Page 124 of Perfect Happiness

“What house?”

“Jun always said he wanted to live in a place that overlooked Lake Hoamji.He would be able to write, go on picnics with Jiyoo, and—”

“Ha!Picnics.”Yuna said, cutting Jane off.“Who said I would let him spend time with Jiyoo?”

Jane wasn’t finished with her lie.

“And he said it was a great house for newlyweds.That’s why I went.”

“A house for newlyweds?He was planning on getting married?To whom?”

Yuna was throwing out questions one after another.And with each additional question, her voice got two pitches higher.Blood vessels were starting to pop out of the middle of her forehead.If this continued, her forehead was going to become a barcode of veins.Jane realized she had found the right button.

“Me.”

“In your dreams.This will end just like it did last time—with you kicking and screaming because he’ll never love you.”

Despite her words, Yuna seemed to have a creeping doubt.Every word she said was faster, higher, and fraught with anxiety.This was Jane’s chance to deliver the final blow.She picked a cliché but tried-and-true option from her playbook.

“We wanted to get married before my stomach got too big.We found out three months ago.”

Yuna’s eyes snapped to Jane’s stomach.Her gaze then zigzagged back to Jane’s face.She would have been less shocked had an opossum been pregnant with a kitten.Jane added one final punch for good measure.

“Do you want to see the ultrasound of your nephew?It’s in the car.”

“Don’t try to trick me.”

With the cleaver dangling between her bent legs, she started to mumble like a crazy person.

“Shameless son of a bitch.If I knew he was fucking you while begging to see Jiyoo.I can’t believe he threatened to call the police if I didn’t let him see Jiyoo.”

Jane was silently watching the veins that were exploding in Yuna’s eyes like fireworks.It didn’t take long for the fireworks to catch fire.Jane didn’t need to fan the flames anymore.It would turn into an inferno without her help.But for the sake of time, Jane decided to pour a bit of gasoline on the flames.

“That’s not an unreasonable demand.She’s Joon-young’s daughter, after all.Just like she’ll be my daughter once we get married.”

“What?”

Yuna tightened her grip on the cleaver that had been dangling.

“Your daughter?Did you just say she’ll beyourdaughter?”

Jane fixed her gaze on Yuna’s eyes so as not to flinch.Now that she had started, she planned on taking it a few steps further.

“Shall I tell you how I found this place?Jiyoo was in the hospital for a week after you dumped her off with me.She had a high fever for days and started talking deliriously.But there was something strange.Children usually want to find their mommy in times like that, but she didn’t ask for you.Not once.All she did was cry and call for Daddy.She kept saying he was at the ‘Half Moon Marsh.’And that Mother took him there in a wheelbarrow.”

Yuna blinked as though she were wincing.Appearing for a moment beneath her fluttering eyelids was a look of shock.If Jane had to guess what that look of shock was about, it would be, without a doubt, a feeling of betrayal.

“Is there another Half Moon Marsh besides this one?”Jane asked.

Yuna responded with her own question.

“So, is that why you came here?To find out if what Jiyoo said was true?”

“Yes.”

As soon as Jane said this, the cleaver came slicing through the air toward her neck.Jane instinctively ducked.The blade just barely grazed the crown of her head and stuck into the box next to her.Yuna pulled the knife out of the box and spoke:

“You want to know what I did to Joon-young?”