DM Chapter 69
Was it Nikolai’s condition for Pavel to take care of the child? If so, she had to find a way to escape with the child, no matter what. Even if he was the biological father, she could never entrust the child to him.
“What should I do if you don’t entrust him to me? Don’t you know what it means to take responsibility? I’m feeling like crap right now, so don’t yell at me.”
Pavel sharply revealed his dissatisfaction.
Nikolai made his choice. Pavel, who had been like a tongue in his mouth, accommodating his tastes, had completely distanced himself due to this decision. The one Nikolai chose was Owen, just like when he entrusted Eden City to him.
Somehow, the situation was not unfamiliar to Pavel.
“Let’s get things straight.”
Pavel reacted as if he were having a seizure when Owen put his hand on his shoulder and spoke.
“What’s there to straighten out? That bitch should know. She’s a fucking….”
The sound of molars clashing was eerie. Sarin was terrified that Pavel would lunge at her and strangle her. She wasn’t sure why he was suddenly so angry, and even Owen, who was overly calm in this situation, seemed frightening.
“Pavel.”
“You’re not the only one who can threaten, and you should know that I never die alone.”
It’s like Pavel was saying that if the ship sinks, they will go down together. Owen returned the words Pavel had said. However, unlike Sarin, who was left puzzled by the words he left behind, Pavel was annoyed to see that masked face that still didn’t bat an eye.
What made him even angrier was the woman who brought the useless child here.
Grinding his teeth, Pavel turned his back on Owen. And, squeezing out the last bit of composure, he smiled at Sarin and said,
“Nikolai told me to give the child a liver.”
Sarin’s eyes widened. The thought that Nikolai was such a formidable person that he had forced someone to give a liver to a child they hated so much sent shivers down her spine. The realization that she had confronted such a person made her feel dizzy.
“Of course, it’s entirely up to me.”
Pavel hammered in that it wasn’t yet compulsory. Seeing a glimmer of hope flicker in Sarin’s face, he smiled cruelly. If Owen reacted to that bitch, he could easily turn the situation around.
Nikolai told him that what she wanted most was him.
“Thank you for raising my child. I’ll take care of him now.”
He felt like laughing out loud. The conflicting expressions of despair and hope on Sarin’s face were so amusing that Pavel wondered if Owen still had the same fucking expression on his face.
Pavel shifted his gaze from Sarin to Owen. However, Owen’s eyes, which he thought would be looking at him, were directed towards the woman.
Owen’s gaze was silent, observing Sarin meticulously, missing no details of her expressions or troubled breaths.
Pavel felt an unexplainable chill run down his spine. He had clearly succeeded in shaking the woman, but Owen’s calmness bothered him.
A subtle smile briefly crossed Owen’s lips. Pavel was the only one who noticed. Before he could even think, Owen’s gaze slowly turned towards Pavel.
The momentary smile was already gone.
His eyes were filled with contempt, as if he were looking at a bug. But Pavel wasn’t the only one he despised, for they were all the same.
“Pavel, if you’re done barking, it’s time for you to go back to your place.”
The voice was surprisingly affectionate, but it didn’t match his eyes. Pavel had accomplished his goal. The woman was bound to find him. He just had to sit quietly and wait for that moment. Dealing with the child would come next.
He would ruin whatever Owen cared about. The woman had to endure the consequences, which were greater than cutting off his fingers.
She saved Owen’s life.
That fact alone made Pavel not like Sarin. If only she hadn’t done something unnecessary, by now, he might have been shedding fake tears at Owen’s funeral, comforting Nikolai… What a shame.
Owen didn’t wait for Pavel any longer. Pavel maintained his smile even as his brother dragged him away. As he was taken out by Owen, he extended his hand to wave at Sarin, as if to say goodbye until next time.
As Sarin watched Owen lead him out of the room, she finally turned her attention to the child.
He still looked terrified. Luckily, the child’s breathing had slowed down a bit, and he looked fine to the naked eye. However, given Pavel’s sudden violence towards her, Sarin couldn’t feel reassured.
“Did he hit the child?”
Sarin asked Yujin cautiously, and she shook her head.
“No, he didn’t. He just….”
While Yujin hesitated to speak, Hayan spoke up in a calm voice.
“Auntie, am I going to die?”
“No. No, Hayan, who said that?”
His still immature golden eyes stared intently at Sarin. It bore a striking resemblance to Owen’s face. Sometimes Hayan looked at a person seriously, not like a child, not crying or fussing.
“Daddy just left.”
He said, sounding melancholy. The child’s hands were tightly gripping the bedsheet.
“Hayan, that person is…”
“I’m okay. If I die, I can see Mom, Aunt.”
Perhaps due to being in the hospital for a long time, there were moments when the child surprised Sarin by knowing things she wished she didn’t know. Seeing Sarin’s crumbling expression, Hayan closed his mouth.
“No, our Hayan can live. Aunty has earned a lot of money. Aunt has so much money that she can fix everything.”
“Lies…”
Hayan pursed his lips, then wrapped his arms around Sarin’s waist and held her still. The child’s shoulders lifted slightly. Placing her hand gently on those small shoulders that seemed to break with even a little force, Sarin looked up at the ceiling.
“Auntie, my second daddy is here.”
Hayan, who had been holding her waist, whispered softly as he spotted Owen re-entering the room. Seeing the strength in the hand that held her waist, it was evident that he felt scared after seeing a face similar to Pavel.
“He’s fine.”
Sarin spoke to reassure the child.
Owen was not the kind of man to cowardly scare a child like Pavel. Above all, he had promised her to save the child.
“Hello… Um…”
Slowly unwrapping his hand from around Sarin’s waist, Hayan swallowed hard and bowed his head to Owen. He spoke in Korean, which he might not understand but Owen seemed to catch on and brought a chair, sitting nearby.
“What did you introduce me as?”
Owen asked Sarin.
“Hayan, this is your uncle.”
“Unde? He looks like my dad.”
He searched his pocket out of habit. He seemed to be looking for a cigarette. And soon, frowning slightly, he took out candy from his pocket, surprising Sarin. The man, unaffected by the stares pouring at him, peeled the wrapper and put it in his mouth.
“Aunt, do adults eat candy?”
The child innocently asked if adults ate candy. His eyes sparkled when he saw the candy. Sarin’s lips felt dry.
“Excuse me for a moment…”
Yujin discreetly nodded and left the room. When it was just the three of them in the room, Owen and Hayan faced each other, maintaining a reasonable distance.
Owen approached without getting too close, as if he knew the child was surprised. He was even standing at a farther distance from where Pavel had sat.
“The child finds it fascinating that adults eat candy.”
She felt like she had to say something, so she relayed Hayan’s words to Owen.
Owen chuckled and took out six more candies from his pocket. Hayan’s eyes widened.
Extending his long arm, Owen placed the candies on the child’s lap and returned to his original position. He neither touched the child nor spoke to him. He simply crossed his long legs and gazed at Hayan and Sarin.
“Auntie, can I have some?”
“Yes….”
Hayan pulled away from Sarin’s embrace and looked at the candies on his lap. The child had chosen. cherry-flavored candy. After fumbling with the candies for a while, the child looked at Sarin’s hand, possibly struggling to exert more strength due to the needle in the back of his hand. He lifted the candies towards Sarin’s hand as if asking her to peel them.
“You said you raised her in place of your sister; you two even have similar tastes.”
Sarin’s hand paused as she peeled the candy. Owen rolled the candy around in his mouth and sucked on it like it was nothing. The sweetness burned in his mouth. The memory of something sweeter he had sucked on last night was still vivid in his mind.
Crunch.
The candy crumbled in his mouth.
Sarin’s face, which brightened up in the same color as the cherry-flavored candy the child chose, was satisfying. He wasn’t alone in his thoughts from last night. He wondered if her little head was soaking in lust right now.
He couldn’t resist his temperament and chewed and swallowed the candy. Since he desired something else, eating something different left him discontent.
Sarin, barely able to contain her surprise, unwrapped the candy and handed it to the child.
“You look just like him, Lee Sarin.”
The child clearly resembled Owen. Understanding the true meaning behind his words, her face remained flushed.
“Is Auntie sick?”
Hayan asked, looking at Sarin with a worried expression.
“No. I’m not sick.”
Sarin forced a smile as she stroked his head, and Hayan, as if pretending not to notice, quickly put the candy back into his mouth.
Having already chewed and swallowed the candy, Owen, with a stick at the corner of his lips, tilted his head while observing Sarin tenderly caress the child. Her expression seemed curious about what Pavel might have said to the child. Nevertheless, it was apparent that she considered it inappropriate to bring up a conversation in the child’s presence.
