‘I did all this for you, hoping you would look back at least once.’
Even while begging to be released from the agony, the reason she couldn’t leave was her love for him.
Even when she lost herself by his cruel side, she couldn’t let go of love, all because of the very small expectations he gave without much thought.
On the day he demanded a divorce, while facing his indifferent eyes that did not look back, she thought.
[Clear your head. Go shopping or something.]She thought she would never be loved by him in her lifetime.
Moreover, he already had a woman he loved. So, even if he were to love someone else, she thought it couldn’t be her.
She forced herself to resign. Jaehyuk, born with everything from birth, consciously or unconsciously prioritized himself as the top priority.
Even if he didn’t desperately want something, he could get it, but she couldn’t.
The modern version of Cinderella’s birth was only possible with Ban Jaehyuk.
‘If such a person appears for Oppa, that woman will probably be really happy… I envied Min Yujin for that…’
Past memories came to mind, and her heart surged.
‘Yes, if he really loved me, this shouldn’t have happened. So, Oppa’s feelings aren’t to that extent.’
With that determination, Arin bit down hard on the flesh inside her mouth.
‘Choi Arin, don’t be delusional. Why is my heart swinging back and forth like this? Why am I pushing Oppa away and feeling disappointed?’
Her mind was dizzy.
Her body was trapped in his arms in an instant.
Her body stiffened in confusion at the fact that she was being embraced by him.
“Sorry.”
His voice, like a sigh, burst above her head. The hand that wrapped around her back trembled slightly.
“I know I don’t have the right to say this… So, I’m sorry.”
“…”
“I love you, Arin.”
With a voice that was torn and sinking, he confessed his love to her.
“Even if you think it would be burdensome for you to hear this now, I’m sorry for not being able to hide it.”
The hand digging into her hair gently stroked her head. She could feel the tremor at the fingertips, but the hand did not stop.
“It’s okay to forget it tomorrow. If you forget, you can tell me again.”
Arin raised her head and looked at Jaehyuk. In the dark, his face was clearer than anything else.
When their eyes met, he spoke with a face that seemed like he was about to cry.
“I shouldn’t have been so greedy to want you like this because I’m lacking. It seems like I’ve become greedy lately. That’s why just your brief absence made me collapse like this.”
“…”
“My life without you… I didn’t know it would collapse like this. You don’t have to accept it.”
Jaehyuk, like an impregnable fortress, remained unshaken.
Until a year ago, when he asked to come back with an ‘impressive appearance,’ he hadn’t abandoned his pride.
He might not have noticed, but she knew. She knew everything about him, even the parts he was unaware of.
‘He helped his family, claiming he was thinking of me, but the true intention behind his actions was to help me. He never admitted his mistakes, only urging me to come back, promising to do well… that’s all.’
So, she was angry.
Even the apology didn’t feel sincere.
Until the last moment when she uttered the words “let’s stop,” he never abandoned his pride.
Maybe he never admitted his mistakes, that’s why.
That’s why.
“If you won’t accept me, I’ll respect your feelings. I won’t force my feelings on you. Just give me the time to do my best for you.”
He said.
However, he had changed completely.
He discarded all his pride, laying out everything and talking to her.
If he had sincerely asked me to come back at that time, no matter how difficult the memories were, maybe I would have wavered.
To the confused her, he said.
“Arin.”
In his arms that embraced her, she felt a strong force.
‘Does Oppa love me to that extent?’
She forcefully pushed away the feelings that couldn’t deny the sincerity in his words.
Mixed with the difficult emotions she had experienced, she couldn’t express them in words.
“Lie.”
“Yeah, I understand. I couldn’t give you trust.”
He pulled her denial with even stronger force.
“I’ll try harder. So that you can trust me a little.”
“…”
“So, whether it’s a contract or sympathy, it’s okay. Just stay in that place. It’s late, but please do that.”
At his words, ‘It’s late, but,’ Arin suddenly felt bad.
Yes, your words are correct; we’re too late!
Memories of the difficult times after the breakup flooded her mind.
‘Why didn’t I do that back then? Why are you doing this now?’
The harsh words and actions he had done unfolded like a panorama in her mind.
“Then why did you do that?”
“…”
“If you thought of me like that, you shouldn’t have done that, right? Why did you do that?”
At her questioning, he pursed his lips. After a moment, a wet voice flowed through his dry lips.
“I know, you’re not my real parents.”
It was a sentence without a subject or object, but Arin understood what Jaehyuk meant.
Her heart sank.
“When, when did you know? When did you find out?”
She shook his body. He spoke with a painful expression.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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