Chapter 082: Aftermath

After watching this video, I clenched the bedsheets tightly in my hands.

I truly regretted making that call now.

Why did it have to happen at such a perfect coincidence?

Was it really fate playing a cruel joke on me?

Making Yumi hide the truth from me.

If I hadn’t installed these surveillance cameras, I might have truly become a fool, a cuckold.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Thinking about all this, shouldn’t I feel incredibly fortunate?

After putting down her phone, Yumi lay on the bed, preparing to sleep.

Yet she wept uncontrollably, as if tonight’s events had completely overtaken her.

Like me, she couldn’t accept this coincidence.

In her deepest helplessness, she’d resorted to this childish “game” to decide her path forward.

“Yumi, if this was a one-time thing, I can forgive you. I can forgive you for losing your virginity, because you were raped; I can forgive you for hiding it, because it was a twist of fate orchestrated by Heaven and me. But if there was anything else… if you let yourself sink into it, if you were a willing participant… then… it’s over between us…”

My hand trembled as I held the mouse, the cursor shaking on the screen in sync with my trembling hand…

The date on the video was just over two weeks after I had left home, still nearly a month and a half before I was due to return…

So I suspected things might not be as straightforward as they seemed.

Though I had no appetite, I ordered takeout anyway.

I didn’t want to collapse before I had uncovered the whole truth.

After finishing my meal and taking a few deep breaths, I went back to watching the videos.

I was determined to get to the bottom of everything before our wedding anniversary.

That night, Yumi had somehow managed to fall asleep—a rare occurrence—but her rest was fitful.

She kept waking up with startled jolts, as if the memory of that rape was haunting her even in her dreams.

The next morning, she rose as usual to prepare breakfast for Jihoon, yet she herself ate nothing.

Yumi hadn’t consumed food in over thirty-six hours. At this rate, her body would break down.

Upon hearing Yumi rise, Jihoon also got up too. However, he simply sat in the living room watching her prepare breakfast.

For the first time, I saw a flicker of regret in his eyes.

Perhaps he hadn’t anticipated that the reality would differ so starkly from novels or adult films, nor had he imagined the consequences would be so severe.

“Mom, can we have a proper talk?”

After finishing breakfast, Yumi was about to return to her room when Jihoon finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up.

“There’s nothing to talk about. Go eat…”

Yumi didn’t turn back.

Perhaps because she hadn’t eaten in so long, her voice sounded incredibly weak.

“But you haven’t eaten anything for two days…”

Fear and worry filled Jihoon’s eyes. Yumi’s hunger strike left him at a loss.

After all, he was still young and had no idea how to navigate the complexities of an adult’s mind.

“I’m not hungry…”

With those words, Yumi closed her bedroom door and immediately locked it from inside.

She’d kept her door locked these past two days, seemingly afraid Jihoon would sneak in and violate her again.

But now, her actions felt like closing the barn door after the horse had bolted.

Watching the door close and hearing the lock click into place, Jihoon grew restless on the sofa, unsure of what to do…

He looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.

His childish demeanor now stood in stark contrast to his behavior that night; it was as if the Jihoon of today and the Jihoon of that night were two completely different people.

In the end, he could only sit dumbly on the sofa, leaving the breakfast Yumi had made for him untouched.

By noon, when Yumi prepared lunch for Jihoon, she noticed he hadn’t touched his breakfast.

Come evening, as she set out to make dinner, she discovered he hadn’t eaten either breakfast or lunch.

Yumi knew Jihoon was in a crucial growth phase.

She watched him eat every day, anxious that skipping meals might stunt his development.

That was why, even in her own sorrow, she never forgot to prepare his food.

“Why haven’t you eaten?”

Yumi finally asked when she saw that Jihoon hadn’t touched either breakfast or lunch.

Like her, Jihoon had spent the entire day in a daze—Yumi in the bedroom, Jihoon on the living room sofa.

“If you don’t eat, I won’t eat either…”

Jihoon glanced at Yumi and said stubbornly.

Yumi froze at his words.

She looked haggard and drained—anyone else would have been bedridden by now.

For two full days, Yumi had consumed nothing but water, not a single grain of rice.

She didn’t know what to say, only feeling helpless.

Yumi turned and went back to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

It was a simple meal, nothing special.

Today was their last day of vacation; tomorrow, they would both return to school as usual.

“Let’s eat…”

Soon, Yumi had finished preparing the meal and set it on the table.

Yumi sat down at the table, served herself and Jihoon, then began eating slowly.

Seeing Yumi finally eating, Jihoon hurried to the table, grabbed his food, and started shoveling it in.

It was clear he was starving.

Yumi glanced at him with a complex look, her thoughts unknown.

Jihoon wolfed down a large portion, but Yumi only took a few symbolic bites. It was clear her mood had left her with little appetite.

After dinner, Yumi began clearing the dishes.

Once everything was tidied away, she returned to her bedroom, carefully locking the door behind her.