And the view from this spot was exactly where Seolwon used to touch flowers.
Precisely the path she took when tending to the garden, the same field of vision unfolded beyond the window.
What could be the fundamental meaning of this place?
Thinking that someone who could explain this was still outside, Seolwon briskly stood up from the sofa.
Then, with an anxious gesture, she opened the door to the annex.
“Secretary Jung…”
“Do you believe it now?”
As if waiting, Secretary Jung’s benevolent face greeted her.
“…Is this place made by Mr. Chaeha?”
“Yes. Shortly after the little miss left, not much time passed before the vice president built this annex. He said it made him feel less troubled if he stayed here.”
“…”
“But in the end, I locked this place up. Do you know why?”
At Secretary Jung’s question, Seolwon turned her head sideways.
Could she possibly know?
After opening this door, Seolwon found out that Kwon Chaeha, the man she originally knew, was completely different from the person she knew before.
With a deeply sunk gaze, Secretary Jung revealed the truth.
“I’ve spent too much time cooped up in this small space, leaving a perfectly good house behind. As time passed, I became sadder and had more difficult days. Especially on the little miss’s birthday or wedding anniversary, I drank alone in here.”
“Wedding anniversary…”
“Yes. Mrs. Heo even sent people threatening to destroy it. After that, no one dared to make a fuss around here, even I didn’t.”
What is this, and what does this small space mean?
Seolwon bit her lips tightly.
“Then, on last year’s wedding anniversary, she stayed in here for two days with swollen eyes, and eventually drove to Yangyang alone. She tried to throw herself off the breakwater where the little miss fell.”
“Ah…”
A muffled but deep sigh burst from Seolwon’s lips.
It was an incredibly difficult story to accept.
That Kwon Chaeha tried to follow her, and yet she wasn’t really dead.
“I couldn’t stand it, so I locked this place and kept the key. Otherwise, I thought someone would die. You’ve seen it yourself, and my words aren’t an exaggeration. The vice president mourned the little miss for a full five years.”
Tears suddenly fell from her eyes.
It wasn’t a lie.
The words that he suffered for her were more than just the truth.
The sincerity, so intense that it felt suffocating, was hidden so secretly within this garden.
“I hoped that the vice president’s sincerity would be known to the little miss. The feelings of sending off the little miss now are more painful than death.”
Her throat was choked, and she couldn’t even muster a response.
He was someone who struggled so much even in the face of her fake death.
Yet, he said he would let her go. He asked for forgiveness.
Amidst the pouring tears, Secretary Jung delivered a weighty final word.
“Madam’s letter is inside the drawer under the table. From now on, it’s entirely the little miss’s choice, and I won’t intervene. Please think of this old man’s words as nothing more than a poor attempt.”
When the sun set, colorful and pretty lights illuminated the garden.
She had wanted to hang decorations after the universe went camping.
On this evening with the autumn wind blowing, without fail, the sparkling lights in the garden lit up.
And at the end of it all, her husband, Kwon Chaeha, stood there unable to hide the trembling look in his eyes.
“Min Seolwon…”
Checking his ears, Seolwon slowly stood up from her seat.
She had waited all this time, unable to leave the annex until the moment Chaeha returned.
After completing all her duties and returning, she made a request to Secretary Jung.
To go and bring Wooju today instead of her and let him sleep at his house.
With triple grandchildren, it wasn’t a difficult task, and Secretary Jung readily agreed.
Thanks to that, Seolwon could sit alone and wait for Chaeha until now.
The one who discovered her inside the annex approached her in a single step.
Whether he was surprised at the fact that she hadn’t left or at the fact that the annex had opened, his expression was incredibly subtle.
Finally, Chaeha came forward and faced Seolwon.
Due to the tears streaming like rain, Seolwon looked at him with moist eyes.
There was no need to ask for an explanation.
If she couldn’t understand what was inside this, then there was no need for eyes and a heart.
When their gazes met, he mumbled resignedly.
“I got caught. How insane I am for Min Seolwon.”
“Mr. Chaeha.”
“Did you see everything? I have no words even if you say it’s scary, but that place is important to me.”
“…I understand.”
Almost inaudibly, Seolwon whispered, and Chaeha looked down at her for a moment, seemingly surprised at the fact that she hadn’t left or that the annex had opened.
Then, slowly sweeping his forehead, he let out a sigh.
“I told you to take out the letter and give it to her, but you did something absurd.”
“Don’t blame Secretary Jung. If it weren’t for Secretary Jung, I would have never known. You, like this… treating me so much…”
“Yeah. I missed you.”
All too willingly, Chaeha confessed.
His feelings just as they were, without any embellishments.
“And I regretted it. Insanely.”
“…Mr. Chaeha.”
Chaeha took a step closer and pressed his body against hers.
The suppressed voice, almost like a restrained sob, flowed through his lips.
“Do you know what the most desperate thing in the world is? It’s regret, but the object of regret doesn’t exist in the world. Wanting to turn back the clock, but realizing I’m not a god. Feeling like I’m going crazy, but not actually going crazy.”
His voice sounded composed, yet it felt as if he was choking on boundless despair.
His gaze, though resolute and unyielding, seemed like it might shed tears at any moment.
“And.”
Leaning his face sideways, Chaeha lowered his lips toward Seolwon’s forehead.
Through a pitiful breath, an even more pitiful confession followed.
Unbeknownst, a breath filled with sobs, rough yet fervent, had taken over.
“Since the first time I met you, I couldn’t say that I loved you.”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
