her mouth. It was the moment So Yeon swallowed it with a gulp.

With a very refreshed expression, Jung Hwa raised both hands above her head and clapped.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Three times slowly.

A very desirable choice.

It was like a finale decorating Eom So Yeon’s last moment.

“Pft… hahaha…”

Jung Hwa couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Realizing once again at this moment that she hated and despised Eom So Yeon herself, regardless of Tae Seo Jun, Jung Hwa felt so lighthearted it seemed like she had come back from a long journey. Because this was the end for Eom So Yeon, who had been a thorn in her side all along.

Jung Hwa, who laughed until tears almost came out, straightened her back as she rested her elbow on the sofa backrest.

“You call yourself a mother, you really tried hard. Is that what you learned from your parents too?”

“…If you were human, if you were a mother, you couldn’t have done something like this.”

“Then let’s say I’m not human. I have no intention of becoming a mother, and I have not the slightest desire to exchange my life for a child’s.”

“Well, Yoo Jung Hwa wouldn’t be qualified to be a mother anyway. The sins you’ve committed are too big and numerous for even you alone to bear.”

So Yeon, curling up the corners of her lips, had a very calm expression. Isn’t a person who’s about to die being too confident and bold? Jung Hwa laughed loudly once more at the luxurious composure of a weak person, the unsightly bravado, and suddenly stiffened her face as she opened her red lips.

“What are my sins? Collapsing the set? Locking the waiting room door hoping the fire would spread more? And what else was there… The things I did because I couldn’t stand the sight of you aren’t just one or two. But so what. If something keeps getting in the way, shouldn’t you naturally clear it?”

“Ha…”

So Yeon, clenching both fists tightly, looked up at the ceiling. It was a resigned gaze, not even worth getting angry over.

Whether she did that or not, Jung Hwa checked the time on her phone and said.

“Has it been 10 minutes now? There’s still a good 20 minutes left? It’s too long a journey for you to go alone, isn’t it? So I thought about it, and I’ll give you a gift before you close your eyes.”

“You… really…”

Whatever it was, it sounded like she was going to commit another vicious act.

So Yeon, who had become devastated beyond anger, stared blankly.

At Yoo Jung Hwa, who was dialing someone with a wicked smile on her lips.

– What.

As soon as the voice of the man who had been speaking in dialect earlier was heard, Jung Hwa immediately ordered.

“We’re done here, so finish up there too.”

– What.

“The thing I gave you to feed Eom So Yeon. Feed it to those two on your side too.”

– Who.

“Are you stupid? Do I have to spell everything out? The white woman and the kid. Process them right away and bring them here. I’m going to bury them together with Eom So Yeon.”

Huh! Just now…! It was an unbelievable, horrific sound. So Yeon’s eyes trembled as if shattering, like seeing the devil.

– Ah, that child with the bright and cute smile and the nanny?

“Yes!”

– Oh no, that little one isn’t here. That medicine was fake too. Actually, we didn’t shake them off earlier.

The man’s mocking tone sounded real, but it absolutely shouldn’t be, so Jung Hwa ignored that feeling completely and lost her temper first.

“Is this the time for jokes? Hurry up and do as you’re told! Stop trying to extort more money!”

That’s when it happened.

“You’re the one who should stop!”

Whack!

“Ack!”

Along with a shouting voice, something hit Yoo Jung Hwa’s cheek hard. Shocked by the sudden impact, Jung Hwa dropped her phone and straightened her head that had turned sideways.

What she saw in her dizzy vision were large eyes full of contempt, and it was Eom So Yeon who had swung her fist with all her might.

The slapped cheek was burning, but Jung Hwa, considering it a last struggle, said with trembling lips.

“How dare you hit me? Me, Yoo Jung Hwa, by the likes of you?”

“I told you before. That whatever you do, you’d already be in hell. Don’t you know you’re in hell right now, just like I said?”

“Ha! With death approaching, you’re all talk…!”

Jung Hwa’s voice cut off in the middle of speaking.

By now, her vocal cords should have been abnormal from drinking the poison. But what was this? Eom So Yeon was not like that. Rather, she was clear and articulate. What is this? As this question strongly hit Jung Hwa’s mind, it was simultaneous.

“I think that’s enough now.”

As one man spoke, another man sent Eom So Yeon back. And the two men faced Jung Hwa as she jumped up from her seat. It was a stance ready to protect Eom So Yeon and attack Yoo Jung Hwa if necessary.

“You, who are you people!”

Jung Hwa shouted roughly, finally realizing that the situation was going wrong.

It was at that moment.

The man coming down the stairs from the second floor to the first had such graceful steps that his long legs made him even more elegant. He was very tall. He spoke in a low voice.

“What else. They’re our security guards.”

“!”

Jung Hwa’s eyes wavered turbulently in shock. The moment she confirmed that the man who came down from the second floor was Tae Seo Jun, she collapsed onto the sofa, her legs giving out, and shook her head slightly.

Ah, no… This can’t be! This shouldn’t be happening!

It was a denial of reality, unable to believe the situation that had reversed in an instant.

Hyunwoo met Seo Jun at 4 PM, just as he was entering the shower room after finishing swimming.

“Oh? It’s Dad!”

“Shh!”

Seo Jun, wrapping Hyunwoo tightly in a thick, large towel, slipped out the back door of the pool and gave a brief glance to the swimming instructor. It was a silent signal asking to take care of the next steps.

The swimming instructor was a friend who had built a friendship with Seo Jun while running around the swimming arena together when Seo Jun competed in the national high school championships. To say more, asking him to give Hyunwoo swimming lessons and telling him about his circumstances was all part of Seo Jun’s plan from the beginning.

Following such a development, he gladly helped Seo Jun and, as agreed, handed over a doll similar in size to Hyunwoo’s build to Jessica.

After that, a fierce chase ensued between a silver sedan and a black van, but in fact, this incident started from an operation to eliminate a gangster organization.

A detective tracking the circumstances of Yoo Byung Hwan’s traffic accident found out that the organization and Yoo Jung Hwa had a close relationship, and that the person who connected them long ago was Han Seung Jae. After that, the police monitored the movements of the gangster organization more closely.

Just then, Tae Chairman’s people caught gangsters loitering around Eom So Yeon and Tae Hyunwoo. And in cooperation with the police, they finally completed the on-site arrest of the gangster organization today.

The gangsters who were thus rounded up were immediately detained in the police station holding cells. However, Yoo Jung Hwa still remained.

The police chief, for the arrest of Yoo Jung Hwa and the safety of Eom So Yeon, cooperated with the Elstella security team to have the leader of that organization stay briefly at the Elstella Hotel security office.

And Seo Jun succeeded in persuading and cooperating with the organization boss through a tough battle of words and pressure that lasted two hours.

In the process, Seo Jun decided to use Yoo Jung Hwa’s scheme, which the organization boss confessed, in reverse. In other words, Seo Jun and So Yeon had been waiting quietly on a well-laid board.

At Han Seung Jae’s villa.

Until the black puddle of rainwater deepened.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, Manager Bong brought Hyunwoo, who had finished video calling with So Yeon, from the hotel to Gahoe-dong.

From then until just past 10 PM now, the reception room of the main house was as peaceful as ever, but Tae Seok Ho and Cha Yeo Jin, who were completely absorbed in their grandson’s antics, even had to have a childish marital quarrel.

“Huh huh, well…”

Tae Seok Ho frowned deeply.

It was very disappointing and regrettable that Yeo Jin had taken Hyunwoo, who was on his knee, as if suddenly snatching away the candy he was sweetly eating.

“It’s my turn now, isn’t it?”

“But it makes me feel empty if you do this suddenly.”

As if her husband’s pleading eyes were of no use, Yeo Jin said firmly.

“That’s why you should have compromised a little from the beginning.”

“But just one more hug…”

“No way, not a chance!”

As Seok Ho stretched out his arms towards Hyunwoo’s armpits, Yeo Jin hugged the child tightly and turned her body in the opposite direction of her husband, saying there was no chance.

“Greed brings anger. This time it’s right for you to give in.”

“Kiki…”

Hyunwoo, looking back and forth between his grandmother and grandfather’s faces from Yeo Jin’s lap, giggled while covering his mouth with his small hands. Even to the child’s eyes, the adults’ bickering was just fun and cute.

“See? Our squabbling is making the child…”

“He’s enjoying it. Hehehe.”

Seok Ho, cutting off her words, winked slightly at Hyunwoo and chuckled.

“Pfft…”

Yeo Jin couldn’t help but laugh with twitching lips.

“Grandpa, when is Hyunwoo going home?”

“Why, is playing with grandpa not fun?”

“Um, it’s not that.”

Hyunwoo, who shook his head vigorously from side to side, tried to put on a serious expression in his own way.

“I want to play more with the puppies so I want to go home.”

There are a pair of adult Siberian Huskies and five puppies in the main house in Gahoe-dong. Hyunwoo, who played in the dog kennel with the security guard uncles as soon as he arrived at the main house, seemed to have become very attached to the puppies in that short time.

“Oh my, did our grandson like dogs?”

“I wanted to raise one, but my maternal grandmother is scared of animal fur so we couldn’t.”

“Why is she scared of fur?”

“Maternal grandmother says her body gets itchy and swollen if fur just touches her.”

Jo Yeon Hee had an allergy to dog and cat fur. That’s what Hyunwoo was talking about, and Seok Ho and Yeo Jin immediately understood what Hyunwoo meant.

“Honey…”

Yeo Jin lightly jabbed Seok Ho’s waist with her elbow. It meant to quickly allow Hyunwoo to raise a puppy.

Usually, such a request would be unthinkable for others given how much he cherished his pets, but Seok Ho nodded willingly and asked Hyunwoo.

“Is there one you like?”

“Yes, there is! The puppy with the blackest eyes!”

“Would you like to try raising that one?”

“Wow! Grandpa, you’re the best!”

Could he have been that happy? Hyunwoo got down from Yeo Jin’s lap and hopped around the spacious living room, incredibly excited.

A gentle smile naturally bloomed on the faces of Seok Ho and Yeo Jin, unable to take their eyes off their grandson.

It was a smile of utter satisfaction and contentment.