TO 22

Chapter 22

“Before I tumbled down, I distinctly smelled perfume and felt someone push me hard from behind. But when I came to, Mother insisted that I had just tripped on my own. And then…”

Recalling that day made Seo-ah’s chest sting, as if someone were rubbing salt straight into an open wound.

It was something she had kept buried deep inside all this time—a secret she had never uttered to a single soul.

“There are security cameras at the house. If we just check the footage—”

“Mother told me the video was already gone.”

“Gone?”

Seo-ah nodded slowly. “And then she told me we had to keep the whole thing a secret.”

Junghyun’s eyes shook violently with rage. “How… how dare she…”

“I endured it. I kept my mouth shut and guarded that secret. Mother even contacted the clinic to cover up the truth and pretend I was never pregnant… but I saw those two distinct lines with my own eyes that morning. Yet… after I came back from the hospital, the camera footage was gone, and the pregnancy test strip I kept in my bag was gone too.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?! You should have told me, or at least Taehyuk…!”

“That was… because of my mother.”

Swallowing down her shame, Seo-ah confessed how Young-ran had shown up at the house that day and taken money from Seunghi.

“I went to my mother and begged her to tell the truth, but she refused to the bitter end.”

“T-Those… goddamn fools!”

Trembling with rage, Junghyun pushed himself up from his chair. With his deadly expression and rigid, towering posture, he suddenly felt as imposing as a mountain.

“Father-in-law, I’m not going to stay quiet anymore.”

Seo-ah’s words locked Junghyun’s gaze straight onto her.

“I plan on reporting what happened back then to the police and asking them to reopen a proper investigation. And if necessary, I’ll go to the press too.”

Only then did Junghyun fully grasp what Seo-ah was doing.

“Are you… threatening me right now?”

If the police and the media started making a scene, all the disgrace and scandal would fall squarely on Junghyun and his company.

“No. I’m begging you.”

Seo-ah bowed her head.

“Please let me go. Please just set me free. If you do… then I will keep my mouth shut and live as if I don’t exist.”

“Let you go?”

“I want… a divorce.”

Junghyun’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief. “A divorce? You’re…”

“Please tell the others—especially him—that… that we lost the baby. I’ll raise the child quietly on my own. Please… I’m begging you.”

Junghyun’s face turned pale and ghostly, as if he had just been forced to swallow poison.

“You’re more than welcome to check for yourself whether I’m telling the truth or not.”

With a hardened expression, Junghyun pulled out his phone. Calling his personal secretary, he issued a sharp, curt command.

“Send me the security footage from our house right now.”

Within moments, the video file arrived on Junghyun’s phone. Gritting his teeth, he watched the recorded confrontation between Seo-ah and Go-eun unfold on screen.

— Right! It’s utterly ridiculous that you still think what happened back then was my fault! Do you have any proof I did it?! Do you?!

— I smelled your perfume. And… why did the working security camera footage suddenly vanish? Is that all? Right after it happened, you practically fled abroad, only to show up again now…

— You really are out of your mind. Did losing that baby completely ruin your head? You should know when to stop writing fiction. Who do you think you’re framing?!

— If you have a clean conscience, why did you run away? Why?!

— Get a grip. Do you honestly think anyone cares about a nobody like you? I wouldn’t even bat an eye if you had died that day instead of that baby. Got it?

— A-Are you saying you actually did it then?!

— Fuck! So what if I did?!

The color drained entirely from Junghyun’s face. He looked back and forth between his phone screen and Seo-ah.

“My apology alone won’t…”

Seo-ah shook her head softly.

“I lost my child because of what happened back then. On top of that, I ended up suffering from panic disorder and living on medication. I’m terrified—terrified of going back into that house. I feel like I’ll end up going through the exact same nightmare all over again.”

“My dear, I will… I will protect you.”

“No. You should protect what’s precious to you, Father-in-law. I’m going to protect what’s precious to me.”

Seo-ah was unyielding.

“You can’t just cut Mother-in-law out of your life. And I wouldn’t expect you to. Just let me leave quietly.”

Seo-ah broke into quiet sobs.

Junghyun watched her trembling shoulders with a heavy, devastated heart.

Just a few hours ago, Junghyun had gotten a call from Taehyuk, right after Seo-ah had told her husband about the pregnancy.

‘She’s carrying a child right now.’

Taehyuk, worried about keeping Seo-ah and Seunghi under the same roof, had reached out to inform Junghyun first. Overjoyed by the news of a grandchild, Junghyun had set all his work aside and rushed straight home. It had been years since he last opened that main gate himself. Back when his own mother was still alive, he used to unlock it personally late at night after work, terrified that ringing the doorbell might wake her.

Hoping to spare Seo-ah any bother today, he had unlocked the gate himself again—only to find her collapsed right outside, with Go-eun standing at the top of the stone steps.

The instant he saw Seo-ah lying there, Taehyuk’s frantic warning about her pregnancy flashed through his mind. Seeing the ambulance pull up shortly after had sent a wave of dizziness and cold sweat washing over him.

“I don’t know how you might feel about this, but I truly cared for you,” Junghyun said quietly. “You always seemed so quiet, yet so wise and sensible.”

He paused before continuing.

“I was genuinely happy when you became Taehyuk’s partner. But as time went on, your face seemed to grow darker and darker. Given what you were going through, anyone would have withered away. I’m just as much to blame for failing to notice sooner.”

Junghyun’s face looked completely drained. Though he had never shown it openly like Seunghi, he had been waiting for news of a grandchild more eagerly than anyone. Their family line was notoriously thin. As an only son himself, Taehyuk was also an only child. After suffering through a brutal labor to give birth to Taehyuk, Seunghi had been left unable to conceive again—a reality that had made her own married life under her in-laws far more grueling. In a household like theirs, any child—boy or girl—was bound to be cherished deeply.

Seo-ah looked at Junghyun with anxious eyes. If he refused her request, everything was over. She would be dragged back into that house, forced to face Seunghi every day, and might even run into Go-eun again at any moment.

Seo-ah simply didn’t have the strength to endure it anymore. She couldn’t see herself living normally while looking at their faces.

And the same went for Taehyuk. The thread tying their relationship together had already frayed beyond repair.

Even if neither of them was directly at fault, there was no going back now.

Or rather, Seo-ah didn’t have the energy left to try. Every ounce of strength she had left needed to be saved for the baby growing inside her. She wanted nothing else in this world.

“If this is the price I must pay for failing to look after you… then I’ll gladly accept it.”

Seo-ah’s eyes widened at Junghyun’s words. “Father-in-law, does that mean…”

“I’ll do as you wish.”

“R-Really? Without him ever knowing…?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure he can never track you down.”

If anyone had the power to make that happen, it was Junghyun. Hearing those words filled Seo-ah with relief, yet a quiet part of her heart felt as though it were collapsing in on itself.

I won’t ever be able to see him again.

She had already made her peace with that when she first mentioned divorce to him. Yet, actually accepting it brought an unexpected, deep ache to her chest.

“I just have one favor to ask of you instead.”

“Yes?”

“Let me help you.”

“Pardon?”

“I won’t have you taking my grandchild out into the world and struggling all by yourself. Think of it as allowance money from your father-in-law, and use it to build a life for yourself.”

“But…”

“Think of it as alimony if that makes it easier. Raising a child takes a great deal of money. If you ever find yourself in need or facing an emergency while living your life…”

Junghyun held out a crisp business card. It was plain white paper printed with just three words: Jang Jung-hyun, alongside a single phone number.

“This is my private number—only a handful of people have it. If you call this line, I will answer personally.”

“F-Father-in-law…” Seo-ah choked back a sob.

“I’ll handle the rest. I’ll ensure your pregnancy remains strictly confidential. The head of this hospital was my university classmate, so he’ll be of help. I will tell your mother-in-law and Taehyuk that the baby was lost. So you… you must live well. Do you hear me?”

Junghyun’s voice cracked with emotion as he offered his final plea. Experiencing such genuine, profound care from her father-in-law for the very first time made Seo-ah’s heart ache deeply.

SLAM!

The door to the hospital room flew open. Standing in the doorway, Taehyuk’s chest heaved like a storm-tossed sea, looking as if he had sprinted all the way from the house to the hospital. He yanked violently at his tie—though the suffocating tightness in his throat had nothing to do with the silk fabric around his neck.

“Lee Seo-ah!”

Taehyuk shouted her name as he stormed through the suite. He searched the sitting area, the bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchenette, but Seo-ah was nowhere to be found.

With a look of pure desperation, he stared down at the neatly made, empty bed.

“What on earth…”