PC | Prologue

Born deaf, Lee Hyunjae drifted through one job after another before finally landing a position as a housekeeper at the Moosung Group main residence. Mrs. Noh Boae, the mistress of the Moosung Group and director of the Noh Sim Gallery, deliberately filled her household staff with deaf people only. It was to prevent any of the family’s talk from leaking beyond the walls.

Lee Hyunjae was kind, honest, and diligent. On top of that, she was an excellent cook, and she won over Mrs. Noh at once, famous as the woman with notoriously picky tastes. Because of that, Mrs. Noh was especially fond of her, and Lee Hyunjae in turn was very devoted to her.

The man who was Lee Hyunjae’s husband was a complete wastrel. Every day, he wasted his life on women, alcohol, and gambling, and he abused Lee Hyunjae. Every day was hell, but she endured it silently. He was the only man who had ever taken in a deaf-mute like her.

Whether it was misfortune or fortune, Lee Hyunjae became pregnant with precious life in her belly. Even so, life did not change much.

That bastard of a husband knew full well that Lee Hyunjae was pregnant, yet he still got drunk, made trouble, and turned violent. But Lee Hyunjae never asked anyone for help. She did not want the child to be born and raised as a fatherless one. As for herself, it would be enough if only she had to live as an orphan.

Then one day, disaster struck. Her husband, half-crazed from gambling, pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her because she would not give him money. Terrified, Lee Hyunjae grabbed a brick she had picked up and hidden in the toilet, and brought it down on her husband’s head. Unfortunately, he died on the spot. Lee Hyunjae was arrested at the scene.

Shaking with fear after her arrest, Lee Hyunjae sought help from Mrs. Noh. She did not want her child to be born and raised in that dreadful place, at the very least. Feeling sorry for her, Mrs. Noh asked her husband, Chairman Jung Seowook, to help.

A man like Chairman Jung, who never made a deal unless he came out ahead, secured a skilled legal team by taking as collateral the child still growing in Lee Hyunjae’s womb. Thanks to that, Lee Hyunjae was recognized as having acted in self-defense and was released.

Not long after, she gave birth and held her son in her arms. The child was gentle, with clear, bright eyes.

A few days before her discharge, Chairman Jung came to the hospital to see Lee Hyunjae. He placed a collateral contract on top of the bed tray. The collateral was Lee Hyunjae’s son. Chairman Jung swiftly scrawled something and handed it to her.

“Ms. Lee Hyunjae received help from me, and this is the proper price to pay for it.”

Lee Hyunjae quietly dabbed a thumb with red ink and pressed her seal onto the contract. At the time, she was simply grateful that she did not have to give birth to and raise her child in prison.

“I gave him your surname and named him Lee Shinjae. Shin for ‘to stretch,’ and Jae for ‘clear.'”

Lee Hyunjae got down from the bed and bowed so deeply that her forehead touched the floor. In truth, she had never even finished elementary school properly, so she had been terribly worried about how to give her child a name. Even though she would never be able to call it out loud in her lifetime, she had wanted to give him a beautiful name with a good meaning. Instead, it felt like she had been given an unexpected gift.

Not only did Chairman Jung name the child, he also gave her the annex in the main residence and supported her living expenses. Lee Hyunjae thought everything was something to be grateful for, something fortunate.

Chairman Jung had two sturdy sons. In particular, the eldest, Jung Inhyuk, had an air of privilege that showed in his very face. From the time Lee Shinjae was still a newborn, Jung Inhyuk often came and went between the annex and the main house, getting familiar with the child. Jung Inhyuk found Lee Shinjae cute, and Lee Shinjae would smile brightly and gurgle with delight whenever he saw only Jung Inhyuk.

But as her son grew from one year old to two, Lee Hyunjae was consumed by a heavy guilt. She spent the rest of her life nursing the pain in her chest at the thought that her own crime had sold her son’s life away. She went to Chairman Jung and begged in tears, even offered up all the money she had, but he remained adamant.

In the end, Lee Hyunjae, tormented by the misery in her heart, drew her last breath in the year Lee Shinjae turned seven. And just like that, Lee Shinjae was left alone.

After Lee Hyunjae’s funeral was over, Chairman Jung called Lee Shinjae and Jung Inhyuk over and said, “Inhyuk, from now on, treat Shinjae well. Then he will become a person who exists only for you, just like Secretary Gu.”

That was the moment the long, bitter enmity between Jung Inhyuk and Lee Shinjae began.