MIM 24

“Are you crazy? You couldn’t find an Omega to mate with so you’re going to sleep with that disgusting guy?”

His mother, Lee Joo-yeon, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, was extremely on edge. This was because the Alpha pheromones on Shin-woo’s body had not yet faded. Despite having washed thoroughly, the scent that Jae-seung had thoroughly rubbed on him was still seeping out from every corner of his body.

“How are you going to handle it if rumors spread? You need to take responsibility for your actions now. Think about the stock price too!”

Ignoring his mother’s voice as she turned pale, Jae-seung looked around the spacious reception room. Since his mother left the mansion, this was the first time Jae-seung had visited her house. Though not as luxurious and massive as the Ma Family mansion, Joo-yeon lived in a high-end mansion located in the southern outskirts.

His gaze slowly moved from the fancy chandelier to the antique table and then to the servants lined up along the wall. Finally, he swept his eyes over the window. The floor-to-ceiling windows captured the outside scenery refreshingly. Overall, it gave the impression of being extravagant compared to the size of the mansion.

As she had said she didn’t receive a penny of the inheritance, on paper Lee Joo-yeon couldn’t claim any rights to Ma Family’s assets. But it was clear that she, who wasn’t originally wealthy, could live in such a house with servants thanks to Ma Jin-seong. It seemed obvious that she must have received money separately.

“If you don’t kick that guy out right now, you’ll end up like your father. Didn’t I tell you? He’s the one who killed your father.”

Joo-yeon spoke bluntly and gestured to a nearby servant. Soon, a sugar bowl with sugar cubes was placed in front of her. Jae-seung smiled, suppressing the urge to split the expensive dining table in two.

“I needed to resolve my rut, and I didn’t want to hurt an innocent person. Shin-woo can handle me.”

Shin-woo. The name he called affectionately on purpose to irritate her stuck to his tongue. As expected, Joo-yeon shuddered.

“What’s lacking in you as an Alpha that you’d deal with a guy who’s not even an Omega? He’s the one who forged your father’s will too.”

“I know. I’ve heard it so many times my ears are calloused.”

It’s what she said every day on the phone without ever showing her face at the mansion. Will forgery. It wasn’t entirely implausible. His father had never even registered their marriage, and Shin-woo became Jae-seung’s sole custodian by falsely claiming that his mother was an alcoholic. It seemed he had done all sorts of dirty things to protect his assets, even using bribes and fabricating evidence. The unexpected appearance of Shin-woo’s name in the will was certainly suspicious.

But if he had gone to the trouble of forging it, he would have included content about inheriting a certain share, not volunteering to be his guardian until he became an adult. It didn’t seem likely that someone who would take off their pants for money would do such a useless thing. Above all, Jae-seung, who inherited all of his father’s shares, wasn’t very dissatisfied with the content of the will itself.

Joo-yeon tried to calm her excitement by dissolving sugar cubes in her hot coffee. The wrinkles on her furrowed brow were clear.

“I keep telling you because you don’t believe me. Your father is not the kind of person who would entrust your guardianship to such a thug, even if he was threatened. I’m telling you, that guy tampered with the will. Once a petty thief, always a petty thief.”

“It doesn’t matter who my guardian is now that I’m an adult anyway.”

“It doesn’t matter? Do you know how much money that bastard extorted from me under the pretext of child support until you became an adult?”

Jae-seung raised one eyebrow and glanced towards the door. He wondered if Shin-woo, who would be waiting outside, could hear the conversation.

It was news to him that he had claimed child support as a guardian. The man who had ruthlessly extorted money from his mother, who only talked about money and shares whenever she opened her mouth, suddenly seemed impressive. He could understand why she was so upset, having to fulfill obligations after having her rights taken away. As Jae-seung started chuckling with a smile on his lips, Joo-yeon, seeming to realize her mistake, added more details.

“I wouldn’t mind spending money on your child support. But do you think it was all spent on you? It probably all went into that guy’s pocket. Wake up. He’ll take even your organs if you’re not careful. When you were sick, he arbitrarily replaced all the people working at home. They’re probably all thugs from Mangwol District.”

“Excuse me.”

Jae-seung gestured to the servant who was pouring milk into Joo-yeon’s coffee.

“Please ask the man standing outside to come in. And bring another cup of tea.”

“Ma Jae-seung, you really!”

Joo-yeon raged with fire in her eyes, but ultimately couldn’t break Jae-seung’s will. Perhaps because she thought there was money to be received, she was generally lenient towards Jae-seung in many ways. Like everyone else. Jae-seung smiled as he watched Shin-woo enter through the door.

A three-way meeting. If they sat down and talked together, something would surely come out. Jae-seung took a sip of the coffee that was served to him. It was tasteless black coffee, but it felt relatively good because the words he was about to spit out were much more bitter.

“Don’t be too angry, Mom. Think of him as my plus one. I’m in a weak state of mind and body right now. I was recently r*ped.”

R*pe. As soon as the word dropped, silence fell, and an explosive tension filled the room. Shin-woo, who had followed the servant in, glanced sidelong at Jae-seung and quietly sat down beside him.

The hands of the servant placing the teacup in front of Shin-woo trembled slightly. It was partly due to the rough energy of the Alpha whose rut had not yet ended, but also because Ma Jae-seung, who was furious to the tips of his hair, eerily resembled the late Chairman Ma. There was a hint of amusement in Jae-seung’s eyes as he observed Joo-yeon while dropping sugar cubes into the hot coffee. It was just like Chairman Ma, who looked most pleased right before exploding.

After the servant tiptoed away, trying not to grate on anyone’s nerves, Jae-seung flicked the last sugar cube into the cup with his finger. His patience dissolved as quickly as the sugar cube.

“Do you know someone named Han Yoon-seong?”

“…Never heard of him. Why?”

“He’s the r*pist, and he says Mother hired him. He was trying to extract my blood and semen.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Joo-yeon’s face turned pale. Jae-seung chose blunt words and then persistently observed her reaction. Amidst the suffocating gaze, Joo-yeon put down her cup with a clang and became angry.

“What nonsense is that? You should filter out such nonsense yourself instead of relaying it to me.”

“That bastard invited me to Mother’s villa. He said an acquaintance lent it to him.”

“Villa? What villa?”

She asked, opening her eyes wide.

“I have more than one or two villas, and there are separate people managing them all. How am I supposed to know what those people are doing behind my back?”

“Not one or two, but three. And all three are managed by one person.”

Shin-woo, who had been quietly observing until now, interjected. Joo-yeon forced a smile while meeting his gaze, which she had been trying to avoid.

“Anyway, I don’t manage them myself. If you tell me which place it is, I’ll send someone to look into it. I won’t just sit by when I hear my son has been through such a terrible ordeal.”

Joo-yeon, who didn’t use honorifics with her employees, spoke formally to Shin-woo. Jae-seung hadn’t known this before as he had never seen them face to face. He took in the sight of the two sitting across from each other, tilting his head to one side.

Shin-woo, who sometimes acted playfully to the point of annoyance, was glaring at Joo-yeon with his mouth firmly shut. Joo-yeon was drinking her tea without much change in expression, but her tension was revealed by how frequently she sipped.

Of course, she wasn’t the type to hold back her words just because she was tense. She smiled as she spat out sharp words.

“More than that, Shin-woo, you seduced my maid and now even my son. You have quite the talent, don’t you?”

He seduced the maid? There were many things he was hearing for the first time today. When Jae-seung turned to look fiercely, Shin-woo kept his mouth shut. It was unusually quiet for someone who normally never backed down from an argument. Perhaps encouraged by this, Joo-yeon lifted her chin haughtily and struck a dramatic pose, placing her hand on her chest.

“You don’t know how much that child liked Shin-woo like a fool. She said she felt a sense of kinship because both she and Shin-woo had difficult lives. Isn’t that foolish? While some people covet others’ possessions even when they’re poor, she was a child who lived honestly and diligently.”

“……”

“Shortly after my husband died, that child came to see me. She was so pale, looking at me like someone who had committed a crime. In the end, she didn’t say what the circumstances were, but I knew she was a child who would do anything for the person she loved.”

Joo-yeon’s eyebrows moved dramatically. She furrowed her brow as if vividly recalling that time.

“Not long after, she disappeared without a trace. At first, I felt hurt… but thinking about it, it was strange. She wasn’t the type to run away without saying goodbye to me.”

Joo-yeon trailed off, looking out the window. Even though he must have realized what her last words implied, Shin-woo didn’t even blink.

After briefly scanning the green scenery, Joo-yeon slowly turned her head. Her next words were too direct to ignore.

“Did you kill our Hye-jeong?”