The Widow's Guardian

Chapter 18

I had been to many restaurants in my prior years. I liked to eat. It was my specialty. My husband had said I was a vacuum, inhaling anything and everything. That's how our tradition started. He had taken me every week to a different restaurant. We had been commonly known throughout Seoul, enough for the establishments to send me food packages when he died.

When he was murdered.

My blood became cold. It was a difficult adjustment to switch my belief for the last five years. I didn't know enough about the medicine to be able to distinguish what drug would've mimicked a heart attack. And why didn't the forensic pathologists be able to identify that he was drugged?

Because they were in on it too.

My brain felt like it was swelling outside of my skull. I didn't know who I could trust anymore. If I could trust anyone. How am I going to catch a whole group of killers?

My eyes fell on the man sitting next to me. He was examining the appetizers, pointing to everything for the server. My eyes bulged, skimming his figure. He wasn't skinny like the rest of the men in the restaurant, nor was he fat. He would've been the man you would hire for your bodyguard, and I was thankful he was mine.

Sorta. If I could trust him. Could I?

The Haechi hadn't tried to kill me besides that one accident, but he hadn't been forthcoming at all.

Men were never forthcoming. My husband never informed me of his findings before he died. He never told me he was in danger or the company was at risk. He never told me of what lied between the pages of this journal.

We had spent most of the afternoon reviewing Lee Cho's journal entries. I had copied any entries that were important, highlighting anything relevant with JHI. Nothing had stood out until the last three months of her life. She had met a man.

Isn't it always a man's fault?

The man's name was never mentioned. Why she was hiding his identity was beyond me. If it had been my diary, I would've put hearts all my husband's name if I had the patience for a diary. I never did. I thought it was a waste of time, but now I regret not doing so. I could've reviewed my husband's last weeks. There had to be something there I was missing. Wasn't there?

I shook my head. I would've known. I would've seen something. I had spent so much time around him to know if something was off. He took efforts in hiding it from me. It made my chest feel strained. Why hadn't he trusted me? And why didn't Cho trust this man?

Because the maid knew something.

Entry date: March 1st

What made him have the audacity to leave me? My father was right! Hye-Ok wasn't the man for me. He stole my virginity and then left me for the next girl younger than me. Apparently, Eun was his choice now. His perky secretary with a skirt shorter than her attention span. And now I am left without my inheritance, living in the slums of Seoul. In an apartment only prostitutes lived. I should go back home, but I already lost respect from my father, I am not sure if I want to lose my pride too.

Plus, a man came up to me when I was eating at a local dinner. It was strange for someone of his looks to come up to me. He was completely gorgeous! He asked me if I needed a job. I am not sure how he knew. Maybe it was obvious. I was only eating soup after all. He even paid for my dinner. It was a date! He sat with me for an hour explaining the maid service position at a national bank. He said there were no skills required besides wearing a uniform. I thought it was going to be something far from modest, but when I opened the package today I found out it was decent. Cute even.