Affectionate Obsession - Chapter 37

‘Greed invites disaster.’

These were words she had heard at a temple she visited once, lost in deep thought.

It had been over 30 years since she heard them, but Sookhee still couldn’t forget that day.

She couldn’t forget. It was the day she resolved to abandon another granddaughter, not Sera, into her own arms.

“It was an unavoidable choice. It’s because I made that choice back then that we could get this far.”

Sookhee muttered in a firm voice.

Even though she tried to rationalize it as a monologue, her heart wouldn’t find peace.

A sigh escaped her lips involuntarily.

She knew it was impossible, but she couldn’t think of anyone who could replace Sera other than that child.

Sookhee kept replaying the events of that day.

Her son and his wife had been married for over five years without conceiving a child.

Only Sookhee was anxious about it.

Sookhee desperately wanted a child to carry on Myungho’s bloodline.

She deeply yearned for a grandson who would follow in Myungho’s footsteps, receiving his teachings, just like the current Myungho.

She had tried everything to have a grandson. Anything that could lead to having a son, she obtained and fed or made Yoojeong wear.

When she first heard the news of the pregnancy, and then that it was twins, Sookhee thought heaven had been moved by her efforts.

It felt like she had gained the whole world. Even when she heard the babies in the womb were twin daughters, not sons, it didn’t matter.

They were precious children to her. As long as they were born healthy, Sookhee intended to pass everything down to her granddaughters.

The babies in her womb had never caused their mother any trouble throughout the pregnancy.

There was no morning sickness, nor any signs of premature labor, which is more common in multiple pregnancies. They only cried out to enter the world after filling their full term.

They were undoubtedly children sent from heaven.

They didn’t cause a single worry before they were even born; they couldn’t have been more filial.

However, when Yoojeong went into the delivery room for a natural birth on her due date, she was informed shortly after that a C-section was necessary.

After the surgery, the mother and both babies were born safely, but the moment they saw the light of day, the babies were immediately taken to the intensive care unit.

It was like a bolt from the blue.

She had received the doctor’s confident assurance that they would be born healthy, full-term, yet the babies had remained unconscious from the moment they were born.

Sookhee felt overwhelmed, struggling just to hold onto her sanity. But she couldn’t lose her mind as much as she wanted to.

She was afraid something would happen to the babies while she was incapacitated.

She couldn’t lose these children. She had to save them by any means necessary.

How hard had she worked to get them?

From that day on, Sookhee tried everything to save the babies.

She sought help through religion and poured vast sums of money into shamanism.

But despite Sookhee’s efforts, the babies showed no improvement.

She grew more exhausted each day. Around that time, she heard a suggestion to perform a Buddhist ritual.

They added that if she sincerely performed 3,000 bows, perhaps Buddha would look after the babies who were hovering between life and death.

Sookhee headed to a temple she found through inquiries. She intended to pour every last bit of her earnest desire into the ritual.

She never dreamed she would hear about the children’s story at the place she found.

“P-Priest, what are you saying? What do you know? Tell me?”

Greed invites disaster.

It was a profoundly meaningful statement.

She was convinced he knew something.

Hoping there might be a way through the monk, Sookhee didn’t leave the temple for days.

She performed Buddhist rituals with a devout demeanor every day and took on all the arduous chores within the temple.

The monk, who seemed like he would never break his silence, finally spoke, entirely due to her devotion.

At least, that’s what Sookhee believed.

“Originally, only one child was meant to be born into that family. For a family to have two children, it inevitably invites disaster.”

“Priest, then what should I do? They are already born, even if there are two.”

“This is all I can tell you.”

With that, the monk clasped his hands together and walked away.

Sookhee couldn’t stop the monk.

The words that one child meant to be born, becoming two and inviting disaster, kept echoing in her mind.

She told herself repeatedly that it was just an abstract, unhelpful remark. But ultimately, she couldn’t erase it from her thoughts.

Her ability to rationally assess the situation and make judgments had run out.

From there, Sookhee went to the hospital. She had her secretary bribe a nurse and asked about the babies’ condition.

Both were precious granddaughters she couldn’t bear to lose. But if she had to choose only one, she had to pick the healthier one.

Sera fit that condition.

That night, Sookhee found the bribed nurse and made a secret proposal.

“I want you to make it so the second child was never born in the first place.”

“What?? Wh-what are you saying?!”

“It’s fine if you kill her, or abandon her at an orphanage. As long as she doesn’t leave this hospital as a descendant of RM Group.”

Her heart tore as she spoke those words. Having to choose only one child among those who would inherit Myungho’s legacy was unbearably difficult for Sookhee.

Still, she had to try something, anything.

Since there was no other method to explore, if she could save even one child this way,

That was the last thought Sookhee had that day.

As always, money proved effective.

As she had wished, she received the news that the second child had died during treatment.

Faced with that news, Yoojeong wailed, and Myungho couldn’t hide his grief.

Only Sookhee remained unaffected.

Whether the nurse had killed the child as she said, or abandoned her at an orphanage.

She didn’t ask about what happened next.

If she learned more about the child’s fate, Sookhee felt she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

After being separated from her sibling, whom she never even got to call by name, Sera miraculously recovered her health.

Thanks to that, Sera is the only child living as Myungho and Yoojeong’s daughter to this day.

Sookhee thought that perhaps one of the twins she had abandoned, ‘Seyeon’, might have died, as it was hard to believe she had been in critical condition right after birth, given how healthily she had grown.

According to the monk’s words, the one child meant to be, had become two and caused disaster, so perhaps by splitting into two, the remaining one could grow up without any major issues. She had no choice but to believe that.

Because of that, she had completely ignored the report her secretary submitted a few days ago.

“Madam. The nurse who handled Miss Seyeon’s disposal 33 years ago has contacted us.”

She thought there was no need to listen at length. The person who had disappeared without a trace after taking money now had a very obvious reason for reappearing.

She must have needed money again.

Sookhee immediately showed her displeasure and instructed her secretary to handle it at their discretion.

She found it irritating that the person who brought back the forgotten child and the forgotten guilt was appearing, but she considered it her way of showing respect to Buddha for looking after Sera, by suppressing her irritation and believing it was thanks to her that Sera was alive today.

But it turned out to be a matter that couldn’t be dismissed so lightly.

“Haa, what am I going to do about this?”

Sookhee sighed with a pained voice.

Suddenly, she recalled the face of the child she had spoken with in the living room a few days ago.

She had only seen her face a few times because she had to go into intensive care right after birth, but thinking about it again, she looked exactly like Sera, without a single flaw.

That alone was enough to confirm she was her other granddaughter whom she had abandoned.

Thinking so, she felt a sense of affection that hadn’t existed before. However, this was not a child she could welcome with peace of mind.

“Even so, you shouldn’t dare covet Sera’s place.”

Sookhee’s voice regained a coldness it had never had before.

It should have been a joyous occasion to find her lost granddaughter, but sadly, the lost granddaughter did not exist anywhere in the picture she had painted.

If she had appeared without disrupting the plan she had devised, perhaps she would have been welcomed.

But if the suddenly appearing Seyeon was trying to claim Sera’s position, then no matter who she was, even as Choi Sookhee’s granddaughter, she could not be forgiven.

Sera was a precious talent who was meant to become the next chairman of RM.

Therefore, if anything stood in Sera’s way, it was her duty to remove it with her own hands.

Sookhee’s worries did not end as the night deepened. At its conclusion, Sookhee made a decision and took her phone in hand.

“It’s me. You need to see me immediately. There’s something you need to resolve.”

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