“If there’s something wrong with your health, it would be better to see a doctor than to endure it unnecessarily…”
“I know how to take care of my body. You can leave.”
With his firm tone, Minhee closed her mouth. She was about to leave with the tray when Jinwook looked at her again.
“Director, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“…”
“During your last business trip, it was your wedding anniversary. I forgot to remind you. I should have been more attentive. I’m sorry.”
Hearing this while looking at the documents, Jinwook slightly raised his head.
“…”
Wedding anniversary. Only after hearing the secretary’s words did he realize why Yeonju had seemed so downcast and unhappy lately.
‘I thought she didn’t care about such things.’
He found it somewhat cute, given her usually unemotional demeanor, that she would sulk over something like this.
While he might not know how to appease a woman, he did know what women liked most.
Something beautiful that could highlight themselves. Something special and not easily accessible to everyone.
Women are often captivated by such things, whether it’s an object or a person.
Jinwook spoke to Minhee.
“Secretary Joo, I have a favor to ask.”
Yeonju, fresh from the shower, sat at her dressing table, wearing only a white robe. She applied skin care to her face and then dried her wet hair.
Her reflection in the mirror looked particularly frail. Her pale face lacked color, and her thin shoulders seemed fragile.
The effects of last night’s drinking still lingered. She had been feeling unwell all day and her head throbbed. It was a natural consequence, considering she had never drunk alcohol since her marriage, especially not high-proof whiskey like that.
Why she drank so much was beyond even her own understanding.
From the moment she heard those words of despair at the last clinic she visited, she hadn’t been in her right mind.
She had wanted to lean on someone, but there was no one to turn to. No one to confide in, no one to offer comfort.
Entering the empty house, the only thing she could lean on was alcohol.
‘In conclusion, it seems difficult.’
She wanted to forget all her memories. She wanted to return to the times when she was blissfully ignorant.
So she drank endlessly. Even though her esophagus felt like it was burning, she didn’t care. There was even a moment when she thought she might die from it, but it didn’t matter. In fact, at that moment, dying didn’t seem so bad.
When she woke up from her drunken slumber, all she faced was her husband’s indifferent expression.
‘What makes you so troubled?’
Just recalling his cold gaze made it hard for her to breathe.
‘All I wanted from you was to quietly play the role of my wife. Is that too hard?’
All he wanted from her was to fulfill her role as a wife. And the most important role of that was bearing a child.
What would he do if he knew she couldn’t fulfill that role?
Suddenly, her chest felt tight. The suffocating feeling seemed to climb up to her throat. Overwhelmed, Yeonju stood up.
She headed from her room to the kitchen, her mouth dry and thirsty. She gulped down a glass of cold water.
“Ha[Dash].”
Wiping the water off her lips, Yeonju turned around. The dark and silent living room lay before her.
‘Go to bed.’
Jinwook hadn’t returned since he left the night before. It was uncertain when he would come back today, or if he would return even by tomorrow.
To him, the company was his home, and his actual home was just a place to pass through. A place to shower, change clothes, catch a brief rest, and a place for making a child. Nothing more.
As time passed, she stopped waiting for his uncertain returns.
She tried to get used to being alone and to embrace the silence. After two years of effort, she realized one thing.
No one likes being left alone.
“…….”
Yeonju silently gazed at the quiet house. This house was just like Jinwook. The warmth-less monochromatic furniture, the impeccably clean floors, the empty space where any words became soliloquies, all resembled him.
She thought that this space would change if a child were to come. It would become a bustling, warm place every day.
But now, even that small hope was no longer attainable.
Yeonju let out a long sigh with a dark expression.
‘What should I do now?’
From the moment she learned she couldn’t have children, she couldn’t see her future. She felt as if she was barely standing on a steep cliff.
She had to tell Jinwook…
But when and how…
Her vision was clouded, and her heart felt charred with complex thoughts. Just then, she heard a sound.
“Ding-dong.”
The sound of the door lock opening echoed from the entrance. She saw Jinwook entering and checked the time.
It was not even eight in the evening. Why had he come home so early?
His footsteps filled the previously silent house. Yeonju stood in the dining room, ignoring his approach.
His cologne lingered behind her, and then his soft voice sounded.
“Seems you are quite upset.”
A shopping bag was placed on the table. Yeonju looked at the bag before her. It was a shopping bag with a luxury brand logo.
His voice came from behind her again.
“It’s a gift for our wedding anniversary.”
“…….”
“Honestly, I’ve been so preoccupied lately, I forgot.”
Jinwook spoke calmly. He was known for his straightforwardness, unadorned in expression, decisive and honest. This was both his strength and his weakness.
“And I didn’t know you were a woman who cared about such things.”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
