NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 158
Bang.
“Ye-rin….”
As I stepped outside, Kang Hyung-man, Older Brother Sang-gu, Lee Ji-woo, and other staff from Brotherhood Planning were looking at me with worried expressions.
I tried to smile at them, signaling that I was okay somehow, but….
Uuk….
“Ye-rin…!!”
Overcome by unbearable nausea and dizziness, I collapsed.
Before losing consciousness, what I saw was the Brotherhood Planning staff rushing towards me. And….
[The unreleased skill ‘Heavenly Punishment’ is automatically activated.]
It was the notification from the Status Window that said Heavenly Punishment was being automatically used.
As soon as I saw that, I panicked and reached out.
‘No, no…! I wasn’t planning to use that…!’
But it was already too late, and the Status Window just shone brightly….
Swish-.
Completely exhausted, I sank into the mire.
What is the most cruel and terrible punishment for parents with a child?
It is, of course….
“H-Honey… Why is our Ye-rin… acting like this? She’s different from usual….”
“…….”
The most malicious skill among the unreleased Heavenly Martial Arts, Heavenly Punishment, was properly applied to them.
But that didn’t mean it had any significant effect.
It simply reminded them of the memories they had forgotten.
‘H-Honey! Huh… You’ve worked so hard…. This child is our baby…! Our baby….’
‘Our daughter… Our Love… I think she’s so beautiful…. To think such an adorable baby came out of me….’
Back when Ye-rin was so small and precious that it wouldn’t hurt to put her in one’s eye… the time when they vowed to raise their beloved daughter more precious than anyone else.
‘Ye-rin, we are still lacking a lot, but we’ll do our best. Our daughter Ye-rin, Dad and Mom love you so much.’
‘Honey, let’s raise our Ye-rin well. She’ll be the most precious in the world, happy without worries….’
‘Yes, we’ll definitely do that for our most beautiful daughter…!’
Ah.
As they recalled those memories, sweat began to pour from both of them as they fell deep into thought.
When did it start?
When did they begin to treat their daughter this way?
It all started when Ye-rin was three years old.
‘Ah… Cleaning is so hard….’
Not used to housework, they found even cleaning the room immensely difficult.
Then, little Ye-rin, who overheard their sighs, as a three-year-old who wanted to be loved more by her parents….
“Mom! Dad! I mopped the floor!”
She waved her tiny hand with a bright smile, having just finished cleaning the room.
That scene was so adorable that….
No, to be honest, it was just so convenient that she did the cleaning for them….
“Yay! Our Ye-rin helped mom and dad clean up?”
“Hehe.”
“I’ll ask you to do it again next time, okay?”
They handed her a mop.
That shouldn’t have happened… They shouldn’t have made their little girl do housework….
“I haven’t you seen the press conference? I’ve already disowned you in front of the entire nation. You’re no longer my parents.”
Ye-rin had warned them multiple times that she could cut ties with them.
But at every occasion, they knew it was just Ye-rin’s bravado.
She loved them. Ye-rin could never abandon them.
But now….
“I won’t see you ever again. I won’t care if you go to prison or whatever.”
They instinctively sensed that Ye-rin’s words weren’t mere bravado this time.
The two shook their heads, denying reality.
“N-No? Right now, Ye-rin is just upset and said that harshly, right…?”
“Of course…! We’re family…. Ye-rin is our daughter….”
And then, trembling with fear, they reached for the doorknob to grab Ye-rin once more.
But….
“…….”
When they opened the door, it wasn’t Ye-rin but Kang Hyung-man who stood there.
Kang Hyung-man wouldn’t let them go outside to reach Ye-rin.
With a blank expression, Ye-rin’s dad spoke to Kang Hyung-man.
“…President Kang. Step aside. Let us go to Ye-rin….”
“…….”
“Ye-rin is misunderstanding something. We have things we need to tell her…. So, please step aside….”
Ye-rin’s dad had always been scared of Kang Hyung-man.
However, as Kang Hyung-man blocked their path to Ye-rin, Ye-rin’s dad, driven by instinct, summoned superhuman courage.
“Get out of the way—!! Damn it!! It’s you! You seduced our innocent daughter?! Step aside! Let us go to Ye-rin!!”
“…….”
Kang Hyung-man glared at Ye-rin’s dad and simply threw a document at him.
“You’ve hurt Ye-rin up until now…. Why? Do you regret it now? But it’s too late.”
“……What?”
“If you care a little about Ye-rin, sign this document.”
“This, what is this….”
Ye-rin’s dad grabbed his dizzy head and picked up the pile of papers Kang Hyung-man threw.
“Documents needed to sever the parent-child relationship between you and Ye-rin.”
“……Huh?”
In that document….
[Ha Ye-rin.]
It was like saying it was too late to turn back, and there was Ye-rin’s signature.
“Huh,… W-Wait a minute….”
“T-This can’t be true…. Just, hold on a moment….”
As soon as they saw Ye-rin’s signature on the document, both of them felt a choking sensation.
They only just grasped the entire situation then….
Bang.
“W-Wait a minute…! This, this can’t be true…! Y-Ye-rin is huff… Ye-rin is our daughter…!”
“Som-Something must be mistaken…! Please… Let us see our daughter…!”
They began to plead, kneeling at Kang Hyung-man’s feet, grabbing his pant leg.
“P-Please…! We’ll explain everything to Ye-rin…! Please…!”
“W-We won’t let her life be harmed again…! We swear! We’ll pay off our debts…! We’ll ask for nothing, just let us see Ye-rin…!”
At that moment, the memories of the past 19 years began flooding into their minds, reminding them of what they had done to their daughter.
“Ye-rin! Dad wants kimchi stew! Can you please?!”
“Ye-rin, there’s a bag mom really wants, can you give me some of your allowance?”
“Our Ye-rin should marry into a wealthy family! That way we won’t have to worry!”
“Ye-rin, how about being active on social media? I think we could make easy money with just a few of your pictures….”
They had vowed to raise their daughter as the most precious being, yet in those days, they treated her worse than a servant.
“Aah…! W-What have we done…?”
“Ugh….”
Those memories, no matter how hard they tried to forget, kept resurfacing in their minds.
“Mom learned that if Na Ah Ah wins, the prize money is 100 million.”
“Ye-rin, you know it’s all because your dad and mom raised you beautifully, right?”
“Ye-rin, you’ll repay us, right?”
“This time, just think of it as dying and working hard, okay? Dad and Mom believe in you.”
What on earth did they say to their only 19-year-old daughter?
“Aah…! Please…!!”
“We… We were wrong! Please-!! Just one more time, let us see Ye-rin…!”
It felt like they were having their hearts ripped out of their chests.
They begged and begged, overwhelmed by an unbearable guilt.
Just one more time, please let us see Ye-rin….
They needed nothing—not money, not a house, not debt—just to see Ye-rin one more time!
But it was already too late.
“Ye-rin doesn’t want to see you.”
“Aah….”
“Waahhhhh….”
Kang Hyung-man shot them a deadly glare while pointing to the documents scattered on the ground.
“It’s outrageous, but if you truly care for Ye-rin….”
“…….”
“Sign these documents. And then, never appear in front of Ye-rin again.”
“…….”
At Kang Hyung-man’s words, the two of them picked up the pen with trembling hands.
Ye-rin’s last words echoed in their minds.
‘Why did you do that to me…? Why….’
‘I tried so hard to be loved by you… sigh….’
‘Why did you do this to me…? Huh….’
Those words would surely be a lifetime curse that lingered in their ears.
But now, the only thing they could do for Ye-rin was this….
Swish-.
They signed the documents pointed out by Kang Hyung-man.
“Haah… Huh… Aah….”
“Aah… Ye-rin… Ye-rin….”
Thus, Ye-rin became an orphan.
Though late regrets emerged, their daughter had already left them, heavily wounded.
Heavenly Punishment.
The most cruel and terrible punishment parents could receive.
It was losing their child.
But the punishment they received was self-inflicted.
They had made Ye-rin an orphan… no, they had pushed her into that fate….
They had abandoned Ye-rin, and it was them.
And in that moment of realization, the remaining life of the two became….
“Thank you for giving birth to me. In the remaining life from now on, never, never meet me again.”
A living hell.