By Zephyria I have to tell him after all.
Georgina, who had been tossing and turning all night, made up her mind and glared at herself in the mirror. It was true that her parents had done wrong, but she couldn’t just stand by and watch. They were her parents after all.
And if something happens to Mom and Dad, it’s a problem for me too.
Reminding herself of the practical issues, she steeled her heart and immediately left the room, running down the stairs. Her father and mother were already having breakfast in the breakfast room. Seeing them smiling and creating a peaceful atmosphere for the first time in a long time, Georgina felt a lump in her chest.
“Good morning? Father, Mother.”
After giving a conventional greeting and heading to her seat, she sat down on the chair that the Butler pulled out for her and cautiously looked around. It had been a long time since they had such a stable and peaceful breakfast. Of course, her mother and father had been fighting frequently over money problems recently. But considering the cause of this peace, she couldn’t just be happy.
“Ahem.”
Georgina cleared her throat to draw attention before speaking. When her mother, who was drinking tea, and her father, who was reading the newspaper, turned their attention to her, Georgina gave an awkward smile and spoke with difficulty.
“Um, well… I have something I’m curious about. Um, well.”
Unlike her determination, the words didn’t come out easily, so she continued to stammer. Seeing even her usually patient father frown, Georgina finally managed to bring up the subject.
“Um, well, yesterday Mother said that Father would be in charge of the Campbell family’s business, and I was wondering about that.”
“Are you talking about that again?”
Her mother interrupted Georgina’s words as if she was tired of hearing it. Her father, who seemed to have already heard about it from his wife, also gave a bitter smile and said.
“Don’t worry, this is adults’ business. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“That’s not true, Winston… knows.”
Georgina finally blurted it out. Her mother frowned and her father looked surprised.
“What are you talking about right now, what exactly?”
A faint annoyance was present in Lady Catherine’s voice. Of course. They couldn’t even imagine what their daughter had done. Her heart was pounding so hard she was nervous, but she had to speak. She endured the two pairs of eyes focused on her and continued in a trembling voice.
“He knows, everything. That Mother, no, Mrs. Campbell and everyone else conspired to frame Yu-jin and drive him out.”
71
An eerie silence fell. In the stillness where even breathing could not be heard, Georgina could not bear the pressure and closed her eyes. Soon Lady Catherine will scream hysterically. Father will scold Georgina and a storm will rage in the house. Everyone will blame me.
Ah, I really wish I could just disappear…!
“Haa.”
As she repeated her earnest wish, she suddenly heard a deep sigh. Startled by the sound, which was completely different from what she had expected, Georgina cautiously opened her eyes. Unexpectedly, her mother was elegantly frowning and drinking her tea, and her father had turned his attention back to the newspaper. What’s going on? Georgina, dumbfounded and blinking, belatedly confessed again.
“Um, don’t you know what I said? Winston knows. That everyone conspired to drive Yu-jin out.”
“Yes, Georgina. Yes.”
Her mother just said indifferently as if she was done with it. The reaction was so strange that Georgina finally raised her voice.
“I’m serious, you know? Don’t you believe me? Winston knows everything! I told him everything!”
“Calm down, Georgina.”
Her father intervened, unable to watch any longer. He soothed his daughter in his usual calm voice.
“Yes, I know what you’re talking about. So calm down now.”
“Calm down, what does that mean? I really don’t understand, no, how can you be so calm right now? Winston might try to kill us?”
“Stop it now, I really can’t stand it.”
Lady Catherine finally sternly interrupted her words.
“I heard everything you did, Winston told us himself.”
Georgina doubted her ears for a moment. Her eyes wide, she opened her mouth and asked her mother.
“Winston? He said it himself?”
“Yes.”
Lady Catherine lowered her eyes primly and continued.
“You gave him some video as evidence, right? He was talking about entrusting the business to George. He said he couldn’t believe such a crude video, and even told us to pretend we didn’t know because it seemed like it was because you were in your adolescence.”
“You mean he pretended to be fooled by me?”
Georgina asked in an even louder voice, dumbfounded. That couldn’t be. Winston had something else up his sleeve. She felt like she was going to die of frustration because they didn’t understand.
“No, Mother. Father, please believe me. There’s no way Winston would just let it go. There must be a reason why he entrusted Father with the job. You can’t be fooled, if you apologize and back out now, he might forgive you…”
“I told you to stop!”
Lady Catherine finally shouted. When Georgina, flustered, closed her mouth, she glared at her daughter and scolded her.
“What do you know, meddling in things. Adults will take care of adults’ business. You should focus on your studies. How are you doing with your college entrance exam preparations? I’ve made an appointment with the consultant for next week, so stay quiet until then and don’t cause any trouble.”
After sternly rebuking her, she raised her teacup and continued.
“Do you know how much trouble you caused everyone by doing foolish things? Fortunately, Winston just let it go. The date of the will is not far away, and you couldn’t wait until then.”
“How can you be so sure that Winston is still being fooled?”
When Georgina rebelled once more, unable to bear it, Lady Catherine scoffed and replied.
“Of course, Winston and we are family. Who else would I trust if not family?”
The person he could trust the least around him would be family. But Lady Catherine added confidently.
“Winston also said that he only has family.”
Maybe Winston doesn’t think of us as family.
Georgina suddenly thought, but she couldn’t say it out loud. Either way, her parents wouldn’t listen to her. She had done her best. All that was left was to somehow save her own life.
I have to go to Winston and beg him to save at least me.
She sincerely thought so. Soon, an unavoidable hurricane would hit the house, and she had to grab onto any floating piece of wood and survive.
* * *
“Thank you.”Yu-jin, who received a small package from the Butler, hurried back to his room. It was already past noon. The name on the box was ordinary. It looked like he had bought a book from a bookstore, but it was not. Checking the contents of the box, he took a deep breath. Yu-jin took it and headed to the bathroom. His heart pounded as if his fate depended on the long, white stick.
Surely not…
He hadn’t been feeling well for the past few days. Why was he so tired and out of it? The doctor said there was nothing wrong. But Yu-jin kept feeling uneasy. Fortunately, with the internet, you could get almost anything in the world. Yu-jin, like many others, bought it online. And he got it in two days.
A pregnancy test.
Luckily, Winston was on a business trip. He said it would be at least five days, maybe a week, so there was plenty of time. With a trembling heart, Yu-jin waited for the test to react. It took tremendous courage to check the results.
One, two, three…
He barely opened his eyes before counting to 100 and checked the bars. A clear line was visible. His heart was racing and he was out of breath. He couldn’t get his mind straight.
Two lines.