Chapter 1

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Woman Pregnant with My Husband's Child
-----------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant?”

Byeolha's eyes, as she lifted her teacup with a clink, widened like a startled rabbit's. Startled by her friend's unexpected words, Byeolha nearly dropped the teacup.

Perhaps it was her flinch. The hot tea in the cup sloshed over, wetting Byeolha's hand.

“Ow, hot.”

Her hand stung as the still-hot tea touched it. Byeolha quickly set the cup down and wiped her hand. Her fair skin was already flushed red.

Gyeoru watched Byeolha’s flustered movements silently before opening her mouth. Without asking if Byeolha was alright after getting hurt, she simply spoke her mind.

“He said he’d marry me.”

Byeolha, who had been blowing cool air onto her hand, turned her head to look at Gyeoru.

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations on your marriage. Have you set a date? You’ll need to hurry with the ceremony before your belly gets too big.”

Gyeoru always boasted about her boyfriend and made it clear how much he loved and cherished her, so Byeolha offered her sincere congratulations.

“Actually, the family introductions are already done, and we’ve booked the venue.”

Gyeoru gave a faint smile, as if to say there was nothing to worry about, and began rummaging through her expensive designer bag.

“I called you today to give you the wedding invitation.”

Gyeoru placed the wedding invitation on the table with a soft thud. Then, she subtly pushed it towards Byeolha.

“You’ve already had the invitations printed?”

The subtle shimmer made it look quite luxurious. Byeolha picked up the invitation from the table and opened the envelope.

November 28. 1:00 PM. S Hotel Wedding Hall

The front was simple. Only the names of the bride and groom were written, along with the date, time, and venue. As Byeolha checked the groom’s name, her eyes widened.

“Oh my, the groom’s name is ‘Lee Dohyeon’? That’s the same as my husband’s name.”

What a coincidence. Was the name Dohyeon really that common?

As Byeolha, unable to hide her surprise, fussed and marveled, Gyeoru, who was sitting across from her, began to twitch her lips.

Then, as if trying to suppress a laugh, her lips curved as she stared at Byeolha.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say all her attention was on Byeolha.

“How peculiar. Well, compared to names like mine or yours, Lee Dohyeon is quite a common name, I suppose.”

“Pfft.”

Gyeoru, who had been trying to hold back her laughter, finally burst out laughing at Byeolha’s next words. A low chuckle escaped her lips. But that was only for a moment before a bizarre, piercing cackle filled the cafe.

“Ah… just a moment. Hehe…”

Her cackling laughter instantly drew everyone’s attention. Gyeoru, oblivious to the stares, clutched her stomach.

“You’re so funny. Really.”

Gyeoru’s eyes welled up with tears from laughing so hard. She subtly wiped her tears with a finger and gestured towards the wedding invitation.

“Open it.”

“Oh? Okay.”

‘Why is she laughing like that all of a sudden?’

For some reason, Byeolha felt uneasy. Gyeoru’s gaze seemed to mock her. Byeolha kept her eyes fixed on Gyeoru as she slowly unfolded the invitation.

Inside the invitation, a simple message about living happily ever after was printed, along with a wedding photo of the bride and groom.

Gyeoru, in a dress that accentuated her slender figure, stood beside the happy-looking groom.

“……?”

The moment she saw the photo, Byeolha’s mind went blank. The man next to Gyeoru was someone Byeolha knew very well.

“Why is my husband…?”

Was it just someone who looked like him? Was she seeing things because the name was the same as her husband’s?

Byeolha looked at the invitation in her hand again and again. No matter how many times she looked, the man in the photo was indeed her husband, Lee Dohyeon.

“What is this? It’s not funny. Come on, stop joking.”

Byeolha bit her lower lip, staring at Gyeoru. Her eyes lost focus, trembling pitifully. Gyeoru casually brushed her long, straight hair back and gazed at the trembling Byeolha.

Watching Byeolha look at her as if grasping at straws, Gyeoru couldn’t help but let a smirk creep onto her face.

‘How foolish. That’s why you lose your man.’

She’d even shown her the invitation, yet Byeolha was still so stupid. Gyeoru decided she needed to spell it out clearly for Byeolha and slowly opened her mouth.

“I’m pregnant with your husband’s child.”

“……!”

Thump.

‘Pregnant with my husband’s child…?’

Her heart plummeted. Feeling herself endlessly spiraling, Byeolha involuntarily gasped. Her mind was hazy, and she felt incredibly dizzy. Not only was her vision spinning, but her stomach churned.

‘It can’t be. How… why with my husband…!’

Byeolha, her hands trembling like aspen leaves, covered her mouth. Gyeoru’s words felt unreal. She prayed that her husband, Lee Dohyeon, would suddenly appear from behind and tell her it was all a joke.

However, it was nothing but Byeolha’s futile hope.

Lee Dohyeon did not appear, and Gyeoru, stroking her still-flat stomach, gazed at Byeolha. Her eyes were filled with triumph as she leisurely curved the corners of her lips.

‘I must be mistaken. My husband wouldn’t do that to me.’

Her husband was a man so devoted to Byeolha that everyone envied them. Even after seeing the wedding invitation, she couldn’t accept the current situation. No, she didn’t want to accept it.

“Do you know what November 28th is? That’s Dohyeon’s and my six-year anniversary. So please, don’t say anything useless about this being just my imagination.”

Gyeoru spoke as if she could read Byeolha’s mind. At Gyeoru’s words that they had been together for six years, Byeolha froze on the spot.

Not just a few months, but six whole years.

A storm of emptiness washed over her. The pain of her heart being torn to shreds, the agony that made even breathing difficult.

All of it consumed Byeolha’s body.

“Did you know he visited me often even when I was studying abroad in America? Dohyeon is quite the affectionate type. In everyday life, of course, but also in bed.”

Gyeoru provocatively ran her tongue over her lower lip, offering a meaningful smile. She found Byeolha, living a happy married life without knowing anything, utterly laughable. She couldn’t say how much she had wanted to tell her.

That her husband loved *her*.

Gyeoru gazed at the tattered Byeolha with eyes full of glee. Then, she cruelly carved into Byeolha’s heart.

“Dohyeon and I, we were together the night before your wedding. He spent the night with me at a hotel and then went straight to your wedding venue.”

Byeolha’s eyes were now filled with transparent tears. She couldn’t say a word, only shed miserable tears.

“Your husband never loved you from the start, he said. He always told me he loved me, not you. So don’t be too sad. There’ll be another man out there who will love you.”

Byeolha finally lowered her head. She couldn’t bear to hear Gyeoru’s words anymore.

Transparent tears soaked her lap as she sobbed, her shoulders shaking desperately.

“You’ll congratulate me on my wedding, won’t you?”

Gyeoru’s devilish voice pierced Byeolha’s ears. Gyeoru’s voice echoed relentlessly, whispering, persistently assailing, and destroying Byeolha’s sanity.

To ask for congratulations while marrying *her* husband?

It was beyond absurd; it was unjust.

She wanted to grab Gyeoru by the hair and demand to know what she had done, but strangely, her body wouldn’t move.

The shock was so immense that she had no strength left in her body.

“Do you… think I’ll give you a divorce?”

Byeolha, without looking at Gyeoru, asked back in a trembling voice. It was her last desperate struggle.

At Byeolha’s trembling form, refusing to back down, Gyeoru snickered, a sneer on her face.

“Hey, are you threatening me now?”

Gyeoru, who had burst into laughter, showed no agitation at Byeolha’s words. Instead, she scoffed at Byeolha for mentioning divorce.

“You never even registered your marriage with Dohyeon.”

“……!”

“What right do you have to talk about divorce then?”

Byeolha’s body flinched. Gyeoru had hit a nerve.

She hadn’t registered her marriage with Lee Dohyeon. She had respected his words that they would do so after they had a child.

Gyeoru rummaged through her bag once more and then conspicuously tossed a piece of paper onto the table.

“Lee Dohyeon and I, we’re already legally married.”

Byeolha, who had kept her head down the whole time, finally lifted it at Gyeoru’s words. Through her blurry vision, she saw the folded paper on the table.

Thud!

“……Lie!”

Byeolha slammed both hands on the table and cried out. Then, with unfocused eyes, she stared at the paper on the table.

“You’ll know if it’s a lie or not once you see it with your own eyes.”

Gyeoru forced the paper into Byeolha’s hand and gave a chilling smile. Byeolha, seeing what was in her grasp, was speechless.

Because Gyeoru’s words were all true…

Lee Dohyeon was registered as her spouse on her family relationship certificate.

“……Ha.”

“So, could you stop saying Lee Dohyeon is your husband? He’s not your husband; he’s *my* husband.”

Arms crossed, her face, as she looked down haughtily at Byeolha, was intoxicated with victory.

Byeolha had no choice but to let go of the last thread of hope she clung to. It was the moment when six years of dating and marriage were all denied.

The miserable reality choked her. Byeolha stumbled out of the cafe, fleeing without even grabbing her bag.

Stepping onto the street, Byeolha collapsed to the ground after only a few steps. Amidst the people laughing and chattering under the cool autumn sun, she sobbed silently, her shoulders shaking desperately.

At twenty-six, that autumn was brutally cruel. Like the fallen leaves crumbling beneath her knees, Byeolha’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

***

‘I’m hungry…’

A cramped studio apartment, about five pyeong. Lying sprawled in the middle of the room, which had no bed, she opened her eyes due to hunger.

As soon as she woke up, she fumbled on the floor and picked up her smartphone. Then, out of habit, she accessed Byeolgram.

Followers 0, Following 0.

That was her account. She skillfully searched for IDs and spied on the daily lives of her friends and family.

She gazed at her phone for a long time, her eyes a mix of bitterness and regret.

After her divorce, Byeolha continued her reclusive life for over three years. She could have leaned on her friends and family, but whenever she was with them, Lee Dohyeon always came to mind.

So she ran away. To a place where no one was, a place with no ties that would remind her of him. She quit her job too. She couldn’t bear to work in the same place as Lee Dohyeon.

Byeolha changed her number and even her name, trying to forget the existence of Lee Dohyeon and Gyeoru.

Who said humans are creatures of forgetfulness? The nightmarish memories that resurfaced whenever she tried to forget them ravaged Byeolha’s life.

Byeolha put her phone down and slowly got up. Shuffling, she walked over and put water on the gas stove to make a meal.

Due to the delay in property division because their apartment hadn’t sold, it had been almost three years since she started living in this studio apartment.

Byeolha took out one of the books left behind by the previous tenant and laid it on the floor. Then she placed the pot on top of it.

As she ate her ramen, the book’s title caught her eye.

The Countess Trapped in a Snare

It was a novel she had stumbled upon and started reading after moving into this place. She had turned the pages out of curiosity but never managed to finish it.

This novel was a bleak story about a Count who constantly caused trouble with women, and the Countess who suffered because of him.

Byeolha empathized so deeply with the female protagonist that she couldn’t bring herself to finish the novel and dropped it.

“I should throw it away.”

Just looking at the book title made her feel so bad. Byeolha, staring down at the novel, mumbled to herself.

She picked up the book with her thumb and forefinger and tossed it into the trash can.

Thud!

It wasn’t just the sound of a book being thrown away. Byeolha furrowed her brow at the unfamiliar noise and strained her ears.

CRASH!

That was when it happened. With an immense roar, the ground began to shake.

“O-oh!”

As if an earthquake had struck, the ground began to collapse with a massive tremor. Byeolha was buried under the crumbling building before she had a chance to escape.

Byeolha met her death alone in a place where she had no ties. Her first life came to a miserable end.

She probably didn’t know. That a brilliant second life awaited her within the very book she had discarded.

Byeolha, who had lost consciousness, felt someone desperately calling her name.

“...Are you alright?!”

Relying on the faint voice, she struggled to lift her eyelids. The moment her eyes opened, the first thing in her vision was an incredibly lavish chandelier.