Chapter 101
Ga-eun checked her wristwatch.
The meeting time she’d been informed was 4 PM.
Yet no one had entered the hotel lobby.
Walking to the reception desk for clarification, she was told the meeting under ‘Yang Ji-seon’s’ name was scheduled for 7 PM in the Ruby Hall on the third floor.
Her eyes clouded with a light sense of resignation.
‘Again today.’
Occasionally, only she would be given incorrect meeting times.
It wasn’t a mistake.
It was deliberately intentional.
Sometimes mid-meeting, other times near the meeting’s end.
Today was the first time she’d been standing waiting long before the scheduled time.
But Ga-eun didn’t mind.
Perhaps this was better than being treated as Kwon Si-heon’s wife.
After divorce, encountering anyone from his world would only make her look more pathetic.
Still, Ga-eun consistently attended these meetings.
Sitting quietly like a painting, breathing softly, people would initially be aware of her presence, then gradually forget her existence, sometimes inadvertently letting slip fragments of conversation.
Collecting these crumbs of words to deliver to Si-heon—that was her role.
‘I have about an hour to spare.’
Perhaps this was fortunate.
Ga-eun pulled out her phone from her handbag and called the ‘electrical wiring technician’.
[G-Ga-eun?]
Shortly after connecting, her aunt Eun Seon-mi’s voice trembled.
[G-Ga-eun, I’m s-sorry, I, I ate s-selectively, that’s why you n-never called me. I’ll e-eat well now, s-so don’t be angry, d-don’t leave, I was w-wrong.]
Ga-eun inhaled deeply, pressing her lips together.
Her aunt’s breathless apology was laden with desperation and anxiety.
Since remarrying Si-heon at the hotel, she had never once called her aunt.
Each day passed chaotically, leaving her no time to breathe.
Moreover, the watchful eyes of Si-heon’s people, monitoring her under the pretext of protection and assistance, prevented her from calling her aunt.
“No, aunt. I’m not angry. I’m not going anywhere. So stop apologizing.”
[G-Ga-eun said she’d c-call t-tomorrow, but n-never did. I w-waited every day, f-feared you w-wouldn’t see me anymore.]
Ga-eun closed her eyes tightly, then opened them. She gripped the bag handle firmly.
“I’m sorry, aunt. I was so busy with wedding preparations. I should have called sooner.”
[Don’t cry. Crying means losing.]
If I weaken, I can’t protect my aunt.
“And why wouldn’t I see you? I’m enduring everything just to see you.”
Hwanhee Group’s surveillance. People’s curious gazes. Jinri Society women’s contempt.
Kwon Si-heon’s indifference.
Recently, Si-heon only looked directly at her during intimate moments.
He never spent time with her outside the bedroom.
As if she was only good for one purpose.
But that wasn’t the real problem.
Her heart, precariously swaying under Si-heon’s anticipated neglect, was the issue.
Perhaps this was all predetermined. Perhaps she had desperately been averting her eyes.
Or maybe… since that moment in the jazz bar when he boldly approached and extended his hand.
[G-Ga-eun. Did I m-make you a-angry again?]
“No, aunt. It’s not like that. I’m sorry. So sorry. I should have called and visited more often.”
[N-no, G-Ga-eun is b-busy. D-different from m-me, just w-wasting f-food.]
Ga-eun’s pupils dilated, trembling momentarily.
“Who said that to my aunt? That you’re just wasting food?”
Her aunt remained silent. Only her deep breathing could be heard.
A response that would hurt her, yet unable to lie—a telling silence.
Her heart cracked audibly.
The expression alone revealed too clearly her aunt’s treatment.
“Aunt.”
[…Yes?]
“You are the most precious person in the world to me. The person I love most in the world.”
[I l-love G-Ga-eun t-too. Y-you’re p-precious to m-me.]
“I can’t live without my aunt. Without her… I’m nothing. Nothing at all.”
Eun Seon-mi responded urgently.
[G-Ga-eun is a-amazing. A g-great p-person. Not n-nothing at all. G-Ga-eun is p-pretty, b-busy, has a g-good voice, w-white hands, and…]
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