Daehyun stood frozen, her gaze fixed on the floor, unable to meet anyone's eyes.
Suho turned toward her, disbelief crashing through him.
"What…?" Haraboji's breath hitched. "What did you say?"
"Yes," she said again.
This time, she lifted her head and faced her father. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face flushed, guilt and anguish tangled together.
"I did it."
"Daehyun, imo—" Suho whispered, his voice breaking, his mind refusing to accept what his ears had heard.
"Yes, Suho." Her voice trembled, heavy with regret and pain. "I did this to you."
Tears slid down her cheeks as the truth spilled out, raw and unforgiving.
"It was me who threatened your housemaid. It was me who gave those pills to your wife." Her voice cracked. "It was me who caused your accident."
A collective gasp swept the room.
"I used the number registered in Yuna's name. When she found out and tried to tell, I threatened her into silence."
Mrs. Kim sat unmoving, shock hollowing her expression. Daehyun… the unni she trusted, the sister-in-law she loved like her own sister.
"Unni…" she breathed.
Daehyun's sobs grew louder, her shoulders shaking.
Haraboji's eyes glistened, disbelief etched into every line of his face. His only daughter. "How could you…" His voice wavered before turning sharp. "Why did you do this?"
"Because you always favored Suho," Daehyun yelled, years of resentment finally erupting. "And ignored my son, even though he is older… even though he is your grandson!"
She lifted her face and looked straight at Haraboji, her gaze unflinching.
"Because you always treated my son like an outsider," she said, her voice trembling but resolute. "And you favored Suho in everything."
"Why?" Her lips curved into a bitter smile.
"Because my son doesn't carry the Kim surname? Or because his mother is divorced… and he had to grow up without a father?"
"Daehyun," Haraboji growled.
"No, appa," she shouted back, her voice slicing through the room. "Today, you will let me speak."
Haraboji stiffened, caught off guard by the fire in her tone.
"You ignored me the moment I returned to this house as a divorcee," she continued, pain pouring out unchecked. "You ignored my child, too."
"You kept him away from me, away from this house, ever since he was little. You called it education. You called it work." Her voice cracked. "But I know the truth."
"You raised Suho and Minho right here, under your roof. You guided them, protected them, and groomed them to handle the company."
Her eyes burned. "But you sent my son away to America… to struggle alone in one of your least-performing businesses."
She took a shaky breath. "Why?"
"Why did you keep my child away from his mother? Why did you show such partiality? Why punish us like this?"
Her voice broke as she pointed at herself. "Am I not your child too? Do I not have a place in the Kim legacy?"
"What was my fault?" she demanded, years of resentment spilling free. "That you married me off for business? That the family you chose for me treated me like trash?"
"What was my fault, Appa?" she cried, "that you forced me to divorce the man you married me to?"
"What was my fault in all of this?" She stepped forward, eyes glistening. "Tell me, appa."
Haraboji stood silent, words abandoning him.
"You decided my education," she went on, voice hoarse. "You decided my husband. You decided my divorce. You decided my child's future."
A hollow laugh escaped her. "You decided everything in our lives."
Her eyes hardened, tears streaming freely now. "And for what? To ignore us our entire lives… like we never mattered at all?"
The room remained frozen, her questions hanging unanswered, heavy enough to crush the silence.
"You wanted Suho to inherit this empire," she went on, her voice cracking under the weight of years of resentment. "You wanted his child to carry forward your so-called legacy."
"You promised Minho equal respect and responsibility," she said bitterly. "But what about my son?"
Her eyes burned. "Did he deserve nothing? Is he not your grandson, too?"
"Why was he never part of your big decisions?" she demanded. "Why was he only good enough to obey… to be sent away… to be used, but never to inherit??"
Her shoulders shook as she broke down. "I was tired," she sobbed. "Tired of this injustice."
"So yes," she cried, her voice trembling. "I did it."
"I tried to kill Suho." "I tried to stop him from ever having a child."
She looked straight at Haraboji, tears streaming freely. "And you," she said, voice shaking with fury, "You are the reason I did all of this. You made me do all of this."
"You are the reason for every cruel thing I did to Suho."
Suho stood frozen. Tears slipped down his face, unrestrained, silent.
Never, not even in his darkest thoughts, had he imagined this.
Daehyun?
The one person he believed loved him unconditionally. The one he trusted more than anyone… probably more than his own mother.
Another betrayal.
First Yerin.
Now this.
Haraboji remained seated, his face hollow as he struggled to process his daughter's confession.
The room felt suffocating.
Suho blinked slowly. His parents were still in shock. Yuna sat unmoving, crying quietly.
He walked toward Daehyun. She was crying now, guilt and years of resentment spilling out together. He lowered himself in front of her, unhurried, and gently took her trembling hand.
"Don't cry, imo," he said softly.
His voice carried no accusation. Only exhaustion.
"And… I'm sorry," he continued, the words heavy but sincere. "I'm sorry for everything you and Sojun hyung had to endure. I'm sorry that because of me, you went through so much pain and injustice… and I didn't even notice."
Daehyun's heart clenched painfully. Her sobs broke louder.
"But please," he continued, eyes steady, "don't blame Haraboji for everything. He is our elder. He built this legacy. He carried this family on his shoulders for decades. He tried to keep us together in the only way he knew."
Haraboji's breath hitched. Tears welled up, stubborn but undeniable.
"He is old now," Suho added, voice gentler still, "and he is carrying too much. Blaming him alone isn't right."
His parents stared at him, disbelief and pain mixing in their eyes.
Suho offered a small, sad smile.
"It's just me," he said softly. "Because of me, all this chaos began."
"Suho…" Daehyun choked.
"No, imo," he said quickly, squeezing her hand. "Please don't cry."
"I understand your pain," he whispered. "I understand how it feels to be separated from the person you love. I understand how much it hurts to feel invisible… ignored."
He inhaled shakily.
"And I'm sorry for that."
"I truly believed our family was perfect," he admitted. "I thought I loved everyone equally… and I did. I really did."
His voice dipped, almost to a murmur.
"But I failed to see the wounds you were carrying. I failed to notice the pain you all went through… because of me."
Daehyun broke down completely.
He turned toward Yuna.
"Yuna imo… I'm sorry to you as well," Suho said.
She looked at him, eyes swollen, unreadable.
"I always wondered why you disliked me," he continued, voice steady despite the burn in his throat."Even when I loved Minho so much."
He paused, swallowing hard.
"But now I understand," he said quietly. "How my existence kept casting a shadow over Sojun hyung… and Minho. I never saw it before. I never thought about it."
The room was heavy with silent sobs. No one interrupted him. No one dared to.
"But not anymore," he said firmly.
The room stiffened. Suho stood up. And he took the file he had brought with him.
He walked toward Haraboji, each step calm, deliberate, as if his heart had already crossed a line the rest of them were only now beginning to see.
"Haraboji," he said, stopping in front of him, "You gave me one week to choose."
The old man looked up at him. For the first time, fear flickered openly in his eyes.
"You asked me to choose between the family legacy… and my wife, Hauen," Suho said.
A quiet inhale swept through the room.
"You asked me to choose between two pieces of my heart," he continued. His grip tightened around the envelope.
"After thinking endlessly," Suho continued, "after learning truths that were hidden, after fighting my heart and my mind, after breaking and rebuilding myself emotionally again and again… I've made my decision."
He finally looked at his grandfather.
The room held its breath with him.