The Grand Temptation (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“Do we really have to go through with this marriage?”
Yuli briefly doubted her own ears. His question had been intensely personal and private.
“That’s an unpleasant question.”
There was no need to hide her displeasure. He had helped her at the mall—that was one thing—but this question was far beyond polite boundaries.
“If it upset you, I apologize.”
Though his words apologized, his expression suggested he found her sharp reaction amusing. Keeping his eyes fixed on her, Jae Ho whispered softly,
“You’ll see me tomorrow anyway. You know I only have you, right?”
Caught off guard by this unexpected remark, Yuli frowned in confusion.
Had he been listening to her phone call?
His soft whisper continued,
“…I love you too.”
Of course, it wasn’t a genuine confession of love to her—he was merely repeating the words he’d heard her say to Hyun Kyung. Yet, perhaps due to some subtle shift in nuance, her heart fluttered inexplicably. Had the word “love” always carried such weight?
When Yuli drew in a short breath, a faint, barely-there smile appeared on Jae Ho’s face. Though both tried their best to suppress any change in expression, they couldn’t hide the quiet tension building between them.
“Considering all that talk about the event, it couldn’t possibly have been Min Woo on the call… right?”
Jae Ho stared at Yuli as if expecting some explanation.
“So what?”
Instead of offering one, Yuli shot back coldly. His overstepping attitude irritated her deeply. Just because she’d endured an awkward dinner with Min Woo didn’t mean he had the right to lash out at her too.
“You’ve got a bad habit—eavesdropping on other people’s calls.”
She could have clarified that the person on the call was her boyfriend, but she didn’t. She felt no need to. At her indifferent response, Jae Ho gave a faint smirk.
“I wouldn’t call it a bad habit—more like having sharp hearing… Anyway, whether you marry another man while already having a lover or not isn’t really my business anymore. You’re no longer my fiancée.”
She’d thought he’d pretend not to know until the end…
But now that he was acknowledging it, her mood lifted slightly. Still, Yuli kept her tone icy as she asked,
“A moment ago, you acted like a complete stranger. Now you suddenly act like you know me?”
“Sorry for acknowledging you so late.”
Jae Ho lazily smiled and gave a light nod. Whether then or now, seeing him smile always tickled something inside her chest.
After all, he was the first person who’d ever made her heart tremble—her first love, though it never truly felt like one. It had ended before it even began…
Back then, she’d lost her words the moment she first saw him. Now, watching him speak to her so respectfully only made her painfully aware of how much more distant they’d become since then.
“Anyway, thank you for earlier.”
“Forget it. I didn’t do it to receive your thanks… You still live in Hannam-dong, right? I’m heading that way anyway—I’ll give you a ride.”
Without waiting for her answer, Jae Ho started walking toward the parking lot. But Yuli didn’t move. When she didn’t follow, he paused and turned to look back. Seeing his puzzled gaze, Yuli calmly asked,
“You didn’t drink, did you?”
Though phrased as a question, her tone carried certainty. She’d clearly seen a glass in his hand earlier, nearly empty by the end of dinner. He couldn’t possibly be planning to drive under the influence now, could he?
“Drink?”
Jae Ho frowned for a moment, then let out a quiet chuckle.
“Were you observing me while pretending not to look?”
“Observing? I just…”
“It was non-alcoholic. My shoulder was torn open and stitched up—I’m not stupid enough to drink.”
Torn open badly enough to require stitches?
The image of his white shirt soaked in blood flashed through her mind, and her own shoulder throbbed as if she’d been the one injured. Seeing Yuli standing motionless, Jae Ho strode quickly toward her.
“If you really can’t trust me, would you like to check for yourself?”
Before he even finished speaking, he leaned his upper body toward her. His face came so close their noses nearly touched, and a cool, sweet scent hit her nostrils.
Startled by his sudden move, Yuli’s eyes widened in shock. Though they’d left the mall practically cradled in his arms earlier, this felt entirely different. Now sensing his faint, previously unnoticed scent, her cheeks flushed hotly.
Why are you acting like such a fool?
He’d merely lowered his head so she could check for alcohol—nothing more. There was no need to overreact. She must just be tired. It couldn’t possibly be because the man in front of her was Kwon Je Ho.
“I believe you when you say it was non-alcoholic.”
Yuli quickly schooled her expression back to blankness and spoke curtly,
“But I prefer taking a taxi. I’ll be going now.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked off in the opposite direction.
“…Hm.”
Watching Yuli’s retreating back, Jae Ho slid his hands into his pockets and tilted his head slightly.
Her attitude was definitely different from when they’d met at the mall. It didn’t seem to stem from their past history. Rather, she’d clearly realized during dinner that he was Min Woo’s rival—and since she was on Min Woo’s side, that explained it.
They might call each other cousins, but an invisible wall had always existed between Jae Ho and Min Woo. Over the years, that wall had thickened and sprouted thorns. Now those thorns had grown sharp and strong enough to pierce each other’s hearts—someday, one would strike deep enough to draw blood.
It was fate they’d tried to avoid—but couldn’t.
They’d come too far to turn back now.
“Heh.”
A dry smile rose to Jae Ho’s lips as he watched Yuli walk away.
[This is the timeline separator]“Yuli, didn’t you say you were going to Arcadia Mall today?”
As Yuli entered through the front door, Mrs. Ahn approached her as if she’d been waiting. She must have seen the news, but apparently hadn’t cared enough to call and check like Hyun Kyung did. That didn’t bother Yuli, though—their relationship only went so far.
They treated each other politely, nothing more, nothing less. Simply a stepmother and her late wife’s daughter: neither close nor distant, just coexisting amicably enough.
Of course, it hadn’t always been this way. Once, they’d been very close—sharing worries, leaning on each other, depending on one another, much like any ordinary mother and daughter… until the twisted lies finally came to light.
“Yes, I had an appointment there with a wedding planner.”
Yuli replied flatly as she slipped off her shoes.
“The news made it sound chaotic. Were you there at the time?”
“Yes.”
“Were you hurt anywhere?”
Mrs. Ahn’s voice trembled faintly with concern—or so it seemed. Whether it was genuine worry or simply trained habit, Yuli couldn’t say. Honestly, she didn’t even want to know. Whether her stepmother truly cared or not didn’t matter to her at all.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Whew, that’s such a relief.”
Mrs. Ahn exhaled deeply and patted her chest. To an outsider, it would look like sincere relief—her acting was that convincing.
With that remarkable talent for acting, she’d deceived Mother, deceived Yuli, and deceived everyone else.
Back then merely an aide, she’d soon become Assemblyman Chae’s lover—and eventually claimed the position of his wife.
When Yuli first discovered the secret affair between her father and Mrs. Ahn, she’d wept bitterly from sheer betrayal. Now, though, it left her completely unmoved. Her eyes had dried so thoroughly they felt parched. Yuli slowly blinked her dry eyes.
“The Assemblyman also heard the news and was worried—he called.”
Assemblyman Chae was attending an emergency plenary session at the National Assembly and hadn’t been home for several days. He likely wouldn’t return until the session ended. He probably hadn’t seen the news himself—most likely one of his aides had reported it.
I wonder—when Father heard the news, was he truly shocked? Or did he just pretend to be?
Yuli gave a bitter smile as she neatly arranged her shoes.
“But what about Oppa Min Woo? Isn’t the mall his responsibility?”
As Yuli passed through the living room, Yoo Ri, who’d been watching TV, asked casually. Yuli stopped and turned her head. Yoo Ri, her three-years-younger half-sister, beamed brightly at her. But Yuli couldn’t bring herself to smile back.
“He’ll handle it himself.”
“Well, that’s good then. Consider it bad luck burned off before the wedding.”
“Yeah.”
Yuli gave a brief reply and headed for the stairs. Today had been longer than usual, packed with too many events. She didn’t have the energy to deal with Yoo Ri right now. Interacting with her sister always required immense patience.
Once, Yoo Ri had been the most precious person in the world to her—but not anymore. On the day their mother passed away, Yuli had promised to care for Yoo Ri as an older sister. But the moment she learned Yoo Ri was actually her half-sister—born of an affair—that promise had crumbled into worthless scraps.
She knew it wasn’t Yoo Ri’s fault. She hadn’t chosen to be born, nor had she picked her parents.
It wasn’t that she hated her sister—but Yoo Ri’s existence as an illegitimate child remained deeply uncomfortable. Sometimes, she resented her late mother for leaving without a word.
Days like today—filled with the mall incident, the unexpected reunion with Jae Ho, and that suffocating dinner—made those feelings even sharper.
Still, she shouldn’t hold it against her. After all, her mother must have been the one most deeply wounded.
Back in her room, Yuli rubbed her dry eyes with the back of her hand and headed toward the bathroom. As she walked to the sink, she noticed an unfamiliar piece of clothing hanging on the bathroom wall—it was the jacket Jae Ho had put on her at the mall.
Bloodied, she’d rinsed only the stained parts with cold water and hung it in the bathroom to dry, planning to drop it off at the dry cleaner on her way to work—though now it probably needed tailoring first. If his shoulder had been torn open badly enough to require stitches, the jacket must have ripped too.
“…Huh?”
As Yuli searched for the tear, she frowned in confusion. No matter how closely she examined the jacket, she couldn’t find any ripped area.
“My shoulder was torn open and stitched up—I’m not stupid enough to drink.”
He’d clearly said those words. Then why was the jacket perfectly intact?
Yuli stared intently at the jacket, pondering deeply—but no reasonable explanation came to mind.
Well, I’ll just ask him when I return it.
Unable to reach a satisfying conclusion, she carefully folded the jacket and placed it into a shopping bag.
[This is the timeline separator]The next day, Yuli dropped the jacket off at the dry cleaner and arrived at work earlier than usual. She needed time to catch up on tasks she’d postponed after taking leave the previous day.
She worked at “Bauhaus,” a small design studio—technically called an “atelier”—with fewer than ten employees. She’d been working there as an interior designer for several years.
At first, Assemblyman Chae had disapproved of her working somewhere other than a major corporation’s design firm. But ever since Bauhaus gained fame for renovating homes for underprivileged elderly residents, he’d become eager to promote it proudly as his daughter’s workplace—anything that might boost his approval ratings, apparently.
As she entered the office, she spotted Sun Young, who handled accounting and general administrative tasks, intensely glaring at her computer monitor—so absorbed she didn’t even notice Yuli entering.
“Sun Young, you’re here early?”
Only when Yuli spoke did Sun Young finally look up from her screen. Her eyes were noticeably bloodshot.
“Yes. To be precise, I came in at dawn. The president called me last night saying something urgent came up…”
Sun Young stood and quickly glanced around before pulling Yuli aside.
“You haven’t heard the news yet, right?”
“What news?”
“The president finally found an investor partner.”
Since its founding, Bauhaus had constantly struggled with financial shortages. Focusing primarily on pro bono renovations for marginalized communities, the firm rarely turned a profit—merely breaking even was considered fortunate. Until recently, they’d managed to scrape by thanks to donations from KG Construction, but after rejecting their merger offer two years ago, all support had abruptly ceased.
“The partner’s coming to look around today, so I’ve been preparing the necessary materials…”
Just then, the door opened, and Manager Kim’s voice rang out.
“Oh, Yuli’s here already?”
“Yes, Manager.”
Yuli turned automatically—and froze for a moment when she saw Jae Ho standing beside Manager Kim. At first, she thought she’d misread it, but no—standing before her was indeed Kwon Je Ho.
What are you doing here?
Yuli’s eyes flickered with confusion.
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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