A Rin steeled herself.

‘Think realistically. You don’t know when elder brother will come up.’

She didn’t want Yu Hyun to see this situation. She sat across from Jung Hyo Eon as she wished.

When A Rin did as she said, the corners of Jung Hyo Eon’s mouth curled up in satisfaction.

“It seems you’re not completely stupid.”

“If you’re going to say that, I’ll get up right now.”

A Rin wanted to show Jung Hyo Eon that she was different from before.

That she was no longer the Choi A Rin who obeyed her…

“Speak quickly.”

“Fine. I want to as well. You.”

Jung Hyo Eon took out a thick envelope of cash from her bag.

“What is this?”

“It’s what you want.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You like money, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

Jung Hyo Eon looked at A Rin as if she was saying something ridiculous. Her eyes were full of contempt and disdain towards A Rin.

“I heard.”

It was a sentence without subject or object.

But A Rin could understand why Jung Hyo Eon had come to see her today.

“I’ll give you as much as you want. So take this money.”

“I don’t need it.”

A Rin pushed back the envelope of cash that Jung Hyo Eon offered.

“Ha. You’re too greedy? Why. How much more do you need, that you dare to try to stand beside our Jae Hyuk?”

“Madam. Watch your words.”

“Watch my words? How ignorant, didn’t I tell you not to crawl out and stay put quietly? Didn’t I tell you to live as if you were dead?”

Trying to crawl out?

Didn’t I tell you to live as if you were dead?

How could a human say such things?

How dare you speak to me like this?

The anger that had been bottled up deep inside burst out.

“Madam. What are you so afraid of?”

“What? Why would I be afraid of you?”

A Rin could see Jung Hyo Eon’s fists trembling slightly.

‘I couldn’t understand the reason. Why madam protected elder brother and watched his reactions.’

In their married life, she thought Jung Hyo Eon could mistreat her because of Jae Hyuk’s tacit approval.

‘Madam drove a wedge between me and elder brother. She habitually said that what she wanted was what elder brother wanted too.’

When A Rin didn’t know anything, she thought that was Jung Hyo Eon’s will and Jae Hyuk’s will.

Jung Hyo Eon was an object of fear. She had to feel pain like falling into hell at every word from Jung Hyo Eon.

But now, looking from a distance, she seemed to understand why Jung Hyo Eon had done it.

‘What madam fears is me being by elder brother’s side. I don’t know why though.’

In the past and now, the reason Jung Hyo Eon came to harass her instead of her son was because it was a side she didn’t want to show Jae Hyuk.

An absurd thought crossed A Rin’s mind.

You should experience the same thing I did.

Taste the pain, anxiety, sadness, and rock bottom of life that I felt.

From your son!

She had never dreamed of revenge, but she disliked Jung Hyo Eon who came to shake her up every time.

She was angry.

Just when she was trying to find some stability in her life, why shake her up like this, when she wasn’t going to do anything!

Why keep shaking her.

That’s how people’s hearts were.

No matter how much you deny it, saying you don’t want to do it, it’s not like that.

When people around you keep insisting, ‘Yes. You’re like this. Right? You’re going to do it.’, you feel a rebellious desire to actually do it with an ‘Oh, whatever’ attitude.

Revenge?

Yes. Maybe it was revenge.

It was fine to call this feeling ‘vengeful’.

It wasn’t adolescence, but it was fine to dismiss it as ‘rebellion’.

Whatever it was, she really hated just taking it anymore.

Even if she suffered from guilt for using Jae Hyuk’s feelings, her hesitation completely disappeared.

Maybe she would regret it tomorrow. But with her current feelings, she didn’t think she would regret it at all.

A Rin’s eyes turned cold, and a chilly voice flowed from between her lips.

“I guess I’ll have to do as you wish, madam.”

“What?”

Jung Hyo Eon didn’t understand A Rin’s words at once. When she asked again, A Rin crossed her arms and said.

“I’ll be by elder brother’s side.”

A Rin deliberately used the term ‘elder brother’ which Jung Hyo Eon hated so much.

The effect was immediate. Jung Hyo Eon’s expression turned ugly.

“Are you crazy?”

Rather than feeling afraid of Jung Hyo Eon shouting angrily, she felt more triumphant.

‘Now, whatever happens, I really hate just taking it anymore!’

Jung Hyo Eon’s eyes turned fierce. She approached A Rin closely with a murderous aura.

“Are you saying you’re going to get together with my son?”

“Yes.”

“Choi A Rin, are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Are you going all out now? Ha, do you think I’ll stand by and watch you be with Jae Hyuk?”

Jung Hyo Eon had completely lost her reason. But despite Jung Hyo Eon’s outburst, A Rin’s expression remained calm. She thought it was okay since the store was closed and there were no colleagues or customers, so she spat out insulting words without hesitation.

She was in a situation where she would be cursed at no matter what she did. So she chose to upset the other party even if she got cursed at.

“Because it seems like that’s what you want.”

“What?”

“If you keep coming to find me like this, madam, even when I’m trying to forget, I keep thinking of Jae Hyuk. You know that? It’s like when others tell you not to do something, you want to do it more.”

“Choi A Rin!”

“So I’m telling you. Because you tell me not to meet him, I want to see Jae Hyuk more…”

A Rin couldn’t finish her sentence. Jung Hyo Eon, with eyes rolled back, rushed at her and grabbed her hair.

Jung Hyo Eon began shaking her head with strong force. The hand pulling her hair was rough.

“Let go of this.”

“I can’t. Since you don’t understand words, I have to discipline you like this.”

In the past, Jung Hyo Eon had laid hands on A Rin several times. When slapped by Jung Hyo Eon, her pale cheeks would swell up red, and she would cool her swollen skin with ice she secretly brought when no one was around.

The misery she felt then was indescribable.

“Take back what you just said!”

Jung Hyo Eon screamed in anger, not caring about the gazes around her.

The more arrogant Jung Hyo Eon acted, the more defiant A Rin became.

Until just recently, although she had wavered, she had no intention of doing anything with Jae Hyuk. Her hesitation wasn’t due to lingering feelings.

If she hadn’t seen Jung Hyo Eon hitting Jae Hyuk, she might have been able to refuse more firmly than now.

‘I wasn’t trying to do anything with elder brother first! So why do you keep bothering only me.’

A Rin felt rebellious towards Jung Hyo Eon who threatened her not to meet and see Jae Hyuk.

“Let go, let go!”

She struggled with all her might to pry off Jung Hyo Eon’s hands. She had never imagined she would engage in such a physical fight.

Jung Hyo Eon pulled A Rin’s hair with such force that it felt like her scalp would be ripped off.

It was bewildering. Jung Hyo Eon had always acted composed in front of her, as if she was above her. But today, she was completely different from how she had known her.

And above all,

‘It hurts, it hurts!’

It was so painful. Jung Hyo Eon pulled her hair with all her might and shook her head, making her feel like her inner ear would break. She felt nauseous, and everything spun before her eyes. The extreme pain of her scalp feeling like it would be torn off added to it. She couldn’t think of anything.

That’s when it happened. Neither A Rin nor Jung Hyo Eon noticed someone entering the store.

The sound of high heels approaching quickly was heard along with a woman’s shout.

“Let go of that hand!”

The one who entered the store was Ha Yeon.

Ha Yeon tried her best to pry off Jung Hyo Eon’s hand. But the grip on the hair was so strong that it was beyond her strength.

“Come to your senses. Madam, why are you doing this?”

Ha Yeon’s words didn’t reach her. It was because all of Jung Hyo Eon’s attention was focused on A Rin.

Jung Hyo Eon glared at A Rin with venomous eyes. She wanted to pull out all of A Rin’s hair so that she could never appear before Jae Hyuk again.

“Do you think I have time to care about right and wrong when I’m about to lose my son? Don’t stop me. Do you know who I’m doing this for, Min director’s sister!”

“Still, this isn’t the way, the chairman will be displeased if he finds out.”

“When a child goes astray, it’s natural for parents to stop them.”

“I know, I understand how you feel madam, but please, let go of this hand and talk it out.”

Jung Hyo Eon responded to Ha Yeon’s words, but she didn’t truly acknowledge Ha Yeon’s presence beside her.

Usually, Jung Hyo Eon was extremely conscious of others’ gazes, but not now. She had completely lost her reason and had no intention of listening to anyone else.

That’s when it happened.

With a loud crash, a rough hand quickly approached and knocked Jung Hyo Eon’s hand away from A Rin’s hair.

“What are you doing now!”

Stunned by the sudden situation, Ha Yeon blankly stared at the man standing in front of A Rin.

“Are you crazy? Where do you think you are to cause such a scene!”

Yu Hyun looked down at Jung Hyo Eon with contemptuous eyes. He had come up from the basement workshop due to the commotion.

Yu Hyun’s face was consumed with anger. He hid A Rin behind his back and met Jung Hyo Eon’s hostile gaze head-on.

Jung Hyo Eon came to her senses from the pain she felt on her buttocks. She glared fiercely at Yu Hyun.

“Do you know who I am that you dare to lay hands on me?”

“I don’t know. Why should I know who you are?”

“You, you ignorant fools!”

Jung Hyo Eon gritted her teeth looking at Yu Hyun.

“This is our store. The one rudely causing a scene in someone else’s store is you.”

Yu Hyun’s angry eyes pierced Jung Hyo Eon.

“Get out now. Get out before I call the police!”

“You, you.”

Yu Hyun’s gaze shifted to Ha Yeon.

“Min Ha Yeon, you take her away.”

Ha Yeon’s face turned pale at Yu Hyun’s cold voice.

She had come to Memoria thinking she must convey the words she couldn’t say today. When she was unexpectedly ordered to leave, Ha Yeon felt truly desperate.

“Yu, Yu Hyun… I…”

“Get out of here right now!”

Sensing the situation couldn’t be changed, Ha Yeon closed her mouth at Yu Hyun’s resolute gaze, though she was about to ask if she couldn’t stay.

“Okay. I understand.”

Ha Yeon thought she didn’t know when another chance would come. So she couldn’t back down more. But now Yu Hyun seemed like he wouldn’t listen no matter what she said.

Ha Yeon gave up. She helped Jung Hyo Eon stand up.

“Let’s go, madam.”

“Let go of this hand.”

As soon as Jung Hyo Eon stood up, she shook off Ha Yeon’s hand.

“If you’re going, you go first. I’m not done talking to that girl yet.”

As Jung Hyo Eon glared, Yu Hyun pulled A Rin even closer to his body so she couldn’t see her.

Ha Yeon’s mood plummeted at the sight of Yu Hyun desperately protecting A Rin.