Hayoung had been lying on the couch as she cried her heart out. She felt disgusted that she let her jealousy get the better of her. She trusted her husband that he wouldn’t do such a thing, but it seemed like her heart wanted to believe more on the pictures rather than his explanation. She did blame her hormones though, as she knew she would prefer to act rationally and use her brain to discuss about it, rather than allowing her emotions go wild. Too preoccupied in letting her tears cascade down her cheeks, Hayoung didn’t even hear the sound of the door being unlocked until she heard a voice which signalled her that she wasn’t alone.

“Finally, I found you.” The deep voice had her startled, as she quickly wiped her tears away before turning around to see the intruder. He began walking closer to her in a slow pace as if he knew he was the predator while she, being the prey, could only back away in fear. She immediately rushed to the bedroom and locked the door, not allowing the man to enter. Of course she would do that. Who would be in the right mind to let the person who had hurt her badly to come in? She didn’t even had the guts to fight back Mr. Lee who had scarred her life permanently, whether physically or mentally.

“Open the door! Don’t think you can even run away this time round!” Mr. Lee banged the door harshly while she cowered her body at the corner of the room timidly. Thank goodness she had her phone with her, as she instantly called the person she could think of at that moment.

“Goddammit.” She muttered under her breath when she heard his phone playing the ringtone from the living room. Her tears were falling nonstop as her fingers trembled while she dialled her brother.

“Hello, Hayoung-ah?” Almost half of the tension in her petite body left as soon as she listened to Hoya’s calm voice. Nevertheless, she was still in panic as Mr. Lee continued to knock the door violently.

“Help… He’s here… Mr. Lee—” Her phone instantly escaped from her grip when the door was opened with a kick. She could only widen her eyes in horror when Mr. Lee entered the bedroom dauntingly.

“Hayoung? Hayoung? Are you still there?” Hoya’s voice resonated the entire room but the said girl didn’t dare to make a move as she watched her father beginning to unbuckle his belt.

“You think by running away, I won’t catch you? And now you’re married with some rich bastard, you think I won’t chase you? You’re absolutely wrong, Lee Hayoung. Absolutely wrong.” As he moved nearer towards her, the more she tried to cower in fear as she positioned herself in a foetal posture.

“This. Is. What. You. Get. For. Running. Away.” He lashed his belt every time he uttered a word. To say that she wasn’t in pain was totally an understatement. The pain was searing, but she was still in the same position as she tried to prevent him from attacking on anywhere near her womb. Her unborn child was still her priority.

There was no way she would permit the in front of her from harming her precious baby.

Woohyun was just aimlessly walking on the streets. He didn’t know where to go, especially when his mind was in a mess, as if it got hit by a whirlwind. He didn’t know what to do, he was just at a loss of ways to coax his wife. Maybe by giving her some space, she would be able to calm down. However, for some odd reason, he couldn’t seem to ignore the anxiety in him. He was so caught up in his own train thoughts such that he didn’t realise that he almost got knocked down by a motorcycle, if the driver didn’t quickly brake the vehicle. The motorist removed his helmet shortly after, as he heaved a sigh of relief.

“Thank God I almost knock you down with my bike!” Hoya exclaimed when he saw Woohyun was standing stupefied before him.

“Is that supposed to be a joke? Because I don’t find it funny at all.” Woohyun wasn’t in the mood to deal with his brother-in-law as he uttered those words darkly.

“Hayoung’s in trouble! Mr. Lee is in the apartment!” The scowl on Woohyun’s face soon disappeared as worry began to grow on him. He immediately got on Hoya’s motorbike, not bothering to wear a helmet in this time of crisis. Hoya started to speed up, not minding the cars who actually horned at him for changing lanes abruptly. He just had one thing in mind, which was to get to the apartment as soon as possible.

Woohyun didn’t waste a single second immediately after they had arrived as he soon sprinted up the stairs to get to his house, not waiting for Hoya. He could hear the sound of the whipping of the belt when he arrived at the floor. As he dashed to his apartment, he could still sense that the assault didn’t stop as the sound of the clothes tearing could be heard.

“How dare you!” Woohyun grabbed Mr. Lee by the shirt and threw a punch which caused the older man to stumble a little. He noticed his wife was shivering in terror at the far corner, with her shirt barely covering her as it was torn. This only angered him more as he continued to send more punches on Mr. Lee’s face, almost making him unrecognisable.

Hoya came a few moments later with two policemen following behind. Hoya went towards his sister immediately to check her condition while one of the policeman pulled Woohyun away as the other apprehended Mr. Lee.

“Let go of me! I still haven’t done yet with that mothering !” Woohyun was beyond mad at Mr. Lee, to the point that he didn’t mind the curses that were coming out from his mouth.

“That’s enough, Sir. We’ll take him from here.” The policeman who was holding on to Woohyun soon released his grip when Mr. Lee was brought outside. When they are gone, Woohyun suddenly remembered about his wife’s poor state as he soon rushed towards her.

“Hayoung, are you okay?” Of course she wasn’t okay, what nonsense was Woohyun thinking? He just want to hear her answer, any sound from her, but he didn’t get any as Hayoung soon went unconscious.