AOA 123

The day dragged on. Only a few hours after I came back from meeting Baek Jinseok, my biological father contacted me.

His voice came through the phone starting with “You, you bastard,” full of anger. I anxiously headed to the main house late in the evening.

Jeong Guhyeon was not in Korea, and my stepmother was out, so I went straight to my father’s study without facing the people I disliked.

“Did you call me?”

“You!”

As soon as I bowed my head in greeting, my father jumped up from his seat, rushed over, and slapped me.

Slap!

The blow was so strong it not only twisted my face to the side but made my whole upper body stagger. Separate from the pain spreading in my cheek, I became certain from the hit that my father had found out about the divorce. Baek Jinseok must have contacted him.

“Do you know how much humiliation I suffered today? Why did I have to hear about your divorce from Chairman Baek? Explain it.”

“I am sorry.”

“What the hell is the problem?!”

I put my hand on my cheek. Shock made me bow my head without answering. It was true that not telling him was a mistake. My silence made my father shout even louder and drive me into a corner.

“Why didn’t you say it?!”

“I said it was… because of personality differences.”

I could not tell the truth, so I gave the safest reason. Baek Mugyeong had also told Baek Jinseok at first that it was because of personality differences.

“Personality differences?!”

“Yes.”

“You bastard!”

With more curses, this time he swung his fist and hit my head.

My father was a two-faced man. He always talked about honor, but he was the most petty person of all. He shifted all blame to others, and he treated threatening me with the lives and safety of my younger sibling and aunt as if it was nothing.

And sometimes he used violence. Usually he only slapped me, but this was the first time he hit me with his fist.

“I heard Director Baek said he couldn’t sleep with a male omega. Is that true or not?”

“…It is true.”

“Fuck. You were fine all this time, but suddenly he says male omega? That means it was your fault! What is going on! What the hell is it?!”

“He suddenly changed… I couldn’t figure it out either.”

“And I heard you said you wanted a divorce too?! From your own mouth!”

“The reason I got married was because of the child…”

Another blow to my head cut my words off. This time the hit was so solid my body staggered sideways again.

“To think such a stupid bastard is my child. Who says he wants a divorce in this situation? You should be on your knees begging to fix things! And if a problem came up, you should have said it beforehand! Then we could solve it or not solve it! They say Director Baek left the house and is staying at a hotel? Your husband isn’t coming home and you just sit there doing nothing? You’re making my blood boil!”

“I am sorry.”

I only kept my head lowered and endured the flood of curses added on top of the violence. At times like this, I had to stay still and not provoke him.

After breathing hard, he opened his mouth again.

“Fortunately, the chairman said he won’t force the divorce right away. You know the situation is bad now. But if Director Baek stays stubborn, he said he can’t do anything either. He said he can’t do anything after driving Guhyeon out, that double-tongued bastard with only money.”

My biological father spat out insults toward Baek Jinseok. He seemed resentful that Baek Jinseok had sent Jeong Guhyeon away to America for my safety.

But Baek Jinseok was not just a nouveau riche. He was a conglomerate chairman with great power. If he turned against my biological father, his company would crumble like a peanut shell. That was why he could not oppose him at all, but only insulted him in front of me.

Instead of agreeing, I lowered my head even further.

“Listen well. Go find Director Baek right now and beg forgiveness. Just say it was your fault, no matter what. Isn’t it because you don’t act humble that Director Baek dislikes you?”

“Father?”

“Didn’t you hear what the chairman said at the last banquet? He said he would give a big gift. And now you talk about divorce? Hm? Use your head and think. If you give birth to an alpha boy, DS Motors will roll in. Then you should keep Director Baek pleased. Do I really need to spell this out for you?”

“That is…”

Madness flickered in my father’s face, unable to hide his greed. At first he also thought it was impossible for Baek Mugyeong to inherit DS Motors. But he openly showed his expectation that if I gave Baek Jinseok the alpha son he wanted, we might at least gain something big.

In the middle of all this, not long ago Baek Jinseok had publicly declared that if an alpha great-grandson was born, he would give a great gift. My biological father could not hide his excitement that day at the banquet. In front of people he acted modest, saying a child is something given by heaven, but his shoulders were high with pride.

He was full of rosy expectations, so when Baek Mugyeong suddenly said he wanted a divorce, of course he was annoyed. Maybe he even felt he had been ignored by a much younger Baek Mugyeong. That was the thing my biological father hated most.

But going to Baek Mugyeong to beg forgiveness was impossible. Turning the heart of a man who had already left saying let’s divorce was impossible.

“Why? You can’t do it?”

“If I cling to him, I think he will dislike me even more.”

“Ha. Isn’t it because you act so stiff that Director Baek says he wants a divorce? You don’t even understand words, you aren’t gentle at all, who would want to live with you?”

My biological father sighed and started blaming me. Every time I went through education before marrying Baek Mugyeong, he had said the same thing, that my problem was being stiff and dull. That no alpha would like me without gentleness.

I had heard it so many times it barely touched me. But I knew his irritation would soon explode again.

“Yes… I will go to Mugyeong-ssi, to the Director, and say I was wrong.”

I only wanted to escape this place quickly. For now the best was to lie flat and say I would do as he told me.

But my biological father picked on my words.

“It sounds like you don’t want to say it. Don’t tell me you really want to divorce?”

“No.”

“Do you think there’s an alpha better than Director Baek? Think. DS Motors. No, no. There’s another way at times like this. If you really get divorced, then your brother’s surgery is gone. The surgery was next month, wasn’t it?”

“Father?”

“Ah, if you sell that damned painting, you get money, right? Is that why you’re resisting? Who the hell did you take after to be this stupid? Do you think surgery can be done with just money? With one word from me your brother can’t have surgery. You know if the timing is missed it’s over, right? You want to go abroad? Then I’ll make your brother or your aunt into cripples. So keep your head straight.”

When I first got the painting I was only glad I would have more money. I never imagined he would even grasp that and use it to raise the level of threats.

“You just have to do well. Beg forgiveness and don’t divorce. Can’t you even do that?”

It was unreasonable nonsense. No matter if it was an arranged marriage, if Baek Mugyeong insisted on divorce, that was the end. In this marriage Baek Mugyeong was in an absolutely superior position. But it seemed impossible to persuade my biological father who was boiling with rage.

I felt fury at his way of threatening me with my sibling’s life. Part of me wanted to answer back that if he touched my sibling or aunt, I wouldn’t let it go.

What kind of face would he make if I said Jeong Guhyeon was taking drugs in America, that I knew secrets that would drag his honor through the mud?

But answering back in a fit of temper would be stupid. Securing safety came first.

My biological father could throw me into a mental hospital on the spot. He was the type who used any means for his own protection.

I had prepared for worst cases like this. After I divorce Baek Mugyeong, I had planned to send my sibling and aunt abroad.

But because the talk of divorce came out first, I lost the timing to prepare.

I even resented Baek Mugyeong for pushing ahead with divorce without warning. More than that, I hated myself for being so careless and unprepared even though he had spoken of divorce. Maybe I really was stupid.

I did not blame myself for long. The worst person here was my biological father who threatened me with human lives. I almost gagged with disgust but held it down.

For now I had to endure and buy time. Payback would come later.

“I will stop the divorce no matter what it takes.”

“You always make me say nasty things. Tsk tsk.”

My biological father still blamed me and justified his threats. He was truly a horrible man. At times like this I shuddered that I shared blood with him.

I kept my expression in check, but I could not stop the anger and disgust from showing in my eyes, so I quickly lowered my head.

As he said, I had to go to Baek Mugyeong and beg.

I could not reach Baek Mugyeong.

The “1” next to the message I sent a few days ago, saying I would meet Baek Jaehan, was still there. When I called, all I heard was the repeated message that the customer could not answer and to try again later. It seemed Baek Mugyeong had blocked my number.

Time was urgent. It was Sunday, so I hesitated to contact Baek Mugyeong’s secretary or lawyer.

In the end I called Baek Sujin.