WWDNND Chapter 1

“It’s finally done…!”
I shouted in excitement.
At last, all the preparations were complete.

Having just finished signing the contract, I bowed to the real estate agent.
“Thank you very much!”
“Alright, miss. Good luck with your move.”
“Yes!”

I answered energetically and lifted my head.
I couldn’t see myself, but I was sure my eyes were sparkling.

With the agent seeing me off, I stepped out of the real estate office. My heart was already pounding with excitement.

It took much longer than I had expected.
I got into a prestigious university through sheer determination and hard work, balancing a career club and school assignments that didn’t even suit my personality. It was a chaotic time.
On top of that, I worked part-time whenever I could to save up money. Honestly, juggling studies and work nearly led me to collapse from exhaustion more than once.

But now, I was finally reaping the rewards of all that effort.

After struggling through the job hunt, I managed to land a position at a large corporation. I had deliberately applied to a company located in a faraway province.
It was my ticket out of that suffocating house.

At the same time, I used the money I had been carefully saving to sign a lease for a new home.
The company did offer housing since it was located in the countryside, but the provided accommodations were too small for two people to live comfortably.

In this new house, it would be just me and my mom.
At long last, my wish was coming true.

‘…How could I just leave?’
‘Then are you going to keep living like that, watching everything unfold?’
‘…’

My biological father was nothing but trash.
There was no better way to describe him.

Despite being married to my beautiful mother, he cheated on her like it was his daily routine. And when he got drunk, he turned into a monster and hit her.

At least he never laid a hand on me—but that was only because my mother had always shielded me with everything she had.

I was powerless.
What could a weak child possibly do?

All I could do was curl up in a dark room, trembling, as I listened to my mother suffer.

As I grew older, so did my hatred for the man I had to call my father.

I reached my breaking point when yet another mistress—one of countless others—showed up at our house, causing a scene.
I couldn’t take it anymore.

I was still in high school at the time.
Standing amidst the wreckage of our ruined home, I turned to my mother and told her,
“Divorce him. Let’s leave together.”

But she shook her head.
She never explained why, but I knew.

It was because of me.

Though my father was a despicable excuse for a human being, his family was wealthy—almost at the level of a semi-conglomerate.
If my mother had been alone, she probably would have left without hesitation, taking a reasonable settlement and walking away.

But I was the problem.

My father never loved me, but his family was different.
They had always taken an interest in me, the so-called child prodigy.
There was a high chance they would never give up their claim over me.

If my parents divorced while I was still a minor, my mother might have been forced to leave me behind.
And even if she managed to win custody after a long legal battle, how would she support my education?
She had been a housewife her entire life.

So I said nothing more.

Instead, I threw myself into studying, determined to escape that miserable house.

And now, after all those years, I had finally made it out.

I hurriedly took out my phone and pressed the call button.

—Hello?
“Mom, it’s me!”

—Oh, sweetheart. Are you on your way home?
“Yeah, I’ll be there soon.”

My mother still didn’t know that I had just signed the lease for our new home.
I planned to surprise her when I got back.

Then, I would take out the divorce papers she had secretly tucked away in a drawer, have her stamp them, and finally, we would leave that house for good.

My heart swelled with anticipation.

“Mom, when I get home, I have something—”

Before I could finish my sentence—

“Kyahhh!”

“…Huh?”

With a deafening crash, something hurtled toward me at an alarming speed.

People screamed all around me.
I could only stare blankly at the massive truck and car that had smashed through the guardrail and onto the sidewalk.

Thud—!

“…!”

I didn’t even have time to scream before my body was sent flying.

I tumbled through the air and crashed onto the ground.
A powerful shock rang through my skull.

‘Ah, my phone…’

It was only then that I remembered—I had been on the phone with my mother.
But my phone was gone.
I didn’t know where it had flown off to, and I couldn’t even move to look for it.

The unbearable pain swallowed me whole.

“Hhkk…”

I had to get up… I had to tell her.

I had to tell my mom…

That we could finally be happy together.
That she didn’t have to endure for my sake anymore.
That from now on, I would make sure she was happy.

I had to… tell her…

“Haa…”

With a final, trembling breath, my eyes slowly closed.

And then, the world fell silent.

---

“Sniff… hic…!”

“……”

So noisy.

Annoyed by the commotion, I frowned.

Who was making such a racket?

I had always been a light sleeper.
It was so loud that I couldn’t sleep.

“……?”

Then, realization struck me.

Hadn’t I been hit by a car?

No, multiple cars. Judging by the impact, it must have been a pile-up.

The memories of the accident flooded my mind, and I quickly opened my eyes.

“Ugh…!”

“My dear…?”

“Oww… it hurts…”

It felt like someone had beaten my entire body.

I let out a groan as I opened my eyes, and the person beside me gasped in shock.

“Gasp…!”

She was breathtakingly beautiful.

Who was she?

I had never seen such an ethereal beauty before—not even my mother, who could rival an actress.

Even so… why was she crying?

And my mother… where was she?

‘And her eyes… they’re red…?’

It wasn’t from crying. Her irises were naturally red—a color impossible for a Korean.

Her entire appearance was foreign.

Did my mother have any foreign friends?

Still dazed, I muttered absentmindedly.

“My dear, you’ve woken up? Hmm?”

“Uh… well…”

“Oh, my God… thank you!”

“……!”

The woman burst into tears again.

I watched her in stunned silence—until suddenly, someone else’s memories flooded my mind.

“Ugh…!”

“Dear, what’s wrong?”

“Dear…?”

The full name of the person she was addressing—Claudia Lionel.

The young lady of the Marquis Lionel family.

I turned my wavering eyes toward the breathtaking woman.

From the memories that surfaced, I now knew her name.

Veronica Lionel.

Former princess, current mistress of the Marquis Lionel household.

And—

“My dear, just rest easy. The physician will be here soon.”

“……”

I turned my gaze away from her and looked up at the ceiling.

It was an intricately designed, antique ceiling.

‘I’m inside the novel I read.’

A romance fantasy novel where Veronica was the villainess.

She had a frail daughter who died of a fever at just five years old—right at the start of the novel.

‘And that’s… me?’

Was this a dream?

It had to be. There was no way I had transmigrated into a novel.

“My dear, my sweet child…”

“……”

But hearing Veronica’s desperate voice, I couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes again.

I slowly looked back at her.

“Mom.”

“Yes, my dear. My precious child.”

“……”

Veronica’s trembling hands cupped my cheeks. Her tear-streaked face was still impossibly beautiful.

In the novel, she was never on the protagonist’s side.

Because the male lead… was absolute trash.

He had cheated on his wife with his first love, brought the mistress into their home, and expected Veronica to just accept it—while she was still mourning her daughter’s death.

And yet, they called her the villainess.

I looked at Veronica with pity before finally speaking.

“Mom, I have a wish.”

“Yes, my dear. Anything.”

The words I never got to say to my real mother.

Somehow, I saw my mother in Veronica’s desperate gaze.

So, I whispered.

“Divorce him, Mom.”

“……”

And then, I closed my eyes.