“Were you uncomfortable yesterday?”
As soon as Seo Rin arrived at work early in the morning, she made her first call to Ms. Park. It was to verify the truth of the words that had flowed from Tae Joon’s mouth yesterday.
[“I’m sorry. The truth is, I wasn’t in the mood to eat, but I went anyway even though it wasn’t polite.”]Ms. Park confessed the truth, but Seo Rin wasn’t greatly surprised because she had already expected it. However, she was somewhat bothered that something she wished hadn’t happened was happening.
“I understand. The shock must have been great. But I’ve made this decision, and I’ll finalize the marriage registration soon.”
[“……”]“I didn’t introduce him to get permission. Just… I thought you should know in advance.”
It was a onesided notification.
Ms. Park on the other side of the phone was silent for a while. She seemed to have been hurt by the tenderhearted news.
But there was nothing she could do. Tae Joon had said he would persuade her, but Seo Rin knew that he wouldn’t be able to break Ms. Park’s obstinacy.
“Don’t skip meals. You said you didn’t eat anything when you went home last night.”
[“Seo Rin.”]“What is it?”
[“What do I need to do to stop this marriage?”]Ms. Park didn’t know anything about management. Therefore, despite her shares and support for Seo Rin being all she could do, she seemed to want to do more.
It indicated that she couldn’t fully accept her marriage.
And there must have been a clear reason why Ms. Park was doing this.
Seo Rin knew better than anyone that Ms. Park wasn’t one to be stubborn without reason.
She had to find out that reason.
“Don’t you like him?”
“Then what?”
The sound of Ms. Park taking a breath in tension came through. Seo Rin patiently waited until she had the mental space to answer.
And finally, a cautious voice came through.
[“I… I just wish you wouldn’t make such a businesslike marriage. You’ve… already failed once.”]“That was not a marriage, but an engagement. And the fault was not mine, but the other party’s.”
[“I know. But…”]“And I don’t think it’s appropriate for someone who evaluated conditions and got married to advise me.”
The situation had escalated to the point where things that shouldn’t have been said were being said. At the sound of Ms. Park drawing a sharp breath, Seo Rin closed her eyes, her forehead creased as if tired.
“No matter how much you oppose it, I will proceed with this marriage. Right now, he is the only person who can protect everything I have. So, know that.”
She hung up the phone.
But she didn’t feel good.
After spitting out such harsh words to Ms. Park, her chest always felt heavy and a sharp headache would come.
As if she were receiving a cruel punishment.
Even after the call ended, Ms. Park couldn’t take her eyes off the flashing screen for a while.
“And I don’t think it’s appropriate for someone who evaluated conditions and got married to advise me.”
Although it was a truth without falsehood, hearing it from Seo Rin’s mouth made one side of her heart terribly cold.
A marriage made by assessing conditions.
She was the youngest daughter of one of the largest food companies in the country, Hyosung Food, and she grew up wealthy from a young age. Some might wonder why her marriage, coming into a wealthy family as a daughterinlaw, was considered a marriage made by assessing conditions. But she had her own heartbreaking circumstances.
At the age of twentynine, she was diagnosed with infertility due to uterine malformation at the hospital she visited for menstrual irregularities.
Although the technology may have advanced enough to find a solution now, twenty years ago, for a woman, this diagnosis was akin to a death sentence.
And so, she ended up choosing to marry Chairman Baek. He was a widower, not a divorcee, and he had a child, so it seemed unlikely that he would want another child from her.
And more than anything, Chairman Baek, who was excellent in both wealth and character, was the only person who didn’t consider her situation a big deal even after hearing about it.
It wasn’t that he didn’t desire more children because he already had Seo Rin. In those days, when a woman who couldn’t have a child was treated as less than human, he gently held her hand and said,
“Then, let’s travel and have hobbies, and live happily together.”
She was deeply grateful for those words.
She felt as if she had met someone who acknowledged Ms. Park entirely for who she was for the first time, and her eyes reddened.
Even if it wasn’t love, she thought, couldn’t they depend on each other for the rest of their lives with this man?
Her judgment was correct. After all, Chairman Baek gifted her a life beyond what she had hoped for.
She loved him sincerely.
Thanks to him, she was able to truly embrace Seo Rin, his child. How could she not love the child of the man she loved?
Moreover, Seo Rin was a daughter who lacked nothing wherever she was placed.
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.”
