Divorce in Bed Chapter 40

At the same time, with a ding, a text message arrived. The address provided was located in the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province, within a cluster of abandoned factories.

Yeohwi gripped the phone so tightly his hands turned white.

It could be a trap. No, the probability of it being a trap was high. Gye Sanghun was a con artist. A criminal. He shouldn’t be trusted. He had to tell Dowon. He had to let him know immediately. Dowon was Seong Yeohwi’s husband and, currently, his only family.

Yeohwi took out his own smartphone with trembling hands. He called Dowon straight away.

“Pick up, please.”

He knew Dowon was incredibly busy. He might not even be able to check that a call had come in. But just in case.

Ring, ring. The dial tone continued for a long time. However, as expected, it didn’t connect.

—The person you are calling is unavailable…

“Sigh…”

Yeohwi paced the living room anxiously. Biting his nails, he repeatedly wrote and deleted texts. How should he say it? Where should he start explaining? After writing a disorganized, emotional message, he deleted the rambling parts and refined the sentences.

Mister Dowon, are you busy? I’m sorry for bothering you.

But I got a call from Manager Gye. That person I told you about.

Sent.

One minute, two minutes. There was no reply. The silence choked Yeohwi’s throat terrifyingly.

He says he has my grandfather’s real will, and the records of my parents’ accident. It obviously sounds like a lie, but he says they’ll be destroyed after midnight tonight. Manager Gye is also leaving Korea tonight.

I’m scared to go alone, but could you come with me, Mister Dowon? I guess the situation wouldn’t allow it, right?

Mister Dowon, are you very busy right now? You can’t take calls?

The ‘1’ indicating an unread message did not disappear. He tried calling again, but it remained disconnected just the same.

Time flowed quickly like an hourglass. There wasn’t much time left until midnight. It was uncertain if he could even make it to the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province in time even if he left right now.

‘Forget it. Let’s just forget it. There won’t be anything there anyway. And even if there is something, I can’t trust it. There’s no rule saying Manager Gye, who betrayed me once, couldn’t do it twice. It’s probably all a coordinated scam.’

But… what if it’s real?

What if Manager Gye really was framed unfairly?

What if this is the only chance to know the truth about his parents’ deaths and solve the mystery of his life? If he missed this, he might have to live in regret forever.

Yeohwi called Dowon yet again.

Once more, it didn’t connect.

Even as the missed call records piled up and up, there was no answer. Dowon was in the middle of a war right now, and he was a man busy enough to be unreachable. Was it okay to burden him with such a personal and unverified matter?

‘…I have to go. I’ll send the location to Mister Dowon by text.’

Having made up his mind, Yeohwi bit the inside of his mouth. He tasted the metallic tang of blood.

Dowon had said it. Why do you want so much? To be recognized as a partner who could stand by his side, shouldn’t he cut off his own past himself? And above all, he wanted to confirm the truth about his grandfather and parents with his own eyes.

Grabbing his jacket, Yeohwi pulled a hat low over his head and headed for the entrance. Mrs. Park, who was coming out of the kitchen, looked at him with startled eyes.

“Oh my, Young Master. It’s raining—where are you going?”

“Ma’am.”

Yeohwi hesitated before opening his mouth. He didn’t feel like making up a random excuse to leave.

“Um… there’s a person called Manager Gye, and he had some trouble with my family in the past. I got a call from him.”

“Pardon? What kind of trouble?”

“The truth is…”

Yeohwi explained the circumstances while looking at Mrs. Park with anxious eyes.

“But suddenly he called and said it was all a misunderstanding, all a lie. He says he’s leaving Korea by boat today. He says he has my grandfather’s real will and told me to go check it before it’s destroyed, but I can’t reach Mister Dowon…”

“…Chairman Seong’s will? Then that’s an important matter.”

Mrs. Park seemed to contemplate for a moment. Because she cherished and worried for Yeohwi, concern came first. Nevertheless, seeing Yeohwi’s earnest and desperate gaze, she couldn’t stop him.

“In that case, you should go.”

Mrs. Park sighed as she straightened Yeohwi’s clothes.

“Leave it to me and go. I’ll go find the Director and tell him.”

“R-really? You’ll go see Mister Dowon?”

“Yes. I know the Director is frantically busy with company work, but taking care of one’s family is just as important a task. It would break my heart if he lost one while only looking at the other. At the very least, he should know what kind of situation Young Master Yeohwi is in.”

“Ma’am… thank you so much. I feel like I’m always just a burden. How can I ever repay all this?”

“Oh my, repay what? It’s because I’m grateful to you, Young Master. If you aren’t here, this house, Director Do… so go quickly. Make sure to take an umbrella.”

Only then did Yeohwi bow his head in relief.

The taxi he had already called was waiting in front of the gate. Leaving Mrs. Park’s send-off behind, Yeohwi opened his umbrella and plunged into the rain. His heart beat violently while heading to the destination in the taxi. It felt as if a great, overwhelming commotion had broken out.

The taxi splashed through the rain and departed, and the mansion receded from view.

And someone in a black van parked behind an alley across the street was taking a photo of Yeohwi leaving.

It was an underling planted by Do Jingyu.

The man wearing sunglasses and a mask reported into a radio in a low voice.

“Target confirmed. He has departed.”

‧₊˚🍊༉‧₊˚.

An abandoned factory complex on the outskirts of Gyeonggi. In the pitch-black darkness without a single streetlight, the sound of rain hitting the rusted roof pierced his eardrums noisily. It sounded like the screams of thousands of needles pouring down.

As soon as Seong Yeohwi got out of the taxi, he stepped into the squelching mud. Cold raindrops dug into his collar and chilled his skin, but the burning feeling inside him wouldn’t cool down.

The watch on his wrist pointed to 11:40 PM.

Midnight. There were only 20 minutes left until the permanent destruction deadline Manager Gye had mentioned.

‘…Where is it?’

Entering the building at the designated address, Yeohwi turned on his phone’s flashlight.

Every time the white beam of light sliced through the darkness, hideously abandoned press machines and mountain-high piles of industrial waste popped out like ghosts.

‘There aren’t any storage lockers.’

Yeohwi sucked in a hollow breath. The smell of damp mold and the metallic scent of rust dug into the tip of his nose.

But, right then.

Click. Along with a spine-chilling shutter sound in the pitch darkness, a blinding flash went off.

At the unexpected bright flare, Yeohwi reflexively raised his arm to shield his eyes.

“My, my, my son. You went through a lot of trouble traveling this far in such foul weather.”

Someone walked slowly out from the shadows cast behind a massive concrete pillar.

“Who…”

At first, he didn’t recognize him.

Because in the memories Yeohwi kept, he was always a polite butler in a neat suit.

But the man who appeared now had matted hair sticking to his forehead as if he hadn’t washed for days, and the smell of stale cigarettes vibrated from his old jumper. Above all, the gaze glinting with greed beneath his hollowed-out eyes made him look like a strange monster.

“Ah.”

Yes. He could barely recognize him now. It was Gye Sanghun.

‘Why is Manager Gye, who said he was going to Incheon Port, here?’

“The will…? Where did you hide it? The accident records.”

Yeohwi asked, panting for breath. Wet bangs blocked his vision, so he brushed them back roughly with his hand.

“The will?”

Gye Sanghun cackled, revealing yellowed teeth, and sent the photo of Yeohwi he had just taken to someone. The light from the screen illuminated his despicably distorted smile in a bluish hue.

“Oh, Yeohwi. You’re so naive—how are you going to survive in this scary world?”