From the moment Seo Woo saw the news article about Woo Jin’s marriage, up until now, there wasn’t a single day when her heart was at ease. Every moment was like hell.

In fact, when Seo Woo heard that Woo Jin was going on a matchmaking date, she didn’t pay much attention to it, thinking it was just a temporary measure to prevent a scandal. It was something that had been brought up before when there was a scandal previously.

But this time, it was for real.

She had called Woo Jin dozens of times to ask him the truth, but he didn’t answer. She even thought about meeting him in person. However, she knew that ever since the scandal a few months ago, the ruthless eyes of the Jang family were always watching her, so she couldn’t act recklessly. Moreover, her agency had also cautioned her, and her manager Jung Keun was fiercely protecting her.

In that way, two hellish months passed, and eventually, that day arrived.

The day Seo Woo Jin was getting married.

Until just a few days ago, the weather had been gloomy with cold winds blowing, but today of all days, it was clear without a single cloud in the sky. Even the weather, which would be a great blessing for someone, felt truly spiteful to her.

What on earth was Woo Jin thinking, making this decision when he couldn’t even cut her off?

She had been selected as the final model for the luxury refrigerator released by Woo Sung Electronics. Seo Woo had no doubt that Woo Jin was behind all of this.

“When you can’t even push me away anyway…”

That’s what she thought. That there was no way the human Seo Woo Jin could live pretending not to know Park Seo Woo. Because they were tied together by a bond so strong that no one could break. And even his new bride couldn’t wedge herself between them.

A position that should have been hers originally.

But the women of that great Woo Sung family didn’t acknowledge her. While everyone in Korea recognized her, only the women of the Woo Sung family still treated her like a bug.

Why on earth…

What’s wrong with me?

In the end, Woo Jin and she broke up. But not once did she doubt Woo Jin’s heart. The proof was that when she got injured while filming a few months ago, didn’t he rush to the hospital in one stride to see her? Thanks to that, the scandal flared up again.

Her heart was troubled. No, to be more precise, it felt like there was a gaping hole in the middle of her chest. Whenever the cold wind blew through it, she shivered and comforted herself.

If she couldn’t have Woo Jin entirely to herself, she would never let go of even a part of him.

That’s right. It doesn’t matter if he marries another woman. That woman he decided to marry in just two months without love could never be her match. Because they had exchanged hearts with each other for a much longer time.

But the lingering anxiety made her restless.

Eventually, she ended up coming to this place. It just so happened that her manager Jung Keun had briefly stepped out for another matter, so she could also escape the eyes of her minder. Of course, if Jung Keun found out later, he would be shocked by her actions, but Seo Woo couldn’t stop herself.

This hotel’s outdoor wedding hall was a place where famous people in Korea got married.

So Seo Woo had come here a few times and knew the building’s layout very well. Wearing sunglasses but afraid of being recognized by others, she secretly watched Woo Jin from the emergency exit stairs behind the building.

At first, she just planned to confirm the woman from a distance. To see with her own two eyes who that goddess of fortune was who had seized Seo Woo Jin, given the opportunity.

But instead of the bride, Seo Woo had to face the utterly happy groom, Seo Woo Jin. Seeing the smile on his lips, Seo Woo instinctively felt that something was wrong.

She thought of him, whose expression was almost unreadable due to the unwanted marriage. However, the Woo Jin reflected in her eyes right now was the very image of a happy new groom for all to see. She couldn’t believe it. Because even in all those countless memories with her, there was no such look of his.

She had thought the woman was worthless, so he had thoroughly hidden her, and she was convinced of it when she saw the woman’s parents. Because she read the overflowing greed in the eyes of the bride’s parents as they glanced at Woo Jin. She thought, what could be so great about a woman raised by such parents? But Woo Jin’s happy appearance alerted her to be wary of the woman.

What kind of woman could she be?

But she couldn’t readily move her steps to the bridal waiting room. The woman would have friends by her side, and there would be wedding officials, so she couldn’t recklessly reveal herself.

Then suddenly, she saw Woo Jin heading to the bridal waiting room. With quick, angry strides, she could instantly feel it.

And a little later, people poured out of the bridal waiting room. It seemed like Woo Jin had sent them out. A short time passed, and when he emerged from the bridal waiting room again, he was smiling.

Seeing Woo Jin like that, Seo Woo roughly clenched her fists so hard that her well-manicured nails dug into her palms.

She hated that look of happiness on him without her.

The solid belief she thought could never be broken began to show fine cracks.

What kind of woman she was, she had to see up close for herself.

What kind of woman could put such a smile on Woo Jin’s face?

And by the time she came to her senses, she was already greeting the woman.

“Hello. You know me, right?”

An astonishingly beautiful bride in pure white.

* * *

Strength flowed into the hand holding the bouquet. It was because she never thought she would see Park Seo Woo here of all places.

Her heart rate rapidly climbed. It was a different tension from when she heard Ji Eun’s hysterical shouts just a little while ago.

Why on earth had this woman come here?

It felt like she had finally returned to the real world after wandering deep in a dream, only to embark on a journey to a distant dreamland again. That’s how foreign the existence of Park Seo Woo felt as she stood before her eyes.

Tae Eun slowly blinked her eyes in disbelief. As if she wanted to wake up from this dream now.

But the Park Seo Woo in front of her eyes was not a dream, but reality. She had gripped the bouquet so hard that her fingertips felt numb. Still, she couldn’t stop. It felt like she would burst if she didn’t hold onto the bouquet with all her might.

“How did you…”

The voice she managed to utter didn’t seem like her own.

As she looked at Park Seo Woo, her eyes began to carefully avert. It was because the conversation her aunts had was vividly crossing her mind.

– Honestly, how much did they struggle to live? Even with all the threats Mom and Aunt Young Ja made, Woo Jin didn’t even blink an eye.

She had to think a lot that day. But she didn’t have the courage to ask Woo Jin. If she couldn’t turn it back with her own strength, she decided to believe in the fact she wanted to believe in for once.

However, the reason she could do all this was because the existence of Park Seo Woo was nothing more than an unconfirmed fact to her. She had already seen it through articles, heard it in advance through her aunts’ mouths, but nonetheless, because she hadn’t seen it directly with her own eyes, Park Seo Woo was just an illusion. An illusion she could live pretending not to know for a lifetime if she just didn’t get confirmation from Woo Jin himself.

But that illusion had become a reality and was standing before her eyes.

The living, moving existence of Park Seo Woo could no longer be an illusion.

Now, it was an unavoidable truth.

And seeing that truth before her eyes was a much greater pain for Tae Eun than she had thought. Her heart trembled incomparably more than when she had confirmed it through floating scandal articles or her aunts’ conversation.

It felt like all the blood was draining from her body and evaporating into the air.

As if knowing or not knowing her heart, Park Seo Woo cruelly extended a hand to her, twisting the corners of her lips.

“Congratulations on your marriage.”

Did this woman expect her to take that hand?

Seeing her with the smile faded from her face, Park Seo Woo nodded as if she understood, and withdrew the hand she had stretched out, leaving unbelievable words.

“Please take good care of… my man.”

It felt like all the color drained from her face.

With that, Park Seo Woo left the bridal waiting room. But at the same time, a ringing sound in her ears took away Tae Eun’s mind that she had been barely holding on to.

The makeup artist and wedding helper came in and said something to her, touching up her makeup, but Tae Eun still couldn’t come to her senses. It felt like she had become a paper doll that had lost her own will.

As her sense of reality was pushed back, people’s voices were heard as a buzz, as if she was dreaming a vague dream.

“Bride, are you okay?”

To the helper’s question ringing in her ears, Tae Eun unconsciously nodded her head, unable to do anything else.

“Your complexion doesn’t look good. Were you too nervous?”

Then Hye Jin approached with a worried look and asked again.

“Tae Eun, are you okay? What’s wrong with your face?”

But Hye Jin’s concern couldn’t last long either. Because the sound of piano accompaniment and people’s applause signaling the start of the ceremony was heard.

Woo Jin had made his groom’s entrance in time with the emcee’s voice. And Tae Eun was soon escorted by her father, Min Kyung Hoon. Even then, the ringing in her ears continued. The series of processes in which she was made to take Min Kyung Hoon’s arm by the helper was caught slowly in her vision and felt very surreal.

Escapism from reality. Maybe it was something like that. Because the cruel reality that had suddenly come felt like just a dream. A nightmare that would disappear if she just opened her eyes. No, maybe she wanted to believe it was like that. That’s how intense the existence of Park Seo Woo was when she saw her directly.

Until she was led by Min Kyung Hoon’s hand and walked that beautiful path decorated with flowers amidst the blessings of many, Tae Eun felt like there was a boundary between reality and dreams.

Then she saw her. Grandmother, clapping hard among the people.

Even among the many people, the presence of the person she loved most in the world caught her eye at once. As the nurse beside her whispered something, Grandmother kept repeating that she was pretty while clapping. She couldn’t hear it, but she could tell from the shape of her mouth.

‘Our Tae Eun is pretty.’

How could she forget those words?

It was something she had always heard from her grandmother since she was young, and even now, whenever she occasionally recognized her, she would mutter it without fail.

The person who loved her most unconditionally in the world.

The person who had always made it clear to her, who was left alone, that she was not alone.

Seeing Grandmother and passing by her side at that moment, Tae Eun quickly regained her sense of reality. Only then did the beautiful piano melody clearly piercing her ears, and the sound of people’s applause, become vivid.

Before she knew it, she had finished the procession holding Min Kyung Hoon’s hand and was handed over to Woo Jin.

“Please take good care of our daughter.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

With a brief exchange of greetings, she took Woo Jin’s arm and stood before the officiant. With a clear mind, Tae Eun answered the officiant’s words and thought a lot.

Even if the existence of Park Seo Woo was true, wasn’t she the one who had no courage to give up this marriage anyway?

– I’m not saying let’s love each other, Ms. Min Tae Eun. I’m saying let’s get married.

He had also clearly stated at their first meeting. That his purpose was marriage, not love. Nevertheless, she willingly chose the man named Seo Woo Jin. To protect her grandmother and to save herself from this hell.

But then, what was this feeling of being betrayed at every moment?

She vaguely felt a pain in her heart. It also felt empty, as if she had lost something important. Then, as she turned around and greeted the guests together with Woo Jin, Tae Eun naturally laid eyes on her grandmother again.

She could see Grandmother crying.

But anyone could see that those were tears of happiness. The nurse beside her kept wiping away the tears of Grandmother, who was smiling and unable to take her eyes off her.

That’s right. Just as Grandmother had protected her in the most difficult times, if she could protect Grandmother, what couldn’t she do?

If she didn’t get a grip on herself now, she could lose everything. So Tae Eun quickly began to collect her shaking heart.

She was the one who had jumped into this marriage knowing everything already. So there was nothing the existence of Park Seo Woo could change.

Just being able to protect Grandmother was enough to make this marriage worthwhile to her, so she had to go through with this marriage.

Even if Park Seo Woo was Woo Jin’s true love, and even if she became a wife in name only.