The day after Jeho left for his business trip, Yuri received a phone call. Chairman Chae would be coming up from Geoje Island tomorrow afternoon. It was a few days earlier than planned. Although she didn’t want to return home, she had no choice. On the morning Chairman Chae returned, Yuri left Hyunkyung’s house and went back to her family’s house.
Chairman Chae, who had just returned from Geoje, summoned Yuri to his study before even unpacking his bags.
“You’re not going to marry Minwoo?”
As soon as she set foot in the study, Chairman Chae asked with a cold expression. Yuri stopped in her tracks. She didn’t know how Chairman Chae knew about this. She hadn’t told anyone except Jeho…
When Yuri stood frozen in place, Chairman Chae got up from his seat with a displeased look and approached her.
“The photos of you and Jeho at the Geoje resort have been leaked. When I asked Minwoo for help because it couldn’t be handled internally, he said it didn’t matter since the marriage would be cancelled anyway.”
In fact, Minwoo had bribed Chairman Chae’s people first to get the photos out, but Chairman Chae made up an excuse. That wasn’t the important issue right now.
“Do you think marriage is child’s play?”
“It’s better than getting divorced.”
“No, it’s better to have the wedding first and get divorced later if it doesn’t work out. It’ll create less noise. If it really doesn’t work, you can divorce later.”
Yuri frowned as if dumbfounded.
“You think divorce is that easy?”
“It’s better than a scandalous scandal. If it breaks off like this, the scandal with Jeho will definitely spread.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Do you think only one or two people saw you and Jeho entering the resort together? Kwon Jeho won’t be unscathed either. He’ll be pointed at as a shameless man who messed with his cousin’s woman.”
“Honestly, you’re not really worried about Jeho right now. Jeho can just go to the US and be done with it. The person who will take the biggest hit is you, Father.”
Yuri couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t stand by and watch him not only torment her, but also hurt Jeho.
“Do I have to forcibly marry because of you, Father?”
She didn’t want to make any more sacrifices. She couldn’t back down.
“If you corner Jeho using those photos as bait, I won’t stand still either.”
“Why? Are you going to reveal your sister’s secret?”
Instead of answering, Yuri glared at Chairman Chae. Although Yuri’s existence was uncomfortable, she loved her as an elder sister. Because she was her sister, even if only half-blooded, she couldn’t coldly push her away. But she couldn’t just keep taking it forever.
“If you touch someone unrelated, I’ll have no choice.”
“Ha.”
Chairman Chae let out a short laugh as if dumbfounded. But he didn’t look very surprised, as if he had expected these words to come out.
“Fine. Then I have no choice either. I have something prepared in case of a situation like this. I never wanted to use it, but you brought this upon yourself.”
Chairman Chae picked up a yellow envelope on the desk and threw it in front of Yuri. The thick envelope fell with a thud at Yuri’s feet.
“What is this? Did you dig into my past again?”
Yuri laughed sarcastically as she picked up the envelope and looked inside. She expected it to contain photos of her and Jeho, but completely unexpected photos came out.
The envelope contained photos of Yuri’s mother, Han Soyeon, having tea with Jung Taehyuk, the leader of the opposing party. There were also copies of emails exchanged between the two, a USB drive with the originals, and more.
Yuri looked at Chairman Chae with a puzzled expression.
“What is all this?”
Her voice was trembling weakly.
[This is the timeline separator]‘Something feels off.’
Leaning against the window, Jeho muttered to himself while looking at the garden. Staff were busily moving about in the garden preparing for the evening banquet.
Last night, when he had returned from his business trip, he received a call from Chairman Kwon. Chairman Kwon abruptly asked if he was available for dinner tomorrow evening.
―Minwoo’s wedding is coming up soon. So I arranged a dinner gathering for tomorrow. It was originally last week, but it got postponed because Chairman Chae went down to Geoje. If you have time, make sure to come.
―Did Director Kwon not say anything?
―What do you mean? Ah, yesterday morning he asked if the honeymoon could be extended a bit longer. He said he and Yuri really wanted to visit Santorini Island too.
As expected of him. He had no intention of canceling the wedding at all. Was he planning to just buy time like this?
Jeho didn’t expect Minwoo to easily give up on the marriage. But he needed to know what his ulterior motive was. Unfortunately, Minwoo hadn’t been seeking out Manager Shin recently, so he couldn’t even probe his intentions.
A few days ago, Yuri had left Hyunkyung’s house and returned to her family home. Since then, he hadn’t been able to reach her.
She hadn’t been coming to the office either. Seonyoung said she had taken a month-long extended leave. It was a planned vacation ahead of the wedding, but something didn’t add up. Since the wedding was scheduled to be canceled, there was no need for her to use vacation days.
She didn’t answer when he called, and there was no response to his texts. He contacted Hyunkyung, but got the same answer.
―I found it strange too, so I contacted Yuri. She said she’s been sick in bed with a bad cold the past few days. She said she’s holed up in her room just sleeping.
―She’s not very ill, is she?
He was suddenly scared when he heard she was sick in bed. She hadn’t been hit by Chairman Chae again, had she? He wanted to go to the house and check if she was okay. But it wouldn’t be good to provoke Chairman Chae’s temper. If he found out the marriage was cancelled, he would surely turn his arrows of blame on Jeho.
―No, she said she’s just upset because the wedding is approaching. If she was very sick, Yuri would have told me honestly.
Judging by Yuri’s actions in pulling Jeho into the house without thinking, out of fear that Yuri might be hit by Chairman Chae, Hyunkyung’s words were probably right. Jeho let out a sigh of relief, and hearing the sound, Hyunkyung jokingly said:
―If this was the Joseon era, Jeho and I would probably just elope together, right?
Fiddling with the cell phone in his hand, Jeho recalled the joke Hyunkyung had made last night. He thought about calling Yuri, but since he would see her face soon anyway… Suppressing a strange feeling of unease, he turned his gaze back to the garden.
Some time passed and the appointed hour arrived.
The atmosphere at dinner was very different from what he had expected. Minwoo constantly hugged Yuri’s shoulders, stroked her hair, and didn’t hide his affection in front of the elders. Yuri, who would normally show her dislike and move away, also smiled sweetly and let Minwoo touch her.
It didn’t look like an act they had to put on before calling off the wedding.
“I want to tell them to stop, but Yuri says she still wants to work more.”
“Yes, Chairman. For now. I like working.”
Yuri smiled shyly at Minwoo’s words. Chairman Kwon nodded at Yuri with a benevolent smile.
“Yes, what’s the point of just staying at home? You should go out, work, and use your talents.”
At those words, Madam Na hid her displeased expression and forcibly lifted the corners of her mouth.
“But Chairman, the plan for children is urgent. They should have a child before getting any older. What about taking a year off instead of quitting? They can have the baby first and return to the company later. The child, well, will Yuri raise it? The nanny and staff will do everything…”
Director Kwon quickly agreed with Madam Na’s words.
“That’s right, Chairman. Yuri will be thirty next year. She needs to have a child as soon as possible.”
“Ho ho ho, well then.”
Chairman Kwon looked at Yuri with an awkward face. Yuri smiled shyly again and alternately looked at Chairman Kwon and Minwoo.
“Then after the wedding, I will discuss it carefully with Minwoo again, Chairman.”
It wasn’t that she accepted the suggestion, but it was a satisfactory answer for everyone. Everyone except Jeho put on bright smiles. Only Jeho silently focused on eating with an indifferent face.
What on earth was happening?
He kept looking at Yuri, but she deliberately avoided his gaze. Until the end of the meal, he couldn’t make eye contact with Yuri even once. It was clear that things were unintentionally flowing in a different direction.
The opportunity came for Jeho, who had been waiting patiently for dinner to end. Chairman Kwon called Chairman Chae to the study, saying he had something urgent to discuss. Madam Na and Director Kwon immediately left, saying they had another appointment.
As if on cue, Minwoo also received an urgent call. Checking the caller, he frowned and ran into the house in a hurry.
Yuri also tried to follow Minwoo into the house, but Jeho grabbed her hand first. Before she could even shake him off, he headed towards the glass greenhouse in the corner of the garden. Once tended by Jeho’s mother, it was now a place no one visited except the gardener. Hidden by the bushes, it was the perfect place for a secret conversation.
Jeho locked the greenhouse door and turned to face Yuri.
“What’s going on? I was worried because I couldn’t reach you at all.”
“I was busy. With wedding preparations…”
“What? Wedding preparations?”
He couldn’t understand what he had just heard. The person who was said to be sick in bed was busy preparing for a wedding that was about to be cancelled…
Yuri’s cold gaze fell on Jeho, who was frowning with an uncomprehending face.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I decided to go ahead with the marriage to Minwoo.”
“What did you just say?”
“Hoo, that’s how it turned out.”
Yuri let out a short breath and turned her back, heading towards the door. But before she could take a single step, Jeho grabbed her arm.
“What on earth are you talking about? You’re going to marry him like this?”
Yuri looked at Jeho, who had grabbed her, with an uneasy face.
“What if others see? Don’t do this.”
“Yuri!”
“Isn’t the reason for marriage obvious? Minwoo will soon become the next chairman.”
Turning her head to the side to avoid his gaze, Yuri continued.
“For a moment, I lost sight of reality. Fortunately, I realized it before it was too late.”
“…You’re not that kind of person.”
“What kind of person am I? Do you know me better than I know myself?”
“Look me in the eye and say it. Look straight into my eyes and say it.”
At those words, Yuri bit her lip and turned her head to face Jeho. Her eyes were already bloodshot.
“I told you before. My priority is the circumstances. But what do you have, Jeho? The house you live in now belongs to a client, the villa belongs to a senior. Your father took responsibility for the accident and paid out all his assets in compensation, right? I heard he’s penniless. Ha, just like Minwoo said, you’re a beggar.”
At the last words that came out of her mouth, Jeho hardened his expression and let go of the arm he was holding.
Yuri glared at Jeho with cold eyes, then turned her back and left the greenhouse.
She felt like crying, but she clenched her fists tightly and held it back. If she cried here now, it would ruin everything. Returning to where the banquet had been held, Chairman Chae, who had finished his conversation with Chairman Kwon, was waiting for her while drinking tea.
As Yuri walked towards him, he glanced behind her. Yuri glared at her father with cold eyes.
“Don’t worry. I will definitely go through with this marriage.”
“I know. You wouldn’t tarnish the face of your mother who died because of a man. Right?”
A satisfied smile appeared on Chairman Chae’s lips. But that smile vanished like smoke at Yuri’s next words.
“I understand now how my mother felt when she married you.”
“You’re cruel.”
“Blood will tell, right? I’m your daughter too.”
Chairman Chae said nothing more, though he must have been displeased.
At that moment, she caught sight of Jeho coming out of the greenhouse in the distance. This time, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Yuri’s gaze was drawn to Jeho as if pulled by a magnet.
Their eyes met in midair.
A few suffocating seconds passed, and Jeho smiled and nodded at Yuri as if to bid farewell. Then he turned around and disappeared back into the darkness.
He was clearly smiling gently, but…
His smile became a sharp awl, painfully piercing Yuri’s heart.
______
In This Life, I Won’t Be Foolish To Lose You Again (Female-dominant)
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]