AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 230

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2019

 

"My first responsibility is to my daughter... I won't risk her well-being and happiness, even if it hurts Sun-Mi." -- Huh Young-Mi

 

 

HYUNG-CHUL'S VILLA, SEONGNAM ...

 

Hyung-Chul brings in two cups of tea from the kitchen and sits in the chair facing Young-Mi, setting the cups on the coffee table between them.

 

"What 'unfinished business' did you want to discuss?" he asks, wondering if it is about their interrupted wedding.

 

"First, I have something to say concerning Ha-Eun," she replies. "You know she is my daughter."

 

"Yes. I heard from Sun-Mi," he confirms.

 

"Then you've probably also heard that I decided to keep Ha-Eun back with me for now."

 

"Why? ... Sun-Mi is heartbroken that you might cancel the adoption."

 

"I felt I had no choice," Young-Mi justifies her decision. "Song Jin-Suk looks at Ha-Eun like she looked at me -- as a 'weed' that will stink up her family..."

 

Hyung-Chul winces at hearing that word used to describe a child.

 

"I gave Ha-Eun to Sun-Mi, expecting she'd be raised in a loving home," Young-Mi expresses her anger and disappointment. "Not in a toxic situation like this!"

 

"But the situation is different now," he contends. "Jin-Suk changed her mind and decided to accept Ha-Eun."

 

"Really? Song Jin-Suk still hates me. What if she changes her mind again?" Young-Mi points out what to her seems a likely probability. "My first responsibility is to my daughter, I won't risk her well-being and happiness, even if Sun-Mi is hurt..."

 

"Then, are you intending to revoke the adoption?"

 

Instead of answering his question, Young-Mi asks her own, "How do you feel about Ha-Eun? Like Song Jin-Suk, or Sun-Mi?"

 

Intending to push her for an answer, he demurs, "How is that relevant?"

 

"I know you want to marry Sun-Mi, and Ha-Eun deserves a father who will love her as his own child," she puts him on the spot. "So, which is it?"

 

"The idea that children are accountable for the sins of their parents is reprehensible!" Hyung-Chul strongly delivers his opinion. "Ha-Eun is a beautiful child. If Sun-Mi and I marry, I promise that I will love Ha-Eun as my very own daughter."

 

 

Hearing this, Young-Mi smiles, to the extent her lips can curve upward...

 

"That's what I expected," she states. "You've satisfied my concern."

 

 

"Now, about our unfinished business..." Hyung-Chul goes back to his initial question.

 

Young-Mi replies, "After much prayer and reflection, with the encouragement of Mother Superior, I've decided to fully confess my sins and seek reconciliation with those I've wronged, which includes you foremost."

 

"If this is about your part in the Kims' conspiracy, it doesn't matter," Hyung-Chul replies. "I don't hold you responsible."

 

"Even so, I still want to clear up what happened when you were at the hospital," she insists.

 

"What difference does any of that make now? Why go back to reopen the past?"

 

"The good Lord has said, "If you know the truth, the truth will set you free' ..." she paraphrases Jesus' words from the Bible. "I want you to know the truth."

 

"You've confessed before, and each time your story is different," he remains skeptical.

 

"You have every reason to question my integrity," she agrees. "What I did was reprehensible, using the name of God to perpetrate evil, a sin for which I received what I was due..."

 

Then to Hyung-Chul's surprise, Young-Mi removes her veil, fully exposing her disfigured face...

 

Unconsciously, he averts his eyes...

 

"Look at me, Chairman Yoon," she requests. "Look at what I see each day..."

 

Reluctantly, he looks -- his first time to see the damage Bae In-Soo's blade had wrought -- and quickly averts his eyes again.

 

"Now you know what I bear as a reminder of what evil does to the soul, a warning for the rest of my life, should I ever be tempted again," she speaks emotionlessly. "I believe the Lord allowed this to happen -- used it to break through my pride and vanity -- to humble and lead me to a better way..."

 

She puts the veil on again, covering her face as before...

 

"As I said, God is healing me, not my appearance, but on the inside. It's like the prophet Ezekiel predicted, long ago...

 

... 'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart' ...

 

"This is the blessing the Lord did for me... gave me a new heart. And he showed me what unconditional love is, through His gift of a precious, innocent child. It's why I want to do the right thing, out of gratitude and for Ha-Eun's sake."

 

 

Persuaded that Young-Mi truly seems contrite and repentant, Hyung-Chul decides to listen... "Please, go on."

 

"There's something you need to know. The drugs Bae mentioned, I stopped giving those to you several weeks before the night I came to your room," she discloses. "Instead it was a mild hallucinogenic, to confuse you into believing I was Sun-Mi."

 

The vague images from that night sift through his thoughts, and Hyung-Chul suddenly has a queasy feeling in his gut... "So you're saying that ... you and I ... actually ..."

 

"Yes... You were quite capable of fully acting on your mistaken belief," Young-Mi affirms. "I lied about that at the wedding, trying to save my life, and afterward, because I felt nothing mattered anymore. But now I'm asking forgiveness for those lies, and what I did."

 

"We all have failings," Hyung-Chul acknowledges, thinking of his own. "So we all need forgiveness at times, too."

 

"Thank you," she answers appreciatively. "This makes it easier for what I have to say next... something else I have to confess..."

 

 

Hyung-Chul senses where this is leading, even as Young-Mi confirms his suspicions...

 

"I also lied when I said that Bae In-Soo was Ha-Eun's father. Actually, Ha-Eun is your daughter... our daughter..."

 

Young-Mi opens her handbag and takes out an envelope, which she places on the coffee table.

 

"I had a DNA test done with your blood sample from the orphanage hospital," she informs him. "The proof is in here... If you want, have your own test done to confirm it."

 

 

Hyung-Chul stares at Young-Mi, stunned by her revelation... and the implications...

 

"I know this is a shock to you," she apologizes. "But it was time to end all the lies and face the truth. Now you understand why I had to revoke the adoption, since you are entitled to share full custody rights in the decisions regarding Ha-Eun."

 

Still at a loss from the sudden realization he is undeniably a father, he asks, "Where do we go from here? What do you want me to do?"

 

Young-Mi's stark answer is crystal clear...

 

"You made a promise," she reminds him. "I expect you to step up now, and keep it..."