Chapter 30.1

Chapter 30.1

Wouldn’t failing to stop violence also be a sin?”

“…”

It was hard to tell if it was a monologue or a question. After a moment of silence, his impatient prodding came crashing down.

“Goyo, your father is asking you something.”

“Yes.”

Goyo looked at Lee Yi-taek and answered calmly. After all, any answer that went against his will didn’t even exist as an option.

“You also know what you did wrong, don’t you.”

“Yes.”

He was criticizing her for not stopping Kwon Jae-heon from assaulting Lee Yoon-gun. Completely disregarding the fact that Lee Yoon-gun had beaten her. She was a victim, not an accomplice, but that’s not how Lee Yi-taek saw it.

“Do you know what I’m asking when you answer?”

“That violence is bad, right?”

Perhaps because of Kwon Jae-heon’s assault on Lee Yoon-gun last night, all the articles he read were about violence. A month ago, he’d let it slide because it was Lee Yoon-gun’s fault, but this time, Lee Yi-taek saw it as senseless violence.

“It seems CEO Kwon took a liking to you. Seeing as he had you hospitalized for just a brief fainting spell.”

“…”

His face was full of displeasure.

To hear even a single word of praise from Lee Yi-taek, Lee Goyo had sold her body to Kwon Jae-heon. But he didn’t offer her even a small compliment, let alone comfort, while she lay in the hospital.

“Tsk.”

“Can’t even take care of one pretty face.”

“…”

This face is what your son did to me. He threw a fit, saying he’d die if I didn’t come to the hospital, and then his hand just flew up.

If Kwon Jae-heon hadn’t stepped in to stop him, she wouldn’t have woken up so nicely, if at all.

‘It was the same four years ago.’

A male classmate had walked her home. Lee Yoon-gun saw them and went ballistic, brutally beating both Goyo and the classmate. Goyo was seriously injured and hospitalized for a long time. The hospital she was admitted to back then was also Han-young Hospital.

“Both of my children are causing trouble and ending up in the hospital.”

“Is oppa okay?”

“What do you think?”

“…”

He’d taken the full brunt of Kwon Jae-heon’s anger, so there was no way he was okay. Kicked, stomped, and burned with cigarettes.

“You can’t hide your lowly origins.”

Lee Yi-taek had received a call directly from the hospital director in the early morning. When he arrived at the hospital, Lee Yoon-gun was in emergency surgery.

Yoon-gun’s condition was serious. He had more than ten fractures in his wrists, the backs of his hands, and his ribs, and especially severe second-degree burns all over the backs of his hands. Compared to what happened a month ago at Han-young Resort, where Kwon Jae-heon had basically let Lee Yoon-gun go, the extent of his injuries this time was severe.

His wrist was crushed, requiring surgery and a cast, and the backs of his hands, burned with cigarettes, were swollen and wrapped in bandages after burn treatment. There were bruises all over his body from being kicked.

The police had arrived late after someone reported it, but no one was willing to talk about the perpetrator.

“… Acting like a gangster, what else is new.”

Lee Yi-taek couldn’t hide his displeasure.

‘Looks like he’ll get away with it again this time.’

Seeing him just huff and puff like that, it was clear Lee Yi-taek wouldn’t sue Kwon Jae-heon.

“Can’t even meet my own daughter as I please.”

“What do you mean…”

“Those guys in front of the room. Who do they think they are, daring to block me?”

Goyo didn’t know anything about it.

It seemed Kwon Jae-heon had placed his own people outside the hospital room without asking. Since it was the same hospital as Lee Yoon-gun, he must have put them there in case he came barging in again.

Lee Yoon-gun was capable of anything. However, there was no reason for Kwon Jae-heon to be so kind to her.

‘I’m kind to my women.’

Kwon Jae-heon’s words suddenly popped into her head.

No way. Did Kwon Jae-heon have feelings for her? Not just a one-night stand?

“That young punk is getting too cocky.”

Vibrate, vibrate.

The phone’s vibration made Goyo turn her head. Her phone was on the metal drawer next to the bed, plugged into the charger.

‘Ah, the phone was dead.’

Did Kwon Jae-heon charge it too? He’s more thoughtful than she thought.

She reached out and picked up the phone. But there was a small note underneath it. Goyo grabbed the paper along with the phone, trying not to let Lee Yi-taek notice.

[Make sure you answer the call!]

A short and simple message. Even as she read it, the phone kept ringing.

Vibrate – vibrate.

It was an unregistered number, but her gut told her. It was Kwon Jae-heon.

“Who is it?”