Once More, Wife (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“I’ll decline.”
As expected, Min Seol Won was not easily swayed.
Her small, crimson lips immediately uttered a firm refusal.
Before Chae Ha could even utter a rebuttal, she drove the final nail into the coffin of his proposal.
“I can understand you showing up at my home out of the blue and handing me an envelope. But beyond that, I’ll pretend I never heard a word. I’m sorry, but my pride doesn’t exist just to be trampled on like this.”
He had anticipated her refusal—but he hadn’t expected her to hesitate not even a moment despite such generous terms.
Yet the more Min Seol Won resisted, the more certain Chae Ha became that she was the perfect candidate for a “contract marriage.”
As if that weren’t enough, Seol Won outright cleared the tea tray and stood up, effectively ushering him out.
She might as well have hammered nails into his back—she nearly salted the earth behind him.
“I’ll handle my own life just fine, so you go ahead and get married yourself—whether through some contract or an arranged marriage pushed on you by your mother.”
Sticking resolutely to calling him “you” instead of using his name, Seol Won slammed the old wooden gate shut with a loud creak.
It was an utterly merciless rejection—one that left him feeling something entirely new.
Yet, the situation reversed completely in less than a week.
[Kwon Chae Ha… h-hic… please, save my mom. Kwon Chae Ha…]Out of nowhere, Seol Won called him, sobbing uncontrollably.
Hearing her pitiful voice, he rushed straight to the hospital—only to find her crouched in front of the ICU, weeping bitterly.
“What happened?”
“Ahh… Kwon Chae Ha…”
Her usually sharp eyes now brimmed with tears as she looked up at him.
Why was it that her expression—her voice calling his name—made his heart tremble?
It felt as if his chest had suddenly grown seasick.
Seol Won slowly rose to her feet and quickly wiped the tears staining her clear cheeks.
“Mom collapsed again. And she found out I’d quit my job… She says she doesn’t want to be a burden anymore and wants to check into hospice.”
“Hospice…”
“That’s ridiculous! The doctor said if she stops treatment here, she really won’t have much time left! But she won’t budge an inch.”
Though she’d just wiped them away, transparent tears already pooled anew in Seol Won’s eyes.
Instead of wiping them himself, Chae Ha decided to offer her the deal she truly needed right then.
“Ms. Min Seol Won, shouldn’t saving a life come first? Let’s transfer your mother to a hospital where our family physician works, admit her to a private room for treatment, and I’ll pay off all the medical debts you’ve accumulated so far.”
“…”
“What do you say? Doesn’t marrying me seem like a pretty fair deal under these terms?”
Though she’d clearly already half-made up her mind before calling him, Seol Won’s fingers fidgeted anxiously.
Given that marriage was considered one of life’s most important decisions, Chae Ha understood why she’d hesitate—it was common sense.
So he decided to reassure her a bit more.
“Don’t worry too much. As I said, it’s just a contract—not like I expect a normal married life.”
“Huh?”
“Just stay by my side as my wife—for three years, until my mother gives up to some extent. After that, we can renegotiate the terms of this contract—things like alimony or whatnot.”
“Oh… I don’t need alimony or anything like that. Just helping with Mom’s treatment costs is more than enough. Once she recovers, I plan to return to the countryside and open a little flower shop.”
“Then this contract is settled.”
For just a moment, hesitation lingered at her fingertips.
But moments later, that hesitation vanished—faced with the non-negotiable condition of her mother’s life.
“Hey! Chae Ha! What did you just say?”
“I said I’m getting married.”
“What? Married? Suddenly, to whom?”
“I’ll bring her home tomorrow. Her name is Min Seol Won—she’s a florist.”
“Hey, hey… are you out of your mind?! You’ve got Sa Ra, and you’re going to marry someone else? Hey! Honey, say something! We’ve already booked dinner with Baek Young this weekend!”
Madam Heo stomped her feet in frustration, nearly foaming at the mouth.
Chairman Kwon, who had been silently reading the newspaper, also recognized the seriousness of the situation and carefully folded the paper before setting it down.
“Which family’s daughter is she?”
“She’s not from any notable family. She’s poor—living alone with her sick, widowed mother.”
A subtle note of defiance seeped into Chae Ha’s tone.
The moment Chairman Kwon clicked his tongue in disapproval, Madam Heo charged at her son like she was about to grab his collar and shake him.
“What, what, what? A sick, widowed mother? Chae Ha! Have you lost your mind? Did some gold-digger trick you?”
“Just so you know, please arrange the wedding venue as soon as possible.”
“What nonsense are you spouting, Chae Ha? Everyone already knows Baek Sa Ra, the youngest daughter of Baek Young Group, is your fiancée!”
“We were never engaged—so calling her my fiancée must just be baseless gossip.”
Chae Ha coldly added, glaring at his mother with icy indifference.
“Or maybe it’s a rumor started by someone who wants it to be true.”
“Honey! Say something quickly! Chae Ha, our Chae Ha is…”
While Madam Heo looked as if the world were ending, Chairman Kwon calmly stood and asked,
“Have you made up your mind?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. I’ll keep tomorrow evening free.”
“Honey!”
Ignoring his wife’s frantic cry, the chairman turned and headed into his room—as if he’d said all he needed to.
Though he usually deferred to Madam Heo on matters concerning their son’s marriage, he’d never been the type to force anything onto his children.
Chae Ha, too, headed toward his room on the third floor.
After all, this hadn’t been a request for permission—just a unilateral announcement.
But before he could close his door, Madam Heo rushed in, yelling at the top of her lungs.
“Kwon Chae Ha! Listen carefully—I will not allow this marriage! How dare you bring home some girl with no background as the daughter-in-law of Chae Woon Group?”
“You haven’t even met her—how can you claim she has no background?”
“Do I need to taste it to know if it’s shit or fermented soybean paste? Listen well, Chae Ha! Our daughter-in-law is Baek Sa Ra! For years, Sa Ra’s been working so hard to win me over, all because she wants to marry you!”
“The one getting married isn’t you—it’s me.”
“No! Not even if I’m six feet under! You promised to set a wedding date with Sa Ra before the year ends!”
Watching his mother throw a tantrum as if they were already locked in a bitter mother-in-law/daughter-in-law feud, Chae Ha sighed deeply.
In her youth, she’d been a legendary actress of unprecedented fame.
Her dazzling beauty had instantly caught his father’s eye, catapulting her into a higher social class overnight—but the inferiority complex about her humble origins never left her, not even after all these years.
Her excessive pride, clashing constantly with her modest background, left her perpetually insecure—and that insecurity had transformed into an insatiable desire to fulfill through her children.
A dangerous desire. A dangerous greed. One that ultimately invited tragic sacrifices.
“…And even after seeing what happened to your brother, you still say such things?”
At Chae Ha’s words, Madam Heo staggered as if struck—her pupils dilated wide with shock, brimming with unmistakable rage.
“You… you… How dare you say that to me, Chae Ha…”
“Please leave now, Mother. I’m tired. I’ll discuss the wedding arrangements with Director Yoon and Secretary Jung. Since it’s not Sa Ra, there’s no need for a grand ceremony.”
“Kwon Chae Ha… are you really… really going to do this?”
“Yes, I am, Mother. So please—for once—just stop.”
Stung by her son’s sharp rebuke, indescribable bitterness and injustice welled up inside Madam Heo.
Her own son—whom she expected to be on her side—had just driven a dagger into his mother’s heart. It filled her with fury and pain.
She couldn’t even bear to think about her future daughter-in-law, whoever she was, without seething with hatred—despite having never even seen her.
“Do as you please! But you won’t hold a wedding ceremony—not over my dead body! If you want one, wait until I’m in the grave!”
“…Mother.”
“I have no intention of bragging to the world about some pathetic daughter-in-law! Kwon Chae Ha, you must’ve lost your mind right now—but once you come to your senses, you’ll thank me. When you divorce, you’ll be grateful you never held a ceremony; at least then you can part quietly!”
The madness gleaming in Madam Heo’s flashing eyes—how many times had his brother faced this same gaze?
Thinking of his older brother Tae Ha, Chae Ha suddenly felt exhausted.
So he simply stepped back. It wasn’t that important anyway.
“Fine. But I will register the marriage. That way, even Sa Ra will finally give up. Surely she won’t insist on marrying a man who’s legally married already.”
“Chae Ha, you really…”
Tears of anger welled in his mother’s furious, wild eyes—but his concession ended there.
Since he had a clear purpose for this marriage, he was determined to see it through.
“It’s okay. Anyway, Mom’s too sick—there’s no way we could hold a wedding ceremony in this situation.”
When he told Seol Won the truth, her reaction was largely what Chae Ha had expected.
For two people bound only by mutual interest, a wedding ceremony held little importance.
After all, his original intention in holding one had simply been to publicly demonstrate that he’d broken both his mother’s and Baek Sa Ra’s wills.
Kwon Chae Ha of Chae Woon Group wanted no marriage alliance—not with Baek Young Group, nor any other chaebol family.
Instead of offering awkward comfort, Chae Ha handed Seol Won a gift he’d bought as compensation.
When she opened the delicately ribboned box, her eyes sparkled brighter than ever before.
Clearly, she was utterly surprised.
“Even if it’s just a contract, you should at least have a wedding ring.”
“…Are you sure I can accept something this expensive?”
“Think of it as a deposit.”
Yes—a deposit, or compensation.
Strictly speaking, marrying him meant asking Seol Won to become his human shield.
“There’s also bad news.”
“What is it?”
Seol Won asked, closing the box without even trying on the ring.
They weren’t close enough for him to put it on her finger himself—but for some reason, her action irritated him faintly.
Moreover, he’d dropped his formal speech the moment he handed her the ring, considering them “husband and wife” from that point—but she didn’t seem to notice at all.
Suppressing his pointless irritation, Chae Ha continued in a flat tone.
“We won’t be able to live separately. Mother insists that as long as she accepts you as her daughter-in-law, you must live with us under the same roof.”
“Oh… that’s fine. It can’t be helped. After all, you chose me because you needed a woman strong enough to endure exactly that, right?”
She was right.
So Chae Ha offered no further excuses or comfort.
She—Min Seol Won, with her unshakable pride and resilient will—
would be able to shield him from his mother and Baek Sa Ra for the next three years.
If they maintained this de facto marriage long enough, Baek Young Group—treating their youngest daughter like a jewel—would stop seeing him as a potential son-in-law, and even his mother would have no choice but to give up.
And he, in turn, was ready to support his wife in anything she desired.
Thus, no contract could possibly be more perfect for them.
With a lazy smile tugging at his lips, Chae Ha looked at his wife.
“Then it’s settled. From today on, we’re husband and wife, Min Seol Won.”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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