“They say if your wife is pretty, you’ll bow even to the fence post at her parents’ house. Being a girl, you couldn’t even capture one man. Do you think I raised you with such care for this?”

Raised with such care?

Does she not understand the meaning of “raised with such care”?

Hee Won was speechless with shock.

“Tsk, if you have money to establish a welfare foundation, how much better it would be to invest in Jinseong! And there’s still no word about getting LS Department Store brands in.”

Chairman Seong clicked his tongue and continued.

“Hee Won, you. Try to butter up Mr. Cha. It’s one thing to look down on our Jinseong, but how can they not keep a single promise? Isn’t this a breach of contract? Ah, I’m so frustrated.”

His face was full of greed and avarice.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t expected certain conditions and contracts to come with marrying Kang Woo.

But hearing it directly was a different feeling.

As if he had no intention of hiding that he saw his daughter as merely a business tool, Chairman Seong spoke without hesitation.

Though she had become numb, it didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt.

Hee Won bit the soft flesh inside her mouth hard, enduring Chairman Seong’s anger.

“When I ask Cha, he just says it’s being processed and to wait. His attitude towards his father-in-law is extremely arrogant. And don’t I do business too? Is being a chaebol everything?”

As if he got worked up while speaking, Chairman Seong breathed heavily and raged.

His complaints towards LS Group and Kang Woo ultimately turned towards Hee Won.

“If you got married, you should care about Jinseong. What’s with this welfare foundation nonsense!”

Chairman Seong began pointing at Hee Won.

“Listen carefully to me. If LS doesn’t keep their promise, your marriage is void too.”

“…Void?”

Hee Won’s heart sank at Chairman Seong’s words.

Of course, it was a contract marriage with Kang Woo, but it was a different story if Chairman Seong could arbitrarily end the marriage.

“So, if you want to keep that position, listen carefully to what your father says and behave properly.”

Chairman Seong stood up, leaned towards Hee Won and lifted her chin.

“You are Jinseong’s person through and through. You must prioritize Jinseong anytime, anywhere. If LS neglects Jinseong like this and doesn’t keep their promises, this marriage is over too. Do you understand me?”

Despite resolving not to become powerless, and vowing not to just take it anymore, she couldn’t say anything.

Chairman Seong closed the office door ostentatiously as he left.

No, no way.

He’s saying he’ll break up the marriage?

Even if the company is important, it’s my life…

How can he try to control the marriage so arbitrarily?

Hee Won felt angry and scared at the same time.

‘It’s not just empty words. It’s not a simple threat.’

Chairman Seong was someone who could easily ruin others’ lives for the sake of the company.

Hee Won lowered her head and buried her face in her knees.

Her slender shoulders began to shake.

* * *

3 days later.

Kang Woo didn’t go to work on weekends unless there was something special.

Today too, Kang Woo said he would go to the study for a bit to take care of some work.

Since Chairman Seong’s visit, Hee Won’s mood had been low.

If she stayed still, useless thoughts kept coming.

[Let’s go out for lunch together after a long time.]

While Kang Woo was in the study, Hee Won busily moved around tidying up the house.

How much time had passed?

The study door opened and Kang Woo came out.

Kang Woo approached Hee Won, who was cleaning the living room.

“You don’t need to clean, Hee Won. The housekeeper does it, and it’ll make your hands rough.”

He grabbed Hee Won’s hand as she was wiping.

“Ah…”

As Hee Won turned around, Kang Woo’s expression darkened.

“Did something happen?”

Kang Woo asked with a serious expression.

“…No.”

He didn’t seem to believe her words and asked again.

“Nothing happened?”

“…”

As Hee Won hesitated, Kang Woo took the cloth from her hand, put it down and said,

“Tell me. What happened?”

Hee Won didn’t have the confidence to look at Kang Woo.

She hadn’t intended to show it.

But at the thought that she could be forcibly divorced by her father, she couldn’t think of anything.

Even though she felt pathetic for becoming powerless before even starting, her mind went blank and she couldn’t think of anything.

“Hee Won.”

When Kang Woo called her name, Hee Won’s eyes shook roughly.

Should I tell him?

No, even if she told him, it didn’t seem like he could solve anything.

How could she say that her father would divorce them if he didn’t help?

There was no way she could say such words to him in the first place.

Hee Won bit her lower lip hard.

“…Really, nothing.”

She said, forcibly pulling up the corners of her mouth that wouldn’t go up.

At her words, his eyes sank deep like the sea.

“Hee Won.”

“…”

“I think there shouldn’t be anything we’re ashamed to talk about between us. I shouldn’t say this, but I intend to tell you even the parts I can’t say, the shameful parts, from now on. Would you think strangely of me if you heard such things?”

At Kang Woo’s words, Hee Won quietly shook her head.

“First, I’ll tell you something I couldn’t tell anyone. After hearing that, if you want to say something too, tell me.”

“…”

Hee Won nodded instead of answering.

“Before that, first.”

Kang Woo took Hee Won’s hand and headed to the kitchen.

He began wiping her hands that had gotten dirty from cleaning.

“I can do it myself.”

When Hee Won pulled her hand away, Kang Woo grabbed it again.

“Think of it as flattery so you won’t be surprised by what I’m going to say.”

Kang Woo and Hee Won, who had washed their hands, sat across from each other at the table.

“I didn’t intend to say this, but I was planning to say it soon, so I’d like you to think it just happened a little earlier.”

“Okay.”

Kang Woo’s expression was serious.

Hee Won quietly waited for him to open his mouth.

Strangely, as she faced him, she didn’t think about Chairman Seong at all.

“You must be curious about Stacy.”

“…”

“I met Stacy through her elder brother, Lucas.”

When Stacy was mentioned, Hee Won’s eyes shook.

“Lucas was a friend I met in college. We all went to university together with friends I had met before.”

“…Yes.”

“We were quite close. We were close enough to say we would start a company together in the future, trusting and relying on each other.”

Kang Woo stopped speaking and bit his lower lip hard.

“Stacy’s elder brother died because of me.”

“…What?”

Hee Won’s eyes widened in surprise.

“If I hadn’t pushed him away then, he wouldn’t have died.”

Stacy’s elder brother died because of Kang Woo?

What did I just hear?

Hee Won’s mind went blank. She looked at Kang Woo in shock.

She felt like she should say something at Kang Woo’s guilty expression, but couldn’t say anything.

“…I regretted so many times that I shouldn’t have done that then.”

Kang Woo opened his mouth, recalling the memory of that time.

Lucas was a kind friend.

He was the first friend he made in college, and he said he understood Kang Woo better than anyone because of his childhood pain.

Then one day.

Lucas came into the lecture hall, hugged Kang Woo and said,

[Kang Woo, I just met an angel. Oh, this is the first time I’ve experienced this.]

It was a face overflowing with joy.

[Emily says she loves me too. This isn’t a dream, right? Pinch my cheek. I love Emily so much. I don’t want to be apart for even a minute or second. I want to be together forever.]

Lucas’s face as he smiled brightly and said he got a girlfriend was still vivid.

“After Lucas got a girlfriend, at some point Emily often hung out with us too. I didn’t like it, but Lucas brought her to meetings with friends. She got along well with the friends naturally, and I thought that’s how it was going.”

[Kang Woo, I’d like you to congratulate me more than anyone else. You’re my soulmate.]

“Lucas and Emily promised to marry, and even said they were engaged.”

It was on a certain day before the engagement, when everything was flowing without incident.

“Emily came to find me at night. I tried to send her back, but she persisted. I still regret it now. I should have not let her into the house at all then, but until the end I couldn’t push her away when she said crying that she wanted to consult about a problem with Lucas…”

Kang Woo resented himself over and over for that time.

As soon as she entered the house, Emily ran to Kang Woo. She hugged him and said,

[Kang Woo, it’s you I love. Lucas was just a bridge to meet you. This wasn’t my intention. I can’t get engaged while leaving you. Because I don’t love Lucas. I never loved him from the beginning. The one I loved was you, Kang Woo.]

“She said she loved me. That from the beginning, she met Lucas to meet me.”

“…What did you say?”