On the day of the cremation, a drizzle fell as Seungjoo’s mother was being cremated.

“Young Master, you can just stand there.”

Kim, the butler who had personally moved the deceased’s coffin with Seungjoo, approached and whispered. His own eyes were reddened, and he was suppressing his tears.

[Crematorium No.1 / Deceased: Kang Hyesun]

Looking up at the name characters of Seungjoo’s mother displayed on the progress board, Seungjoo replied, “I’m fine.”

Meanwhile, the loud wails of stepmother Ji Yeonhwa could be heard from a distance.

“Madam, it’s so pitiful. How could this happen when the young master waited for so long, and it turned out like this…!”

Perhaps Kim the butler thought that he was suppressing tears because of his stepmother and half-sister. However, Seungjoo wasn’t forcing himself to hold back tears; he genuinely couldn’t shed any.

A cold funeral hall, where no one had been informed of the bereavement. Seungjoo, sitting there alone as the bereaved, had nothing to do but sit across from Butler Kim and silently tilt a glass of alcohol. Despite filling his stomach with soju from early morning until now, he didn’t get drunk and remained sober.

Even though his long-missing mother had returned and was now turning into a handful of ashes in front of his eyes, his heart remained eerily calm. Like skin under anesthesia, unable to feel pain even if pricked with a needle.

At the time of discovery, his mother was already reduced to bones. The cremation process was short. In just an hour, she was placed in a light box and embraced in the arms of her fully grown son.

While boarding the car heading to the crematorium with the box containing his mother, Seungjoo thought,

She was the mother I wanted to embrace so much, and now I finally have her in my arms.

Why doesn’t it bring any joy?

I’m sorry, Seungjoo. Mom is just too tired now.

When his mother left a short letter and disappeared, Seungjoo was in the first year of high school. Since then, he had stayed alone in the spacious house, waiting for his mother.

With inexperienced hands, he cooked his own meals, woke up in the morning to go to school, and diligently studied. He even gave up going to PC rooms with friends and focused on his studies.

[Mom, don’t worry about anything. I will definitely succeed and take care of you, Mom. So, please rely on me.]

He wanted to say this to his mother when she returned.

That he had grown up like this and had done well in everything even without her.

So, trust me instead of the father who betrayed you, and don’t ever have bad thoughts.

After waiting alone at home for a year, Seungjoo was forcibly taken back to his ancestral home by his father, Chairman Kwon. It was not so much out of concern for leaving a minor son alone but more because he was afraid of others’ eyes.
Before, Seungjoo had been caught a few times, but he quickly escaped and returned home. However, this time, even that attempt failed. Under the orders of his father, Seungjoo was captured, and his house, where he had been living with his mother, was handed over to someone else. The house itself was Seungjoo’s property inherited directly from his maternal grandmother, but since he was still a minor, his father, the legal guardian, could exercise property rights on his behalf.

From the moment he entered the ancestral home, Seungjoo’s life became a history of struggle.

Ji Yeonhwa, the stepmother, used the excuse of taking care of the motherless Seungjoo to bring her own son into the ancestral home. Of course, at that time, it had not been legally recognized that Chairman Kwon and Ji Yeonhwa had any relationship, as it had been only a year since Seungjoo’s mother went missing. However, the two openly acted as a couple within the house. Even the employees working at the ancestral home referred to Ji Yeonhwa as “Madam.”

[Seungjoo, are you still studying? You might hurt yourself if you study too much. How about I bring you some snacks?]

Ji Yeonhwa was always affectionate towards Seungjoo. Whether in front of Chairman Kwon or when they were alone, her attitude and care remained unchanged. She pitied Seungjoo for losing his mother, took care of him more than her own son Seunghyun, and personally brewed a tonic for exam takers, claiming it was good for him.

[No, is it because it’s a medicine that makes you dumb? Says it makes you dull!]

One day, Seungjoo happened to witness Ji Yeonhwa getting upset with the secretary while throwing his report card.

[But why isn’t your grades dropping? This kid is still the top student in the whole school!]

He wasn’t particularly surprised by hearing that because he had never actually drunk it. He always pretended to drink in front of Ji Yeonhwa, then poured it down the toilet.

Ji Yeonhwa never neglected the act for a moment, but Seungjoo had never fallen for the act. Could a normal person give birth to the child of a married man, enter someone else’s house even before the divorce, and act as if she were the lady of the house?