Chapter 4 - 3. What Mothers Do
If she had to describe her family with one word, Seul-ah wouldn't even need a second to blurt out messy. It was a total mess. A wreck.
Lee Seul-ah was born to the second wife of HS Group's current chairman, a year after his divorce from his first wife. She had heard that it was a messy divorce, but then again, the marriage itself was filled with screaming contests--or so she heard. But she received a huge alimony, including a nice penthouse in the most prestigious area of the city, and she successfully produced three children. The eldest was a son too, a most likely successor, and so her days ahead were secured.
Right after the divorce, the previous Chairman--Seul-ah's paternal grandfather--arranged his son's second marriage with Seul-ah's mother, Shin Raisa, who was his best friend's only daughter. They used to serve together in the last year of the war, and had that classic talk about being in-laws.
Alas; the best friend died early, and his son already got someone else pregnant. Once the divorce was finalized, however, the grandfather immediately looked for his best friend's family, and managed to find Raisa who was working for an NGO at that time. A rather timid girl who found it hard to say no to people, Raisa agreed to the marriage, and Seul-ah was born after two years.
Right away, the grandpa was very partial to Seul-ah. Whether it was because she looked like his wife--the late grandmother--or because she came out of a union he approved of, the previous chairman showered his second granddaughter with more affection than he did with the other grandchildren.
Which was a terrible, terrible poison for Seul-ah.
The envy growing inside the other grandchildren festered and blew up once the grandfather passed away when Seul-ah was only five. Without the grandfather, the siblings vented the years of envy physically; pushing her to the ground, pinching painfully, hitting her where it wouldn't be visible, or hiding her stuff. Even if people found out, they would say they were only playing.
The father, taking over as a new chairman, no longer had anyone restraining his nature. He had been secretly having affairs, but once he became the most powerful figure in the family, he didn't care about what people would say and just did it openly. It went to the point of the mistress getting pregnant and demanding to live in the mansion.
Raisa had many virtues, but being firm and standing up for herself wasn't one. She finally agreed to a divorce--which in Seul-ah's opinion was better than living in a mansion with the mistress--even though she was pregnant herself. The stress, however, caused the stillbirth and Seul-ah couldn't have her sister while the mistress--who had become the third wife--safely birthed a daughter.
It was painful. It was a mess. But Seul-ah knew there was no use in whining because she had nothing. All she could do was prove that she had value so the family would still support her mother. Above all else, she didn't want her mother to worry about her. She had suffered enough in a loveless marriage, and Seul-ah only wanted her to hear good things. She just wanted to make her mother proud.
One day, once she was an adult and had her own salary--instead of allowance--after working in the company, she would be able to live together with her mother instead of staying in the mansion. Seul-ah waited for that day while diligently doing what people told her to do.