Chapter 3
[If the court has any conscience, they won’t hand custody to the at-fault spouse who has no interest in the child.]
[And they’d give custody to the mother who abandoned her kid?]
[Who abandoned—! I… I left because of you…!]
Jaehyun had once again turned my insides upside down.
He knew exactly what tormented me the most.
I shouldn’t have stormed out of the house like that back then…
Regret that comes too late has no strength.
[I’ll bet everything I have to win custody. After I divorce you, I’ll have to spend some money. I don’t want to see Lee Yujin anywhere, in any media. I’ll take everything you have.]
[Ha…]
[Do you think I’ll get to see Lee Yujin kneeling and crying in front of me then?]
“Did you know from the beginning?”
“How could I not?”
Sunwoo shrugged with a grin.
Whether he was a moral person or a safe one didn’t matter to me.
I didn’t have even a moment to hesitate.
“…Ha.”
“Even your sighs are pretty. Did Jung Jaehyun really let you go?”
“What?”
“Hold this and stand there. I’ll take a picture and use it to promote our firm.”
Sunwoo thrust a sign with his firm’s name written on it toward me.
A doubt crept in—could I really trust this guy with one of the most important matters of my life?
“I’m not in the mood to joke…”
“Look at your face. That’s funny.”
Even seeing my serious expression, he only twisted his face into a grin.
“Is your grandmother doing well?”
I closed the file I’d been scanning and changed the subject.
“She passed away. The year before last.”
Kim Sunwoo answered casually, but it left an unpleasant feeling in my chest.
My memories of his grandmother were still vivid.
The time I showed up at his house unannounced and ran into her instead of him.
I could faintly recall her face as she led me inside, insisting I stay for dinner.
It had been the first time since I was fourteen—when I became a trainee—that someone had prepared a meal for me.
That memory was one of the few good ones from my childhood.
The sudden news of her passing weighed down the atmosphere in the room.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up…”
“Worry about your own situation. Is this really the time to think about anything else?”
Unfortunately, he was right.
I was already overwhelmed just dealing with the countless hurdles in front of me.
There were many things I wanted to ask him, but I decided not to bring up anything personal anymore.
“You don’t specialize in divorce cases.”
“Right. I’m not interested in messy affairs that don’t make money.”
Sunwoo didn’t take his eyes off me.
Just like that day in the underground parking lot.
“You’re already pretty famous in this field, you know? You pulled off something impressive.”
At my words, Sunwoo let out a small chuckle.
“Thanks for the compliment.”
A self-made lawyer in his thirties.
He handled lawsuits for major corporations and business magnates.
A few years ago, he secured a not-guilty verdict—after two appeals—in the clearly fraudulent stock manipulation case involving E Group that had shaken the news.
Not only that, he had recently also won a not-guilty verdict in T Group’s embezzlement case, drawing nationwide criticism.
“Even divorce specialists say it’ll be hard for me to get custody in this case. Do you have some other trick?”
“Well, divorce law isn’t my specialty. If they say so, I guess that’s how it is?”
That wasn’t the answer I wanted.
I didn’t have time to play along with his teasing.
“If you’re not confident, I’ll find another lawyer. I don’t have time for this.”
“Your personality hasn’t changed at all.”
As I tried to stand, Sunwoo stopped me.
“What are you trying to do?”
“I may not specialize in divorce, but as you know, I deal with chaebols.”
“Speak plainly.”
“The straightforward approach won’t work. Are you prepared to do whatever it takes?”
Sunwoo still looked at me with a playful, intrigued expression.
“Are you saying you’d do something illegal?”
“Ah… so you’re not ready for that?”
“……”
No—I was ready for worse.
But I wasn’t sure I could trust Kim Sunwoo, so I didn’t want to answer rashly.
“Looks like you still have some room to breathe, Lee Yujin.”
That was brazen.
Saying that while looking right at my strained face.
I couldn’t fully trust him.
But did I have a better option?
“I’ll do it. If it means I can raise Yeonha myself, I’ll do anything.”
My hesitation lasted only a moment.
His confident expression.
His bold, daring attitude.
It felt like it gave me certainty.
“Help me, Sunwoo.”
He must have understood how desperate I was.
Seemingly pleased with my answer, Sunwoo nodded with a smile.
“Alright. Shall we start with a statement of facts?”
“I have to do that again?”
I’d had to write one when I hired my last lawyer.
A document detailing how long the marriage lasted, what caused its breakdown, how much property there was, and who primarily cared for the child.
Hiring a lawyer and writing that statement marked the beginning of a divorce lawsuit.
“Do you really have no lingering feelings for Jung Jaehyun?”
It was an unexpected question.
No lawyer had ever asked me if I still had feelings for him.
Lingering feelings…
At some point, I’d been too swept up in everything happening to reflect on my own heart.
“Does that matter? Right now, I just need Yeonha—”
“It matters. Your lingering feelings could hold our plan back.”
I couldn’t answer right away.
It was true I wanted a divorce, but could I really say I had no feelings left for Jaehyun at all?
I had turned my back on him, bracing myself for the hardships ahead.
Personal emotions wouldn’t help me now.
That’s what I kept telling myself.
Yet Sunwoo had dug up the feelings I’d buried deep inside.
“I… don’t have any.”
Even I couldn’t be sure of that answer.
There was no way he would believe it.
“Yujin.”
Sitting across from me, Sunwoo leaned forward, closing the distance.
“……”
“Don’t let that feeling change.”
It felt like he could see right through me.
Unable to meet his eyes, I nodded.
His expression quickly softened, and a faint smile curved his lips.
“The divorce itself won’t be a problem. Even if Jung Jaehyun doesn’t want it, the grounds for fault are too clear.”
“And custody?”
“I’m planning to appeal the provisional ruling.”
“Appeal?”
“It’s an objection to the court’s provisional decision. In custody cases, the temporary custodian often ends up becoming the final one. We need to secure temporary custody first through an appeal.”
“Is that even possible?”
“As you know, we’re starting this case at a disadvantage. Still, you need to keep asserting your will to raise your child yourself.”
The word we from his mouth felt like a hand reaching out to me, standing alone in a swamp.
“Now you finally sound like a lawyer, Kim Sunwoo.”
“That hurts. Do you still think I’m the kid who used to skip school?”
At his words, a memory suddenly flashed through my mind.
Right… even back then, he looked at me with eyes full of disdain and disillusionment with the world.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Helping you…?”
Tap, tap—he drummed his index finger on the table.
Whether it was a habit when thinking or when nervous, he didn’t answer right away.
“I’m wondering… if I should just be grateful for your goodwill…”
“I don’t think I ever said it was goodwill.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
“I’m thinking. Whether representing you is just me showing off publicly… or…”
“……”
“…a personal interest.”
He met my gaze without avoiding it.
As if inviting me to read his intentions.
Knock knock.
The silence broke with a knock.
The large man I’d seen the night before opened the door and stepped in.
“Sir, you need to leave now.”
“When you call me ‘sir’ with that build, people get the wrong idea.”
I stood up first and looked down at Sunwoo.
“I hope this is just your way of showing off.”
He looked up at me, amused.
What was hidden behind that playful expression?
After years in the entertainment industry, I prided myself on reading people well, but Sunwoo—whom I hadn’t seen in a long time—was impossible to figure out.
And people you couldn’t predict were, more often than not, dangerous.
Relief and unease.
Hiding something in between, I gave him a brief nod and turned away.
