Page 111 of Perfect Happiness
Someone had pushed Wife’s self-destruct button.
Eun-ho was less surprised than he was disturbed.This wasn’t the first time Eun-ho had seen wife lose it.But what did surprise Eun-ho was the way he responded.He pulled Wife off Jiyoo and picked the child up.
“Don’t touch my daughter, you sick son of a bitch.”
The blood started draining from Eun-ho’s head as he heard these words.There was a sinister implication in what she said.She brought her fists down on him as she repeated this over and over again.The more appropriate thing to say would be something like “This doesn’t concern you.”At least, that’s what most people would say.The only reason to say it this way was if he had touched Jiyoo inappropriately.
A chilling thought flashed through Eun-ho’s mind.Was this how Wife cornered her ex-husband in the divorce suit?Was this how she stripped him of his parental rights?
Eun-ho’s queries turned toward himself.What would happen if he asked for a divorce?As he searched for an answer, he pushed his imagination to the worst place.
He had no parental rights to be stripped of.And if Jiyoo was made to testify, she would agree with everything her mother said.Eun-ho wouldn’t be just a child murderer; he would also become a child molester.
Telling Eun-ho not to touch her daughter wasn’t just a slip of the tongue.She was both threatening to ruin his life while simultaneously laying the groundwork to make it a reality.This was just how she fabricated the story about his sleep disorder with those fake text messages.
“Eun-ho.”
He looked up from his desk.Wife was calling to him from outside the door to his study.
“Would you open the door for me?My hands are tied.”
Eun-ho got up from his chair.When he opened the door, he was met with glossed-over hazel eyes.He could smell alcohol in her breath.He had told her to come to him after drinking some water, but it seemed she had drunk alcohol while sitting alone in the dark living room.
Could he really tell her when she was like this?Eun-ho nervously stepped aside to let her into the room.Wife took one step inside.In one hand she had two glasses of ice, and in the other, an opened bottle of vodka.
“Have a drink with me,” Wife said as she lifted the bottle.She must have drunk a lot because she was slurring her speech.Eun-ho received the bottle and went back to his desk.He took out a folding chair, placed it next to the desk, then sat down in his office chair.
Wife didn’t sit down in the chair he brought out for her.Instead, she perched half her butt on the edge of the desk and looked straight at him.She pushed the two glasses toward him.Eun-ho poured each of them a glass.
“First, a toast.”
Wife held up her glass.Not knowing what else to do, Eun-ho held up his glass, too.Before he could ask what they were making a toast to, Wife clinked her glass against his.
“Today was the first time you’ve acted like Jiyoo’s father.”
Wife took a sip of her vodka before looking down at him.She stared at him with a stern look on her face, as if to ask,Why aren’t you drinking?Eun-ho brought the glass to his lips but didn’t drink.He had just sobered up, and the smell of vodka made him nauseous.
“I was really moved by what you did up there,” Wife said.
Eun-ho didn’t answer.Was that what Wife did when she was moved?Roll her eyes into the back of her skull and attack someone?
“Before, you never paid any attention to what I did to Jiyoo.But now you’re willing to fight me to protect her.”Wife rattled the ice in her glass.“What changed?”
Eun-ho focused his gaze on the ice cubes in her glass.He waited in silence because he wasn’t sure what it was that Wife wanted to hear from him.
“I’ll be honest with you.I was so mad today.Because of Jane and Jiyoo.”
Wife let out a long sigh.She looked down at her feet and shook her head for a while.Just when Eun-ho was starting to think that she had forgotten what she was about to say, she continued.
“I didn’t want to tell you this because it had to do with my family and because I was embarrassed, but Jane used to have feelings for my ex-husband.Although he never felt the same.She chased him all through college and even after they graduated.”
Eun-ho looked down at the glass in his hand.He was biding his time, waiting for the moment his words would deliver the biggest emotional blow to her.
“Perhaps that’s why Jane was so obsessed with Jiyoo.She’s always acting as if she’s Jiyoo’s mom.She even came to the house today while I was out.I knew as soon as I saw the Happy Meal box in the recycling bin.She brought Jiyoo a creepy puppet, too.Jiyoo’s young, so she likes those kinds of things.And because she’s been buying Jiyoo gifts and treats, Jiyoo lied for Jane.I specifically asked her if Jane came by today, and she lied.”
Wife drained the rest of the vodka into her mouth and held her glass out to Eun-ho, who filled it up for her.
“That’s why I had to discipline her.But then you showed up and did something you’ve never done before, makingmefeel like the villain.”
