“Let’s stop for a moment and talk.”

“It’s almost done. Just wait a little.”

“Ah… I want to talk now. Right now, it’s not about the food!”

Se Ah turned off the stove with a stiff expression in response to Min Woo’s exasperated outcry.

“Do you know why I’m angry?”

“If you don’t tell me exactly, I can’t know. I’ve had my issues too. I want to explain everything to you.”

“Ha! You don’t even know why I’m angry?”

“Tell me exactly. I’ll explain. Don’t generalize.”

Se Ah was not cowed or intimidated; contrary to what he might have expected, she addressed him with firmness.

“You’ve deceived me. While seeing me, you were meeting someone else. I’ve seen the proof myself, with my own eyes and ears.”
“You deceived me, met someone else while being with me. I’ve seen the proofs, heard them with my own ears.”

“You’re choosing to believe your father and people who hate me without even knowing me over my word,” Se-ah said without blinking, staring directly at Min-woo.

“I’m not saying I didn’t meet others while we were apart. But the information that I did while we were together is false. I didn’t do that. And the person whose time overlapped with you, I tried to break it off with them, but they clung on,” she stated confidently, her words almost sounding true.

Yet, Min-woo no longer believed her.

He recalled the findings from Chairman Cha Seung-jo’s investigation, and the photos and information his mother, Kang Ju-ran, had presented.

Although not all the information from Cha Seung-jo and Kang Ju-ran, who disliked Se-ah, might be completely true, it wasn’t without basis.

And Min-woo, having both wealth and power, wouldn’t have been given false information.

“I can’t trust you anymore, Jeong Se-ah. The trust is gone,” he declared.

“Fine. If you can’t trust me, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t reveal the past to you, and even if I did, you wouldn’t believe it,” Se-ah responded, her gaze intense.

“But you can’t blame me,” she continued.

“What?”

“You can’t blame me,” she repeated.

“Why not? You’ve deceived me, why can’t I blame you?”

“Oh! Why? Because you married another woman while being with me,” Se-ah exclaimed, almost screaming.

Min-woo flinched.

“You said you loved me so much you could die, yet you asked me to wait for a year while you married her, promising you’d return. Don’t you remember? That’s why I disappeared… How can you forget and blame me? Have you forgotten all you did to me? It’s a miracle I’m still alive after being treated that way by someone I loved,” she said, her voice laden with emotion.

Min-woo stood frozen, unable to move or speak.

“And you say you never forgot me, but you spent three years with her. Didn’t you?”

Se-ah’s piercing words made Min-woo’s face turn crimson.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it? You asked me to endure watching you marry another woman for a year, and after marrying, you seemed to enjoy it. You lived with her for three years, not just one, until I came back. And yet, you say she was terrible? Even stray dogs would laugh at that,” she trembled with contained rage.
“You said you loved me to death, yet you asked me to wait just a year, to marry that woman and then return to me. Don’t you remember why I disappeared… How can you forget and blame me? Have you forgotten everything you did to me? It’s fortunate I’m still alive after what you did to someone you claimed to love.”

Stunned, Min-woo couldn’t move.

“And you claim you couldn’t forget me, yet you spent those three years with her, didn’t you?”

Her words were like daggers, and Min-woo’s face turned red with shame.

“It’s laughable, really. You ask the woman you’re dating to endure watching you marry another for a year, and after the marriage, it seemed too pleasant to give up? Not just one year but three until I reappeared. And you say she was dreadful? Stray dogs would laugh at that,” Se-ah trembled with anger.

“Now you constantly compare me to her, belittle me, and now you’re ready to leave because you believe that fabricated past of mine?”

Se-ah’s voice grew more agitated, her face distorted with anger.

“Do you want to abandon me again? Go ahead. But remember, the child of yours, born unwanted, will live to blame and despise you. Do you think I’ll stay quiet? I’ll spread the word. How Cha Min-woo abandoned me!”

Seething with anger, Se-ah was almost shouting, panting heavily from the exertion.

Min-woo, momentarily forgetful, remembered… there was a baby, his and Se-ah’s baby.

At a time when trust had hit rock bottom.

Hearing her declaration, Min-woo collapsed in agony, cradling his head in his hands.

“Do as you wish, leave me or not. I’m not scared! I can live with our baby alone! Or should I leave right now?”

Se-ah stormed into the bedroom, pulled out a travel suitcase, and began throwing clothes into it.

“Jeong Se-ah!”

Min-woo followed her, grabbed her arm, and turned her to face him.

“You’ve been looking at me with annoyance and disdain, comparing me to Eun Ji-yeon, asking why I can’t do what she did. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? And now you say you can’t trust me because of the lies your father told; why should I stay with you? Is this why you found me? You should have just left me be! I could have forgotten you and lived happily, but why did you have to find me and make me this desperate!”

Se-ah collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably.

Although Min-woo was angry and annoyance now often overshadowed his love, he knew not all her words were false.

He had abandoned her, and he had sought her out again.

No one had pushed him into it, no one had coerced him. It was all him.
He, more than anyone, knew this and wanted to hide even more.

Yet, he didn’t want to acknowledge his own fault.

“Calm down. It’s not good for the baby to be so agitated.”

“Is that what’s important right now?”

“Let’s take a moment. I’m feeling confused too. Just a moment… please, give me some time.”

Se-ah’s piercing words diminished his earlier fervor, and with a voice that had dropped sharply, he said this and left the room.

It was as if all his mental energy had been sapped away, and he was suddenly overwhelmed by an intense exhaustion.

Now, he just wanted to escape this seemingly dead-end situation, forget it all, and rest for a while.

With that thought, he abruptly recalled Eun Ji-yeon from his dream the previous night.

In that dream, she had consoled him, accepting everything.

At that moment, a message from his mother, Kang Ju-ran, arrived.

[Let’s have dinner with the Chairman next weekend. There’s someone I’d like to introduce you to. It’s an important occasion for the Chairman, so be sure not to forget and make sure to attend.]