To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 41

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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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Chapter 41
The luxury leather trolley, pushed carefully by a department store employee, was stacked high with neatly packaged boxes.
But what captured Jin Seo-ryeong’s attention were the two people walking ahead of it.
More precisely, it was Kwon Yeol, who was personally carrying several shopping bags bearing the department store’s logo.
Her son, who rarely purchased anything with his own hands.
Even when he did, it was natural that he would merely select items while a personal shopper handled the rest, including delivery.
Following someone around and playing the role of a porter was something that could never exist in the life of Beom Gwon-yeol, who was born wrapped in dignity and arrogance.
Yet now Kwon Yeol was casually ignoring the anxious attendant behind him, carrying the items he had personally chosen.
In his other hand, he held Hee-jo’s hand firmly.
“Do you see this ridiculous sight too, Manager Yeom? It’s not just me, right?”
“…I apologize, Director.”
“It’s not Manager Yeom who should apologize—”
It was that girl.
With her hand caught by the eldest son, that inferior girl Yoon Hee-jo, glancing at him and the bags in his hands with an expression of discomfort.
The time and expense wasted on polishing substandard stone into a jewel was far too great.
The pathetic excuses the Jinri Society had made to cover up that girl’s shameful secrets.
Those paper bags, far too light for the eldest son of the Beom Family to bear.
The price of being swayed by sympathy and pity, of not cutting ties sooner, was this sordid.
It felt as though merely keeping her at his side dragged him down into the mud.
Jin Seo-ryeong drew in a breath, making no effort to hide her displeasure as she approached them.
“Oh, Mother.”
Upon spotting Jin Seo-ryeong, Hee-jo lowered her head and tried to pull her hand free from Kwon Yeol’s grasp.
Naturally, she failed.
“You’ve arrived.”
Unlike Hee-jo, who seemed flustered at the sight of her, Kwon Yeol remained utterly indifferent.
Jin Seo-ryeong’s voice dropped low between clenched teeth.
“Did my secretary lie to me? I heard Beom Executive Director’s schedule was extremely tight, but it seems that’s not the case.”
“You received accurate information.”
“Yet you turn your attention elsewhere every other day?”
“Being devoted to family—how is that a problem?”
Seeing her son, so unlike her own fierce demeanor, remain endlessly cold and composed, Jin Seo-ryeong felt her frustration mounting.
Her ire turned toward Hee-jo, standing at her son’s side.
“Hee-jo, do you find my words amusing? I clearly told you to come with me after work.”
“I’m sorry….”
“I brought her here of my own accord—why are you venting your frustration on my wife?”
“Venting? Because of you, your wife looks down on me…!”
As Jin Seo-ryeong’s voice rose, she suddenly caught sight of the employees standing at a distance with their heads bowed, and came to her senses.
Of course, those handling VVIP protocol would be discreet, but—
There was no place completely sealed against leaks.
Besides, they would gossip among themselves regardless.
Rumors were circulating that the Beomho Group’s ruling family was fracturing.
Word had it that the mistress of the Beom Residence was being overshadowed by her daughter-in-law of inferior status.
Before their marriage, my father-in-law, Chairman Beom Hun-young, had repeatedly refused to meet with me in private, then suddenly appointed Hee-jo as Vice Director of the Beomho Cultural Foundation.
The difficulty I’d endured in accepting that fact, the emotional toll it had exacted—there were no words sufficient to describe it.
With the garden that had been my sanctuary burned to ash, Jin Seo-ryeong’s stress had reached its absolute peak.
Had it not been for Kim Jung-yeon, who continued to fawn over me with flattery, I might well have succumbed to stress-induced illness and died.
“…You’re receiving considerable attention right now because of your marriage. We can’t have strange rumors leaking out.”
“Yes, that’s right. As long as you cooperate, Mother.”
Just as Jin Seo-ryeong’s face flushed crimson at Kwon Yeol’s words, she was about to respond.
“Mother!”
Kim Jung-yeon approached from a distance, beaming with a radiant smile.
“Oh my, Jung-yeon!”
Jin Seo-ryeong’s expression transformed instantly into a warm, affectionate smile as she welcomed Kim Jung-yeon.
“I heard you were coming to the department store today, so I came to greet you. I missed you so much, Mother.”
“How can you be so graceful and lovely, hmm?”
Jin Seo-ryeong laughed, her eyes crinkling with delight.
A diamond already perfectly cut and set, requiring no further refinement.
If Kwon Yeol continued to see that dazzling brilliance beside him, he would eventually come to understand.
How utterly shabby and weightless the stone he held in his hand truly was.
To others, it was merely a matter of maintaining connections befitting the mistress of the Beom Residence.
Since the Kim family and the Beom family had exchanged relations for generations, there was nothing false about it.
Yet if some scandal were to emerge….
That would be something beyond my control.
Who knew? Perhaps that tiresome stone would come to recognize its place and, exhausted by its own weight, would fall away on its own.
“I’ve made a reservation at the Tea Salon—you’ll join us, won’t you?”
Kim Jung-yeon linked her arm through Jin Seo-ryeong’s with practiced charm, then turned her gaze toward Kwon Yeol.
“It’s been a while, Kwon Yeol.”
“….”
“But what are you carrying in your hands? Why are you holding such things yourself… Oh, I see.”
Kim Jung-yeon glanced at Hee-jo and released a soft sigh.
“Hee-jo, really—I thought you’d come shopping with Mother. If you want to show a harmonious family, you shouldn’t work your husband like that. You should be attentive to your elders instead.”
Kim Jung-yeon added with a slight tsk, shaking her head.
“These basic things are naturally learned from one’s family as you grow up. It’s truly a shame. Then again, when you’ve grown up without anyone to teach you….”
Kim Jung-yeon’s eyes drooped with exaggerated sympathy.
At Kim Jung-yeon’s excessively blunt reproach of Hee-jo, Jin Seo-ryeong flinched momentarily.
‘Isn’t such an excessive reaction rather unbecoming?’
Though disconcerted, Jin Seo-ryeong needed to maintain a cordial relationship for the sake of the future, so she wrapped her arm around Kim Jung-yeon’s shoulder in a soothing gesture, stroking her arm.
“Jung-yeon, you’re so thoughtful—”
“The pity is mutual, actually.”
At that moment, a low, frigid voice cut through Jin Seo-ryeong’s words like ice.
“Calling my mother by such an improper name. And the sheer audacity of barging into a private family gathering uninvited.”
Kwon Yeol’s gaze finally turned toward Jung-yeon.
“Chairman Kim must be quite troubled. With so many people teaching her, yet your daughter still turns out like this.”
Jung-yeon’s face flushed crimson in an instant, stained with humiliation and shame.
“W-what did you just say?”
“You don’t even listen properly before asking for clarification. How vulgar.”
V-vulgar?
Jung-yeon couldn’t believe the words her own ears had just heard.
Faced with an evaluation she’d never received in her entire life, she could barely breathe.
“Kwon Yeol, what on earth are you doing!”
Jin Seo-ryeong tried to intervene urgently, but there was no way to overcome the icy coldness in Kwon Yeol’s eyes.
“I’m restraining myself from saying worse. I don’t want to shock my wife.”
Kwon Yeol squeezed Hee-jo’s hand tighter in his grasp.
“I can’t have her hearing harsh words.”
“Kwon Yeol—”
“You should be careful as well, Mother.”
The cold hostility crystallized in Kwon Yeol’s eyes made Jin Seo-ryeong’s breath catch.
“Looking at this scene, anyone would be confused about who the real daughter-in-law is.”
“That’s… that’s not—”
“My wife is only Hee-jo. Now and always.”
Kwon Yeol wrapped his arm around Hee-jo’s shoulders, then turned his head halfway to address the waiting staff member.
“Send everything we ordered. Not a single item left behind.”
“Y-yes! Understood, Executive Director.”
The staff members sprang into coordinated action.
He walked away without hesitation, leaving the dumbfounded Jin Seo-ryeong and Jung-yeon in his wake.
The murderous atmosphere prevented anyone from stopping or blocking him.
It wasn’t until they reached the parking lot that Hee-jo barely managed to speak to him.
“Um… Kwon Yeol.”
Kwon Yeol, who had been walking forward with cold eyes, immediately stopped and turned his head at the faint sound of her voice.
Seeing him speak with his eyes—asking why she’d called—she carefully parted her lips.
“I don’t think we should leave like this…”
“Why not.”
“But if we leave your mother like that—”
“My mother did that to you, and you’re worried?”
At his sharp tone, Hee-jo’s delicate shoulders flinched, and Kwon Yeol, closing his mouth, let out a dry sigh.
“I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at myself.”
“Why… are you angry?”
“Because I’m afraid you’ll run away.”

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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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