Chapter 27
With a faint smile, Taehwa lightly brushed So-rim’s cheek.
“Go inside and wash up. The doctor will be here soon, so if you’re hurt, get treated.”
“What about your hand, Taehwa?”
“I’ll get treated with you, so don’t worry about that.”
Nodding, So-rim walked toward the bathroom.
The reflection in the mirror was a mess. Her hair was tangled, and her face was covered in soot.
But her eyes were still alive.
They were not the dead eyes from before.
Her blue eyes, unadorned by lenses, sparkled and shone.
Though the restaurant had burned down, her skills and pride had not been turned to ash.
So-rim splashed cold water on her face and made a resolution.
‘I won’t fall apart over something like this. I’ll rise again.’
She thought of Taehwa.
She reflected on the sacrifice and anger he had shown her today.
Was it love, obsession, or simple possessiveness? She still couldn’t define it.
But one thing was certain: he had jumped into the flames to protect her.
So-rim wiped her wet face and stepped out of the bathroom.
She sensed that her relationship with him would enter a new phase from now on.
* * *
Taehwa sat in the middle of the living room sofa, his chin resting on his clasped hands.
“……”
His mind was in turmoil.
The wound on his hand throbbed, but it didn’t matter at all.
All his attention was focused on the woman in the bedroom upstairs.
He had almost lost her completely.
Luckily, she had safely returned to his arms, but Taehwa couldn’t let go of his worries.
The world was too full of dangers to set a small bird free.
He had been able to save her from the fire only because the timing had miraculously worked out.
What if such an accident happened again in a place he couldn’t see?
“……”
He pressed his fingers to his temples and sighed deeply.
The problem wasn’t just safety.
The blind spots he hadn’t noticed about Yoon So-rim were too dangerous.
Her face, always smiling at everyone, the shining look in her eyes when she became absorbed in cooking—all of these things irritated Taehwa.
He didn’t want her showing her spark to those who didn’t deserve it.
He knew that So-rim didn’t want to leave the kitchen of the restaurant.
But Taehwa’s thoughts were different.
She deserved more elegance.
A woman who would soon be part of the Yoon family shouldn’t be a mere assistant in a kitchen.
So-rim should only be receiving applause on the stage he had set for her.
* * *
The day after Le Dosage burned down, the world was in an uproar again.
[Exclusive] Yoon-san Group’s daughter-in-law’s restaurant arson case… Is the culprit her cousin?
[Shocking! Restaurant arson almost led to a major disaster]
Sensational headlines plastered the main page of portal sites.
As per Taehwa’s instructions, Yoon-san didn’t impose any media control.
As a result, the fact that the victim was “the fiancée of Yoon-san Group’s heir” was highlighted, and public opinion boiled over.
It was only natural for the culprits, Park Min-seo and her parents, to face a barrage of criticism.
“……”
So-rim sat on the couch, her hand bandaged as she held her phone.
Her palm, lightly burned, stung, but compared to the pain in her heart, it was nothing.
“……What’s going to happen to Min-seo?”
Taehwa, who had been watching stock trends on his tablet from the opposite sofa, answered nonchalantly.
“It’s over.”
“……”
“President Park Sang-sik accepted my offer.”
So-rim’s eyes widened as she silently listened to his calm voice.
Taehwa had accepted her offer?
The devil’s deal where he promised to spare the company if they disowned their daughter.
“Don’t tell me… Did you really abandon Min-seo?”
“There was no hesitation. People who value money more than their own children.”
Taehwa didn’t hide his sneer.
“Min-seo will be switched to a detention investigation. She won’t even dream of probation, and when she gets out of prison, she’ll have nowhere to go. Her parents abandoned her.”
So-rim looked at him with disbelief in her eyes but stayed silent.
The people who had tormented her all her life were now ruined.
And in such a thorough, excessively cruel way.
She should have felt vindicated, but strangely, her stomach churned.
It was the cold fear she felt from Taehwa, who had orchestrated this situation and watched with a smile.
“Even if she can’t enter a prison now, it’s better to stay away from the restaurant for a while.”
“……”
“There are too many dangers.”
So-rim, her voice small, replied, “But Min-seo said she’d handle it legally. So it’s over, right? The kitchen work isn’t dangerous at all.”
“No, it’s not that simple.”
Taehwa tilted his head slightly and met So-rim’s gaze.
There was no hesitation in his dark eyes.
“People now know exactly who you are.”
“……”
“The world isn’t that kind, nor is it easy to handle. Can you really guarantee that no one will try to exploit the old ties for their own gain?”
“I can tell the difference. I know who’s good and who’s bad.”
“Let me give you some advice as someone who’s been through all kinds of mess, born with a silver spoon in my mouth. You’d better listen.”
“……”
“I can’t leave you unprotected in a place where I have no influence.”
He turned his head toward the tablet without saying anything else.
So-rim held her breath instead of responding.
In Taehwa’s world, it seemed that profit and revenge took precedence over relationships and information.
At that moment, So-rim’s phone vibrated.
[Grandmother]
Her heart sank as she saw the sender.
It was her grandmother. She must have seen the news.
So-rim cautiously entered her room, glancing at Taehwa, and took the call.
“……Hello, Grandmother.”
-
So-rim, are you alright? Are you hurt?
Her grandmother’s frantic and trembling voice came through the receiver.
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
-
Oh my goodness… God must have helped you. That rascal finally caused trouble.
Her grandmother’s voice wavered with emotion.
But the next words crushed So-rim’s chest with heaviness.
-
But So-rim, is it really true?
“……What?”
-
Min-seo committed a crime and might go to prison, is that true?
So-rim was speechless.
Her grandmother’s weak voice continued.
-
Those heartless people. To save themselves, they would send their only child to prison…
Her grandmother’s voice was tinged with tears.
Min-seo was her grandmother’s granddaughter, no matter how much So-rim resented her.
As the news that her precious granddaughter was going to prison sank in, it was only natural that her grandmother’s heart would break.
-
Min-seo may have committed a grave sin, but… she’s still your cousin, and she’s family. Is there really no way?
“……Grandmother.”
-
Can’t you go to the police station and help her somehow? Please, I beg you. I know you must hate Min-seo, but she’s still blood, after all…
So-rim bit her lip.
She was the victim. She was the one who almost died.
But her grandmother, instead of worrying about her, was begging for mercy for the perpetrator.
“……I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”
-
So-rim, please…
“Grandmother, I have to go. I’ll call you later.”
So-rim hung up, almost running away from the phone.
Her vision blurred as she felt the crushing misery overwhelm her.
In the end, she was alone.
Taehwa had avenged her, but the result of that revenge might make her grandmother, her only family, resent her.
At that moment.
“Grandmother?”
Leaning crookedly against the doorframe, Taehwa asked.
“……Yes?”
“What did she say? Is she begging for mercy for the granddaughter who almost burned another one alive?”
His indifferent tone scratched at So-rim’s nerves.
“……Can you stop?”
Her words came out sharply, reflexively.
