“What on earth made you bring that child home!”
“She will be my daughter-in-law. We can’t just leave her wandering around when the situation has suddenly deteriorated, can we?”
“What is this, what is happening…!”
“Suddenly, there’s nowhere to go, and it seems like she has no choice but to come here. Since Director Jang isn’t here, I’ve taken on the responsibility as an adult. The room Director Jang used when he was young is empty, so I told her to stay there comfortably and prepare for the wedding.”
Even in the face of the angry voice of Director Im Hong-jin, who returned from a business trip to Jeju, Chairman Kang Shin-jae’s voice remained calm. In Kang Shin-jae’s study, the sharp nerves on both sides sharply confronted each other, with a large mahogany desk between them.
“Now, even Director Im should start a family. The children have grown up, so I want to be a father. What’s wrong with that?”
“Children…? Father?”
The words Chairman Kang Shin-jae used for his son, Kang Tae-seo, were words he had never used before. Because of that, Director Im Hong-jin’s anger towards his son, who used these words in such a situation, was even greater.
“You’ve been ignoring a child who was struggling to get a glance from you all your life, and now you’re saying you want to be a father? Is being a father just doing this kind of thing?”
“Don’t you see that your judgment is clouded? What happened to Hyunyang Construction? Kang Group no longer needs to force a marriage for business expansion. So…”
“So, you should let Tae-seo live as he wants!”
“Live as he wants…?”
Casually stroking the edge of the teacup, Shin-jae lifted his head. His eyes, always cold and deep, flashed with momentary intense anger.
“Who can live as they want?”
“…Father. Shin-jae.”
“Yeon-hee died in front of me. The person I wanted in my life was only her!”
“How can you blame Tae-seo for that? Tae-seo is…”
“If only that child, if only that child hadn’t been born!”
The son, who had already passed his fiftieth birthday, seemed to still linger as if he had stayed there over thirty years ago. It solidified like a rock, hardened by long resentment and longing.
As I chewed on it, only futile regret piled up. Long ago, Kang Shin-jae had to marry the person his parents had chosen to inherit Kang Group. But the woman he loved, Seo Yeon-hee, couldn’t accept the situation.
“Three years. Yeon-hee, just wait for three years.”
“How can I wait when you’re marrying someone other than me? Are you making fun of me? Are you mocking me?”
“It’s just a marriage for the sake of deceiving the adults, just a superficial marriage. That woman agreed too. There won’t be a touch of a finger. We’ll have separate rooms. Anyway, within three years, I’ll grow the company. If that happens, then I…”
“Are you doing this because I’m infertile? Is that it?”
“No! I only need you. I don’t want a child.”
“How can I believe that!”
“Believe me. Please. I don’t need a child. I swear. I will never hold another woman except you because of a child. Yeon-hee, please.”
Reluctantly nodding her head, the woman eventually hid her traces on the day Shin-jae got married. From that day on, Shin-jae gradually became a wreck. If he wasn’t obsessed with work, he was often found drunk, and even in his dreams, he searched for Seo Yeon-hee.
Then, after drinking a strong drink mixed with painkillers, he became unconscious and slept in his study. The one who approached him with a blanket was his wife, Yoo Jung-ha, who had lived like any other man. And Shin-jae committed an irreversible act.
When he woke up in his study, there was a disheveled Yoo Jung-ha in his arms, who had forgotten the previous night. He thought he had embraced Seo Yeon-hee in his dream. As soon as he realized what he had done, a strong headache accompanied by intense nausea hit him, caused by the hangover.
“Mr. Shin-jae…?”
“Forget it.”
“…”
“It never happened.”
Shin-jae left the house as if running away and headed to the hotel. As long as he didn’t mention it again, it would become something that never happened. He reassured himself that it was just a single mistake and didn’t return home after that day.
Not knowing about his wife’s pregnancy, he eventually found Seo Yeon-hee, who had been living alone in a place with no connection. And he begged her. Just wait two more years. I only have you. I can’t live without you.
Misinterpreting Yoo Jung-ha as Seo Yeon-hee while drunk was so horrifying that he buried it in his memory. So, he clung more desperately to Yeon-hee, as if to prove his unchanging love.
“Yeon-hee, I don’t want a child.”
“I want one. I want to have a child who resembles you. Then your parents will acknowledge me.”
She, who had wanted a child, wanted to go to an infertility clinic.
Shin-jae, who wanted to fulfill any of her wishes, entrusted her treatment to a reliable wife and doctor. But he didn’t know that his wife regularly visited the hospital for prenatal care.
“I heard that Shin-jae found you and brought you back, but I see you here.”
“…Yes.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
