Tap, tap—.

Seoyoon, who had fallen asleep after crying, opened her swollen eyelids.

The warm rays of light penetrating through the window stabbed her still unfocused eyes.

Adjusting her hazy mind, Seoyoon straightened her back and cautiously observed Kanghyun entering the room.

Perhaps because her eyes were still wet with tears, the deep sobs he had while sleeping after waking up were unforgettable.

Now, the subsided tears seemed to continuously flow over Kanghyun’s cheeks.

So, Seoyoon turned her head away to avoid that painful face.

“I said one month. Don’t do anything.”

It would be nice if she had informed him that she had set a guard at the front gate.

If she had told him that he should only be by her side, not think of going outside without permission, and live alone inside, she might have been able to leave without any lingering feelings, hating Taeganghyun.

It was difficult to shake off Kanghyun, who clung stubbornly without thinking, to the point of making unnecessary assumptions.

Kanghyun, unable to hide signs of exhaustion, hesitated for a long time before sitting on the edge of the bed.

The time spent holding back the tears that burst out for the first time in his life was in vain; as soon as he let go of his lips, he choked.

“I—”

Ending his words with a blurred voice, Kanghyun smirked, letting out a bitter laugh.

The slightly hoarse voice felt somewhat pitiful.

“It seems like you cried the most. I wonder if I made you laugh the most.”

“…Yeah.”

“Thank goodness.”

Kanghyun raised the still trembling hand and, intending to gently stroke Seoyoon’s disheveled hair, changed his mind and clenched his fist.

Just as he was about to calm his reddened eyes, the light was about to ignite.

I’ve said and done everything possible.

Kanghyun, afraid that tears would pour out again, clenched his teeth so much that his jaw felt stiff, and kept his gaze lowered until the end.

“The things you had before. I’ll transfer them to Seojian’s name.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Yuna, you need money. In that house, well, it made you a good parent, but in Oppa’s eyes, that house was too lacking for you.”

As a parent, love would be plentiful, but there were various concerns about other aspects.

With a record of even dealing with the second financial sector and still having quite a bit of remaining loans, there was not much economic strength.

Considering the hospital bills for Seoyoon and more, their financial situation had not been good for a long time.

Seoyoon should not worry or be cautious about financial problems.

“…”

“When you were young, I brought you here, fed you only good food, dressed you in good clothes, and made you have only good things. I can’t give up on that.”

With a firm determination, Kanghyun stood up from the bed.

If he continued to stay in place, he felt like he wanted to touch Seoyoon’s sniffling nose constantly.

“I’m sorry for not loving you properly all this time.”

Kanghyun turned his body as a resigned confession, and before the determination to send Seoyoon away weakened, it seemed better to leave this place.
Still, fearing that Seoyoon might change her mind, Kanghyun, who had been stalling for time, eventually took a step.

Kanghyun’s footsteps gradually faded away, and the faint sound of the front door closing seeped in.

Only then did Seoyoon, who had come down from the bed and entered the living room, collapse in front of the gifts he had piled up like a mountain.

Her hands, pressing against her swollen eyes, began to tremble.

“Ugh, ugh…”

She shook her hands, tried fanning herself, and pounded her blocked chest, but the stone stuck in her chest didn’t budge, causing Seoyoon to burst into loud sobs that reverberated throughout the house.

Could she be happy leaving someone like Taeganghyun? Could she truly laugh?

As more questions arose, the sound of her crying grew louder. It was no different from cursing.

Hating him for clinging until the end made her feel both hatred and sorrow.

Whether it was attachment or possessiveness, or whatever.

Seoyoon was a special existence to Kanghyun.

That was an undeniable fact.

It was challenging for a child who had lived in an orphanage since birth to adapt to a chaebol family.

Chairman Taeseok Jung’s couple, as well as the servants residing in Seowon-ga, often treated her with contempt.

There were servants who found adorable the young child brightening up the gloomy space, and suddenly treated her like a rice cake, as well as others who treated her like a cockroach that had suddenly crawled in.

Experienced servants in Seowon-ga, who spent a long time there, often prepared lunches with good ingredients in the absent master’s house, sat down elegantly for tea time, and criticized Seoyoon’s dining etiquette.

“Why are you spilling food like this and eating? I cleaned the house in the morning! You always make her work twice. There’s no one in this house who eats so messily. Really.”

“Look at the cookie crumbs on the sofa. Didn’t they teach you this where you lived before?”