Ah-rin entered the mansion with a distressed look, as if she had just come back from some kind of tornado—though the turmoil inside her heart was nothing less than a tornado. Her heart ached whenever she recalled their anniversary party. It was supposed to be the best day of their life. How had it turned into such a mess?
Her hair, which was always neatly tied, was now disheveled. Strands hung loosely over her forehead, damp with sweat. She looked exhausted—physically and emotionally.
She pressed the doorbell of the Kim mansion. The lights were already on. Maybe they already knew what had happened at the party.
Ah-rin laughed bitterly to herself. She wondered why only her family—perhaps by now the entire country had seen the event and believed that Ah-rin was the one who had cheated on her husband with an unknown man and gotten pregnant with his child.
Her hand unconsciously went to her stomach, and she broke down crying.
The door opened.
Not slowly.
Not gently.
It revealed her brother standing there with an unreadable expression. Seeing him, Ah-rin sobbed harder, then looked at her mother. All she wanted right now was comfort, comfort from the people she knew would always understand her, held her tightly even when the world would trun its back on her.
She stepped forward, trying to hide herself in her mother's arms.
But before she could even touch Mrs. Kim, someone shoved her away from the doorstep.
Before Ah-rin could understand what was happening, a hard slap landed on her left cheek, snapping her face to the side. She stumbled back, and instinctively her hand flew to her stomach—as if she could shield her unborn child from the storm crashing down on her.
"Appa!!!"
"Don't you dare call me Appa with that disgusting mouth of yours!" Mr. Kim roared.
"Such a disgrace to our family. How could you do this, Ah-rin?!"
"Appa!! You also think that I cheated on him?!"
She whispered in disbelief, her voice shaky but still clear enough for everyone to hear.
Her eyes moved from her father to her mother, to her brother, and then to her sister-in-law. No one—not one of them—asked her what the truth was. Only her sister-in-law looked conflicted a bit.
Her father and brother stared at her coldly, while her mother looked down, a helpless woman unable to protect her own daughter.
"Dad, I think we should hear her out first," Seo-jin said softly. "There must be some misunderstanding. Let her come inside first and then—"
"Forget about letting her step inside this Kim mansion with that dirt in her belly," Mr. Kim snapped.
He pointed at Ah-rin's brother.
"You—take an appointment with our family doctor as soon as possible and prepare for an abortion. I'll talk to them and send her back."
"Appa!!!" Ah-rin cried, staring at him.
"Don't shout!" Mr. Kim barked. "After the abortion, you'll go back to him and beg them to take you back. We can't let our reputation be stained by your sin."
"Why don't you just kill me instead of separating me from my unborn baby?!" Ah-rin screamed. "How can you be such a monster, Appa?!"
Her throat burned but it didn't stop her.
Before she could say anything else, another slap struck her face.
She clutched her cheek and looked at the person she had admired all her life—her only brother. The one who had always protected her. The one who taught her right from wrong.
"Oppa!!"
"Is this how you talk to your father—the man because of whom you exist on this earth!?" he shouted. "Apologize to him right now!"
Ah-rin flinched… then suddenly started laughing.
A hollow, humorless broken laugh, like a disoriented person.
Everyone froze. They had never seen her like this before.
"So this is what you all think of me, huh?" she said bitterly. "In these twenty-one years of my life, the people I spent the most time with—the people who raised me until I got married—think I'm capable of something like this low?"
She laughed again.
"Wow. Impressive."
Her gaze hardened as she looked at her father.
"Now listen carefully, Mr. Kim. I am not aborting my baby. He or she is not my sin, nor are they any dirt. I am not ashamed of being pregnant with my baby. I'm keeping my child, and that is my final decision."
"Then listen to my final decision," Mr. Kim said coldly. "I won't let you stay in this house with that dirt in your stomach. Abort it—or leave. Forget you ever had a family."
"Fine," Ah-rin replied quietly. "I'll leave then. I'm capable enough to raise my baby on my own. I don't need your money, your name, your fame, or your reputation."
"If you walk out today, you can never come back," Mr. Kim warned.
"Guess what?" she said, her voice steady. "I don't want to come back ever again. Why would I return to people who don't know me—who never even tried to?"
"I will disown you!" Her father threatened her.
"Feel free to do so," Ah-rin said calmly.
"From today onwards, 'Kim Ah-rin' is dead. She was killed by the people she trusted with her life."
"I'll see how you survive without my name!" Her father tried to warn her again.
She scoffed and looked at everyone one last time, then turned and walked away.
Seo-jin tried to say something, but Ah-rin ignored her and left.
And then—darkness.
Ah-rin jolted awake, breathing heavily. She gasped for air, sitting bolt upright in bed.
Her hands fly to her stomach—
empty.
No kick.
No warmth.
Just silence.
Her heart is pounding like it's trying to escape her ribs.
Not again.
Not this dream again.
Tears spill before she can stop them.
Even after all these years, the same nightmare still haunted her.
Her body still remembers clearly everything from that stormy night five years earlier.
She glanced at the clock—3:00 a.m.
She got out of bed, walked to the window, and sat there, staring at the stars scattered across the night sky.
At the Kim mansion…
A man slammed his fist against the wall repeatedly.
His wife rushed in and grabbed his hand, stopping him.
"How long are you going to torture yourself like this?" Seo-jin cried.
"I practically raised her with these hands," he sobbed. "And I hit her with these same hands. How could I?!"
Seo-jin hugged him tightly, her heart aching.
"I hurt my baby with my own hands," he cried. "She should have listened to Dad and aborted the baby. Then none of this would've happened. Even if her husband didn't take her back, she would've stayed with us. I would have taken care of her for the rest of my life."
He cried like a child in her arms while she stroked his back.
Part of her felt sorry for her husband's misery.
Another part of her… was relieved that Ah-rin had left.
Because otherwise, it would have been her suffering instead.
They knew they had made a mistake—but they were not ready to accept it.
Nor were they ready to understand.
She sighed softly, continuing to comfort him.
To Be Continued…