Was It My Fault This Time Too?
Objectively, I grew up in a wealthy household.
That meant I never truly understood the importance of money as a child.
My mother and father had always said that what truly mattered was spiritual value and happiness, not money.
So I just studied hard, thinking that was the right path.
As long as I kept studying, one day I would have even more choices for the things I wanted to do.
But now that I had become a woman, I realized those words had been empty promises.
If I had truly been a bad student, those cheerful words would never have come out of their mouths.
Anyway.
If I had been the same person back then, I might have believed my aunt's words.
After my father died and my mother went to prison, if I had been living alone in that empty house, I would have accepted the kindness and simply followed my aunt to her house.
I wonder how my childhood cousins turned out—they were all so close back then.
My aunt's husband, blunt as he was but clearly full of love for kids, is he doing well?
I might have even been filled with hopeful anticipation.
But the moment I saw that there was no money in sight,
after surviving a month eating only cup ramen,
once I finally understood the preciousness of money,
my guard went up against my aunt's kindness.
Of course, if I had not become a woman, my family would not have fallen apart.
Seeing what happened, I felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
When I was truly struggling, no one showed interest.
Why had they come now?
Was this just the beginning of the greed I had always feared?
But I didn't want to believe that.
Even though there was no direct blood connection,
we had still been so happy together when I was a child.
Yet the moment my aunt brought up the inheritance, trust began to crack.
Still, I couldn't bring myself to coldly reject the warmth that had finally come.
……What should I say to refuse her?
I was momentarily speechless, but then something fortunate happened.
I didn't know how my father's inheritance had been handled.
“Um, actually, I never thought about it that far. Wouldn't your mother have received your father's inheritance?”
“Eh…… Noeul, you say you didn't receive the inheritance? That's impossible. Legally, you are the only heir. Murder by family members revokes the inheritance rights.”
“Huh?”
I had never even considered that.
Murder by family meant killing a relative, right?
But in that case, wouldn't my mother have no inheritance rights?
Yet she said she hadn't received it, so how were the electricity bills, gas bills, and apartment maintenance fees being paid?
Letters had been coming saying everything was automatically transferred without a hitch.
I mentioned those points, but my aunt shook her head firmly.
“From the very beginning, when someone dies, the first in line are the spouse and children. The spouse gets a 50% additional share, but the ranking is the same, so they would have received it together. However, there have been cases where people killed their spouse just to inherit, which is why the law forbids the perpetrator from inheriting. Of course, that's the law. If there was a will, it would take precedence over inheritance rights…… but it seems there was no will.”
It was an unfamiliar story, but I could roughly grasp the context.
Ultimately, my mother had no legal right to inherit my father's estate.
While I did.
The problem was that I knew nothing about the inheritance.
From the start, the only assets I had were the leftover money from tutoring and the settlement money.
But maybe this was actually the better situation.
If I told her that, I could avoid antagonizing her aunt and not have to hand the money over.
So I immediately opened the bank app and showed it to her.
“Look, I've never received any inheritance. I wouldn't have survived a month on only cup ramen if I had money…….”
“Oh my. A month? Noeul, you're in trouble. Come pack your things and move to my house. Living like that, a kid your age wouldn't even be able to stand up without collapsing. Anyway, since you don't know how your brother Jitae's inheritance was handled…… you wouldn't have even filed the death report or gone to the bank. Inheritance doesn't just happen automatically. No matter how much you grieve, the family still has to handle everything.”
“Yes……”
“I'll help you. I can't leave my niece living in such misery.”
It was awkward.
On the surface, it looked like pure kindness.
But seeing how persistently my aunt was trying to help me, a news article I had seen long ago flashed through my mind.
Parents die in an accident, a young child receives the inheritance, relatives come to raise her and then steal the “child-rearing expenses,” and by the time the child grows up and tries to reclaim the money, it has already been laundered and gone to the relatives' accounts.
To be honest, if my father's inheritance wasn't tempting me, it would be a lie.
Thanks to struggling in poverty, I had learned in my bones how desperately I needed money to eat and survive.
No matter how much, having money would certainly make things easier.
I wouldn't have to rush into becoming a pro gamer.
But it was money my father had abused me with.
I could say I had no pride, but I could also hear the whisper that I should be greedy as payback for everything he had done to me.
That realization, combined with the fact that I now suspected my aunt of wanting money too, made everything unbearable.
“I'm fine, Aunt. It would be troublesome for you. I'll look into it and visit the bank myself.”
“Are you sure? It's easier to go with someone who's experienced this once.”
“Someone who's experienced it once…… ah.”
“Yes, this aunt has experienced it twice—your grandfather and grandmother. Of course, it must have been much harder for you…… but you still have your mom. Later, when you visit her, ask her about it. Hmm, it seems complicated. I don't have your aunt's contact info, do I? I'll give you the phone number. Call me anytime you need help.”
But my aunt didn't press further.
Seeing me hesitate, she gave off a hint of withdrawing.
Instead, she handed me a fancy business card.
I took it, hesitated, and greeted her.
“Thank you for your concern.”
“Ugh. How much harder would it be all by yourself. Ah, and just so you know, I really meant what I said without any ulterior motives. When it comes to money, family and relatives disappear from view. If some distant relative suddenly comes looking and brings up money, I would just say thank you but it's fine and send them away. Don't listen to anything about insurance, investments, or anything. If anything happens, don't hand over any deposit slips.”
Yet my aunt had been the one to bring up the money first.
Was she telling me she was fine herself, but not to discuss it with others?
Should I suspect her, or could I trust her?
Either way, I couldn't decide.
If she hadn't brought up the money, I would have simply believed her and followed.
“Yes…… ah, I was too flustered and couldn't even offer you anything. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?”
“No, you should think things over too. You're an adult now, after all. Since your mom isn't here, Noeul, you have to become stronger.”
“I'll do that.”
But showing only caution about such things was something children did.
Hadn't I already experienced enough?
In this world, many people would stab you in the back without showing hostility.
In such a world, there was no need to make unnecessary enemies.
So I remained polite.
And the one who responded to politeness was the kind touch on my head.
My aunt gently stroked my hair, then stood up.
“Then I'll leave. Noeul, don't just eat cup ramen—eat something nutritious. I'll call you on a video chat to check.”
“……Ah, I'm doing much better lately. I even started eating meals with the downstairs neighbor aunt and uncle.”
“Hmm. Really? You haven't been asked to do anything strange, have you?”
“Ah, no. Nothing like that at all. Just that I felt lonely since my daughter left, and I treat her like one…….”
“Treating someone like a daughter is something many people do in this world. Women always have to be careful.”
“I will. Goodbye.”
It was all just concern, but complaining about the downstairs neighbors to someone I had just become friendly with still felt unpleasant.
According to them, the closer neighbors were better than distant relatives.
But the fact that they had passed away and offered help didn't feel like a lie.
When I returned to the room, overwhelmed by these complicated feelings, I was startled to find the next-door sister already lying on the bed.
“Eh, Unni. When did you get here?”
“Hehe, I came in while Noeul was out for breakfast. I hid to surprise her during the broadcast, but your aunt's visit ruined the timing.”
“Could you have made a sound or something…… I was really scared.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
If the next-door sister had been there with me and my aunt earlier, how would it have been?
……That kind of home would have been meaningless.
The past was already over.
I only knew what needed to be done, but I didn't know how.
Maybe it was fortunate that the next-door sister had finally appeared now.
“By the way, Unni, did you eat breakfast? Everyone around me is so diligent and it makes me jealous.”
“Jealous? Why? Because I and everyone else are morning people? This is tricky. I even ate a meal before leaving. That's why I came after getting ready for work? I came to play with Noeul before work.”
“That's too much. I was only going to talk to the viewers.”
“Hmph.”
Viewers and the next-door sister could give a more objective judgment.
Unlike my aunt and other relatives, they had no connection to me at all.
In fact, the next-door sister had been watching me without demanding anything, just enjoying the friendship.
Because of that, I could trust her more than my aunt.
“Sorry for disappearing for so long. My aunt came and we talked.”
Unexpectedly, the viewers had already heard the conversation with my aunt.
My heart gave a jolt, and I had no choice but to ask urgently.
“Eh…… Did we say something we shouldn't have?”