Arin wondered what Chairman Ban Hojun had to say to her while sending away his substitute son.

Chairman Ban Hojun gestured for Arin to come closer with his weakened arm, and Arin approached half a step.

“You must have been surprised when I suddenly asked you to come.”

“Yes.”

“Still, thank you for coming.”

Chairman Ban spoke while swallowing dry saliva.

“Jaehyuk’s mother won’t bother you for a while.”

“…”

“Actually, I thought you wouldn’t accept Jaehyuk.”

“You knew I wouldn’t accept and still mentioned it?”

Arin wanted to know Chairman Ban’s intentions, understanding that she wouldn’t accept it.

“Why? Why did you do that?”

Chairman Ban, looking at Arin’s face, chuckled vaguely.

“You must be curious why I said such things. I’m sorry. I want to say it now, but I have nothing to say.”

“…You’re selfish.”

Words Arin would never have uttered in the past came out.

Upon Arin’s words, Chairman Ban looked down at his arm with the IV drip.

“Yes, your words are right. I lived selfishly. I lived a wrong life.”

Arin felt a deep regret in Chairman Ban Hojun’s voice.

“Everything is my fault, and I plan to put myself back in my place. Even if it’s a cowardly excuse to alleviate my guilt.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Chairman Ban’s words were incomprehensible to Arin. However, for some reason, these words with unclear meaning strangely stuck in her mind.

“Hey, can you bring me what’s on the table?”

Chairman Ban pointed to the table.

‘You probably won’t answer even if I ask, is there something I don’t know? What could it be? Why can the chairman’s attitude change 180 degrees to the point of bringing me along, cornering his beloved son?’

Endless question marks popped up in Arin’s head. With a perplexed heart, she walked towards the table.

On the table, there was a faded photo. Arin’s gaze turned to the photo.

In the photo, a man and a woman were sitting in what looked like a hospital space, and the woman was holding a newborn baby with closed eyes and smiling faintly.

The moment Arin looked at the photo, her heart trembled.

Arin took the photo and held it out in front of Chairman Ban.

“I know. I know that you know everything.”

“What?”

“When did you find out that Choa wasn’t my real parents?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Arin, unable to grasp Chairman Ban Hojun’s true intentions, pretended not to know for now.

Whether Chairman Ban knew the truth and was asking, or it was just a test, there was no way to know for sure now.

As if anticipating Arin’s response, Chairman Ban Hojun calmly continued.

“The people in that photo… are your birth parents.”

“…What did you just say?”

Chairman Ban Hojun’s words made her heart sink.
“Did you say my birth parents?”

Chairman Ban Hojun nodded silently.

“How do you know about my birth parents, Chairman?”

…”

No words came out.

Where should she start asking?

How does Chairman Ban know that she is not his biological daughter?

No, how does he know about my birth parents?

Before that, how do you know all these facts?

Countless questions confused her mind.

She couldn’t hide her bewildered emotions.

Chairman Ban, facing the speechless Arin, spoke.

“You probably have many questions. There’s only one thing I can tell you now. I committed a great sin against you.”

Chairman Ban Hojun looked down at the photo Arin handed him and spoke.

“A lot has changed. Both me and this person…”

“Are you suddenly doing this because you feel guilty towards me?”

…”

“There’s a lot you want to ask. The only thing I can tell you now is that I committed a great sin against you.”

Chairman Ban admitted his cowardly and mean side.

But Chairman Ban was also a father. He couldn’t ignore his son’s feelings.

“I can’t pretend not to see my poor son until the end. I am a pitiful father who can only seek help selfishly until the end.”

“You’re really cowardly!”

…”

“How much do you know?”

“The only thing I can tell you is this much.”

“If you won’t tell me everything, you shouldn’t speak to me either.”

Meeting Chairman Ban didn’t seem to resolve this curiosity a bit.

Instead of being relieved, Arin became even more entangled in bigger questions after meeting Chairman Ban.

“Since when did you know that I’m not the daughter of that house?”

Suddenly, a suspicion crossed her mind.

“Surely, you didn’t know everything and still forced me to marry Jaehyuk?”

Chairman Ban Hojun looked at Arin without confirming or denying.

“Did you really know everything? Did you force me to marry Jaehyuk to save my father, knowing that I would have a hard time?”

“…Yes, I did.”

It was insane. Only I didn’t know.

I had to pretend I didn’t know that I wasn’t their real daughter. Thinking about the time when I struggled to be acknowledged, Arin’s emotions surged up.

“You knew everything, and yet you supported those people like that?”

Chairman Ban chose silence again. Arin sensed that his silence was an affirmation.

“You were deceiving me, weren’t you?”

Arin was astounded. Anger surged in her mind, and she couldn’t figure out where to start fixing it.