Eugene, who sprung out ecstatically, greeted Ra Jin while grabbing her arm.
“Why did you come so late! I’ve been waiting for so long! I’ve been staring at the clock since morning until you arrived.”
Guarding against the unexpected hospitality, Ra Jin hesitated and cautiously opened her mouth.
“I arrived 20 minutes earlier than the appointed time.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Come in quickly, everyone’s been waiting for you until their throats dried up?”
Whether she was wary or not, Eugene didn’t care and pulled on her arm.
‘Strange.’
Normally, she would have just grumbled ‘you’re here?’
No, maybe she wouldn’t even have done that today.
She surely would have heard about her visit to my house from SooYoung a while ago.
I thought she would be naturally antipathetic to me.
What the hell is this noisy welcome all about?
Without a chance to resolve her doubts, Ra Jin was led by Eugene into the entrance.
“Mom! Dad! Sister’s here!”
Eugene shouted boisterously.
This was also completely different from her usual demeanor.
She was Eugene, who always tried to erase her existence, in case their parents’ attention would be focused on me.
‘Why is she acting like this?’
Upon hearing Eugene’s voice, YoungHo, who was in the master’s room, came rushing out.
“Our Ra Jin is here?”
“……I am here.”
“Oh, good to see you, my daughter.”
YoungHo quickly approached and held Ra Jin’s hands tightly.
“Was the trip tiring? I should have picked you up, but I couldn’t fill up the gas…… I need to get rid of the car now. Sigh, I’m saying all this to my daughter who I haven’t seen in a while.”
YoungHo trailed off with an awkward expression on his face.
Ra Jin clenched her tightly closed lips.
For some reason, she felt a thorn in her throat.
“No, it was okay.”
“A big mart opened nearby, so the traffic is worse than before. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve gone shopping with our Ra Jin. I should buy you something delicious, but I wonder if such a day will come again…….”
“…….”
“Oh, I’m saying all sorts of things to my daughter. So, how’s work going?”
While Ra Jin was being held by YoungHo.
Eugene brought out SooYoung, who had put on an apron, from the kitchen. She was practically dragging her by the arm.
“Mom, why didn’t you come out quickly when I told you that sister’s here? After saying that you missed her.”
“Hey, Eugene!”
“Why are you bowing your head in front of the sink and holding back tears, like a fool.”
At that remark, Ra Jin’s gaze turned to SooYoung.
When her eyes met with SooYoung’s, SooYoung hesitated and opened her mouth.
“Ra Jin is here.”
“……Yes.”
A moment of awkward silence flowed between the two.
“You must’ve had a hard time. It was tough, wasn’t it?”
“……It’s okay.”
“I couldn’t come right away because I was cooking. So, are you very tired?”
It was the first time Sook Young had been so considerate of my feelings.
A few days ago, when she came to my house, she was completely different, glaring at me with hostile eyes. But now, her motherinlaw was being extremely cautious in her treatment of her.
“You repay kindness with enmity. This is why we shouldn’t bring in someone with no roots.”
It was hard to believe that this was the same person who said such things.
“Now I see, Ra Jin, you’ve always seen us not as family but as mere providers.”
Every single word of Sook Young was still vivid in Ra Jin’s memory.
“You will regret this.”
The icecold words that Sook Young spat out at me.
“You’ll come to realize how miserable and cruel it is to lose a family.”
Her motherinlaw’s words were still sharply lodged in Ra Jin’s chest. It still hurt.
The moment Ra Jin turned her head away, unable to bear the sight of Sook Young’s face any longer.
“Ugh, I am the sinner, I am the one to be killed. What I said to my daughter……”
Sook Young collapsed right there.
“Mom!”
“Honey!”
Young Ho and Yu Jin tried to lift her by grabbing her arms from both sides, but Sook Young pushed their hands away and howled.
“I’m really sorry, Ra Jin. I shouldn’t have said such things…… I know better than anyone how hard our daughter has worked…… Ugh, I am to be killed, I am……”
Sook Young tore at her own chest and pounded it with her fist.
“Mom! Don’t do this, you’ll bruise!”
“Honey, calm down. If you do this, it’s harder for Ra Jin! Ugh…… I’m sorry, Ra Jin. I’m sorry for being such a sorry sight, such a state…… Ugh……”
Young Ho, who had been comforting Sook Young, burst into tears as well.
Before Ra Jin could even react to the sudden turn of events, Yu Jin grabbed her arm and fell to her knees.
“Sister, can’t you forgive Mom?”
Yu Jin asked with desperate eyes.
“The day after you left, Mom cried all night in the bathroom with the water running.”
“…….”
“She regretted terribly for what she said to you in a sudden fit of madness. Dad was also comforting her and ended up crying with her.”
Tears welled up in Yu Jin’s eyes.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
