WEHP 04

Chapter 04

Her brother-in-law, Juhyeok, barged noisily into the house.

The moment Hyunseo spotted him, her eyes sharpened instinctively, but she quickly hid the hostility and spoke in an even tone.

“Welcome.”

Juhyeok ignored her greeting entirely and looked around, as if searching for Youngsook.

“Mom!”

Her brother-in-law calling for his mother first thing in the morning?
At that sight, Hyunseo’s heart sank for no reason.

What did he mess up this time?

Whenever Juhyeok looked for his mother-in-law, Youngsook, it was always tied to some sort of incident or accident. No matter what trouble he caused, his wife Haemi never lifted a finger, and cleaning up the mess always fell to Hyunseo.

A sigh escaped her lips. There were countless incidents she had resolved without her husband Doha ever knowing.

She had endured everything in silence, determined not to tell her husband, so he never fully realized how much hardship his family had put her through.

“Our son, what brings you here so early? Aren’t you going to work?”

Youngsook, who had been doing her makeup in her room, came out halfway through applying bright red lipstick and greeted Juhyeok warmly.

“Did my brother and Dad go to work?”

Instead of answering her question, Juhyeok abruptly asked about his brother and father.

“What time do you think it is? Of course they’ve already left. Why?”

Youngsook, too, grew worried, suspecting he might have caused some trouble.

“Mom, I changed my car.”

“What? What do you mean you changed your car already?”

Startled, Youngsook raised her voice.

“It’s a Benz. You just need to transfer 200 million won. Mom, send me the money.”

At his casual demand for 200 million won, Youngsook’s mouth fell open in shock. The half-applied red lipstick made her face look even more grotesque.

“You—you changed your car less than six months ago! And that one was expensive too!”

“That was just a boring domestic car.”

“Do you think 200 million won grows on trees?”

“It’s for my future son to ride in. A Benz is the bare minimum. You want your grandson riding in a car that costs less than 100 million won? I’ve already signed the contract, so just transfer the money. Today.”

Hearing that it was for her future grandson, Youngsook felt her heart soften.

“Oh dear… but you know I can’t spend money freely right now.”

“Oh, right…”

“If I hadn’t been scammed by that woman, I could’ve bought it for you…”

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

She had once been lured by a promise of tenfold returns on a Philippine investment and invested money she had hidden from Chairman Chae Hyunwoo, even taking out loans—only to be scammed.

Disgusted by her reckless spending, Chairman Chae took the opportunity to confiscate all her cards, leaving her with just one card issued in Doha’s name.

“It’s so petty. It’s not even a hundred billion, not a thousand billion—just a few tens of billions, and he ties my hands like this. Damn it.”

Accepting that his mother couldn’t pay, Juhyeok casually turned to his next best option—Hyunseo.

“Well then, sister-in-law can just transfer the money, right?”

Hyunseo had already anticipated this turn of events while listening to them talk. Her bad feeling was never wrong.

It was absurd. Changing cars because an unborn child was supposedly a son?

They had treated her daughter Seoha like an afterthought, but now, because it was a son, they were buying a Benz that even her father-in-law didn’t drive.

If Chairman Chae finds out, he’ll definitely make a fuss.

Her head felt like a typhoon had just passed through it. As she shook her head in disbelief, Juhyeok glanced at the time and stood up.

“Alright, sister-in-law? I’m heading to work, so I’ll get going.”

Even as he walked out the door, he shouted persistently.

“Sister-in-law! Today, okay? It has to be today!”

With his business concluded, Juhyeok disappeared.

Speechless, Hyunseo let out a deep sigh and quietly went upstairs.

Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law leave without agreeing, Youngsook’s frustration boiled over.

She wanted to send the money immediately for her future grandson’s car, but with only one tightly monitored card, she had no choice but to pressure Hyunseo—something that grated on her pride.

Using the card wasn’t an option. The moment it was used, the transaction details would go straight to Doha’s phone.

And since Chairman Chae insisted on domestic cars, if he found out about the Benz, there would be an uproar and the contract would be canceled.

Forcing Hyunseo to send the money was the only way.

Youngsook felt more affection for Juhyeok, who was warm and soft-hearted, than for her cold eldest son or her husband. That was why she wanted to grant every one of his requests.

“How do I coax that lump into sending the money? Should I cause a scene and turn the house upside down?”

She sank into deep thought about how to deal with Hyunseo.

That afternoon, Youngsook sat on the sofa, sipping rum barrel coffee from a gold-rimmed cup, when she suddenly felt something was off.

Come to think of it, Hyunseo had gone upstairs in the morning and hadn’t come down all day.

“Seosan-daek, what is that girl doing up there all day? Go get her, now.”

“She says she’s sick, ma’am. She’s been lying down since yesterday.”

At Seosan-daek’s reply, Youngsook set her cup down sharply and glared at her.

“Sick? Is she dying right now? If her mother-in-law calls, she should come down! Go get her!”

“Yes, but she really seems unwell…”

With a subdued response, Seosan-daek climbed the stairs.

Youngsook knew her shouting would reach Hyunseo upstairs—and that was exactly why she raised her voice even more.

The fact that her daughter-in-law still wouldn’t come down only made her angrier.

Knock, knock.

Even without a response, Seosan-daek opened the door slightly and peeked inside.

“Madam, the elder madam is calling for you.”

Hyunseo pretended to be asleep and didn’t answer. She had no desire to appease Youngsook right now.

But Seosan-daek raised her voice as if to wake her.

“Madam! Please come downstairs! The elder madam is very angry!”

Hyunseo pulled the blanket over her head and replied.

“I’m not feeling well and can’t get up. Please tell her I’m sorry, but if she has something to say, she can come up here.”

She was past caring anymore.

“What? Madam, are you very sick?”

Even that belated concern made Hyunseo feel bitter. Because Youngsook looked down on her, even the servants treated her poorly.

“Please leave.”

“Yes… I’ll tell her you’re very sick.”

Seosan-daek closed the door and went downstairs, clearly flustered.

The room fell into silence.

Perhaps because she was pregnant, her emotions were unstable; she felt especially sensitive.

She longed for warmth—for someone’s embrace. She missed her mother’s comforting hands, the way she used to say everything would be okay.

Mom, I’m sorry. I was so stubborn. You warned me so much, but all I could see was Doha. I insisted anyway.

For the first time, Hyunseo realized that there was no one left in the world to comfort her. She burst into loud sobs.

From downstairs came Youngsook’s shouting, having heard about her condition. The noise made her cry even harder.

She pulled the blanket over her head and wailed—louder than ever before. She hadn’t even cried this freely when she lost her mother and Seoha.

As if the world had collapsed, as if this were the end, she poured out all her sorrow.

“Baby… what should we do now? Should we leave together?”

Even before the child was born, anxiety gripped her. She felt that if she stayed here, she might lose this baby too.

“My poor baby… we can’t stay like this, can we?”

Hyunseo suddenly sat up.

Lying there doing nothing felt unbearable.

She opened the vanity drawer—inside were the jewelry Doha had given her over the years.

After taking everything out, she pushed it aside and rummaged through her dressing room bags.

There was nothing left. Nothing else she could sell.

She had never cared much for luxury goods, but now she regretted not accepting more when Doha offered.

She collapsed back onto the bed.

If I leave, how will I raise my baby?

She couldn’t confidently say she could survive alone.

She had worked briefly after college, but her career had been interrupted for years. What could she possibly do now?

And yet…

Doha was here—the man she had devoted her entire life to.

Could she really leave him and survive?

He had been the center of her life since love at first sight.

That was why, even after enduring such cruelty, she had stayed in this house.

Could she endure life without him?

She had given up everything for him—even her true self.

“No. That’s enough. I’ve lived like a servant in this house for far too long. It’s time to wake up. From now on, I’ll think only about my baby.”

At last, it was time to let go of the husband she had clung to out of habit.

Reality was daunting. Leaving meant having nowhere to go.

“What have I even been doing with my life?”

She had lived only to fit herself to Doha.

No career, no identity—nothing remained.

She had spent her days serving this family, brainwashing herself into calling it happiness.

But now, to protect this child, she had to change.

Even if it meant heading into an endless sea, she had no choice but to try.

This child was the final proof of love between Doha and herself.

She would live a second life.

I have to leave, Lee Hyunseo.

Not as a daughter-in-law of this house.
Not as the wife who loved Chae Doha.

But as her true self—Lee Hyunseo—living happily with her baby.