Secretary Ahn’s hands were busier than ever.

“Mom! Look at that man.”

It would have been better to meet in a place like the Han River or a secluded place.

The eyes, swollen with bruises, seem to show quite clearly that they were beaten, and the gaze of people in the coffee shop occasionally met but quickly fell away.

“His eyes are purple like a panda!”

“Hush, be quiet.”

Even if he had brought sunglasses, he just came out in a fit of anger.

Anyway, why is Kim Hee-joo so late? Come quickly.

Jaemin, filled with anger and frustration, habitually shook his leg under the table and turned his head.

“Oh.”

By chance, he saw his wife’s face as he turned his gaze.
Jaemin quickly changed his expression, staring at the approaching woman fiercely.

A red dress that came just above the knees made of sheer material and a clutch bag. Her recently changed, sophisticated fashion still hadn’t fully adapted.

Although his gaze naturally followed her attire, Chae-won’s sharpened eyelids sharply pierced Hee-joo again.

She, walking confidently, pulled out a chair in front of Jaemin and sat down.

An expressionless face with no apparent emotions and black eyes. Neatly, long hair cascading over her shoulders.

Her face displayed neither joy nor despair.

The true appearance of his revealed wife was completely different from his imagination.

“I thought about it. After committing such a big mistake, would Kim Hee-joo cry, or would she laugh triumphantly, having taken revenge.”

Chae-won, with a bruised, purple face, looked at Jaemin, who suddenly spoke seriously, with an amused expression.

“I was sure. Naturally, she would have cried. Because the Kim Hee-joo I know is tearful and emotional. Even if she got angry and took revenge, when she went back, she would have cried with various emotions, and so her eyes would have been swollen.”

Chae-won listened to his words with closed red lips and an emotionless expression.

“But she seems fine.”

Once again, Jaemin burst into laughter as if dumbfounded by the unexpected.

He wondered what to say as the first word but, seeing her still stiff attitude, he seemed less prepared mentally.

“Is it because you know Kim Hee-joo as that kind of woman, that I should cry?”

“I feel empty because I, who completely fell for you, thoughtlessly considered you endlessly weak. That’s why I couldn’t even have a little doubt!”

So, he was pure and got deceived, and Kim Hee-joo was wicked and well-hidden, so she won?

Perhaps because he’s a lawyer, this man excels at blaming the other party.

However, despite Jaemin being stupid and full of regrets.

“Do you know what you did today? Because of you, my scheduled fixed appearance on a broadcasting company disappeared. Do you know how hard I’ve worked to build connections to secure that spot? Must you ruin your husband’s life like this? Huh?”

As if turning over a rock, Jaemin was excited.

“I got hit in the back of the head again, why are you getting excited?”

“Hey, Kim Hee-joo!”

“I don’t care about whatever you missed. It doesn’t concern me.”

Jaemin’s forehead tightened.

“You cheated, a child was born between you two, so you wanted a divorce because you were greedy for an unequal division of property, and you even secretly held a wedding ceremony without going through with the divorce. That’s the fact, so stop clouding the real issues.”

Jaemin, who had been staring intently, soon twisted his lips.
“Do you want to ask me about the responsibility for cheating? Isn’t that too frustrating a thought? Honestly, our personalities don’t match at all, right? This isn’t about you obsessing over me; it’s not a situation where you have to live together forcibly. Marriage is something you can easily part ways with if your feelings change. Why are things so stuck like this? In foreign countries, if personalities don’t match, they break up and find new love.”

Chae-won burst into a bitter laugh at Jaemin’s sudden pursuit of an American style.

All that remained was a lawsuit; it seemed he was pushing forward with the personality differences to gain legal advantage.

“Frankly, you’re so frustrating. I like a lively personality, but it’s so stifling. It makes communication impossible. Because of that, I’m stressed, and I can’t focus on my work.”

“Do you want to show yourself more lively than today?”

His nostrils moved unexpectedly.

“I have to say it when I stand in front of the judge. If the problem is with my personality, I’ll try to fix it. Even though you’re this kind of husband, I’ll endure and live with it. So, I absolutely don’t want a divorce.”

Confused, he slammed the table.

“Hey, Kim Hee-joo.”

“So, don’t make excuses. It’s beneath you.”

“You.”

“If you keep doing this, you know I won’t let go until the end.”

Jaemin’s eyebrows twitched in confusion.

Leaning on the table with both arms, Chae-won brought her face close.

“Thanks to your reckless actions, secretly holding a wedding ceremony without me knowing, the situation is more advantageous to me due to the vast number of witnesses and evidence as guests.”

Jaemin, who had been silently observing Chae-won, straightened his neck soon.

“No, you never intended to maintain the marriage from the beginning. Kim Hee-joo, who had no intention of maintaining the marriage, left the house and dragged it out. No, she was driven out, but even so, she showed the will to continue the marriage by visiting every weekend. Kim Hee-joo, who didn’t intend to maintain the marriage? Is it clear who legally has the advantage?”

No Jaemin, you’re not thinking straight.

With a sneer, Chae-won interjected into his words.

“An wife who has no intention of maintaining the marriage doesn’t buy a cake and participate in her mother-in-law’s birthday celebration. She wasn’t the one who left but was kicked out. Yet, she still showed the will to continue the marriage. You don’t even know whether your husband cheated or not.”

Jaemin, who had been staring at her with a direct gaze, opened his mouth again.

“I clearly expressed my intention for divorce and only tried to take responsibility for the child born from another woman. But you, who knew everything, didn’t let me go for malicious reasons.”

“You, who had stated the intention for divorce, have repeatedly contacted your wife tenderly. Enough for a kind wife to interpret it as meaning that her husband will continue the marriage.”

With a determined gaze, Jaemin, who had been looking at Chae-won, opened his mouth again.

“I definitely expressed my intention for divorce and the child was born from another woman, but I was just trying to take responsibility. However, knowing everything, you intentionally didn’t let me go.”

Jaemin’s eyebrows, which had been heavily tense, relaxed as if to say, “Well, tell me then.”

“That, that’s…”

“Records of the sweet exchanges with your wife, which you complained about, are well recorded on each other’s phones. If you don’t remember, please look it up.”

Unexpectedly, Jaemin’s pupils trembled at his own unexpected actions.
“If you don’t want to end up penniless and kicked out with your family, stay quiet for a while. The ending will be determined by me.”

With the money in hand, Chae-won finally turned away from Jaemin and stood up.

The only thing moving in the stiff Jaemin, as if turned into a stone statue, was his eyes.

“Mom, that man has a swollen eye and a bruised cheek.”

“Hush. Come here.”

Another child, holding his mother’s hand, glanced at the motionless Jaemin with a favorable expression and then left.

With nothing registering in his ears, Jaemin belatedly turned on his phone and checked the messages I had sent.

Looking at me with trembling eyes, Jaemin soon closed his eyes tightly and silently groaned.