“What is Hong Hee-joo doing?”
Baek Sa-eon stared at the sentence quietly. The more he read, the more his face became distorted. Strangely, he felt angry.
“Is she in her right mind?”
“… … !”
The man who suddenly got up put out his cigarette exactly over that sentence.
Not sure if his brain was pickled by nicotine, but the impulse took over. He could feel his body getting hot.
No, his head was boiling with chaos. It was a phenomenon that even he himself could not understand.
“I’ll let you run away.”
“… … !”
He drew the curtains by the window, muffled his voice.
“I’ll let you run away safely, without the need for a political marriage.”
“… … !”
“So, that you won’t get caught by Chairman Hong.”
She froze, her eyes unblinking as if on guard. “Instead, keep your mouth shut. Whether it’s exposing or anything else, keep your mouth shut properly.”
“… … .”
Hong In-ah nodded after much thought.
“That’s right, you should have negotiated from the beginning instead of threatening.”
He clicked his tongue nervously.
“Fortunately, unlike that old man, I’m someone who can communicate.”
“… … .”
“Then let’s finish the calculation.”
He said, holding up a blank sheet of paper. “I need to keep it in case you break your promise and expose it―”
For the first time, the name ‘Baek Sa-eon’, this place, I couldn’t let go.
“Give me your younger sister as payment for your mouth.”
“… … !”
If it weren’t for ‘Baek Sa-eon’, he would no longer be Hong Hee-joo’s neighbour, tutor, brother-in-law, or anything. He was scared that she would find out his secret, no, this terrible shame.
That one thing.
It sent a chill down the man’s spine.
So instead of throwing away this name, he should take it all, even the roots.
It was a moment when an unfamiliar desire welled up.
“Hand that kid over to me.”
His goal was unexpectedly set back, but he was more confident than ever.
“If you don’t like it, you’ll marry that punk tomorrow who doesn’t even know the roots.”
* * *
Three years after putting Hong Hee-joo in that position.
When he suddenly received a threatening phone call one day, he didn't suspect Hong In-ah at all because he didn't seem to have the courage to turn everything back to a woman who sold her younger sibling and ran away.
Before running away, Hong In-ah left a last message for Kim Yeon-hee.
The content was obvious even without looking at it. It must have been a card that moved Chairman Hong.
And his mother-in-law was not the type of person to kick away the fortune that had rolled over to her.
If her real daughter, not her stepdaughter, got married, Kim Yeon-hee would benefit a lot more.
YOU ARE READING
When The Phone Rings / The Call You Just Made Is
Misterio / SuspensoHong Heeju is a sign language interpreter who has become mute due to severe depression. For three years of their arranged marriage, she and her husband never exchanged a single conversation. One day, her life takes a harrowing turn when she's taken...
