Jeong Myeongja pressed her aching forehead.

Her wrist was already burning with pain, but her husband only yanked her toward him harder.

"This is what happens when you ignore everything I say. How many times did I tell you to stay at home, huh?"

Jeong Myeongja stared blankly at his face.

"Where do you think you're looking, staring at your husband like he's the heavens?! Lower your eyes!"

Her husband immediately raised his other hand as if to strike.

Behind them, clutching her phone, Chae Boksun stomped anxiously in place.

"Oh my, this is Hyeonnim-ro 6! A drunk man is beating someone! He’s beating someone!"

"Old woman! Put the phone away!"

Still gripping Jeong Myeongja’s wrist, the husband kicked over the flowerpot in front of apartment 107.

The ceramic shattered into pieces, dirt scattering everywhere.

"Then why did you send me that divorce filing? Who do you think you are, what right do you have!"

It was hard to even call him a husband.

He was always wandering outside, and when he showed up once every few months, it was almost always for money.

There were times when his cruelty went too far.

Back then, she couldn’t even work in nearby eateries.

Her face never had time to heal from bruises, and she ended up shutting herself inside the house.

At the sound of footsteps on the stairs, her heart would pound wildly.

But.

'I didn’t do anything special.'

After Tie’s father, Kim, came by once, her husband became quieter.

He came far less often, and even when he did, he would just look down, take the money, and leave.

'Papa of Tie. I...'

'I heard you looked after Tie today.'

'Ah, yes, I fed her and put her to sleep. By the way, did you say something to my husband...'

'Thank you, always.'

How he had managed to subdue him, she never found out.

But he had been a good, upright young man.

Not one for many words, but careful because of it—his words and actions carried a heavy sense of responsibility. A real father.

And a daughter raised by such a father could not help but be wonderful.

'Auntie! Tie wrote this! Jeong Myeongja! Auntie!'

'Oh, our little one, how do you write so beautifully with those tiny hands?'

Just looking at the child made the gloom recede like the tide.

The body that had been shivering filled with warmth.

'Auntie. Does Uncle still hurt you?'

'...Uncle?'

'Tie told Papa that Uncle hurts Auntie, and it hurts Tie too.'

'......'

'And asked if when people marry, husbands hit their wives too?'

That was when she understood everything.

'That lunatic. The moment he ran into him downstairs, his eyes bulged and he caused a scene!'

Since then, whenever her husband came home, all he did was curse Tie’s father.

'Just a green brat, and what? Doesn’t want his daughter to see him beating his wife? Thinks his daughter is something special?'

'......'

'What kind of person is he going to raise! Living in some dump and dragging the kid into it too! Tch!'

Strangely, only one thought came to Jeong Myeongja’s mind.

'If only my father had been like Tie’s Papa.'

Even if poor, even in a cramped room.

At least someone who tried to show his daughter [N O V E L I G H T] only good things.

'...Let’s get divorced.'

If that had been the case, maybe she wouldn’t have wasted her life on such a beast.

'What? What did you just say?'

'I said let’s get divorced. I don’t want anything from you. Let’s just separate. You have somewhere else to live anyway. You don’t have to come here!'

For the first time, she shouted through her tears.

And the husband with the clenched fist did not seem frightening to her for the first time.

'Why are you tormenting me! Why can’t you just leave! Just let me go! Let me live at least a little—!'

Her screams echoed through the poorly insulated building, and in that moment, Jeong Myeongja felt freedom for the first time.

Her body was still bound, but her soul felt like it had soared.

'I’ll send the divorce papers to your address. I will.'

She said that and walked proudly out of apartment 203.

Her husband did not come down to 107 after her.

She was sure it was because of the father and daughter from 106, sleeping beyond the wall.

After that, life was neither good nor bad.

Her husband did not sign the papers.

But he did not come anymore either.

He always avoided what was disadvantageous to him.

'Unni, I think I might be able to get divorced.'

The longer she lived apart, the stronger her hope grew.

Hope that it could all end.

Hope that she could be happy too.

'When I get divorced, I want to take Tie to an amusement park. She keeps talking about it these days. I think all the kids from kindergarten go there.'

'You don’t like crowds.'

'But I’ll go with Tie! With Tie, I’d even fly beyond the stars. My treasure. I’ll ask Tie’s Papa too, and you come with us.'

Back then, she didn’t know.

That when a person dreams of something beyond their reach, it inevitably shatters.

'...What is this...'

Tesetan disappeared.

'What do we do, the child is gone! The child is gone!'

The next day, Tie disappeared without a trace.

'Look at that satisfied face of yours. You must’ve been living well, huh?'

During those few days when her husband returned to 203.

"......"

Jeong Myeongja was dragged back into the swamp she had barely escaped.

Only this time, deeper and faster.

"I’ll definitely—hic!—bring you to your senses! Now that that strange guy isn’t around, I’ll show you, got it?!"

Her husband shoved her.

She staggered and collapsed onto the ground, covered with dirt and broken shards of the pot.

A shard pierced her hand.

"B-blood!"

Chae Boksun, pale, rushed between them.

But the husband only glared at her viciously and stepped forward.

"Move aside."

"I-I won’t!"

"You old hag!"

He raised his hand.

And at that moment, a sharp wind swept through the alley.

Thunder rumbled as if rain was about to fall.

"Ah—!"

A sudden hum filled the air, and a heavy pressure surrounded them.

Chae Boksun instinctively shrank, then felt a strange force, turned—and went pale.

"C-child!"

Tie stood at the door of apartment 107—barefoot.

"Don’t hit Grandma!"

She clenched her fists and shouted.

"You bad monster human!"

At that same moment, dozens of glowing turquoise rings unfolded around her.

Chae Boksun leaned against the cabinet in terror.

Jeong Myeongja also stared with wide eyes.

"Y-you... from 106...!"

Chains instantly wrapped around the husband.

Soon blue smoke poured out, and his body lifted into the air.

"Aaaah!"

"Wh-what is this...!"

Chae Boksun looked at Tie with trembling hands.

Tie turned her head.

Their eyes met—and the child’s eyes instantly filled with tears.

"Grandma..."

Then she looked at Jeong Myeongja.

"Auntie...!"

Tears streamed one after another from her large eyes.

"Don’t worry anymore. Tie... sob... grew up in the Tallocium Empire!"

Both women fell silent.

"Tie became very, very strong, so now Tie will take care of Grandma and Auntie!"

The girl tightly hugged Jeong Myeongja, who was lying on the ground.

She froze, her mouth slightly open.

And the moment they made contact—

the wound on her hand began to slowly close.