Ga Eun stood for a while, staring blankly at the tightly closed door of the study. As if she were someone who had to enter a place she shouldn’t, Ga Eun could only open the study door abruptly after taking a deep breath. Her cheeks were flushed red as if drunk.

Despite Ga Eun’s sudden entrance without knocking, Do Jun didn’t give her any attention. His attitude made Ga Eun feel like someone was tightly gripping her throat, choking her.

“Today is the last day.”

Ga Eun’s parched lips trembled. Feeling that if not today, she might never lie in bed with him again, she became impatient. Thinking it might be the last time, she wanted to properly embrace him even once, even if it meant putting aside all her pride.

“Talk about such things with the lawyer.”

Do Jun still fixed his gaze on the documents, driving her away with a cold voice. But today, she had no intention of backing down either. For three years, she had only watched his back. After the wedding, he spent more days away from home, touring overseas branches, than he did at home.

“I have one last request.”

Ga Eun moved her lips, mustering her final courage. Instead of answering, Do Jun slightly turned his head, belatedly looking at Ga Eun’s face as if annoyed.

“Sleep with me.”

Before her words were finished, Do Jun’s eyebrows sharply rose.

“If you’re drunk, rest in your room.”

When she heard through a friend that Do Jun was going on a year-long overseas assignment, Ga Eun had drunk a lot of alcohol, something she usually couldn’t handle. If they proceeded with the divorce as per the contract, by the time he returned from his assignment, they would already be divorced and strangers. That’s why this moment felt desperately like the last chance to see Do Jun. Just as Do Jun’s gaze was about to return to the documents, Ga Eun slowly approached him. As if gathering courage to approach Do Jun for the first time, her slender hands tensed with strength. Then she lightly kissed Do Jun’s cheek as he sat in the chair.

As if seeking compensation for three years of a dry marriage, she was the first to cross the line Do Jun had set. Perhaps she thought it was okay to do this much since he had been her husband for three years.

Ga Eun’s eyes, after lightly kissing him, became wet as if about to cry. She quickly turned away from Do Jun, as if trying to hurry out of the study, afraid of revealing her feelings.

At that moment, Do Jun strongly grabbed her wrist. In an instant, Ga Eun found herself sitting on Do Jun’s lap.

“I told you not to cross the line.”

His cold yet seductive voice pierced Ga Eun’s heart. But she no longer wanted to apologize to him. The words she had habitually said to him throughout their marriage. She didn’t want to say them until the very last moment.

Because it wasn’t a sin to have a one-sided love for someone. Unlike him who started without emotions, Ga Eun had chosen this strategic marriage out of love.

“This much compensation should be allowed.”

Ga Eun quickly stood up, as if she no longer wanted anything from Do Jun. This time, Do Jun stood up and suddenly devoured her lips passionately.

“If you want compensation, I’ll give it to you properly.”

When Ga Eun’s lips met Do Jun’s, she felt as if her heart would burst at any moment. His hot breath slowly seeped into her mouth, shaking her entire heart. The desire to have him grew stronger and stronger.

As Do Jun’s lips moved away, Ga Eun exhaled all her rough breaths.

“If you want, I’ll give you alimony with my body.”

Ga Eun’s body froze instantly at the gaze looking down at her.

“If you want it, I’ll give it. Alimony.”

Do Jun suddenly picked her up and headed to the bedroom. Although it was a situation Ga Eun had dreamed of for a very long time, pain spread as if a thick thorn was stuck in one part of her heart.

“You should have said it sooner.”

Do Jun pressed his body against Ga Eun’s as if they had always been lovers. Do Jun was also taken aback by Ga Eun’s behavior, which was different from usual. That’s why he thought she would run away from him if he scared her this much.

However, contrary to Do Jun’s expectations, Ga Eun kissed Do Jun’s lips first. Faced with this behavior from Ga Eun, Do Jun was flustered but couldn’t push her away. Although they had lived together as husband and wife for three years, this was the first time he felt such great interest.

During their marriage, perhaps he had been waiting for her to cross the line first, just once.

Rather, it wasn’t Do Jun who hadn’t crossed the line, but her. Despite the desperate look in her eyes when she looked at him, she never approached him first. Naturally, Do Jun thought that Ga Eun didn’t think of him as anything more than a legal spouse. That’s why he had been so thorough in maintaining distance from her.

Do Jun slowly unbuttoned her shirt. That’s when Ga Eun’s tightly closed lips slowly parted.

“I liked you.”

Hearing Ga Eun’s sudden confession, Do Jun strangely felt a hot thrill throughout his body as if his heart had stopped. The woman in front of him seemed like she wasn’t the wife he had been with for three years. For the first time, he felt a desire to possess her, even as she felt unfamiliar.

Although they had maintained a strictly business relationship, Ga Eun had been an eye-catching woman from the start. The more he tried not to pay attention, the more he kept thinking about her. Even after marriage, his gaze was always following Ga Eun without him realizing it. It felt like everything he had been suppressing was exploding due to Ga Eun’s approach.

Thinking it was the first and last time, Ga Eun hugged Do Jun’s body tightly and didn’t let go easily.

For the first time, she lay in bed with him. How broad his shoulders were. What scent his body had. Ga Eun focused on his body as if she didn’t want to forget anything.

“I didn’t know you had this side to you.”

Because Ga Eun had always shown only a passive side. Do Jun couldn’t believe that the woman in front of him was his wife.

After Do Jun’s excited breathing, which had been unexpected due to Ga Eun’s actions, calmed down, Ga Eun belatedly moved her dry lips slowly.

“Why. Did you marry me?”

She had been curious for three years. Why, among all the heirs of large companies, he had chosen her as his wife with the least impressive conditions.

And why he had never once given her a glance.

It took three years to ask him this question, but was it still not enough time to hear the answer?

“……”

Perhaps it was a situation she had already anticipated. That she had to prove that she had no interest in him for him to marry her. She knew. Because he had wanted a loveless contract marriage.

Ga Eun vividly recalled the time three years ago when he had proposed marriage.

The first time they met alone was at a blind date arranged by her father. Chairman Yoon, who wanted to get Ga Eun out of the house as soon as possible, had hurriedly arranged several blind dates with heirs of various companies regardless of Ga Eun’s wishes. Ga Eun didn’t want to have a strategic marriage according to Chairman Yoon Gi Cheol’s wishes. So that day, too, she pushed away the blind date partner who was actively approaching her by drawing a line.

“I don’t believe in childish emotions like love. I want a business partner, not a husband.”

At Ga Eun’s cold words, the blind date partner’s heated gaze faded, and he soon hurriedly left. At that moment, a strange man suddenly sat down in front of her.

“You know who I am, right?”

From the moment Ga Eun first met Do Jun’s eyes, she could instantly tell who he was. Ji Do Jun, who always became the main character at business nights. He was a man she had thought she would like to marry if she were to get married. His intense appearance, which one could never forget once seen, pierced her heart again. As if he had heard all of her conversation with the blind date partner, Do Jun suddenly proposed a contract marriage to her.

“How about marrying me next month?”

Unlike Ga Eun, whose eyes widened at Do Jun’s words, he briefly explained his situation. The reason was that he didn’t want to marry the fiancée his family had chosen for him. He said that if he had to get married, he wanted a business-like marriage with a woman who had no feelings for him. Ga Eun also wanted to escape from World Group as soon as possible, so she readily accepted his proposal. Behind that was her hidden feeling of liking Do Jun.

Ga Eun looked again at Do Jun’s face, still as attractive as it was three years ago. Then, as now, she couldn’t read any emotion in his eyes.

As the silence continued, Ga Eun made another resolution. That she would never get involved with Ji Do Jun again.

That if she could erase memories, she would erase both Ji Do Jun and World Group. That she would leave first without any lingering feelings. She resolved this over and over again.

She had resolved that, but……

She didn’t know that the alimony she received from him would be a child.

3 months later.

− Knock knock.

Not even properly hearing the knock, Do Jun was signing one document after another from the pile of approval documents.

“May I come in, CEO?”

Only when he heard Secretary Kim’s voice did Do Jun’s gaze turn towards the door.

“Come in.”

A moment later, Secretary Kim’s voice, sounding quite excited, continued.

“Something terrible has happened, CEO.”

Despite Secretary Kim’s words, Do Jun showed no sign of being shaken and crossed his arms, waiting for Secretary Kim’s next words.

“We received a call from madam’s side. But……”

As soon as the name Yoon Ga Eun came out of Secretary Kim’s mouth, Do Jun dropped the pen he was holding to the floor.

“Where is she now?”

“She’s been admitted to World Hospital.”

Do Jun slowly stood up, as if trying hard not to lose his composure.

“Please postpone all afternoon meetings.”

Secretary Kim was greatly surprised by Do Jun’s words, as he had never postponed company schedules no matter what. Do Jun left the CEO’s office hurriedly without even listening to Secretary Kim’s words. He headed straight to the airport, putting aside everything to go to Korea immediately.

As he got into the car, the memory of the day Yoon Ga Eun suddenly disappeared came vividly to mind.

In the early dawn, when Do Jun opened his eyes again, Ga Eun’s figure was not visible beside him. Do Jun couldn’t believe that she, who had crossed the line first for the first time, had left his side without permission.

Do Jun got up and came out to the living room, calling her name.

“Yoon Ga Eun.”

The newlywed house where he had lived with her felt as if no one had lived there, without any warmth. Their wedding photo had long been put away in storage. Do Jun was now gripped by an ominous feeling. Hurriedly, he opened the door to her room and entered. She was nowhere to be found there either.

Belatedly, Do Jun’s eyes caught sight of a paper placed on the desk. Do Jun knew that document was divorce papers without even checking the contents. After all, it was Do Jun who had initially proposed a 3-year contract marriage.

However, when Ga Eun suddenly disappeared from his side without a word, Do Jun was gripped by a strange emotion. He couldn’t distinguish whether it was the emptiness one feels towards something completely empty, or competitiveness, even to himself.

When he closed Ga Eun’s room door again, he realized that he had never once opened this door and entered first throughout their married life.

“I liked you.”

Only then did Do Jun realize that her confession meant the end of a farewell, not the beginning. Then, an indescribable pain seemed to spread throughout his heart.

Using the overseas assignment as an excuse, she was a woman who hadn’t contacted him at all for three months. After Ga Eun left for her assignment, she didn’t make any contact with Do Jun. He thought that perhaps it was natural behavior since the contracted three years had passed, but Do Jun couldn’t understand Ga Eun, who had left behind only perfectly completed divorce papers without any explanation.

As if she had already put a period on this marriage, her attitude seemed to have no lingering feelings at all. Faced with Ga Eun’s cold demeanor for the first time, Do Jun strangely felt an even greater emptiness. Even though he was the one who had prepared the divorce papers first, and she had just filled in all the blank spaces.

Arriving at World Hospital, Do Jun hurriedly entered the hospital. After hesitating for a while in front of the VIP hospital room where Yoon Ga Eun was admitted, Do Jun opened the door and went inside.

He saw her lying down with bandages on her head.

“How did you know to come?”

Mother-in-law Lee Yun Sook grabbed Do Jun’s arm, trying to act friendly as she spoke.

“What happened?”

At Do Jun’s words, Yun Sook couldn’t easily open her mouth. She rolled her eyes as if trying hard to make up an excuse.

“I knew she had been suffering from depression, but……”

Yun Sook didn’t properly finish her sentence and quickly changed the subject.

“I’ll call the doctor.”

As Yun Sook left, Do Jun urgently asked while grabbing Ga Eun’s wrist.

“Are you alright?”

Ga Eun didn’t say anything and just stared at Do Jun’s face looking down at her with dry eyes.

“Can’t you speak?”

As if she couldn’t understand Do Jun’s words at all, Ga Eun just blinked her eyes slowly. A moment later, the doctor and Yun Sook entered the hospital room together. The doctor examined various parts of Ga Eun’s body.

“Can you hear my voice?”

Instead of answering the doctor’s words, Ga Eun nodded her head.

“Could you make a sound?”

“Ah.”

Ga Eun opened her mouth, which had been heavily closed in front of Do Jun, as if nothing was wrong.

“Do you know how worried I was?”

Yun Sook grabbed Ga Eun’s hand tightly with an even more exaggerated voice than before.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

At that moment, Ga Eun swatted away Yun Sook’s hand that was holding hers. Do Jun and Yun Sook’s eyes widened at Ga Eun’s sudden action.

“Who are you?”