“……”
Yang Hye-in felt a moment of choking in her throat at those words.
What should she say?
She definitely thought she should apologize. When she first came here to start working, she had thought, “It’s nice to have a quiet one.” But seeing all the absurd things that child had to go through, and pretending not to see them, she didn’t even consider what state that child, who was closest to her, was in.
And—
And on the day Sara thought of taking her own life, she was just relieved to see that Sara was safe.
Yeah, it wasn’t that she was relieved Sara didn’t die.
It was just that she was relieved the child she had to protect wasn’t dead.
……That day, Yang Hye-in had thought that the wound on Sara’s back was inflicted by Sara herself.
Even if she had thought that, it would have been normal to consult with the police at that point. Or at the very least, she should have tried to understand the psychological issues that Sara, who had tortured herself while her back was filled with bruises, was facing.
No matter how one-dimensional her thoughts were, she should have at least thought to treat the wound on her back.
Any choice among those would have been much more humane than just taking her home or fleeing the scene.
But Yang Hye-in didn’t consider any of those options, not even one.
In that moment, she simply moved for her own sake.
To maintain her job, which paid 500 million won a year, certainly tempting enough for anyone. To avoid angering the face of the richest company in the world.
No matter what excuses she tried to use to wrap up and justify her decisions back then, as long as the fundamental problem remained, Yang Hye-in would never be free from what had happened.
No matter how much she testified in front of the police, confessing her sins.
The past where she had driven a child to death with a late decision wouldn’t change.
And besides—
“……”
Yang Hye-in looked up at Sara… no, at ‘Sara’.
Though she wore a smile, it rather felt emotionless. As if that was the basic expression she could show, as if there was no need to show any other expressions.
There was no anger, no hatred, no ridicule, no resentment.
Perhaps, if she asked for forgiveness here, this ‘Sara’ would accept it. And she would tell another Sara sleeping inside her, “I’ve decided to forgive.”
That Sara would probably believe ‘Sara’’s words.
And perhaps, that would really be the end.
The wrongs that Yang Hye-in had committed against Sara would simply be brushed aside.
Maybe she would pay some price in her own way. But that was not the cost that ‘Sara’ wanted her to pay.
It was an empty judgment that resolved nothing.
…But, she couldn’t just walk away without apologizing.
Yang Hye-in thought her sin was too clear, and that this moment to apologize wouldn’t come easily again.
“I’m sorry.”
Thus, Yang Hye-in apologized.
Slowly, deeply bowing, pouring as much sincerity into it as she could.
She could not say much. If she brought up each detail, it would turn into mere excuses. It would feel as if she was adding meaningless statements to seek forgiveness for her sins.
“Well, alright. Just do well moving forward.”
“……”
‘Sara’ accepted the apology all too lightly.
“……”
A heavy silence hung in the room.
“Umm……”
Yang Hye-in was still bowing, but ‘Sara’ seemed lost in thought, as though she no longer cared about that.
“Does this solve one thing?”
As if this was the first time she was doing such an act, ‘Sara’ said with an atmosphere of having solved a problem.
“……Uh……”
In the end, it was Ha Neul who finally spoke up.
“Umm, can I say something?”
“Do whatever.”
At Ha Neul’s cautious question, ‘Sara’ shrugged her shoulders in response.
Ha Neul took a slight breath and spoke.
“…I think it’s unreasonable to demand a certain attitude from the person receiving an apology. In the end, apologies and forgiveness are supposed to match the feelings of the person receiving them. But……”
“But?”
Seeing ‘Sara’ tilting her head in genuine confusion, Ha Neul pondered a bit before speaking again.
“Are you truly not angry? You’ve been treated like that all this time. So… don’t you want to take revenge on the kids who ostracized you, or hope that the servants sincerely repent for their wrongs…?”
Seeing ‘Sara’ gaze back at her, Ha Neul’s voice gradually faded away. Saying such things felt a bit foolish.
Yeah, receiving an apology depended on the heart of the receiver. It wasn’t something one could just advise from the side.
“So, is that it? Like the villains in old tales, making them pay for their crimes?”
With her arms crossed and tilting her head, ‘Sara’ said.
“Right?”
Ha Neul answered a bit uncertainly.
“Hmmm.”
‘Sara’ thought for a while in that position before slowly opening her mouth.
“There were times I wanted to do just that.”
And scratching her neck, she spoke as if revisiting memories of the past.
“So, when I was younger, I did want that. Not so much to make them pay, but I just hated everything around me. I really didn’t keep quiet about that. You all read what I wrote, right?”
‘Sara’ gestured towards her desk drawer.
“That must be written in there too, right? I said I hit, scratched, and bit the servants. But even so, nothing ever changed. From that point on, there was hardly anything I could do. I just learned to stay silent, to not expect anything.”
“……”
‘Sara’ spoke nonchalantly, as if recalling mundane old tales, but for those listening, it was a weighty narrative that made them hesitant to speak.
She just wished for something normal, like everyone else, but being unable to achieve anything, she learned not to expect.
And until now, she had continued living without expecting.
That’s why ‘Sara’ had never hoped for punishment for those who tormented her. She had never wished for them to seek her forgiveness. What ‘Sara’ wanted was merely the attention of the only person who came looking for her, the only one who spoke to her, Choi Na-kyung.
“……”
Ha Neul bit her lip.
Up until now, the conversation had established that ‘Sara’ was just like any other child. A child who hoped for others’ interest, friendship, and the love of family and parents.
Yet, that was overly optimistic about the situation.
Ha Neul knew that ‘Sara’ had become much brighter and more proactive due to the influence of the original Sara.
But the essence of ‘Sara’ did not change.
‘Sara’ had already been broken long before she thought of taking her own life.
In the moments when family love was most fervent, ‘Sara’ had been abandoned by all that love. She was locked in an empty mansion…… spending an incredibly lonely childhood.
And because she was so lonely, she came to think that solitude was natural—
Ultimately, she had become someone who ‘no longer expected’ anything.
Of course, that didn’t mean she expected nothing at all. But those expectations were extremely limited.
The ‘mother’ ‘Sara’ spoke of was none other than Choi Na-kyung or Sara. Just those two people.
From their reactions, it seemed meeting Choi Na-kyung would require caution in the future.
The reason ‘Sara’ had come out to the world like this was simply that she felt guilty.
“…So… that’s it. I don’t really want anything. Just because I wish for it doesn’t mean those people will apologize. Just because they apologize doesn’t change anything for me. It doesn’t change my childhood either. I can just continue living as I have until now, right?”
‘Sara’ said this and then smiled brightly.
“Now I have friends. There are people who accompany me wherever I go. I won’t have to worry about lacking money. So isn’t that enough?”
At first glance, it sounded very positive.
But that demeanor made it seem—
As if someone who had never possessed anything finally obtained a small fortune, stopped walking, and said, “This is enough.”
Someone who appeared proactive but was, in reality, a thoroughly passive being. A fragile existence ready to crumble without someone by her side.
Among the people in that room, there probably wasn’t a single person who didn’t think of ‘Sara’ that way.
