Living with an Ex-Husband - Chapter 61: A Frozen Heart

Chapter 61: A Frozen Heart

Mrs. Kang clasped her cold, trembling hands together as she bowed her head. Her husband’s angry eyes were so piercing that she couldn’t bear to meet them.

“Are you happy now?”

“Honey…”

At his sharp rebuke, Mrs. Kang raised her head, her face contorted with fear. Tae Seong-yeol, usually so calm, was now brimming with anger. It was the first time she had seen this side of him and it frightened her.

“People are supposed to grow wiser with age, but why is it that you only become more hopeless?”

Tae Seong-yeol slammed his hand down on the table, his voice rising with each word.

“Not only did you use underhanded tactics to force our son into a divorce, but you also almost killed the baby!”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, his eyes growing fierce. No matter how hard he tried to understand, it was unforgivable.

When Tae Seong-yeol found out the real reasons behind their son’s attempted reconciliation and the tortures Lee Joon had suffered, he was pushed to the brink. He felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal and anger as he realized that his own family had betrayed him and treated him like a puppet.

“And now what? Eunchae is furious, Lee Joon has been rejected and is in pain, and you know how angry Father is!”

“Is this all my fault? How was I supposed to know Eunchae was pregnant?”

Mrs. Kang showed no sign of remorse, still insisting she wasn’t to blame.

“Honestly, who’s the one who went down the stairs carelessly when she was pregnant? I’ve never liked her at all! And how dare she turn Lee Joon away at the door? How could someone like her…”

“Honey!”

Tae Seong-yeol couldn’t listen any longer and shouted, his voice booming with frustration.

Mrs. Kang, now consumed with rage, lashed out, showing no signs of remorse. Instead, she exploded in frustration.

“Why is everyone blaming me? And what about you? What have you ever done right? You’ve been indifferent to this family for years! A man like you, who has only ever cared about work, is a failure as a father and a husband!”

“That’s why… I turned a blind eye to your affair. I knew I couldn’t be there for you, so I let it slide, thinking it might give you some comfort.”

“W-What… what did you just say?”

At Tae Seong-yeol’s unnervingly calm reply, Mrs. Kang’s face turned deathly pale. Her eyes widened in shock and she was left speechless.

“You… you knew? All this time?”

Her voice, barely audible, faltered and retreated. She couldn’t even finish asking if he’d known all along, her body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

“Just before Lee Joon was born, a man named Michael Song came to see me.”

Tae Seong-yeol said, gazing at his wife’s ghostly pale face as he recalled the events of the past.

“He begged me to let you go because he loved you.”

“And… and what did you say?”

Mrs. Kang’s heart pounded in her chest, her entire body went cold as fear welled up in her eyes and she trembled violently.

“I told him I’d leave it up to you. If he could give you what I couldn’t in a loveless marriage, how could I stop you? For your happiness… I decided to respect your choice.”

“Oh…”

At this revelation, Mrs Kang burst into tears. She had always thought of her husband as distant and cold, but now she realized that he had loved her in his way and had done his best.

“Then… did you ever… doubt that Lee Joon was yours?”

“I can’t say I didn’t. But I never intended to do a DNA test. I wanted to raise him as my own.”

“How… how could you…?”

“You chose me, and I was grateful. So I decided to accept the child as my own.”

“Ah…!”

She buried her face in her hands. Regret washed over her, but it was too late. Her husband’s heart had already closed completely.

“I never imagined that my son would bear the cost of your selfish mistake. I didn’t even realize he was suffering in silence, burning with pain inside. I only felt hurt that he kept his distance from me…”

Tae Seong-yeol, overcome with emotion, paused, his voice breaking. Tears of parental love welled up in his eyes.

“When he came back and was so loving, I just thought he was getting closer to me and I was grateful. But I didn’t know… I didn’t know that my son had gone through all this.”

As Tae Seong-yeol clutched his chest and cried, Mrs Kang also broke down, crying uncontrollably.

“I can’t bear to watch my son suffer anymore. He deserves to build a happy home with the person he loves, without any more heartache. So, you…”

After catching his breath, Tae Seong-yeol made his decision clear to the crying Mrs. Kang.

“Leave this house. I’m too old for the hassle of a divorce, but from now on, stay out of our family’s affairs. Live quietly and don’t interfere. Do you understand?”

“No! You can’t do this!”

“No, it’s going to happen. I can’t stand you anymore… You make my skin crawl. I’ve had enough of you!”

Tae Seong-yeol stormed out of the living room, his face contorted with rage.

“Honey! How can you just walk out like this? Honey-!”

Mrs. Kang’s desperate cries echoed, but Tae Seong-yeol didn’t look back. His heart was completely frozen.

***

In a dimly lit conference room, Lee Joon reviews the final draft of the company’s soon-to-be-released mobile phone advertisement.

“In line with the concept of the new product, we’ve prepared this…”

As team leader On from the advertising agency calmly but confidently presented the visuals on the screen, Lee Joon kept a sharp eye on the proposal and the display. But in a moment that felt almost unreal, his thoughts drifted far away. The vibrant colors on the screen and On’s passionate voice faded into the background.

Lee Joon’s mind was consumed by thoughts of Eunchae.

‘Don’t ever come back. Unless you want to push me to the brink.’

Yesterday, like so many times before, she had coldly shut him out, delivering the same message of rejection. She treated him as if he were invisible, and that crushed him, filling him with despair and growing anxiety.

Until now, Eunchae had at least confronted him with her anger and acknowledged his presence through her resentment. But yesterday, that was not the case. She had completely ignored him and treated him as if he didn’t exist.

“Haa…”

Lee Joon let out a long, heavy sigh without realizing it, causing Team Leader On to flinch and stop the presentation. The eyes of the executives around the table shifted to Lee Joon.

“Please, continue.”

Only after Lee Joon calmly told them to continue did On relax slightly and resume the presentation. Lee Joon also tried to concentrate on the meeting, but his thoughts kept returning to Eunchae.

After the hour-long meeting was over, Chief Kwon immediately began to list Lee Joon’s next appointments.

“You will have lunch with Rep. Kim Yi-woo. Then you’re expected at the economic forum at three o’clock. And after that…”

“Cancel everything after lunch.”

“What?”

Chief Kwon’s jaw dropped at Lee Joon’s sudden interruption. This was highly unusual and left him speechless for a moment.

“Is something… wrong, sir?”

Chief Kwon, knowing full well that something was indeed bothering Lee Joon, started to say more but quickly held his tongue. As Lee Joon’s closest assistant, he was aware of the underlying problems.

“Understood. I’ll rearrange the afternoon schedule accordingly.”

“Thank you.”

With a nod of gratitude, Lee Joon stepped into the executive elevator that had just arrived.

***

As soon as the lunch with Rep. Kim Yi-woo was over, Lee Joon went straight to the hospital where Eunchae had been admitted. Arriving at the hospital entrance, he went straight to the courtyard garden, a quiet place for patients and visitors to rest.

Lee Joon, who had been kept informed of Eunchae’s condition, knew exactly where to find her.

She was resting in a wheelchair, following the doctor’s advice not to overexert herself. He watched her quietly from a distance, knowing that if she saw him, he wouldn’t be able to watch her like that.

Eunchae had her headphones on and was reading a book. Now and then, a soft smile touched her lips as she gently stroked her stomach.

Watching her, Lee Joon’s eyes filled with pain, old wounds reopening at the sight.

Right now, the baby was all that mattered to Eunchae. Despite the heavy blows she’d suffered, the heartbreak and upheaval, she remained strong, just as she’d once told him she would. Almost too strong.

Even amid everything, Eunchae made sure to listen to good music and never let a book leave her hands. Some days, she read poetry or meditation books, and on others, she dove into science magazines.

Despite the morning sickness, she forced herself to eat and did everything she could to recover quickly, all so she could leave the hospital and avoid seeing Lee Joon.

It felt like another round of their endless game of cat and mouse was about to begin.

“Haa…”

Lee Joon let out another desperate sigh before slowly making his way towards her. The caretaker who had been standing by Eunchae’s side noticed his presence and turned to look at him.

The caretaker had started to greet Lee Joon, but when he put his finger to his lips, she quietly bowed and stepped aside to give him space.

Lee Joon stood silently, watching Eunchae as she lost herself in her reading. She was deep in a collection of Rilke’s poems, her eyes savoring every word with a rare vitality he hadn’t seen in a long time.

His emotions were tangled – he wanted to protect this peaceful moment she seemed to be having, but at the same time, he longed for her to acknowledge his presence, to see him.

As he struggled with his feelings, Eunchae noticed the shadow falling across her book and looked up.

Eunchae’s gaze asked the silent question, “Why are you here again?”

Instead of answering, Lee Joon gripped the handles of her wheelchair tightly.

“You’ve been out here too long. The sun is getting hotter, let’s go back inside.”

As he started to push the wheelchair, Eunchae opened her mouth to say something but closed it again without a word. The silence made him feel even more pitiful.

Taking her back to the hospital room wasn’t just for her own good. He had hoped – wished – that she would say something, whether it was “I don’t want this” or “Leave me alone” or even “Didn’t I tell you not to come back?”, anything. But her silent resistance cut deeper than any harsh words ever could.

The truth was, he had been pushing the wheelchair, hoping she would say something, anything.

But Eunchae remained silent. Her lips pressed tightly together, she stared straight ahead with an indifferent look on her face, as if to say that nothing he did mattered to her anymore. There was no sign that the distance between them – those parallel lines – would narrow any time soon.

Their eyes met. She said nothing, just stared at him, her gaze steady and unreadable.