Chapter 09
Even when there were school events that required parents to attend, it wasn’t much of a problem. That was because Arang’s adoptive parents were both practicing doctors, permanently stationed at the trauma center, both then and now.
There were occasionally days when Arang’s adoptive parents came to school in their capacity as parents. Even then, they had to painstakingly carve out time from their schedules just to come. They would take a brief look at Ji-i’s face, attend the official event, and then immediately return to the hospital.
Judging from those brief and sporadic encounters, Ji-i believed that Arang’s adoptive parents were genuinely good people. On the other hand, Arang, who was pure evil itself, did not deserve to be the child of such good people, in Ji-i’s opinion.
It seems those two still haven’t seen Arang’s true nature.
No matter how she thought about it, it had all happened because she herself had been too naïve.
If only that necklace hadn’t been taken from me, they might have become my parents.
Of course, why wouldn’t Ji-i have been jealous during her school years? Whenever she occasionally met Arang’s adoptive parents, she couldn’t hide her envy, and Arang always caught her at it. In her mind, Arang punished Ji-i in all sorts of ways for daring to covet something she had no right to.
Ji-i had been beaten by Arang many times, but with her adoptive grandfather’s hospital bills at stake, she had no choice but to swallow her envy, obey Arang, and follow her orders.
Above all, it had only ever been envy. Ji-i could swear to heaven that she had never once had the slightest intention of taking Arang’s adoptive parents away from her.
But things were different now.
This time, I have to act more perfectly than ever.
Ultimately, based on the basic information she knew—such as the adoptive parents’ return times, which were no different from their usual weekday schedules—it shouldn’t be too difficult for Ji-i to perfectly take Arang’s place in front of her adoptive parents, despite being complete strangers to them.
The real problem would probably be Arang’s older sister, Im Sang-ah, who had spent so much time with her.
Therefore, Ji-i needed to share information and memories about the family, and ultimately, about Im Sang-ah.
If she wanted to complete her revenge without a hitch, she especially had to eliminate any suspicion Sang-ah might have.
But Arang hadn’t said a single word about that.
That’s what I’m wondering. Just how much of an airhead was I to get fooled by someone this sloppy?
“Why do you need information about my family?”
Arang actually seemed suspicious of the request for information about her family.
“Wouldn’t I get caught if I don’t have a report on your family?”
“So why do you need it?”
“Why do you think I don’t need it?”
“You’re marrying Heo Dong-in. You’re not marrying my family, are you?”
How am I supposed to explain this to her so she’ll actually understand? Or is she deliberately acting like this?
Well, knowing this woman, she absolutely could be.
“……”
Anyway, this is really difficult. So difficult. Haa.
“……”
The two women stared each other down for a while.
“Everyone, get out.”
At last, Arang broke eye contact first and irritably ordered the men she had been sitting with to leave.
Then, as soon as the men had gone out and the door closed—
“If you get any strange ideas, I’ll kill you myself.”
Arang said it without preamble.
Wow. This woman really was pretending not to understand and acting clueless on purpose.
“What are you talking about?”
Anyone can pretend to be clueless, can’t they? This time, it was Ji-i’s turn.
Fortunately, after seven full years—eight years by calendar counting—she finally had the chance to show off the composure and indifference she had painstakingly cultivated.
Inside, she was pretending not to know anything, but outwardly, she would undoubtedly look perfectly calm.
“I’m warning you in advance. You’d better give up any thought of taking my identity.”
Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not taking your identity. I’m taking back my own!
“Let’s not.”
Ji-i even let out a deep sigh as she lied.
“What?”
Arang still looked uncertain.
“Tell me where my adoptive grandfather is.”
To get the upper hand somehow, Ji-i had to pretend to take a step back.
“……”
Still not taking the bait?
Arang continued staring at Ji-i suspiciously.
“I’ll repay all the hospital expenses you’ve paid so far somehow.”
Ji-i didn’t stop there. She tossed her phone and the file she had just received onto the table, then abruptly stood up.
Still not taking the bait?
“Wait.”
As expected, Arang grabbed her wrist.
“No. Right, no.”
Ji-i slapped her hand away and quietly ground her teeth.
“I’ll give you information about my family within forty-eight hours.”
“I’ll consider the hospital expenses settled in exchange for the eight years I spent serving your sentence in your place. And tell me where my grandfather is.”
Then she drove the point home.
“What?”
“Right now!”
“……”
I can practically hear her thoughts racing.
“……”
“Besides covering your adoptive grandfather’s hospital expenses, I’ll deposit three million won—no, five million. Five million won every month into your account.”
After hearing Arang’s offer, Ji-i thought that perhaps this was finally going in the direction she wanted.
“……”
“And if you safely make it through childbirth, I’ll give you 100 million won.”
“100 million?”
Not only had the situation gone in her favor, but an unexpected bonus had appeared.
“Yes. 100 million.”
“Hmmm.”
Ji-i thought about Arang’s offer for a moment.
Even if I worked two or three jobs for the rest of my life, I don’t think I could ever save that much purely from my savings after covering living expenses.
“Think about it. With the five million won I give you every month, plus another 100 million won, you should be able to cover your grandfather’s hospital expenses for several years.”
Is that really enough?
“……”
“Even for me, I’d have to tighten my belt quite a bit to afford that much.”
No. Absolutely not!
“……”
“That’s beyond what I can do.”
Even so, it’s not enough. The math doesn’t add up in the first place!
After all, Arang had stolen Ji-i’s entire life.
In other words, no matter how much Arang gave her, it was money that should have belonged to Ji-i in the first place.
She’s making a show of giving me what’s mine, right in front of me? Ha! The more I think about it, the more shameless this woman seems.
“Ten million a month.”
Ji-i went for the maximum.
She wasn’t simply testing the waters by asking for an impossible amount. First, she was already thoroughly offended. And second, she wanted to completely distract Arang and prevent her from suspecting that Ji-i might actually be trying to reclaim her identity.
“What?”
“Ten million won a month. That way, if I receive roughly 100 million won throughout the marriage, pregnancy, and childbirth process, plus another 100 million after giving birth, I should be able to take care of my grandfather comfortably.”
It was merely a way of pretending to gauge how desperate Arang was.
After all, she was only trying to reclaim what was hers in the first place, so the amount itself wasn’t the issue.
“You’re seriously saying you’d invest 200 million won in that homeless man?”
