TLDOWN 20

CHAPTER 20:

 The Last Memory

Leah lowered her head and began to examine the maid’s leg. The patient was a kitchen maid who had been burned while preparing food.

“It’s going to sting a lot until it heals. But thankfully, the wound isn’t deep. The first aid was really well done.”

Since it was a burn, a scar was inevitable. But at least it was on her leg, where it wouldn’t be too visible, and the initial treatment had been excellent.

“Right? If Rickel hadn’t helped, it would’ve left a terrible scar.”

“Probably.”

When the maid had first come to her, Leah had been impressed to see her cooling the burn with ice to prevent blistering.

She never would’ve guessed that Rickel was the one who did it.

‘He’s secretly good at a lot of things, huh?’

Leah’s first impression of Rickel hadn’t been great. Actually, even now, she didn’t think all that highly of him.

She couldn’t forget how he had come to her, handed her money, and called it a signing bonus. He had never tried to hide his dark intentions in front of her.

“See? Rickel’s good at everything. Isn’t he handsome too, even from a pharmacist’s point of view?”

“He’s definitely handsome.”

If you only looked at his appearance, he seemed impressive…

But Rickel’s dark violet eyes always glinted eerily beneath his ever-present smile.

Leah knew it was a fabricated smile, meant to lower people’s guard. That’s why his looks didn’t impress her much.

But the blushing maid who asked the question clearly felt differently. Was another Rickel admirer being born?

‘Poor, innocent lamb…’

“The treatment is all done. Be careful not to get the wound wet, keep using cold compresses, and come back tomorrow for a fresh dressing.”

“Thank you! I’m so glad the new pharmacist is around my age!”

After finishing the wound dressing, Leah straightened her bent back. The maid, admiring the neatly wrapped bandage, suddenly asked Leah:

“By the way, are you from the Tren region?”

“Yes, I am. I came from Tren.”

Tren, where Leah grew up, was in the northern region—quite far from the Hydern estate.

A small river ran through Tren. She could still vividly remember walking along the riverbank with her friends from the orphanage as the seasons changed.

‘I wonder how the director’s doing.’

The last time she had written a letter was already a month ago.

That had been before her job interview in the capital and before her pharmacist assignment was finalized.

Leah had planned to take monthly leave to visit the orphanage.

To her, the director was like a parent, and the children and friends there were no different from family.

[Leah, when are you coming back? Can I go with you?]
[Lisa, Leah’s going to work as a pharmacist. You need to study here.]
[Hmph.]
[Leah, visit often, okay?]

Lisa had always followed her around like a little sister. She had teared up when Leah left. So did the director. And Theo, the friend who’d grown up with her like a brother.

The orphanage, home to about twenty people, was always full of laughter.

Just picturing the lush, green scenery brought a smile to Leah’s lips.

But her reverie was interrupted by the maid’s voice.

“I knew it. Then… have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

Leah turned from organizing her medicine to face the maid.

Unlike her excited chatter about Rickel earlier, the maid’s voice now held deep concern.

“You haven’t heard yet. It’s just… well…”

Leah’s heart began to race at the maid’s hesitant tone. Something must’ve happened to her hometown.

“There’s been heavy flooding. My cousin lives in Tren too. They said there are already a lot of displaced people.”

“Flooding? Is it serious?”

Leah froze, her hands still holding medical supplies.

“Yes, it’s really bad. I just sent a letter to my cousin, actually.”

Come to think of it, the rainy season was approaching. There hadn’t been rain yet in Hydern, so she’d forgotten.

And since Tren was in the north, where flooding was rare, she’d been even more complacent.

‘Oh no…’

Leah covered her mouth in shock. Tren already had poor drainage systems. If there were that many displaced people…

The orphanage must’ve been hit hard.

‘They were already struggling after that food poisoning outbreak…’

Leah had been sending money to the orphanage regularly. One of the reasons she’d been drawn to this high-paying job was to support them.

Though they received support from the local lord, it was unstable. The orphanage constantly lived on edge.

That’s why Leah had promised herself she’d become a well-paid pharmacist to help out. But the director always declined.

[Leah, you need to live your life. Save money, get married. You don’t need to support us like this. You’re already like a daughter to me. I’m proud that you’ve grown up and become independent.]

‘He must be having a hard time but doesn’t want to worry me.’

That was just like the director. He never wanted Leah, who had grown up as the big sister of the group, to feel burdened.

After the maid left, Leah pulled out stationery and a pen.

‘I’ll write to Theo.’

Theo was a friend who had grown up with her at the orphanage. If she wrote to the director, he’d just tell her not to worry. She needed Theo to tell her the truth.

As she rushed to finish the letter and leave the dispensary…

Knock knock.

The door opened.

“Oh! You’re here. A letter arrived for you, Pharmacist.”

“A letter?”

Leah took the envelope and immediately recognized the name of the sender.

‘Theo.’

It was as if Theo had predicted she’d write to him.

She tore it open and read the letter immediately.

“Hah… I knew it.”

As expected, the letter said the orphanage was in a dire financial situation.

The floodwaters had contaminated the river, leading to a shortage of drinking water, and there was a high risk of disease outbreaks.

Leah pressed her forehead in distress. There were around twenty children at the orphanage. Without city support, they wouldn’t even have enough to eat.

Thinking of Lisa, Leah sighed deeply.

[The orphanage itself is okay, but the subsidies were suddenly cut. And there’s been panic buying of food, so even drinking water costs 10 dong per bottle now.]

Tren, being in the north, usually had low rainfall.

So the unprecedented flooding must have completely disrupted the local economy.

[And the director got scammed while trying to buy food… We’re in real trouble. Leah, I’m really sorry, but…]

Leah’s eyes lingered on the word at the end of the letter: scammed.

‘Scammed…’

Suddenly, an old memory surfaced. One from her previous life. The life she had lived as Kang Yoon-ji in South Korea.

Yoon-ji had been an only child, living an ordinary life—until her parents were scammed by a man named Hwang.

They lost their house, their savings, everything.

[Why did you trust him?! You said he had a solid credit score! That your friend said he was trustworthy!]

[How was I supposed to know?! You wanted to invest too! This wasn’t just my decision! I’m a victim too!]

The house became a battlefield of shouting and thrown objects.

Then, just as Yoon-ji was about to enter elementary school, her family had to flee from loan sharks. She couldn’t go to school like the other kids.

She moved schools every few months—sometimes every few weeks.

One day, her parents left her at an orphanage, promising to come back.

[Just stay here for a little while. You can go to school here.]

[If you stay with us, it’ll be hard to go to school. We’ll come back for you once things are stable.]

But they never came back.

From elementary school to adulthood, Yoon-ji waited in vain.

At first, she avoided getting close to the other children. She believed she was different—that her parents would return.

‘I’m not like them.’
‘I have parents. They said they’d come back.’
‘I wasn’t abandoned.’

She was scared. If she grew attached and they never returned, she wouldn’t survive the heartbreak.

So she isolated herself, pushing away every friend who tried to reach her.

Days turned into months, months into years.

By the time she finally accepted the truth—that she had been abandoned—no one was left by her side.

It was too late to regret. She had pushed them away.

When she became an adult, Yoon-ji vowed never to be a victim again.

‘If it comes down to it, I’ll scam first. I’ll never live like my parents did.’

She worked job after job, saving bit by bit.

Then one day, while working at a department store, she saw Hwang and his wife.

Ten years had passed, but she recognized them instantly.

[Honey, you’ll buy this for me, right? I saw that Hae-in’s mom has a whole wall of luxury bags in her closet. I’m not asking for that much.]

[You’re unbelievable. Fine, I’ll buy it.]

[Sir, shall I wrap it up for you?]

That bastard, who had destroyed her family, was living a luxurious, happy life.

After serving a measly seven years in prison, he now enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

Yoon-ji’s eyes filled with tears.

‘Why do they get to be happy while I suffer?’

That’s when it began.

She wanted revenge.

She approached the Hwang couple, planning a massive con to make them feel the same despair.

But then she saw a child get out of their car.

A child who looked just like her younger self.

If she had just walked away…

But she couldn’t.

She saw herself in that child.

‘Is money really worth it?’

‘Is this pittance worth destroying someone’s life?’

The guilt was suffocating.

Yoon-ji covered her face and wept.

She didn’t notice she was standing in a crosswalk.

The truck came barreling through the pouring rain before she could react.

That was how her life ended.

That was Yoon-ji’s final memory from her past life.