The Snake, the Flower, and the Tiger - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 53

When Hee-seo fixed him with a lethal glare, Kim Je-eon had to stifle a laugh. He knew that if he smiled now, he really might end up with a slap across the face—and it wasn’t an idle fear. Hee-seo’s fists genuinely hurt.
Kim Je-eon shifted the conversation smoothly.
“Tell him I’d like to see him. There are things I need to discuss.”
“I’m telling you instead. Grandfather says he doesn’t want to see you for a while.”
Seo Hyun-a cut him off flatly. It was the first time Kim Jong-hyeop had ever turned away his own grandson so openly. Of course, both Je-eon and Hee-seo had anticipated as much.
“Is that so? Does he at least know I’m back?”
Kim Je-eon crossed his long legs with an air of ease, resting his hands loosely atop his knees. He looked exactly as he had before he vanished, yet something about him felt subtly different.
‘What is it? Something’s changed.’
Outwardly, she could detect no alteration. Yet Je-eon’s presence carried an oddly unfamiliar quality.
As Hyun-a searched for the source of that difference, her response came a beat too late.
“……How could Grandfather not know? He monitors every move we make. He knows you’ve been staying at Mother’s Villa.”
“So if he knows I was at my mother’s Villa, Grandfather must be quite angry.”
Je-eon smiled faintly and smoothed the crease in his trousers with a gentle touch.
To Kim Jong-hyeop, the existence of his eldest daughter Kim Soo-yeon was a taboo. And Je-eon himself was filthy refuse—something far too unclean to ever approach that sacred boundary.
Seo Hyun-a glanced sideways at Hee-seo as Je-eon mentioned Kim Soo-yeon, and Je-eon caught the look.
“Hee-seo doesn’t know that Kim Je-eon is an illegitimate child.”
“……What?”
“Brother, what are you saying so carelessly!”
“Grandfather hasn’t cast me out or mistreated me for being illegitimate, so why should we hide it?”
“No, but to speak about it so casually—!”
Seo Hyun-a’s voice rose, her face drained of color.
Hee-seo, too, struggled to hide her shock at his unexpected words, though her gaze at Kim Je-eon flickered for just a moment. Je-eon reached over and enclosed the hand of Hee-seo beside him, offering her a gentle smile.
“Don’t worry. Even though I was born illegitimate, Grandfather plans to leave everything to me. He may be fond of Hyun-a, but he doesn’t see her as his successor. I apologize for saying such things, Hyun-a. Still, don’t take it the wrong way. You already knew all this, didn’t you?”
“Are you insane? What are you even saying to that woman—!”
“Seo Hyun-a. I gave you one warning already. Mind your words and manner.”
The smile Je-eon had worn for Hee-seo vanished instantly, his face turning cold as he fixed Hyun-a with a stare.
At the chill in his voice, Seo Hyun-a shuddered involuntarily. Now she finally understood why he felt so unfamiliar to her.
‘Je-eon has never been like this. Not once. I’ve never seen him genuinely happy, never seen him truly angry—not in all these years.’
The Je-eon she had observed all this time was nothing more than Kim Jong-hyeop’s puppet. He studied what Grandfather wanted him to study, conducted business as Grandfather wished, did exactly as Grandfather demanded. He smiled in the places Grandfather wanted him to smile, cultivated relationships with the people Grandfather preferred.
Throughout all of it, Hyun-a had never once seen Kim Je-eon express genuine joy or sorrow. Yet now, with that impostor bride sitting beside him, this Je-eon showed authentic happiness, and genuine displeasure.
For Seo Hyun-a, that Je-eon was simply unrecognizable.
“……I know the Dubai accident left you struggling to recover. So maybe Grandfather would understand if this confusion is just a delayed reaction. But you know how he is, don’t you? Grandfather isn’t a patient man. So straighten yourself out, and do it soon.”
Feeling as though she were addressing a stranger, Seo Hyun-a rose from her seat as if fleeing. Je-eon’s gaze remained cold, but he made no move to stop her.
Hyun-a hurried toward the Entrance without a word of farewell. But just as she was about to step outside, someone grabbed her wrist and pulled with force.
“Oh!”
She cried out in surprise, spinning around to find that it was Hee-seo who had stopped her.
“Where did you get that Bracelet?”
“What are you doing right now!”
Hee-seo’s expression turned awkward for a moment, taken aback by Hyun-a’s overreaction.
She hadn’t pulled that hard, and she’d even called out Hyun-a’s name as she followed—yet Hyun-a hadn’t heard her. Since she’d meant no harm, Hee-seo rushed to apologize.
“Seo Hyun-a, what’s wrong?”
‘Ugh, why does he have to show up at exactly this moment……’
Someone suddenly rushed between Hee-seo and Hyun-a. To any onlooker, it looked as though Hee-seo had just slapped Hyun-a’s cheek.
Hee-seo let out an involuntary sigh and looked up at the familiar man.
“It’s nothing, Choi Jin-uk. I just startled her.”
“That’s reason enough to be startled. Dealing with such a thoughtless woman, you’d have no choice. Let me see—are you hurt? Did this woman lay hands on you?”
The man who had stepped in to defend Hyun-a was Choi Jin-uk—Seo Hyun-a’s husband and Hee-seo’s ex-boyfriend from university. Suddenly, exhaustion washed over her.
Hyun-a, the one who had actually cried out, looked sheepish as she cast glances at Hee-seo. Sensing that she knew her own reaction had been excessive, Hee-seo kept her tone deliberately neutral.
“Where did you get that Bracelet? Who gave it to you?”
“What business is that of yours, Hee-seo?”
The words that came out were sharp. It was the response Hee-seo had expected, so she spoke while observing Hyun-a’s Bracelet.
“A Bracelet made from Five-Colored Threads isn’t an ordinary accessory. And looking at it, that one certainly isn’t……”
“Honey, Seo Hyun-a. There’s no need to listen to nonsense like that. Why don’t we go? The Chairman will be waiting.”
Before Hee-seo could finish, Choi Jin-uk cut in. Less than ten minutes had passed since he’d denied having an anger management problem in front of Seo Hyun-a, yet rage was flaring up far too easily.
Just one hit—couldn’t she just throw one punch? Just one……
Yet Hee-seo barely restrained the violent urge rising within her and continued speaking.
“You can’t just wear something like this around. I don’t know where you got it, but you should burn it or bury it. Or give it to me. I can handle it properly…….”
“Listen, Hee-seo.”
But unfortunately, Choi Jin-uk failed to grasp her concern. Standing between the two women with Seo Hyun-a positioned behind him, he smirked.
“If you’re going to keep playing con artist and trying to scam people, maybe choose your marks more carefully?”
“Sigh…….”
At Choi Jin-uk’s snide remark, Hee-seo exhaled a long, weary breath. Then she regarded him quietly.
‘Where should I hit this idiot to make sure word gets out that I did it right?’
Only then, belatedly sensing danger, did Choi Jin-uk flinch slightly, and Seo Hyun-a pulled him back as well, her voice firm.
“Jin-uk, the chairman was waiting for you. Let’s go. There’s no need to talk.”
…….
As Choi Jin-uk was dragged along by Hyun-a, he seemed to need to salvage his pride, bluffing right to the end.
“No one here is falling for your juvenile tricks, so you’d better disappear. Next time won’t end like this.”
‘Right. It won’t end like this for me either.’ Hee-seo swallowed the retort that threatened to spill out, her tone deliberately flat.
She didn’t know how much Seo Hyun-a knew or from where, but at least the woman had maintained a basic courtesy. She didn’t want to beat her husband senseless in front of her—not where Hyun-a could see, anyway.
Choi Jin-uk loaded Seo Hyun-a into the car and glared at Hee-seo one last time before driving off roughly, a plume of dust trailing behind the departing vehicle like a tail.
Hee-seo murmured to herself without thinking.
“……Just you wait. I’m going to break at least one arm or one leg.”
“Isn’t that a rather affectionate vow to make to your ex-boyfriend?”
Since Hee-seo had already sensed his presence, she replied without startlement, her tone indifferent.
“Who am I to expect better? Maybe make a sound when you move around.”
“You always know everything, even without the sound.”
“It’s not me who knows everything—it’s you. How did you know he was my ex?”
Kim Je-eon gently wrapped his arms around Hee-seo from behind. You could tell from the warmth of his embrace that autumn had drawn near, the air grown slightly cooler.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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