Mine | Bbangsaz

(1) Poison

Hanni's POV

This noisy atmosphere is really making me uncomfortable. I miss my quiet and peaceful room, where I could sit and read while listening to soft music. The excessively loud music is almost making me lose my patience. I really want to leave this place, but I can't. I've heard that wicked woman is going to come here in a little while, and it's making me even more anxious.

I tried pulling down my uncomfortable short black skirt. This waitress uniform is really uncomfortable, with a low-cut neckline and a skirt that's too short. I feel like I'm forced to disguise myself as someone unfamiliar. But that's the whole point; I don't want that woman to recognize me, although it seems unnecessary to worry about it. We only met once, in a brief and accidental encounter when she visited my father in his office. Back then, my appearance was very different. I had long hair and wore thick-framed glasses that covered my face. My attire was also more modest and proper, a far cry from the waitress uniform I'm currently wearing.

I squinted my eyes again; I truly looked like a cheap woman, I sighed inwardly. The loud noise coming from the entrance caught my attention, and as I searched around, I finally spotted her! That woman, who had a slight difference from other women in general, was there with her dramatic entrance, surrounded by numerous burly bodyguards. Unconsciously, I snorted. Of course, she was the wicked woman who enjoyed hurting others, surely having plenty of enemies who wanted to kill her.

Curiosity brimming within me, I tiptoed to get a clearer view of Kim Minji's figure. She was a feared figure in the business world, never hesitating to crush anyone who stood in her way. Anyone who dared to oppose Minji would undoubtedly end in tragedy, just like my father and my entire family. I sighed bitterly, feeling the deep pain in my heart as I recalled the events.

Once, my family was affluent. My stepfather, Jung Hoseok, was a successful entrepreneur in the renowned Geumsan Ginseng industry, known for its unquestionable quality. We had hectares of land outside the island, and we were incredibly wealthy. To me, my family was a happy one, even though my mother, Choi Jinri, was a fragile woman plagued by illness. But beyond that, she was the perfect mother to all of us.

My thoughts drifted to those happy moments when my father, my mother, and I would gather around the dining table, enjoying breakfast together with love. My father would share his business travel experiences, and my mother would gaze at him with adoration. Everything felt so blissful, so perfect. I miss those times when we could be together without any problems or tension.

Until Kim Minji entered our family's life. Minji was drawn to my father's rapid business growth and had the idea of forming a partnership. Initially, my father wasn't interested; he was content with running his own business. But Minji wouldn't give up. She tried various ways to get closer to my father. And somehow, my father eventually succumbed to the power of someone as ruthless as Kim Minji, to the grip of a dark demon that once it seized, would never let go. I felt sad and disappointed with my father's choice, but I couldn't do anything to change it.

Minji truly destroyed my family, literally. I don't know why, but my father's ownership of the business was nullified just like that, everything was taken by Minji and controlled under her command. My father had no rights left except for a monthly allowance for him and his family.

We instantly fell into poverty. Our luxurious house was forcefully seized, and we had to move to a small. We had to fend for ourselves without the servants who used to cater to our every need. I could endure it all, but not my mother, who had always been accustomed to wealth since she was young, like a princess. Even after marrying my father, my mother had never experienced life like this.

My father was accustomed to treating my mother like a queen, with many servants surrounding her. My mother was shattered when she was forced to cook for herself with her frail and unskilled hands - as she had never cooked in her entire life. And it worsened as we became poorer, suffering more and more. Eventually, the suffering became unbearable for my mother; she started falling ill, growing thinner, and crying more frequently in the silent nights. Then one morning, my mother was found lifeless, as if she had simply passed away.