To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 57

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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 57
“When exactly did they visit?”
“Around 7 PM a week ago, according to the report.”
Kwon Yeol drew in a deep breath, the cool air settling deep within his lungs.
That was the day. It had to be.
The day Hee-jo, who had barely touched her food lately, had savored something with genuine delight.
The day my chest had stirred with an unfamiliar warmth at the sight of her.
Ever since that day, I had made certain the refrigerator was stocked daily with yuzu sherbet from Youngseo.
I wanted to see that lovely expression on her face just one more time.
“Ah, I apologize. I ran into someone I knew and stopped to exchange greetings—that’s why I’m a bit late.”
“Someone you knew?”
“Yes, someone I met through a project a while back. Did you finish everything?”
Something felt off about the way Hee-jo was changing the subject, but I dismissed it as my own oversensitivity and let it pass.
However… Hee-jo had met with Ryu Seung-won.
And she had hidden that fact from me entirely.
Whether by coincidence or design, I couldn’t know what they had discussed.
But the one immutable truth in this moment was that Hee-jo had deceived me.
Displeasure.
No—that trivial word could never contain the emotion that now consumed my entire being.
My roiling insides threatened to burst at any moment, yet in the next instant they froze solid, as if all sensation had ceased.
Was Hee-jo’s avoidance of my gaze, her distance from me, connected to him as well?
“….”
Kwon Yeol’s eyes grew cold and piercing.
“Find the source and root it out. Make sure no such dog-like nonsense ever leaves anyone’s mouth again.”
“Yes, understood.”
Hong Se-gi bowed and hurried from the office.
Click.
As the door closed, a heavy silence descended.
“….”
I gazed down at the wedding band on my ring finger.
Platinum, smoothly crafted along its grain, with a diamond at its center that gleamed with brilliant clarity.
I had chosen it myself.
Because I thought that pure, pristine crystalline light resembled Yoon Hee-jo perfectly.
But now that light had become a cruel blade, piercing my heart.
In that instant, I narrowed my brow.
What if—what if by some chance—
Hee-jo’s heart was turned toward someone other than me.
What if it truly… reached toward Han Young-sook’s grandson.
“…Damn it.”
I ground out the curse between clenched teeth, then roughly splashed water on my face.
I cannot let Hee-jo go.
Even as I insisted it was absolutely impossible, a corner of my heart crumbled helplessly.
If Hee-jo truly wished it.
If she desperately wanted to leave my side and remain beside another man….
Kwon Yeol gazed down at the veins bulging across the back of his hand with hollow resignation.
In the Beom Family’s way, if you cannot possess something, you destroy it instead.
Yet Hee-jo was every exception in his life.
Even knowing she would be unhappy, could I truly bind her to my side?
But I had no confidence in bearing the emptiness left behind without her.
A cruel deadlock—unable to release her, yet unable to fully possess her either.
Trapped within it, Kwon Yeol’s eyes lost their direction and wavered.
“…Sigh.”
Kwon Yeol, who had been staring intently at the finger bearing his wedding band, slowly clenched his fist.
As if to say he would not let go.
* * *
“What did you just say?”
Hee-jo’s face drained of color in an instant.
“I apologize, Director. We are currently aware of the situation and doing our utmost to manage it….”
Rather than subsiding, the rumor of her pregnancy had now been compounded by whispers that the child belonged not to Kwon Yeol, but to another man.
The man in question was none other than Ryu Seung-won, the grandson of her teacher Han Young-sook.
Days ago, someone had apparently witnessed them exchanging brief greetings after an unexpected encounter at a restaurant she visited with Kwon Yeol.
Hee-jo’s chest tightened with anxiety.
‘What if someone saw me experiencing morning sickness back then?’
The world before her eyes grew distant.
Her heart raced in an irregular rhythm.
Hee-jo pressed her palm firmly against her chest.
‘It’s fine. I was just startled for a moment. So don’t worry, little one.’
Hee-jo, who had been deliberately taking deep breaths to calm her turbulent emotions, soon steadied her voice.
“Should I cancel the afternoon schedule?”
At Secretary Director Nam Yoon-joo’s cautious question, Hee-jo shook her head firmly.
“No. That would only make them think it’s true.”
If she avoided it now, it would amount to admitting the rumors were fact.
Besides, her mother-in-law Jin Seo-ryeong was scheduled to attend the afternoon event.
If she didn’t appear, it would put her mother-in-law in an awkward position, and ultimately she would become suspicious as well.
Such a thing could never happen.
More important than her own innocence was Kwon Yeol.
She despised the thought of even the smallest blemish on his image.
‘He must have heard about it by now.’
Remembering Kwon Yeol’s tender smile as he dropped her off in front of the company this morning, a heaviness settled in her heart.
What was he truly thinking?
What could possibly make him suspect that something was going on between me and Han Teacher’s grandson?
“Oh, I apologize. I ran into someone I knew and stopped to exchange greetings, so I’m a bit late.”
“Someone you knew?”
“Yes, someone I met through a project a while back. Have you finished eating?”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Would he truly believe in me?
Just imagining Kwon Yeol’s cold gaze—the way he looked at me without trusting my innocence—made it feel as though my breath was being strangled.
“Vice Director, shall I bring you some medicine?”
“…No, I’m fine.”
In truth, I wanted to take a sedative.
I would have swallowed anything if it could suppress this unbearable anxiety, even for a moment.
But I couldn’t do that for the sake of the child inside me.
‘I just have to endure it.’
I can bear this. I’m a mother.
As I slowly opened my eyes, my gaze hardened with resolve.
* * *
Inside the Hotel Banquet Hall, where the delicate fragrance of black tea lingered softly.
The elegant laughter of Jinri Society members attending the final inspection meeting for the charity bazaar drifted through the air.
“Then, let’s finalize the matter of profit distribution as is.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
Jin Seo-ryeong turned her head toward Hee-jo, who sat beside her, with a satisfied smile.
“You took good notes for the minutes, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Oh my, there’s something on you. Just a moment.”
Jin Seo-ryeong reached out and carefully brushed away a small speck of dust from Hee-jo’s shoulder.
The affectionate interaction between the two women drew meaningful glances from various corners of the conference room.
Their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship appeared so solid that it rendered the vulgar rumors—whispers of infidelity and speculation about another father—utterly baseless.
“Honestly, I thought Yoon Vice Director wouldn’t show up today.”
“Right? She must have come because she has nothing to hide, don’t you think? Because it’s not true.”
“Well, we all know Han Young-sook’s character. She’s the type who would break her own grandson’s back if he did something improper. That’s just who she is.”
“That’s true. She’s someone who can’t be swayed or lobbied. How could such a scandal touch a family that has lived so righteously all these years?”
Hee-jo’s composed and confident demeanor, coupled with Jin Seo-ryeong’s steadfast support beside her, caused the suspicious glances that had weighed down the atmosphere to gradually lose their force and scatter.
That’s right, it couldn’t be.
After all, this was the Beom Ho Group.
The Beom Ho Group was renowned for its unparalleled information network.
Especially someone like Chairman Beom Hun-young, who valued family honor above all else, would have noticed and handled any such situation long before Hee-jo even showed a hint of it.
As the atmosphere settled peacefully, only Kim Jung-yeon, who sat quietly in the corner, smiled to herself.
Tapping her phone screen beneath the table, she soon leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
Your pretentious act ends today.
Knock, knock—.
A cheerful knock shattered the silence.
“It seems the dessert has arrived.”
The door opened and a staff member wheeled in a cart.
Everyone was continuing their conversation with casual expressions when it happened.
Someone burst through the entrance with a cry that sounded almost like a scream.
“Hee-jo! Hee-jo, are you here? It’s Mom!”
The sharp cry tore through the elegant banquet hall, shattering the delicate aroma of black tea that had lingered there.

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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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