Jinyoung's mother had not slept properly in days.
Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered the look on her son's face.
The anger.
The exhaustion.
The way he had told her that she had destroyed his future.
She had spent years convincing herself that she was doing what was best for him.
She had wanted him to have a secure marriage.
A respectable family.
A future that would protect the company and preserve the family's position.
She had believed that Kyrah was a risk.
A distraction.
A woman who could complicate everything they had worked so hard to build.
And now, sitting alone in her bedroom, she was beginning to understand how wrong she had been.
She had looked at Kyrah's pregnancy and seen a problem.
She had looked at her son's love and seen an obstacle.
She had looked at Mi Rae and seen a suitable wife.
But she had failed to see the people behind those decisions.
Kyrah had been a woman who loved her son.
Mi Rae had been a woman who deserved to be loved.
And Jinyoung had been a man who was too afraid to choose his own life.
She pressed a hand against her chest.
"What have I done?"
No one answered.
She stood and walked toward the window.
Outside, the garden was still.
She remembered the day Jinyoung had first told her about Kyrah.
He had been smiling.
Not the polite smile he used at business functions.
A real smile.
He had spoken about Kyrah's intelligence, her ambition, and the way she challenged him.
She remembered how she had dismissed it.
She had told him that love was not enough.
She had told him to think about the family.
She had told him that he would understand when he was older.
And he had listened.
He had listened when she urged him toward Mi Rae.
He had listened when she warned him that Kyrah's pregnancy would complicate his future.
He had listened when she encouraged him to walk away.
But she had never asked him what he wanted.
Not once.
Her eyes filled with tears.
She had thought she was protecting his future.
Instead, she had helped him destroy it.
Jinyoung arrived at the family residence that afternoon.
His mother was waiting in the sitting room.
He looked exhausted.
His suit was slightly rumpled, and the shadows beneath his eyes had deepened.
He stopped when he saw her.
"Mother."
"Jinyoung."
He walked toward the sofa.
"Is something wrong?"
She looked at him.
"Sit down, please."
He hesitated.
Then sat.
For a moment, she couldn't speak.
She had rehearsed what she wanted to say.
She had imagined explaining herself.
Apologizing.
Asking him to forgive her.
But now that he was sitting in front of her, the words seemed too small.
She folded her hands in her lap.
"I need to tell you something."
Jinyoung looked at her.
"What?"
She took a breath.
"I regret what I did."
He frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
"Kyrah."
His expression changed.
She continued.
"I regret pushing you toward Mi Rae. I regret telling you that Kyrah wasn't right for you. I regret making you feel as though choosing the woman you loved would destroy your future."
Jinyoung stared at her.
For a moment, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
His mother lowered her eyes.
"I thought I was protecting you."
He let out a bitter laugh.
"Protecting me?"
She looked up.
"I thought I was making the right decision."
"You thought?"
His voice was low.
She flinched.
He leaned forward.
"Do you know what happened after I listened to you?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Jinyoung—"
"No. You need to hear this."
He stood.
"I listened when you told me to leave her. I listened when you said I needed to think about the family. I listened when you told me that a child would complicate my future."
His voice cracked.
"And I listened when you told me that I would eventually get over her."
She began crying.
He looked away.
"I thought I could."
He rubbed his face.
"I thought I could marry Mi Rae and move on. I thought I could build the life everyone wanted for me."
He turned back toward her.
"But I couldn't."
His mother covered her mouth.
Jinyoung's eyes were red.
"I couldn't forget Kyrah. I couldn't stop thinking about her. And every day I spent pretending I was fine, I made things worse."
He swallowed.
"Do you know what I did to her?"
His mother shook her head.
"I abandoned her."
The words came out painfully.
"I promised her I would take responsibility for the baby. I promised her I wouldn't leave her alone."
He closed his eyes.
"And then I did exactly that."
His mother sobbed.
Jinyoung looked at her.
"I watched her face change when I told her I couldn't be with her. I watched her realize that the man she loved was choosing everyone else over her."
He paused.
"And I walked away."
His mother reached for him.
He stepped back.
She froze.
"Jinyoung..."
He looked at her.
"You destroyed my future."
Her face crumpled.
He continued, his voice trembling.
"You helped me destroy the life I wanted. You helped me destroy the relationship I should have protected. And now I'm sitting here wondering whether my son will ever know me."
She began crying harder.
He looked away.
"I know I made my own choices. I'm not blaming you for everything."
He swallowed.
"But you made it easier for me to be a coward."
The words struck her like a blow.
She lowered her head.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then she whispered,
"I'm sorry."
Jinyoung closed his eyes.
She continued.
"I am so sorry."
Her voice broke.
"I saw Kyrah as a problem instead of a person. I thought about what her pregnancy would mean for the family. I thought about the company. I thought about your future."
She wiped her cheeks.
"But I never thought about what it would mean for her."
Jinyoung stared at the floor.
His mother looked at him.
"She was carrying your child."
He flinched.
"And I treated her as though she was something you needed to escape."
She pressed her hands together.
"I don't know how to live with that."
Jinyoung looked at her.
For a moment, he saw the woman who had raised him.
The woman who had always believed she knew what was best.
The woman who had tried to protect him in the only way she understood.
And he knew that she was suffering.
But he was too broken to comfort her.
He couldn't tell her it was all right.
It wasn't.
He couldn't tell her that he forgave her.
He didn't know if he could.
He simply stood there.
His mother looked up.
"Can you forgive me?"
Jinyoung's throat tightened.
He wanted to answer.
He wanted to tell her that he understood.
That he knew she hadn't intended to destroy his life.
But every time he thought about Kyrah, the pain returned.
He remembered her tears.
Her fear.
The way she had looked at him when he abandoned her.
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
His mother closed her eyes.
He continued.
"I don't know if I can forgive you right now."
She nodded slowly.
"I understand."
He looked at her.
"I'm not saying I hate you."
"I know."
"I'm just..."
He stopped.
He couldn't finish.
His mother wiped her face.
"You're hurting."
He nodded.
She looked at him with unbearable sadness.
"And I can't fix it."
Jinyoung looked away.
"No."
The answer was simple.
But it carried everything.
She couldn't fix it.
She couldn't return him to the day before he met Kyrah.
She couldn't erase the pressure she had placed on him.
She couldn't undo the pain he had caused.
She couldn't give Peppa back the months his father had lost.
And she couldn't make Kyrah love Jinyoung again.
Her shoulders shook.
Jinyoung stood motionless.
He wanted to comfort her.
Some part of him still wanted to be the son who could make his mother feel better.
But he had nothing left to give.
He was too tired.
Too angry.
Too full of regret.
So he simply walked toward the door.
"Jinyoung."
He stopped.
His mother looked at him.
"Please don't let what happened to you turn you into someone who hurts others."
He stared at her.
She continued.
"You cannot change what you did to Kyrah. But you can choose what kind of man you become now."
He lowered his eyes.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he nodded.
"I know."
He walked out.
His mother remained seated.
She looked at the empty doorway.
And for the first time, she understood that an apology could be sincere and still arrive too late to repair what had been broken.
That evening, Jinyoung sat in his car outside the family residence.
He had not started the engine.
He stared at the steering wheel.
His mother's tears remained in his mind.
Her apology.
Her admission that she had treated Kyrah as a problem.
He had wanted her to understand.
He had wanted her to admit that she had been wrong.
But now that she had, he felt no relief.
Because an apology could not return the months he had lost.
It could not undo the way Kyrah had looked at him.
It could not erase the child he had abandoned before he was even born.
He leaned back against the seat.
For the first time, he understood that there were some things he would have to carry for the rest of his life.
Not because he was being punished.
Because he had caused real harm.
And the people he had hurt were not obligated to forgive him.
He started the engine.
Then drove away.
He had a flight to catch in a few days.
And for the first time, he was beginning to understand that seeing Kyrah again might not bring him the relief he wanted.
It might only force him to face the truth he had spent months trying to escape.