The Empire's Servant - Chapter 10

The servant turned around with his back straight as Hyun Baek Hap’s footsteps drew closer.

It was the right thing to turn around and leave, but he wasn’t sure if it was the right way to go.

Why did he have to run away from Hyun Baek Hap again, as if he had done something wrong?

As he faced Hyun Baek Hap for the first time in a while, his clenched fists automatically tightened.

“What, are you afraid I might break your mother’s cherished belongings?”

Hyun Baek Hap’s voice, sounding displeased with Je Guk’s visit, caught the servant’s feet.

The servant felt sorry for putting Je Guk in an unpleasant situation because of him.

But getting angry here would only make things worse.

“That’s right. People should be healthy and live long. It would have been nice if she could have seen her son’s filial piety with her own eyes.”

Hyun Baek Hap’s barbed words clawed at the servant’s heart.

Thinking about how Je Guk must feel, even breathing became hesitant.

How can a person be so cruel?

That’s what he wanted to shout at Hyun Baek Hap.

Even though he wanted to step away quickly, his feet wouldn’t move as if there was a stone on top of his foot.

Still, the wisest choice right now was to just walk forward. Gritting his teeth, he walked in the direction Je Guk had looked at.

He felt frustrated at how miserable he was, running away from that place.

Ha In, who had escaped the maze-like art museum, got into the car and grabbed his trembling chest.

It wasn’t because he was afraid. His pounding heart, tangled with tension and anger, was out of control.

“Ha…”

Ha In closed his eyes tightly with a deep sigh.

Even if people can’t be changed, as time passed, seeing Hyun Baek Hap becoming more and more arrogant made his blood boil.

He made up his mind that the next time he faced Hyun Baek Hap, he would never avoid her and would confront her confidently.

Ha In tried to stay calm, fearing that if he drove like this, he might have an accident.

He took three deep breaths.

At the end of the last breath, Ha In suddenly wondered why Je Guk had helped him.

With Je Guk’s momentum, it would have been more than enough to throw Ha In to Hyun Baek Hap and confirm the truth.

Ha In had no way of knowing why he had shown such kindness.

Ha In pushed aside his complicated thoughts and started the car.

* * *

Hyun Baek Hap had gone too far.

How dare she mention his mother? His emotions surged up, compounded by what he had heard from Ha In earlier.

Je Guk put a solid force on his solar plexus and did some mind control.

It would be ridiculous for a person to bite a dog just because they were bitten by one.

At times like this, he needed to be calm and cool-headed.

Je Guk, whose anger had already risen to his throat, stared intently at Hyun Baek Hap’s face with a sharp expression.

Even the secretaries standing behind Hyun Baek Hap were watching Je Guk’s reaction.

But Hyun Baek Hap was shamelessly holding her head high.

He wondered on what basis she was being so bold.

He knew she believed in Chairman Lee as her backer and was fearless of the world, but challenging Je Guk was not a wise choice.

Hyun Baek Hap’s overreaction seemed to be fueled by the attitude Chairman Lee took in Cheonha Group’s recent legal risk.

Hyun Baek Hap was taking actions she had never taken before.

The only remaining obstacle for Hyun Baek Hap to sit at the top of Cheonha Group and Chairman Lee was Je Guk.

Ha, no matter what, did she think her shallow way of trying to do something with words would work?

But seeing that she didn’t ask about the woman standing next to Je Guk and instead poked at Je Guk’s temper, it seemed she hadn’t noticed Ha In’s existence.

He thought it was rather fortunate.

But apart from that, just watching Hyun Baek Hap challenging Je Guk now was simply astounding.

“Have you not passed the age to whine about missing your mother?”

Hyun Baek Hap provoked Je Guk once more.

“I came to check if my mother’s cherished collection is well-preserved. As the owner of these works, shouldn’t I at least do that?”

Je Guk calmly answered Hyun Baek Hap’s question.

He wanted to say harsher things, but it wasn’t pleasant for Je Guk to reprimand Hyun Baek Hap in a place with many eyes watching.

As he was about to take a step to briefly handle his business, Hyun Baek Hap threw one more word at Je Guk.

“Then why don’t you personally keep them instead of entrusting them for exhibition?”

With that, she raised the corners of her mouth sharply.

Hyun Baek Hap seemed to firmly misunderstand that this Cheonha Art Museum was her home ground.

Some time ago, there was an incident where Hyun Baek Hap took the position of director at Cheonha Art Museum and tried to incinerate his mother’s cherished items at will.

After that, Je Guk bought all those works.

And he demonstratively entrusted them for exhibition at the main spot of Cheonha Art Museum.

This Cheonha Art Museum was built with his mother’s maternal family assets, but respecting his father’s opinion, it was named “Cheonha” and incorporated as a Cheonha Group asset.

Putting aside the monetary value, Je Guk knew better than anyone how much affection his mother had poured into growing this Cheonha Art Museum.

There was no way Hyun Baek Hap knew the true value of this Cheonha Art Museum.

“Huh? I want to hear your answer. You can take them right now if you want.”

Je Guk knew that Hyun Baek Hap still held a grudge about that incident.

But did she really believe that a mere rolling stone could push aside his mother’s place? It was simply ridiculous.

The sight of Hyun Baek Hap wearing luxury armor while driving the Cheonha Group’s image into the ground was truly unpleasant.

“If you replaced the museum director, you replaced them. There will be no case of taking my mother’s works out of Cheonha Art Museum.”

At the blunt words, Hyun Baek Hap’s expression distorted.

What a lightness to directly reveal her angry emotions. In Je Guk’s eyes, her every aspect just looked vulgar.

“What?”

Je Guk ignored Hyun Baek Hap’s reaction and took a big look around.

“The humidity control is a mess.”

Je Guk’s words meant you should at least manage the facilities well here. Understanding those words, Hyun Baek Hap’s face turned red.

“Please manage the works thoroughly. That’s why you’re sitting in that position.”

Je Guk reminded Hyun Baek Hap of her position once again.

It was to make her feel that no matter how much she jumped with both feet, she couldn’t even step on his mother’s toes, let alone her shadow.

“Wha, what? What did you say?!”

Hyun Baek Hap seemed to recognize the surrounding gaze and hesitated, then bit her teeth tightly.

“Je Guk, I am the wife of our Cheonha Group’s chairman and your mother.”

The voice that leaked through her tightly clenched teeth was full of spite.

‘Mother’? Even if she had nothing in sight, really. Je Guk looked at Hyun Baek Hap with a very cold expression.

“Don’t cross the line.”

Je Guk clearly drew the line between him and Hyun Baek Hap.

It was necessary to reaffirm Hyun Baek Hap’s position.

Hyun Baek Hap’s face turned red and she clenched her fists, panting heavily. The secretaries standing behind her were restless.

Je Guk ignored such Hyun Baek Hap and looked at Heaven’s Rock again.

And as if paying respects to his mother, he showed courtesy with his gaze and left the place.

The existence of Hyun Baek Hap, whom he had tried hard to ignore, couldn’t be more irritating.

Je Guk organized his complicated mind one by one as he headed into the house.

The easiest way to quickly and simply confirm the facts was to check Je Ni’s year of birth.

Je Guk called the chief secretary.

“Chief Secretary, please send me Je Ni’s profile. Not the recent data, but from birth to the period when she stayed overseas with Ms. Hyun Baek Hap.”

– Yes, I understand.

“Please do it as quickly as possible.”

It was their past that he had never been interested in.

When she was born, how she lived until entering the Cheonha Group mansion, he thought it was none of his business.

He considered it as Chairman Lee’s consideration for Je Guk, delaying their living together and having Hyun Baek Hap and Je Ni stay overseas.

But now he had to know.

It would be an important turning point in the relationship with Chairman Lee in the future.

Even if he died, even if a knife came to his throat, he said it wasn’t an affair.

Even the last trust in his father was about to become shabby.

It was before Je Guk arrived home.

After a short vibration rang once, a call came from the chief secretary.

“Yes.”

– Director, I have sent you the requested information. I will report to you as soon as additional information is confirmed.

Je Guk parked the car in the garage and looked at the data sent by the chief secretary.

He hoped it wasn’t true.

If only Cheon Ha In, blinded by revenge, had tried to deceive him, it would have been fine.

“Ha…”

Je Guk’s gaze lingered on Je Ni’s date of birth.

Soon his gaze dropped far below. Je Ni’s known age and actual time of birth were different.

Je Guk’s clenched fists tightened.

This one line couldn’t break the ties of blood. Nevertheless, the uneasy feeling couldn’t be shaken off.

What bothered Je Guk the most was the thought of his mother.

Did she know?

Was it because she was suffering alone that her condition worsened? Thousands of painful thoughts turned his mind upside down.

Je Guk closed his eyes tightly and loosened his tie.

“Ha…”

Even though he kept sighing deeply, he didn’t feel refreshed.

He felt like he was going to go crazy from the frustration.

Je Guk was confused whether he wanted to turn a blind eye to the truth or if he was making an appropriate judgment in proportion to the information he had obtained.

He was curious about Ha In’s intention in throwing such a bombshell remark.

She must know that even if Je Guk heard such a story, he wasn’t in a position to throw away Cheonha Group and respond emotionally.

It was too cruel.

Despite the overflowing curiosity, Je Guk didn’t have the answers.

He wanted to have another contact with Ha In, whose meeting had been ruined because of Hyun Baek Hap.

When would be good? When?

It was right now, without any further delay.

Je Guk called Ha In.

– Yes, hello?

“This is Je Guk. Where are you now?”

– I’m at home now.

Je Guk raised his arm and looked at his wristwatch. It was approaching 10 p.m.

No suitable place came to mind to meet at this hour.

“I will go to Prosecutor Cheon Ha In’s house. Please leave the address in a text message. If it’s inconvenient, you can find a suitable place and leave the address. I’m going now.”

Je Guk drove the car again and headed towards where Ha In was.

Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation

One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.

Intro:

To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.

But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.

It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.

This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.

Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.

Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.

“Let’s divorce!”

***

Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.

Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?

But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.

Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.

Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.

In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.

Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”

Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.

He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”

***

Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.

But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.

“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”

Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?

Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?

[Reading Guide]

1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.

2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.

Link to read

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