Chapter 12
‘Q. My husband has become a different person. Why is that? Could he be terminally ill?’
Lee Seo stared at her tablet.
She didn’t care that droplets of water were falling from her still-damp hair after her shower. All she wanted was for someone to appear and resolve her question.
‘A. People change. From your question, it seems like he’s treating you well these days, so just be grateful and live your life.’
That wasn’t the answer Lee Seo was looking for.
People do change, and that wasn’t necessarily wrong.
But they don’t become entirely different people.
Unless he had a twin, was a cloned human created to showcase extraordinary piano skills to future generations, or one of those rare doppelgängers born once every few centuries.
Of course, it was highly unlikely that Kang Yuri had voluntarily participated in such a project.
‘A. He’s cheating. If he suddenly starts treating you well, buying you gifts, or acting affectionate, it’s because he’s having an affair.’
This second answer had received more agreement from others.
And it was also the answer that left Lee Seo speechless.
Because one thought kept surfacing in her mind, poking at her like a persistent itch.
‘That woman.’
Manager Jeong Soo seemed to have forgotten about her, but Lee Seo had not.
The fact that he had purchased two tickets to Iceland.
The diamond ring he had bought.
And the message he had sent her: ‘I have something to tell you. Come back so we can talk.’
Due to the accident, she never got to hear what that conversation was supposed to be about.
But what had happened to that woman?
If she found out that Kang Yuri was alive, wouldn’t she reappear?
Lee Seo had discovered the truth, so surely that woman would, too.
And if she realized this man wasn’t actually Kang Yuri, she might even expose it to the world.
“…She must feel so wronged.”
Her love had disappeared from the world, yet there was nothing she could do about it.
Technically, they had been in an affair, but Lee Seo’s marriage to Kang Yuri had never been about love in the first place.
Their union had freed her from her family’s meddling, so she wasn’t in a position to pass judgment on morality.
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking pulled her out of her thoughts.
She quickly turned off the tablet screen and rushed to the door.
When she opened it, Yuri stood there.
“…You’re still awake.”
“Oh, yes.”
His eyes flickered slightly as he observed her.
Following his gaze, Lee Seo glanced down—and saw herself in a bathrobe.
Oh no.
She hadn’t even realized what she was wearing when she opened the door.
She instinctively raised her hands to cover her chest, and Yuri slowly blinked.
“I didn’t see anything.”
“You did.”
“If I wanted to look, I’d just say so. But I’ve already seen it, so there’s no need.”
His tone was relaxed.
Just like earlier, when he had said he wanted to feel her touch in the car.
There was no way Kang Yuri could talk like this.
When they had lived together at Byeoluojae, he had been a man of few words, never openly expressing his emotions.
One time, she had returned home from work, overwhelmed with stress, and had started banging her head against the wall in frustration.
He had stopped in his tracks, momentarily startled, but then quietly stepped aside without saying anything.
This wasn’t just a husband feeling guilty over an affair and trying to act more mature.
The only possible conclusion was that he was a different person entirely.
“I obtained the information about Seonjin’s press conference announcement. I thought it would be best for you to know in advance. If you’re too tired, we can discuss it tomorrow.”
Despite the blush on Lee Seo’s face, Yuri spoke in a calm, matter-of-fact tone—
as if he hadn’t just said something provocative moments ago.
“…No, I’ll come down now.”
When Lee Seo responded, Yuri nodded in acknowledgment and turned to close the door.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he paused and looked back at her.
“Dry your hair. You’ll catch a cold.”
The door shut softly.
Lee Seo leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor, feeling utterly drained.
Thump, thump.
Why was her heart racing again?
It was just a simple reminder to dry her hair.
After drying her hair, Lee Seo headed to the living room, where she saw Yuri preparing tea.
When she appeared, Yuri observed her briefly, as if checking whether she had dried her hair, then turned his tablet around and handed it to her.
“Read this.”
“…But how did you get this information? It must have been a top secret even within Seonjin.”
“Is that really what you’re curious about?”
“Sorry?”
“Aren’t you more curious about what kind of relationship I had with Kang Yuri to know his entire life like this?”
The casual tone of his question almost made Lee Seo nod and admit it.
One thing had become abundantly clear: the man standing before her was incredibly sharp and perceptive.
“I’ll tell you eventually.”
“Promise?”
Lee Seo asked back.
It was evident that Yuri held the upper hand in this situation.
Yuri extended his hand with his thumb and pinky outstretched—a gesture used to seal promises.
Lee Seo looked at it for a moment before linking her pinky with his and pressing their thumbs together.
Yuri’s fingers were a bit cold, stealing away her warmth.
“This is…”
As Lee Seo skimmed through the document, her expression hardened.
More than three weeks had passed since the accident.
During that time, she had cooperated fully with the police investigation, hoping for Kang Yuri’s return to his family, but there had been no progress.
In their grief, they had decided to accept Kang Yuri’s death and enter a period of mourning.
This much was within her expectations.
However, what followed next was shocking.
Seonjin stated, “This accident was a clear murder orchestrated by someone. We will start by suspecting those closest to him and uncover the full truth.”
‘Those closest to him.’
That phrase was clearly aimed at Hong Lee Seo.
“For them, this is a natural move. They need to throw bait to the public and present Seonjin as an innocent victim.”
She knew it. She had known, but— Lee Seo’s hands trembled slightly.
Since attending the initial police questioning, no officers had come back to her, and Byeoluojae was so isolated that it was difficult to gauge what was happening outside.
She hardly went out, had no one to meet, and no one to contact by phone—so she hadn’t expected things to reach this point.
Yuri reached out, gently taking the tablet from her hands.
At the same time, he gripped her trembling hand firmly with his own, looking directly into her eyes.
“Remember. The sensation of running off the cliff.”
“…What?”
“Today, the one who boldly ran toward the edge was you, Hong Lee Seo. You’re not someone who would fear something as trivial as this.”
‘You are not alone. You won’t fall alone, Hong Lee Seo.’
His confident voice echoed in her mind.
Had he foreseen this situation even back then?
“If we stop this announcement and reveal that Kang Yuri is alive, it could definitely turn things around.”
Lee Seo’s voice had calmed, the fear gone.
She needed to assess the situation.
As Yuri had said before, she needed to weigh what she could gain and lose from this.
“I’ll shift all the focus on Seonjin to us. The beloved wife and the husband who survived thanks to her. If we bring in the position of the head of the Seonjin Foundation, they won’t be able to touch us easily.”
If that happened, Daeyoung wouldn’t be able to make unreasonable demands for a while.
Dayeong’s most coveted figure, Chairman Jeongan—her maternal grandfather—had shown enough interest in Lee Seo, the daughter-in-law of the Seonjin family, to inquire about her over dinner.
“Is the schedule fixed?”
“I informed the major media outlets this evening that we’d be holding a press conference. It’ll likely be around 5 p.m. tomorrow.”
“You set the schedule pretty tight.”
“They want to prevent information from leaking until the very end. And the reason for 5 p.m. is…?”
“Because it’s after the stock market closes?”
“You’re back, sharp as ever, Hong Lee Seo.”
Yuri said, still holding her hand.
Lee Seo seemed not to notice, too focused on discussing their next steps.
But all the while, he did not let go.
All the many things that Hong Lee Seo didn’t yet know— He intended to reveal them to her, slowly, one by one.
