To My Brother’s Friend - Chapter 58

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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 58
A gaunt frame, disheveled hair, hollow eyes.
The skin she’d attempted to conceal beneath heavy makeup only served to accentuate her haggard appearance all the more starkly.
Though she’d clearly chosen her finest garment, the visibly worn and faded two-piece suit couldn’t hide her poverty.
The moment the woman’s eyes met mine, they blazed with fervent intensity.
As I stiffened in shock, she surged toward me with the force of a wildfire, closing the distance in a single breath.
“Ahhh! What is this? Why isn’t anyone stopping her!”
Madam Jung, seated beside me, and several others shrieked in alarm.
Only then did a staff member snap to attention, fumbling for his radio to summon the Security Team.
Burly agents materialized in an instant, seizing the woman from both sides and blocking her path.
Yet even as she was brutally restrained, the woman never tore her gaze from me.
“Hee-jo, it’s you, isn’t it? Yes? I’m your mother, your mother!”
Frozen, I couldn’t respond, merely staring blankly at the woman claiming to be my mother.
“Hee-jo, I’m your mother. Sob… Please, please, help your mother just this once. I’m begging you on my knees. Please…!”
Heedless of the agents’ grip upon her, the woman collapsed to her knees near my feet, prostrating herself.
“Please, help your mother, yes? You married into a conglomerate family, didn’t you! You’re the daughter-in-law of Beom Ho Group! Please… save me just this once, Hee-jo!”
In an instant, the atmosphere of the Banquet Hall turned glacial, as though doused with ice water.
“My son—your brother, that is—he foolishly started a business and is about to lose everything. Please, for your mother’s sake, help me just once, yes? You’re no longer a common woman now that you’ve married into such a conglomerate family. That amount of money is nothing to you—less than the cost of a single meal at this expensive Hotel… Sob….”
Madam Jung stared in shock, her eyes darting between me and the woman.
“What is this nonsense? Didn’t you say your mother was dead?”
Madam Jung’s sharp retort faltered as she suddenly became aware of the surrounding gazes, her expression shifting to one of regret as she fell silent.
But the damage was already done.
Contemptuous whispers spread through the Hall like toxic fog.
“Or if that’s too difficult for you, perhaps that man you’re so close to—”
Recognizing what the woman was about to say, Madam Jung cried out loudly in urgency.
“What are you doing? Get that woman out of here now!”
At Madam Jung’s command, the security agents seized the woman and dragged her away.
“Hee-jo. Please, help me just once! Blood is thicker than water, so even a pittance would—!”
Even as she was being dragged away, the woman’s voice never ceased.
Her desperate, shameless pleas echoed down the Corridor.
At last the door closed, and silence returned.
….
In that space, only the woman’s anguished cries lingered like filth, heavy and suffocating.
For a moment, no one dared speak first.
“There’s truth to the old saying, isn’t there.”
Click, click.
Kim Jung-yeon, who had been sitting in the corner, rose slowly and came to stand before me.
“When one’s roots are rotten, it inevitably shows. A docile cat playing servant in the Kitchen, and look how far she’s crawled up.”
Siiigh. Kim Jung-yeon released an exaggerated sigh.
“Everyone here was raised properly in respectable, prestigious families. You’re not people who should be subjected to such vulgar, cheap theatrics. How could we allow such a matter to waste our precious time?”
At those words, Hee-jo bit down on her lower lip.
Her clasped hands trembled with tension.
I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that something like this would unfold.
My body remained frozen, still reeling from the shock.
“I’m afraid there’s been some misunderstanding. I apologize, but perhaps we should conclude today’s meeting here?”
At Madam Jung’s dismissal, the women exchanged glances and began filing out one by one.
As they departed the conference room, their eyes lingered on Hee-jo with undisguised contempt mingled with salacious curiosity.
Finally, only Kim Jung-yeon, Jin Seo-ryeong, and Hee-jo remained in the vast Banquet Hall.
“Mother, I don’t understand why you should have to endure such humiliation. My heart truly aches for you.”
Kim Jung-yeon, addressing Jin Seo-ryeong without hesitation as “Mother,” wore an expression of profound sorrow.
“It’s not just because of Kwon Yeol—as someone who has always genuinely admired and respected you, I feel my heart breaking for you, truly.”
Jin Seo-ryeong desperately scrambled to salvage what remained of her dignity.
“Ah, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. Hee-jo’s mother passed away when she was very young.”
“Is that right, Hee-jo?”
Kim Jung-yeon’s lips curved upward as she fixed her gaze directly on Hee-jo.
“Your mother really did pass away?”
Hee-jo could not answer.
She herself did not know whether her mother, who had left home when she was very young, was alive or dead.
“….”
A precarious silence stretched between them, as though everything might collapse at any moment.
“I believe that answers my question.”
Kim Jung-yeon withdrew her gaze from Hee-jo and grasped Jin Seo-ryeong’s hands firmly, her expression feigning concern.
“Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need my help, Mother. With so many eyes watching today, word will spread quickly.”
“…I appreciate the sentiment, Jung-yeon.”
“I mean it sincerely. Unlike Yoon Hee-jo, I can offer you not just words but tangible support for you, Kwon Yeol, and Beom Ho Group.”
With that, Kim Jung-yeon bowed respectfully to Jin Seo-ryeong before casting a triumphant glance at Hee-jo and departing the Banquet Hall.
The heavy door closed, and alone with Hee-jo, Jin Seo-ryeong unleashed the fury she had been containing.
“What am I supposed to do with you? How can I fix this humiliation, exactly…!”
At her mother-in-law’s trembling voice, Hee-jo barely managed to speak.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Mother….”
“This is utter disgrace! How am I supposed to show my face anywhere? There’s a limit to shame, and because of you, how far will our family’s reputation sink!”
Madam Jung’s bitter words pierced sharply into Hee-jo’s chest.
“You said she was dead—so who on earth is that woman!”
“I… I don’t know either….”
“You don’t know? If you don’t know, who would? How did she find out about this place!”
Hee-jo wanted to grab anyone and demand answers herself.
Who was that woman, and how had she discovered this place?
And… how had she recognized me at a glance?
As I recalled the woman’s unwavering approach the moment our eyes met, an indescribable emotion bloomed like heat shimmer.
“She left home when I was very young… and after that, all contact was lost. Now I can barely… remember her face….”
“It’s shameful, truly. Who doesn’t know you have no background? Stop dragging out what everyone already knows and think about making amends instead!”
Jin Seo-ryeong’s eyes blazed with fury as she gripped Hee-jo’s shoulders so tightly they seemed ready to shatter.
“Or are you doing this on purpose?”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“As if those vulgar rumors weren’t enough, now you’re dragging my own mother into this to disgrace our family? Are you testing my patience right now? How far do you think I, who cherish family above all, will cover up your mistakes? Do you want money? Or are you demanding the position of mistress of the Beom Residence?”
Jin Seo-ryeong’s pupils gleamed with something bordering on madness.
“I thought that since my son chose you and you became my daughter-in-law, I would embrace you regardless of my feelings. But you stab me in the back like this? Are you blackmailing me now? Is it money you want? Or are you asking me to hand over the position of mistress of the Beom House?”
“Mother, you’re misunderstanding. I truly didn’t know who that person was, and I had no idea this would happen—”
“Silence!”
Jin Seo-ryeong shoved away the hand that had been gripping Hee-jo’s shoulder.
As Hee-jo stumbled, losing her balance, Madam Jung spat out sharp venom through clenched teeth.
“Yes, now I see it clearly. That lowborn nature of yours won’t change no matter where you go. This is why one must be careful about who enters the family.”
Jin Seo-ryeong turned away. The click of her heels echoed irritably through the space.
“The people gathered here today are close to me. Since there are only a few and they’re discreet, I can manage to keep this from spreading.”
Whether to count this as a blessing or not—Jin Seo-ryeong muttered under her breath as she snatched up her handbag irritably.
“I won’t let this reach the rest of the family either. I’ll be the one to die before Father for failing to discipline my daughter-in-law.”
Before stepping out, Jin Seo-ryeong paused and spoke with chilling coldness.
“Don’t have children. I can’t bear to think what kind of child would come from someone like you. I won’t allow filth to mix with the Beom bloodline.”
Hee-jo’s complexion drained to a deathly pallor. Without thinking, she clenched her hand that had been reaching toward her abdomen. Her nails dug into her palm.
“Don’t think Kwon Yeol will stay by your side after this. I’ll stop this situation no matter what, so you’d better start preparing to leave our family.”
Bang—!
The moment the door slammed shut, Hee-jo braced herself against the Table, her other hand urgently cradling her lower abdomen.
“Ha… ha…”
Shallow, trembling breaths escaped her.
Cold sweat beaded across her forehead.
Hee-jo rubbed her abdomen, repeating the same words over and over in her mind.
‘I’m sorry, Baby. Forget everything you just heard. This is just… a bad dream. A very long dream that will end soon.’
Yes, it was time to finally wake from this dream.

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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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