The man’s gaze quickly swept over A Rin from head to toe. She was an objectively beautiful woman. Perhaps because it was a wedding, she had paid more attention to her appearance than usual. The ample frills that followed her neckline complemented her slender and straight collarbones and beautifully exposed shoulders.

The sky-blue off-shoulder dress hugged her waist tightly and gripped her relatively wide hips, accentuating her figure. The length that came down enough to cover her slender calves gave off a pure yet sensual atmosphere.

If someone were to pick the prettiest woman here, she would definitely be ranked high.

“That’s why I came in person.”

“You’re crazy.”

A Rin looked at the man with a disgusted expression, but the man didn’t even snort.

“Stop pretending. You must be lonely these days.”

“Who says so?”

“I heard and know everything.”

A Rin was startled by the man’s confident words.

“I think I can show you a way to solve it. You were a chaebol’s wife and then got dumped, so your spending must be tight.”

The man’s eyes suddenly became darker, and soon his pupils were dyed with lust.

“Well, it doesn’t feel pleasant to be used and thrown away, but since it’s you, I’ll make an exception and accept you.”

The man’s face suddenly came close. A Rin screamed and pushed the man’s chest away.

“Are you crazy?”

It was disgusting.

Ra Hyuk always had a pleasant white musk scent, but… the man in front of her reeked of a pungent cigarette smell mixed with a strong perfume. It was such a strong and terrible smell that made her want to cover her nose.

“I’ll scream. Right now.”

Compared to Ra Hyuk who takes good care of himself, the buttons on the man’s shirt looked like they were about to burst.

The man laughed as if A Rin was ridiculous.

“I told you. Try calling for help. Without Ban Ra Hyuk, it’s impossible to go against the KK Group.”

The man continued, raising the corners of his mouth.

“Ah, of course Ra Hyuk won’t come. You’re the woman he dumped after all.”

At the man’s words, A Rin’s face turned deathly pale. Her round shoulders trembled like an aspen tree.

‘The KK Group…? Do I have no choice but to suffer? What should I do?’

Fear suddenly surged.

The KK Group was the number one company in South Korea’s food industry, consistently maintaining popularity every year with dozens of hit products.

‘The ceremony is about to start, so most of the guests have entered the wedding hall. Since only my sister’s wedding is on this floor, the staff will all be there too. Moreover.’

There would be no one who could stop the son of the KK Group, known for his immense love for his children. Stopping the man was equivalent to going against the KK Group.

‘Please… anyone, save me. Please.’

It was just a silent scream, and there was not even a shadow of a person nearby.

The fact that there was no one to help her came as an even greater fear and despair.

“Let go, I said let go.”

The man roughly grabbed her wrist. A Rin tried to resist being dragged by the man who was pulling her towards the end of the corridor. However, she was no match for the strength of a man three times her size.

A Rin ended up being dragged by the man’s rough hand.

“Don’t act expensive. I’m just getting your number today. You just need to say ‘yes’ and give me your number. I’m not the kind of jerk to cause trouble in a public place like this.”

At the end of the corridor, the man pushed A Rin against the wall behind a pillar, out of people’s sight.

“Since it’s the first time, let’s do it somewhere nice. 7 PM today, Mira U Hotel, 19th floor.”

A Rin trembled with fear at the man’s whisper in her ear.

“But you know what? Even if I let you go here, don’t even think about running away. I know where you are. Jeju Island Memoria.”

The man knew where she was.

“H-how do you know that?”

The man smirked at A Rin’s question.

“You think there’s anything I don’t know as the heir to the KK Group? And destroying a measly store for me is as easy as stepping on an earthworm.”

A Rin’s face turned ashen at the man’s threat.

“I won’t force you. But just remember this. When I drag you by force, I won’t treat you like a gentleman as I do now. When I say I’m being nice, come to the hotel tonight. Let’s have a peaceful relationship. We’ll be together for life.”

Goosebumps rose all over her body. Despair rushed in.

The man’s words were not just any threat. If the man was from the KK Group, he had enough power to do so.

‘It’s over. Everything.’

A Rin, consumed by despair, closed her eyes tightly. A dirty sensation rushed to her cheek.

“Yeah, think carefully…”

At that moment.

With a thud, the man’s hand that had been resting on her cheek fell away.

‘What the…’

She opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the man with a dumbfounded expression, gripping his cheek with his hand.

He looked so miserable that it was unimaginable that he had been smirking at her just a moment ago.

“Do you want to die?”

At the same time, a pleasant white musk scent passed by her nose, calming her churning stomach.

It was Ra Hyuk.

A Rin’s heart fluttered. She couldn’t believe it. Tears were about to pour out at the sight of the broad back blocking her view.

‘I hated you so much. I resented you so much. Are you really my brother…?’

Thump thump.

Her heart raced rapidly, but with a different meaning than the anxiety from before.

Maybe she was mistaking the fear and tension for trembling towards him. In psychology, they call this the suspension bridge effect.

When she met Ra Hyuk some time ago, her heart felt like it was going to collapse with sadness and pain.

‘But it’s different now. What is this feeling?’

A complex tangle of unknown emotions swirled in her heart.

A Rin looked down at her wrist. The wrist that the man had twisted still had a stinging pain.

‘If oppa hadn’t come, I would have been…’

Although she couldn’t define her emotions, her feelings towards Ra Hyuk were now completely different from the past.

Imagining the worst, tears quickly welled up in her large eyes out of fear.

Seeing A Rin’s tears, anger surged through Ra Hyuk.

“You bastard.”

He turned around, grabbed the man’s collar, and lifted him up.

“Whose name are you carelessly calling with that dirty mouth?”

Anger could be felt in his voice that sounded as if it was being crushed. It was a voice full of murderous intent that could freeze the surroundings.

At that moment, the sound of people’s voices could be faintly heard from the opposite corridor.

‘I think someone is coming. It’ll be troublesome if people see.’

A Rin hurriedly wiped away her tears in surprise.

Her throat was choked up and she couldn’t speak. She approached Ra Hyuk and tugged on his collar.

Ra Hyuk turned his head. After checking her face, he roughly pushed away the collar he was holding and abruptly stood up.

“Are you okay?”

He asked, gently wrapping his arm around her shoulder. A Rin felt like her barely contained tears were about to burst at his worried gaze.

“I think someone is coming.”

“…Don’t mind them.”

“What if someone sees?”

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of everything.”

“It’s not that… if an article comes out…”

“I’ll be the one to roll in the mud and get smeared with filth. So don’t worry about that…”

When their eyes met, A Rin seemed to understand.

‘I was relieved that oppa came. I was glad that the person who saved me was oppa.’

Was I such a fickle woman…

I was the one who left saying I wanted a divorce, the one who pushed him away demanding a divorce when he said he didn’t want it…

“Just focus on your feelings. Just look at your pain. A Rin. It’s okay now that I’m here. Don’t be afraid of anything anymore.”

Why does my heart feel so warm at his words?

Why do I feel reassured by his gaze?

“……”

“Can you wait for me a bit? I’ll take care of it quickly.”

My heart fluttered.

At this moment, I couldn’t deny that I was swayed by Ra Hyuk.

Ra Hyuk comforted A Rin and then turned around. His affectionate gaze turned cold in an instant.

‘Someone is coming.’

The sound of people’s footsteps approaching closer reached his ears as well.

Ra Hyuk approached the man sprawled on the floor. As Ra Hyuk approached, a strong fear of a predator once again cast over the face of the man who had been looking arrogant just a moment ago.

“Help…”

The man tried to scream at the sound of people approaching. However, Ra Hyuk covered the man’s mouth.

“Trying to call for help?”

The man’s face, whose mouth was blocked, turned deathly pale. The man belatedly shook his head from side to side, denying it, but it was already after thoroughly provoking Ra Hyuk’s anger.

“Go ahead. But you know what? If this gets revealed, who do you think will have a harder time?”

Fear quickly filled the man’s eyes at Ra Hyuk’s question.

“I don’t care that you can’t fix your bad habits. But I have enough power to let people know who you messed with.”

“……”

“I don’t know how much power you think the KK Group can exert in front of the VAN Group, but try it if you want. I’m not one to avoid a challenge.”

Ra Hyuk’s eyes were full of murderous intent towards the man.

Although the KK Group was a powerful company with the number one market share in the food industry, the VAN Group was a global conglomerate that went beyond South Korea.

The man seemed to finally realize what he had done, his face turning not just white, but blue.

Ra Hyuk freed the man’s mouth. With a cold expression, he said to the man,

“Scream if you want to scream.”

Knowing his place, the man said,

“I won’t. I won’t tell anyone. So please forgive…”

“You thought you could insult my wife and remain unscathed? I’m not generous enough to let someone who did something dirty to my wife off the hook.”

“W-Wife? B-But the divorce is as good as…”

“…Who said that?”

“T-That’s…”

The man couldn’t say it. How could he say that the person who told him was his mother’s lover?

“…N-No, sir.”

The man felt like he had stepped on a landmine. A landmine that would explode as soon as he lifted his foot…

It wasn’t difficult to know that they were incomparable.

The man clung to Ra Hyuk’s feet.

“I-I’m sorry. I-I just heard a false rumor…”

A Rin found Ra Hyuk’s low and cold voice directed at the man terribly unfamiliar.

The man knelt down and placed his head on the floor.

“Please forgive me. It’s my mistake.”

‘D-Damn it. As good as divorced, she said. That woman, Madam Jung, deceived me? That bastard Han Tae Su dared to…’

The prostrated man gritted his teeth, keeping his face down so Ra Hyuk couldn’t see.

Because it was a woman who was once his stepmother, because it was her lover who said it, he believed it.

Anyone who frequented ‘that place’ knew what kind of relationship Tae Su and Madam Jung had.

Moreover, he had been drooling over A Rin’s alluring body for a long time.

‘Damn it. Damn it.’

The man hit his head on the floor repeatedly, acknowledging his foolishness in touching such a woman.

Anger rose within the man towards Han Tae Su who had deceived him. But that wasn’t the problem. Right now, the priority was to somehow quell Ra Hyuk’s anger even a little and escape from this situation.