Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
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“……”
Yang Hye-in felt her throat tighten at those words.
She didn’t know what to say.
She had definitely thought she should apologize.
When she first started working here, she had merely thought, “She’s quiet, that’s good.”
Despite seeing all the absurd things happening to that child, she pretended not to see.
She didn’t even think about checking on the child who was right beside her to see what state she was in.
And—
—And on the day Sara decided to take her own life, she felt relieved when she saw that Sara was safe.
Yes, she hadn’t been relieved that Sara didn’t die.
She had simply been relieved that the child she was supposed to take care of hadn’t died.
……That day, when Yang Hye-in saw the scars on Sara’s back, she thought Sara had inflicted them on herself.
Even if she had thought that, the normal thing would have been to consult the police on the spot.
Or at least, she should have tried to find out what kind of mental issue caused Sara to abuse herself until her back was covered in bruises.
Even if she was thinking in the most simplistic terms, she should have at least thought about treating the wounds on her back.
No matter what choice she picked among those options, anything would have been more humane than simply taking her home again and fleeing the scene like she did.
But Yang Hye-in didn’t consider any of those options.
At that moment, she only acted for her own sake.
To maintain her job, which paid 500 million won a year, a job anyone would find tempting.
To avoid angering the person sitting at the top of the wealthiest company in the world.
No matter how she tried to package and justify her choices with excuses, Yang Hye-in could never be free from the fundamental issue behind her decisions at that time.
No matter how many times she testified before the police and confessed her sins.
She could never change her past, where she had driven a child to the brink of death through her delayed actions.
And, moreover—
“……”
Yang Hye-in looked down at Sara…… No, ‘Sara’.
Though there was a smile on her face, there was no emotion behind it.
It was as if that expression was simply her default, as if there was no need to show any other emotion.
There was no anger, no hatred, no reproach, no resentment.
Perhaps if she asked for forgiveness here, this ‘Sara’ would grant it.
And she would probably tell the other Sara inside her, “I forgave her.”
That other Sara would likely believe ‘Sara’s’ words.
And, perhaps, that would really be the end of it.
The wrongs Yang Hye-in committed toward ‘Sara’ would fade away.
Maybe she would pay for her sins in some way, but it wouldn’t be the price that Sara wanted her to pay.
It would be an empty judgment that solved nothing.
……But still, she couldn’t avoid apologizing.
Her guilt was too clear to herself, and the chance to apologize like this wouldn’t come easily again.
“I’m sorry.”
That’s why Yang Hye-in apologized.
Slowly, she bowed deeply, trying to put as much sincerity into her apology as she could.
She couldn’t say much.
If she started talking more, everything would just sound like an excuse.
Like unnecessary embellishments to gain forgiveness for her sins.
“Well, fine. Let’s get along well from now on.”
“……”
‘Sara’ accepted the apology, far too lightly.
“……”
A heavy silence filled the room.
“Hmmm……”
Yang Hye-in was still bowing, but ‘Sara’ seemed to have already lost interest, as if it didn’t matter anymore.
She fell into thought.
“Is this one problem solved, then?”
‘Sara’, acting as if it was something she was doing for the first time, spoke as if she had just solved a problem.
“……Oh……”
In the end, it was Ha-neul who spoke up again.
“Uh, can I say something?”
“I don’t mind.”
At Ha-neul’s cautious question, ‘Sara’ shrugged her shoulders.
Ha-neul took a deep breath and spoke.
“……I think it’s ridiculous to demand a certain attitude from the person receiving an apology. After all, an apology and forgiveness should be adjusted to the person receiving it. But……”
“But?”
As if she genuinely didn’t understand, ‘Sara’ tilted her head, and Ha-neul hesitated before continuing.
“Are you really not angry? You’ve been treated like this all this time. So…… wouldn’t you want to get revenge on those kids who ostracized you, or make the servants truly regret what they did…….”
Seeing ‘Sara’ staring straight at her, Ha-neul’s voice gradually weakened.
It felt a bit foolish to even say those things.
Yes, accepting an apology was entirely up to the person receiving it.
No one had the right to step in and say how it should be done.
“So, that’s what you’re asking, right? Like the villains in old stories, making someone pay for their sins or something.”
With her arms crossed, ‘Sara’ tilted her head and said.
“That’s…… right?”
Ha-neul answered a bit hesitantly.
“Hmmm.”
‘Sara’ stayed in that posture, thinking for a long time before she slowly opened her mouth.
“I’ve thought about wanting to do that.”
She scratched her neck as she continued, speaking slowly as if recalling past memories.
“Well…… when I was younger, I definitely wanted to. Not so much because I wanted them to pay for their sins, but just because I hated everything around me. Honestly, I didn’t just sit around. Didn’t you guys read what I wrote?”
‘Sara’ gestured toward her desk drawer with her eyes.
“I think I wrote about it there too? I hit, scratched, and bit the servants. But still, nothing changed. So, what could I do? After a while, there’s not much you can do. You just learn not to hope for anything.”
“……”
‘Sara’ talked as if it was a trivial old story, but to the listeners, it was such a heavy tale that they couldn’t easily respond.
She had simply wanted something ordinary, just like everyone else, but because she couldn’t achieve any of it, she had learned how not to hope for anything.
And up until now, she had continued living, having learned “not to hope.”
That’s why ‘Sara’ had never “hoped” that the people who tormented her would be punished.
She had never “hoped” for them to seek her forgiveness.
All ‘Sara’ had ever wanted was the attention of the one person who came to see her, the one person who talked to her—
Choi Na-kyung.
“……”
Ha-neul bit her lip.
Since they had been able to talk so far, she had thought that ‘Sara’ was just like any other child.
A normal child who wanted others’ attention, who wanted friends, who longed for her family’s love.
But that had been too optimistic.
Though ‘Sara’ had become much brighter and more active because of the influence of another Sara, that didn’t change who she really was.
‘Sara’ had been broken long before she tried to take her own life.
At the most critical moment in her childhood, when she needed love the most, ‘Sara’ had been abandoned by all of that love.
She had been trapped in an empty mansion, experiencing a terribly lonely childhood.
And in the end, she had become someone who simply “didn’t hope” anymore.
Of course, it wasn’t that she “didn’t hope” for anything at all.
But what she hoped for was extremely limited.
The only people ‘Sara’ mentioned were her “mother,” that is, Choi Na-kyung, and Sara herself.
Only those two.
From the reactions of both ‘Sara’ and Sara, it seemed that meeting Choi Na-kyung in the future would require some caution.
The reason ‘Sara’ had come out now was only because Sara felt guilty.
“……So…… it’s like that. I don’t really hope for anything. Even if I did, it’s not like all those people would apologize. And even if they did apologize, nothing would change. My childhood wouldn’t change. So I’ll just continue living like I have until now. Isn’t that enough?”
‘Sara’ said that with a faint smile.
“Now I have friends. I have someone who stays with me no matter where I go. It’s not like I’ll ever be short on money. So, isn’t that enough?”
At first glance, her words seemed incredibly positive.
But her expression—
It looked as though someone who had never had anything was finally satisfied after gaining just a little, saying, “This is enough,” and stopping in her tracks.
Though she appeared more active than anyone else, in reality, she was completely passive.
Someone so fragile that she would crumble if there wasn’t anyone beside her.
Among everyone in that room, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t see ‘Sara’ that way.