PD Ch6

I barely managed 18db00ca36 to spit out 2357463b9e the words I c699b78cf4 had carefully chosen.b925814390ea7e31

“Why can’t I remarry a man I like? He likes me too.”c08629b598ea0e7f

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

Just as I 1ea2b915eb was about to c2fea0aa02 protest, the elevator c9f3bdea88 opened and someone c0ecd51b23 got on. My mother 15456183a6 and I 9e1635080f stepped back ee7acba85c and leaned 5152a26c06 against the 856b008be0 wall. The elevator was dropping e704fede89 down, reducing the floor be82dc909d numbers one by one.d42ab07631ebeea7

“This is your mother’s last wish. Think of it as being filial and endure it.”7c4201daa232cb43

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

Her voice 4bcd8cc78e lowered a 7e37279ff6 notch, reciting 8652b4bade dryly as c5ddc00618 if delivering ca7762af8c something trivial. I too stared 878cb195c2 ahead and responded 527e8b6a03 coldly.9d186b8ce80c2d21

“Don’t drag me into this. You two live happily. I’m not asking you to take responsibility for my life. I’ll take care of myself, so stop worrying about me now.”f9ff0c277188a1ad

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“That person wants to form a family. I don’t want to live with you who’s so adamantly against it either. But President Lee insists on us being together. He said he has a son too. We’ll be a family of four.”65d5d84f2d97e194

“I’m your son, Mom. I’m the one who wants your happiness more than anyone. Why would I oppose it? I’m doing this because this really isn’t right! This isn’t right!”53e52a3ce8afcbda

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

Her tone, the content 5f97192619 of her words, and b8bf725b0a the expression with which a96b5e70e4 she delivered them all e27545427d felt like they were 8e4d66c23b searing my insides. Was this 0a9b31c015 what it 84814c4795 feels like 99dcdcda1f to talk 0ab2f647ea to a 8a28749fe9 wall? I shouted 4070cdd9d8 loudly, feeling 65af758ce6 insanely frustrated. She rolled fe835253b7 her curled e814cca842 hair with 1d5f838fd8 her hand 6812edcbe3 painted with d11864daad dark nail b64bc1e7be polish, glancing c06a9a9aa3 at the d3d8838a49 person in 43ef9fdb96 front while c12702c247 side-eyeing me. The elevator stopped at 28da011061 the lobby and the 8bc62f33ec person who had gotten 051a0898b4 on later hurriedly got 1195a3cab7 off. As soon as the 86f4247d0b doors closed, my mother bd39d7fb82 quickly opened her mouth b451509ecf as if she had 02f179bf92 been waiting.1bbf63d23073e4b1

“I’m not saying I want to remarry because I love that person either. Are you being naive, or pretending to be naive? How much did we struggle in America, have you forgotten all that? That man has the ability to easily give me what I want. Mom wants to be comfortable now. Things I want to do, things I want to buy. Mom has sacrificed too much for you.”0a4bef79d30f29ed

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Don’t use me as an excuse! The person who suffered the most from what you did is me! Are you saying this is all because of me? Where is the logic in that?!”cee96d0d3d64bde1

Slap!c50661b4b04ea5b0

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

Once again, a hand flew. The fingertips that had struck my cheek trembled. Her entire body, dry and lean, trembled along with it. Tears welled up in my eyes. My mother didn’t care whether the tears in my glistening eyes flowed or fell. Her decision was intricate.b0957d65babaf55c

The elevator reached the 22aa8f46d0 underground parking lot. I slowly walked out 7eb5e96b4c of there. She was c99eb8bac4 still leaning a38efb1a6a against the bd5cda1c32 wall inside 5b1539f9b0 the square f414c89660 box, delivering d7bf0f96d1 her final c1699a4818 notice.26d0529beb0a9081

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“I’m remarrying him. It’s my marriage, and your opinion doesn’t matter. President Lee wants you to live with us too. Do you know where I went with him before going to the department store? I went to his house in Pyeongchang-dong. It was like being in Newport, Rhode Island. I thought he ran a small business when he said he had a company, but no. He’s not a chaebol, but he’s got considerable wealth. I thought he was just showing off in front of a woman when he paid off our debt, but seeing how he lives, that wasn’t even a big deal for him. It’s ridiculous that a grown man, not even a teenager, can’t understand this.”097a365548fec006

“…”d52e62f246397828

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

It was an exaggeration. There were e0c3c1c386 no cliffs bf4726ffbf or seas 9a40168997 in Seoul.39f728620c4a92b9

“If you just bear with it a little, your mother can be happy.”115e1377e6e902c0

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

Tears that had turned a143fc49d9 cold and dry left 34b14d4997 white streaks. Staring directly at my f22ad7a549 mother alone in the a3c0cf2887 elevator, I recited into ac8c403b29 the air.dde81bb69eabbffb

“Don’t forget.”fba65dfa98028c72

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“…”19324f68537471f5

“That I opposed this marriage.”32ddc2a95d531e7c

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“So, you’re giving in now?”559cf668ff9f35d5

“Mom, you really get carsick, you know that?”d88354e82a34ce13

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“…”1cd69a78f43beb42

“You make people sick of you.”6d452e43ae194ba9

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this state.”237542b8a5d5660e

The elevator doors 42ccfeaa14 slid shut. My dazed 221f7905f3 face, staring 9f095d703d at the 611aa008a4 cold metal 970541860e doors, was 62cae37a18 reflected like ccd5394fa0 a mirror.169657a3a0a96b99

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“That man… he wants to sleep with me. Do you know that?”fb84add77cbe854d

I mumbled emptily 6cd01b18d8 to the metal 5de28df7c4 doors, where no 8074f0772c one could hear.2d811470c0125080

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

I knew. That I 56b1f02db0 was a e5f86f1967 burden my 860fb170e4 mother wanted 253620193a to discard. Whenever she drank, she f5e7cc3968 would sit me down, fa74df1144 young as I was, 1b2013f6b4 and cry mournfully.fbcdce4b975247ec

If it weren’t for you…9cf3ade21822d7f7

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

If it weren’t for you…bb0d22fc27b4404f

Were there so few things to resent? It wasn’t as if I was born because I wanted to be, it wasn’t as if I begged to be born, but they gave birth to me as they pleased and blamed it all on me. That hurt me more than a curse telling me to go die somewhere. I felt anew the loathing and anger I had felt for my mother suddenly surge up. It was an emotion I had tried hard to understand and suppress as I grew older.5a1d96b85c501ef7

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

I had comforted myself, saying it was a lament that came from living alone in a foreign country being too hard. It was a truth I didn’t want to dig up and know.5e825ba4dea4be18

I still remembered that day vividly. It was something I had been trying not to remember, not to recall. A body staggering back and forth, unable to stand straight from being drunk, the strong smell of perfume mixed with the stale smell of alcohol, the warm breath flowing out from the woman’s lips, the frail fingers emitting a desperate murderous intent pressing down on my tender Adam’s apple and slowly applying pressure at that time.9c182a6ef3548f03

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

I raised my hand and groped my neck. When I pressed down hard on my throbbing Adam’s apple, a chill ran through my entire body as if all the blood was draining out.37d248651a7e890e

“Please, just die. Let me breathe… Junghyun, huh? Please just die.”77e2fe9c84be8a8d

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

That’s right. That woman had tried to kill me. The woman who climbed on top of my young body, flailing her limbs, tied my legs, and pressed down on my throat with both hands was definitely my mother.4e22c021af43fc8c

Tears flowed again. It was a memory from so long ago that sometimes when it came to mind, I would shudder, but at the same time, I insisted it was a dream, but it was still so vividly remembered. Those days when I hated my mother drinking and crawled into the closet to avoid her drunken fits. My mother didn’t just end with lamentations. She really tried to kill me. The memory of that time buried in the dirt came to mind, and I bit my lower lip hard anew.f220f15121d019c1

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

I pressed the elevator fe822e9704 button.dacfd73e404994cc

The man, who 24fcbd3458 had been staring 480ba9988f blankly at the 2628200539 night view outside 67269f5402 the car window, 07643b8e8f seemed flustered and eb7e74426c stood up from d61aad5294 his seat at fcd1124357 my reappearance, after cff1587e6a I had turned bd5b5a4e5e away as if 035b373ffe never to see 03900139b3 him again.f226b7a32f60292f

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

I asked him, “Where’s Mom?”4ade51679880c66a

“She went after you a while ago and hasn’t come back yet. Did you have a good talk?”5f7a301a2556b6ad

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“…”8894344836a7f072

I sat down in cad9ebf457 the seat where only 20e87b4e65 a plate was left, 203e346ff9 unattended. He followed aecb37e449 suit, sitting c313ea5d1e down and e3587f8f3f watching my ac5c41df8b expression. My mother must 0f70bd32d0 have gone to 6d0fcedbf8 the restroom. Washing the hand that 63da25bebd hit me in front db1a25e7c8 of the luxurious sink, d622f6ce7d washing away the unpleasantness 4f657e657a along with it. That hand 166283b6fc was not ea624a32a0 only the 83967959bf hand that eff739e1db hit her 9a35bf7a87 child but 3826da0132 also the 800ef7ed1d hand that f81b741d4e tried to 625eb23b1e kill her.e0161a0378178752

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

After cleaning her hands 0b272e591f thoroughly, she would touch 85175fd2f9 her cheeks and chin, f9299ad974 which looked withered no 5466c6b4e7 matter what she did 582ee157b6 as she got older, dde6f332ea trying to hide it 922ebf1572 even a little, apply 21d307d810 a vivid color of f926f14b75 lipstick, and give a 9cdc7e9740 bright smile with a 98446e6efb face that looked much 4157bf5246 more lively. Quickly calculating ca4a4924be in her 9f513c5ff2 head what 5f7d71414c to say b2222b755c and what b28b3b1fdf expression to 9aa9e153b5 make to 98e37351ea avoid upsetting 266ccd3df2 the man 85cbccebc5 who was b2ff4d9bac sitting alone, 0d8299790a she would 501c34018d once again cd1d1ec3be utter chilling 284411874c curses at 68102ac976 me for 60ce4a52f6 putting her 24d05566fc in this 5d7667c6e6 burdensome situation.380583bb9350c725

Not a 70b1ce17c3 son, but bf38952fd5 an enemy.421c4129c3d7e1ef

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“I think I’ve made things awkward for you.”01c5d208242cdc7f

Why did these a29cba7a06 feelings arise? A wicked desire c2fbc23607 to ruin my 6d78a98c52 mother was surging d25a92571e up. To ruin 9b6bddf292 my mother, b9fb1fcb32 I had ee567cabbf to ruin 300337cad8 what she d4941d92ee liked, what 89505ce54a she wanted. It was a 795488ecf8 destructive feeling, wanting 3a3d86f366 to snatch away 3cfbc3e4e3 from my mother, 65acd3ab02 who thought she f0ffcb634a had this man, 5aa1d69a05 and crush him c6fe36e3e1 miserably. I looked at the f0db7ad8f0 man sitting there pitifully.92347cb79db3ab2d

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Do you have even a fingernail’s worth of love for my mom?”bfbe19ed3cb90f8b

“Grace? Of course, I love her. It’s just that my feelings are different from that for you.”0bfa0708006010c2

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

He answered without even a hint of hesitation. The man’s eyes were fixed on my cheek, which had been hit by my mother. He kept clenching and unclenching his fist, wanting to put his cold hand on it to cool the heat, but unable to do so.9b43631d9643cd0b

As he and 5d1301ac6e I sat there 9bd503f032 like that, my 4c55559d12 mother walked over. Her eyes showed embarrassment 3c8e883ba6 when she saw me 13d79a37b8 sitting there. The man asked my 64121234f3 mother.8d69d2464d504850

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Did you just go to the restroom?”bc53232f8acd7334

“…”0ad64026b42fa03d

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

I, who had turned 4c561d56ae away as if never 8924eb3f77 to see her again, a6f373d8c7 had appeared at the 3c2ce4f5a9 table faster than she b123a9ea82 had. The man smiled 5c9776cdd3 at my mother.697c9cffaf70cc6c

“I’m sorry. I was acting like a teenager.”8a28174d73f08d94

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

She spoke like a doll, only moving her lips. She coldly admitted her fault with eyes that held nothing. He replied in a gentle tone, as if he didn’t care at all about my rudeness.ea6c1f62860b086a

“It’s okay. I understand.”58f5617e7adc5b0f

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“…Mom, I’m sorry.”dbc1d1af3dd17216

“…”4a0fb0f3847765a6

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

My mother sat down in her chair with a suspicious look on her face. The man firmly grasped my mother’s hand under the table. My mother smiled faintly and stared at me ominously. The words “I’m sorry” didn’t mean “I’m sorry.” She must have interpreted it as a promise to watch and see if the late remarriage, which she was doing without any real feeling after running the numbers, the marriage I had so vehemently opposed, would go well and if she would live well. She must have thought it was a vow to laugh at her to her heart’s content at the end of a clearly troubled and ruined married life. My mother bit her lip. Although she didn’t say it out loud, I could almost hear what she was saying inside.a1546d3f27aaedd5

How dare you.b66fc8ea1279239c

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

How ungrateful.d853cb8e10d1900f

My mother 3957c6dc64 glared at 8321440db9 me, gnawing 303b075727 at the d85f8310c8 flesh inside 1a705a98ab her mouth a8e7fd16f2 with her db0847d5ab sharp teeth.ef639dcc2d6c96e7

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“I’ll have a glass of wine too.”770015db535bd90b

I ignored her gaze and smiled at the man. The man, as if momentarily captivated by my smile, was flustered and flustered. I reached out, took the wine bottle in front of the man, poured it into an empty glass, and took a sip. My mother still hadn’t let go of her suspicious gaze.b0202935ae738a7e

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“I said I was sorry. Cheer up.”81aacce3ec834091

“…”468c96876d356dcb

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Mom.”d50dffda1fb5ab02

We were a mother and son who knew each other well. I smiled a little at my mother, whom I hated to death. It was a smile that said, “Cheer up. I’m sorry.” My mother, wary of me, asked.f0a13e3077d0855c

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“…So, you’re in favor of our remarriage?”1c1a272c47f2862f

“Yes.”fe7cff144e9b1b8e

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“…”1a77fe96fc0ee370

The answer flowed cac1e8373d out too smoothly. Forgetting the d430af2492 fierce argument 16898469c8 and suspicion dbe1b2a546 she had e4e99c1a92 with me 89f02b6732 just ten bcf84bef8f minutes ago, 4a499b81fd my mother 52cc48a53a was elated 6b98485eb9 by the 67509ec4af fact that e7b71687a9 she could 4baed47a05 marry the 8c733405b7 man and 336bad3eac innocently asked 8222fd0a25 again.addb1cf48cec60f3

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“Really?”8bfa21b2be97b733

“Yes.”72d6d04a0356c225

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“Really, huh? Junghyun.”5313f3a7cd78450f

The man 9f61d05e8b was also 6a1efcbb30 moved and 9e41db7377 confirmed.6cc8905e75b1bbf3

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Of course.”e6db81fb99b4f410

My mother’s eyes, a little dumbfounded, scanned me and her future husband. The man nodded repeatedly, as if he wanted to give her everything, even his liver and gall bladder, and sat there gratefully, thankful for the permission of his new son. I, on the other hand, was watching all of this with a blank expression.d96bded98b085ad7

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“Thank you, Junghyun. Thank you for believing in me and following me this far, Grace.”0f1f5f8aac3b50e3

I lifted my bbb1aaacd4 wine glass with 121c06e1f8 eyes that held 13f6de7d56 nothing and swallowed 3d5e0740f4 the wine. They were talking about dfdd9592e3 what they were thankful 8d4d6fe3aa for, and they kept dc9de8bf9a saying thank you. It was like 49d356ffc4 being at a a2b97696df market where things 10b1a660b3 were being bought e2b69e4e81 and sold. The two 21331420d2 people who af3a3722da had successfully 6eca62763c led the 8ef397f72d transaction were de7b7386a0 smiling.1c779f309fbd3bee

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

The man’s car stopped in front of the hotel where my mother was staying. A hotel employee opened the door. I, who was sitting in the back seat, grabbed the door handle to get out. At the same time, my stepfather hurriedly stopped me.b8c5140f68a0c16e

“Don’t get out. I’ll take you.”acc617a551f93e36

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“Are you leaving right away? Come up for a bit.”373794ca7f1bb711

My mother, who was 4a05ef09bc just getting out of e28b798df3 the passenger seat, turned 55f1251c31 to the man with 10a01bdc5a a puzzled look.d9fc8e69f80691ae

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“I have a breakfast meeting early tomorrow morning, so I have to go. Grace must be tired too, so go up and rest. I’ll take Junghyun.”39b0022e13a1e60a

“It would have been nice if you stayed at the same hotel. Why did you suddenly insist on staying at your friend’s house and make Mr. Lee tired?”67f4109de81f7a89

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

She glared at 7ac7ac4ac7 me and scolded 8cf1fc00e2 me.eee71b73efe1d072