Chapter 172
Oh Kyung-hee stood still, unmoving. In the faint moonlight, her face became visible in the darkness.
Suhyeon ran toward that face again.
“Mom, Mom… Ah!”
While running desperately, Suhyeon tripped and fell onto the sandy beach.
“Mom……”
Lifting her tear-stained face, Suhyeon looked at Oh Kyung-hee and cried.
Oh Kyung-hee, who had been quietly watching her, finally walked out of the water.
Ah……
Seeing Oh Kyung-hee stepping out of the water and walking toward her,
Suhyeon felt such relief that she began to cry even louder.
Oh Kyung-hee helped Suhyeon up from where she had fallen. Her hand was as cold as seawater.
“…Why did you come out here, Suhyeon?”
“Mom. Mom……”
Suhyeon clung to her cold mother’s body as if to hold on, hugging her tightly.
Facing her, Oh Kyung-hee sat down and spoke with a voice drenched in emotion.
“Why……”
Oh Kyung-hee silently sobbed as if her words had been swallowed by the lump in her throat. Suhyeon’s sorrowful cries and Oh Kyung-hee’s muffled sobs scattered into the cold night air.
Terrified that Oh Kyung-hee might go back into the sea, Suhyeon clung to her with all her strength.
When Suhyeon was in her third year of middle school, Seol Hee-nam returned home after several months.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As soon as he came in, he started beating Oh Kyung-hee mercilessly again. Suhyeon quietly went to the kitchen and came back holding a knife.
“S-Suhyeon!”
Seeing Suhyeon, Oh Kyung-hee, who was being grabbed by the hair, turned pale.
“What is this?”
When Seol Hee-nam turned to look, Suhyeon had the knife pressed against her own wrist.
Glaring at Seol Hee-nam, who frowned unpleasantly and raised an eyebrow, Suhyeon said,
“Take your hands off my mom.”
“Put that down, Suhyeon. Right now!”
Terrified that Suhyeon might cut her wrist, Oh Kyung-hee shouted at her.
Seol Hee-nam gripped Oh Kyung-hee’s hair even more violently.
“Aaagh!”
“This wretched woman! How did you raise a brat like this, so disrespectful…!”
“Don’t hit my mom!!”
Suhyeon sharply yelled at Seol Hee-nam, who was about to punch Oh Kyung-hee.
Seol Hee-nam laughed as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and looked at Suhyeon.
“Do you think that’s going to scare me? If you want to die, go ahead. I won’t stop you.”
“N-No, no! Suhyeon!”
Suhyeon glared at Seol Hee-nam with all her might and said,
“Do you think it’ll all end with just me dying?”
“What now? Hah, are you trying to threaten me or something?”
Seol Hee-nam let out a scoffing laugh, his eyes gleaming. Suhyeon didn’t back down and replied,
“I’ve got evidence of your domestic violence and a suicide note. If I die, they’ll be sent to the police.”
“…….”
Seol Hee-nam’s expression shifted as he stared at Suhyeon.
“So let go of my mom right now.”
Suhyeon pressed the cold blade against her wrist even harder as she spoke.
Seol Hee-nam, who had been watching her without a hint of a smile, twisted his lips into a sinister grin.
“Don’t make me laugh. Do you think the police would prefer your suicide note or my money?”
“They might like your money.”
Suhyeon smiled as she spoke.
“That’s why I arranged for the evidence to be sent to all police departments nationwide at the same time.”
Seol Hee-nam hesitated at the sight of Suhyeon’s face, smiling with her lips curled upward.
Suhyeon glared at him as if she could kill him.
“Try buying off the entire force. Just try.”
“……!”
Seol Hee-nam’s eyes widened. Blood-red streaks of Suhyeon’s blood dripped down as the knife she held cut deeper into her wrist.
“No, Suhyeon! Stop it!!”
Oh Kyung-hee’s voice erupted like a scream.
Suhyeon, still glaring at Seol Hee-nam, pressed the blade further into her flesh. The crimson blood flowing from her wrist pooled heavily on the floor.
“Suhyeon!!”
“Ugh….”
Seol Hee-nam’s face twisted with fury.
Shaking with anger, his face flushed red, he glared at Suhyeon before finally letting go of Oh Kyung-hee’s hair, throwing her to the ground as if discarding her.
“Ah!”
Oh Kyung-hee collapsed onto the floor.
“I let go! See? I let go! Satisfied?!”
“S-Suhyeon!”
Oh Kyung-hee staggered and tried to run straight to Suhyeon, but Suhyeon shouted,
“Stay right there, Mom!”
Oh Kyung-hee stopped in her tracks. More blood was streaming from Suhyeon’s wrist. Oh Kyung-hee looked at the blood with pained eyes.
Suhyeon glared at Seol Hee-nam and spoke through lips that had turned blue.
“Get out of this house. Right now.”
Seol Hee-nam clenched his teeth in rage, his face seething with anger.
“That little b***h, damn it, seriously.”
Seol Hee-nam, his face contorted with fury, stomped toward the front door.
“Ungrateful brat, just like her damn mother! This filthy house—I’m leaving, I’m leaving! Damn it!”
Seol Hee-nam shoved his feet into his shoes, crushing them underfoot, and walked out the door. Suhyeon didn’t take her eyes off him, glaring all the way.
Bang!
Only after he slammed the door shut with a loud crash did Suhyeon collapse to the floor.
Clang!
The knife she had been holding fell to the ground.
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