I Refuse

Jang Hyun-ah sat in the living room, sipping her tea. Chaeyoon hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward. Even with her arrival, neither Jang Hyun-ah nor the two other women spared her so much as a glance. They seemed to have agreed among themselves to ignore her outright.

Let them, then.

Without so much as a flicker of hesitation, Chaeyoon went and sat down right beside Jiyoung. Jiyoung shot her a sidelong look and edged slightly away.

"I have something to say."

Jang Hyun-ah didn't even look at her, but Chaeyoon paid it no mind. She hadn't come here for a conversation with her anyway.

"Taejun and I have decided not to divorce."

The first to react was Jiyoung. Her eyes went wide, and she turned to look at Jang Hyun-ah.

"So I think it's time to drop that absurd remarriage scheme you mentioned the other day, Mother."

"Oh my goodness. She's lost her—"

Shocked, Jiyoung hastily clapped a hand over her mouth.

"That's exactly why I'm telling you this. Well then, I'll be heading up."

Having said her piece, Chaeyoon moved to rise from her seat.

"And why should I listen to anything you have to say?"

Jang Hyun-ah asked, her voice dripping with contempt.

"It's obviously my business to begin with. And besides, I'm not getting divorced."

"Who says it's your business?"

"Well, I *am* Taejun's wife, and Taejun is my husband."

"Weren't you the one who abandoned that husband and walked out?"

"......"

"How would we know what you've been out doing for the past five months?"

"That's right, Mother."

Jiyoung chimed in eagerly.

"What are you even talking about?"

"You'd know better than anyone, wouldn't you? So spare us the speech. We already told Taejun that you handed over the divorce papers and left the house last night. So really, there's no reason for you to stay under this roof anymore."

"......"

"The Chairman has already given his blessing, so there's nothing left to argue about, and Taejun didn't seem all that shocked, either. You'll be hearing from Lawyer Park soon enough. Consider this your notice. Pack your things in advance—we were told to at least let you take what's yours. You can walk out of here without feeling shortchanged."

Jang Hyun-ah spoke as though everything had already been decided. But Chaeyoon had no intention of accepting any of it.

"And if I refuse?"

Chaeyoon asked, her voice remarkably steady.

"Sister-in-law. Seriously, what is *wrong* with you? How long are we supposed to walk on eggshells because of you? Have a little sense."

Minjung snapped, irritation plain in her voice.

"She's right. Honestly, I can barely breathe these days either."

Jiyoung jumped in yet again.

"I've spent all this time watching my step too. And I have no intention of doing it anymore."

"What on earth are you saying? Didn't you hear Mother? She told you to pack."

"I said I won't. Taejun and I are not getting divorced."

Chaeyoon didn't yield an inch.

"You insufferable little—there are no words for how shameless you are. Do I amuse you? Is that it?"

Jang Hyun-ah's voice was ice-cold, her brow furrowed.

Chaeyoon had never once found Jang Hyun-ah amusing. In truth, she had been more intimidating than Chairman Moon Daeshik himself.

Where Moon Daeshik was simple and blunt, Jang Hyun-ah was a fox with a serpent's heart.

But that had only ever been true when Chaeyoon was trying to win her favor. She no longer wanted to. The effort she had poured in over the years was one thing, but she had finally realized that none of them respected Taejun—not even a little.

If they had respected him even slightly, they could never have said the things they'd said.

Gossiping about bringing in another woman while the man himself was still lying in a hospital bed—such cheap, ugly talk.

That alone told her exactly how little they thought of him.

"I've never particularly found you amusing, Mother. But—"

Minjung and Jiyoung stared at Chaeyoon in disbelief. No one, not once in all these years, had ever talked back to Jang Hyun-ah. To them, it was a moment of sheer shock.

"I *have* thought you treat people appallingly."

"Gah!"

A cry escaped Jiyoung before she could stop it, and she clapped her hands over her mouth. Minjung, meanwhile, shot Jang Hyun-ah anxious, fidgeting glances.

Jang Hyun-ah glared at Chaeyoon without so much as blinking, as if she had just been handed the gravest insult of her life.

Jang Hyun-ah had reigned over this house like a queen. No one had ever dared amend her word, no one had ever opposed an order she gave. Everything had gone exactly as she willed it.

Chaeyoon had been no exception. There had been moments when self-loathing crept in, but she had endured them in silence.

"Well then, I'll be going up now."

Chaeyoon rose and left the room, leaving behind the two sisters-in-law whose faces were twisted in horror. The back of her neck burned, but she never once looked back.

The two who remained could only watch Jang Hyun-ah's face carefully, feeling as though they were treading across thin ice.

Chaeyoon fled back to her room and drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

She had resolved not to be trampled on anymore, but even by her own standards, what she'd just done felt impossibly brave.

There was a time when she couldn't even meet Jang Hyun-ah's eyes. Whatever was said to her, her entire vocabulary had been *yes, of course*. When they sneered at her own family, she had simply pretended not to hear.

Looking back at the woman she had been, the old Yoon Chaeyoon had been so cowardly that the word "courage" didn't even apply.

And yet…

"What has gotten into me? Where on earth did that come from?"

Chaeyoon glanced warily at the firmly closed door. It felt as though Jiyoung could burst in at any moment and drag her back down in front of Jang Hyun-ah. Jang Hyun-ah was not a woman to let things slide. She was the type to summon someone back and demand an apology as many times as she pleased. And yet—silence.

"…!"

Chaeyoon's eyes went wide. Words Jang Hyun-ah had once said suddenly flashed through her mind.

'Look at you. You think I'm a joke, do you? Should I have to turn your father into an unemployed man before you learn to answer me?'

That was the kind of woman Jang Hyun-ah was—she had threatened her outright over a single unanswered question.

Yet today, Chaeyoon hadn't just talked back. She had *corrected* her.

And still, Jang Hyun-ah stayed quiet.

"Surely not…"

Chaeyoon shook her head. However much Jang Hyun-ah reigned over this house like a queen, she couldn't do absolutely everything as she pleased.

Her father had taught his whole life without a single blemish on his record—not one scandal, not one incident. A man who had lived every day of his life on nothing but honest, diligent work.

Chaeyoon had been proud of that father since she was a little girl.

He had never been wealthy, never wielded any great power, but his life was nothing to be ashamed of.

She knew better than anyone that he had lived uprightly, without ever giving anyone leverage over him.

"A man like that…"

Even Jang Hyun-ah couldn't just wreck a person's life for no reason at all.

"Enough. No more scaring myself over nothing."

Chaeyoon forced the dark thoughts away—and then, oddly, a hollow laugh slipped out of her.

It had been so much less than she'd feared.

Why had she lived all this time unable to say a single word? She felt like a fool.

"That's right. From now on, I'm done holding my tongue. If I have something to say, I'm going to say it."

Chaeyoon murmured the words like a spell she was casting on herself. She still needed a little more courage—but strangely, she had a feeling that courage would come the moment Taejun came home.

He knew she had filed the divorce papers. And yet, last night, he had held her in his arms as though nothing had ever happened. That fact reassured her in a way that defied explanation.

Perhaps she and Taejun really could begin a brand-new marriage.

Perhaps it had already begun. And she didn't want to miss this chance.

And for that… I have to become stronger.

In this house, she might be the only person left willing to stand on Taejun's side.

Chaeyoon clenched both fists tight.