True Marriage After Divorce (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1

“Haa….”

When the sound of water from the bathroom stopped, Ah Rin clutched at her chest and let out a shallow sigh.

Ah Rin bit down hard on her lower lip.

Just thinking about what to say to Jae Hyuk made her heart race. Her mind grew hazy, but she steeled herself, convinced she could do this.

The small voice that escaped her sounded as if choked with tears. The tiny fist resting on her knee trembled uncontrollably.

“I can talk to him properly… It’s time to end this.”

Her throat tightened.

Just imagining their breakup made tears threaten to spill over.

“Oppa Jae Hyuk.”

Even speaking his name aloud made her heart surge painfully.

A modern-day Cinderella?

The love story of the century?

These were the labels that had followed her since before—and throughout—her marriage.

The union between Ban Jae Hyuk, heir to South Korea’s top-ranked VAN Group, and Choi Ah Rin, daughter of Chairman Ban’s chauffeur, had been hailed by the public as a legendary love transcending social class.

But none of that ever applied to me.

A marriage of contract.

A show-window couple.

No—not even that. The relationship between Ban Jae Hyuk and Choi Ah Rin was nothing more than master and servant.

Was it foolish of me to believe that because I loved him so deeply, I’d stay by his side even if people called our marriage “bought”?

All that remained after three years of hellish marriage were wounds.

Ban Jae Hyuk, the sole heir of Chairman Ban Ho Jun—head of South Korea’s number-one conglomerate—and Choi Ah Rin, daughter of Mr. Choi, the chairman’s chauffeur, had their lives predetermined from the moment they were born.

[“Ah Rin-ah, let’s play together.”] [“This is a gift. I thought it would suit you, Ah Rin.”]

Young Ah Rin, still only an elementary school student, never understood the class difference between herself and Jae Hyuk, who always reached out to her first.

Gradually, she began to look forward to their time together. That feeling was…

[“I like you, Oppa.”]

It was the beginning of her first love. Her feelings deepened day by day. Then one day, overwhelmed by her surging affection, she confessed to him.

[“I like you too, Ah Rin. I really, really like you, Ah Rin-ah.”]

He felt the same way. Young Ah Rin believed that emotion would last forever.

The rift began when Jae Hyuk enrolled in a prestigious middle school while Ah Rin attended an ordinary public one. Over time, that gap widened into an unbridgeable distance.

Even though it was a love that could never come true, she couldn’t stop it.

Because, to Choi Ah Rin, Ban Jae Hyuk was the one and only love of her life.

Now, recalling those memories she alone still held onto, Ah Rin thought of Jae Hyuk’s changed eyes.

In her memory, he was always smiling. But the man now was cold, as if he’d forgotten those memories entirely, his eyes filled with contempt toward her.

Her eyes grew hot, and tears gathered at the corners of Ah Rin’s eyes.

She, the daughter of servants whom Madam Jeong—Jae Hyuk’s mother—had treated like a housemaid, was accepted as her precious son’s bride purely because of fortune-telling.

Madam Jeong was a staunch believer in superstition. She claimed she had narrowly escaped death three times during childhood, surviving only thanks to local shamans. Perhaps that was why she began fervently following shamanism, continuing even to this day.

Currently, the “Master Cheon” she followed was so famous that his waiting list for appointments alone stretched a full year. Madam Jeong consulted Master Cheon about every single decision she made.

[“Master Cheon said Jae Hyuk can only have an heir if he marries you.”]

Madam Jeong claimed it was Ah Rin’s birth chart alone that would allow her to see grandchildren—but couldn’t hide the disdain in her eyes.

That look seemed to say clearly: I’m accepting you, but not as a daughter-in-law.

[“Ask for whatever you want. Ah, by the way—Mr. Choi has cancer now, doesn’t he? Medical bills must be piling up. We’ll cover them.”]

Though formal class distinctions had vanished from society, class divisions still clearly existed in modern times—determined by money and family background.

Jae Hyuk stood at the pinnacle of the pyramid, possessing wealth, honor, and power, while Ah Rin existed at the very bottom, owning nothing.

No matter how deeply she loved him, she never wanted a marriage like this.

[“I refuse.”]

She loved Jae Hyuk, yes—but she couldn’t sell her life for money. At least, that’s what she believed back then.

[“Then what else can you do? Are you just going to leave Mr. Choi like that?”]

Days later, pressured by her mother and Mr. Choi’s rapidly worsening health, she accepted marriage to Jae Hyuk.

Madam Jeong told Ah Rin,

[“All you need to do is play the role of a ceremonial wife. I’m telling you this so you don’t get the wrong idea—”]

She had thought they could get along fine—until she heard those words.

[“Jae Hyuk has liked someone since he was young. She’s studying abroad now, but might return soon.”]

Madam Jeong’s whisper in her ear was colder than ever before.

‘Oppa already has someone he loves…’

She’d never dreamed of a future with Jae Hyuk. She knew class barriers were impossible to overcome alone.

But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t feel heartbroken knowing he held another woman in his heart.

A wave of despair crashed over her, as if the entire world had collapsed.

Do I really have to marry him—knowing he loves someone else?

There’s no other choice… Is there any other way?

Even fully aware of everything, she still chose marriage—and lamented how pitiful and miserable her fate had become.

Exactly one year after Madam Jeong’s visit—and precisely one year since her father had been unjustly accused and expelled from the Ban family—Ah Rin reunited with Jae Hyuk.

Seeing his icy expression, her heart, which she thought couldn’t possibly break further, shattered all over again.

Her trampled, crushed heart was bruised black and blue.

[“So you needed money that badly? Desperate enough to trade your life for it? Hah. I clearly underestimated you. I never thought you’d sell your entire life for a few bucks.”]

Frowning deeply, Jae Hyuk spoke in a cold, detached tone.

[“Fine. If what you want is my child, then go ahead—I’ll give you exactly what you want. Wait—no. You don’t even want a child. You just want money. Do as you please. But don’t expect me to treat you like a wife. Forget the Ban Jae Hyuk you remember. Because I’m going to forget the you from before, too.”]

His wounded expression—and especially the contemptuous look he gave her as he spoke his final words—cut deep.

Bound by the shackles of marriage, Jae Hyuk became unbearably cold. With no one on her side in that house, Ah Rin could only silently endure his cutting words.

Watching Jae Hyuk spit out harsh words was painful—but at the same time, she clung to foolish hope.

If he’d married her despite loving someone else, maybe his heart wasn’t completely closed off.

Even though their beginning was unusual, perhaps they could still live together like any ordinary couple.

It was a marriage she never wanted—but how many people truly wished for an unhappy life in their one and only lifetime?

She believed he felt the same.

People asked why she stayed by his side like a fool—why not just leave? But she couldn’t give up.

‘I’m Oppa’s wife right now. Maybe someday, his warm smile and gentle voice from the past will be mine again. I just need to try harder.’

She gave her absolute best for their marriage. She believed that if she tried hard enough, Jae Hyuk would change. Over time, he even seemed to slowly open his heart.

Just as she’d hoped, for three years he occasionally showed concern for her and sometimes even spoke to her with that old gentle voice.

But it didn’t take long for that vain hope to shatter completely.

[“Do you really think we can live together normally? Do you think we’re a real married couple?”]

Jae Hyuk’s words that day plunged Ah Rin into utter despair.

There was no going back to how things used to be.

Choi Ah Rin never had a chance to win Ban Jae Hyuk’s heart from the very beginning.

His changes had stemmed only from shallow pity and fickle mood swings.

Only much later did she realize the truth: he avoided her because he hated her—using his busy schedule as an excuse, sleeping in his study, and never entering her room except on scheduled days.

Ah Rin looked inward—and found her heart densely covered in long, sharp thorns. The wounds he’d given her pierced so deep they never even had a chance to heal.

Trapped in that house with no one to lean on, under Madam Jeong’s constant surveillance and strict restrictions, the price of neglecting her own wounds was brutal.

“Why did you hate me so much, Oppa?”

Until the day her father was falsely accused as a thief and her whole family was thrown out of this house, Jae Hyuk had never treated her harshly. In fact, he’d comforted her, promising to protect her.

But Jae Hyuk changed. His abrupt shift left an enormous, indelible scar.

[“Ah Rin-ah, even when we’re adults, let’s keep holding hands like this and look at pretty flowers together. Okay?”]

Yet, even after ten years, she couldn’t let him go—because his warm smile and gentle voice remained vividly alive in her memory.

But now, she couldn’t endure it any longer.

Ah Rin thought of her family, who had tormented her relentlessly throughout her three years of marriage.

[“Just send us fifty million won.”] [“Mother… I already gave you money. Just last week.”] [“Do you even know how much your father’s hospital bills cost? Should I just let him die? He was falsely accused and kicked out—and now he’s suffering from cancer on top of it all—and you, his own daughter, won’t give fifty million because it’s ‘too much’? Do you even realize you only became VAN Group’s madam because of us?”]

What started as a few million won had escalated to tens of millions…

Her family, never satisfied with the money she gave them, eventually began demanding money directly from Jae Hyuk himself.

That inevitably sparked conflicts—some of which even made it into online news—and eventually reached Madam Jeong’s ears.

Until Madam Jeong, whom she’d never once called “Mother,” threatened her, she’d never dared consider divorce…

[“What kind of daughter-in-law are you? Your family isn’t helping—they’re only making trouble for our Jae Hyuk.

I’m so ashamed I can’t even show my face in public. Just who do you think you are, bringing this kind of humiliation to my son and me?

Other people get business blessings from their in-laws…

Sigh. Marrying you was the biggest mistake of my life. That Cheon Master really is useless—no shaman could fix such a messed-up seed like you.

Fine. Since you can’t even conceive a child anyway, if you have any conscience at all, stop interfering with Jae Hyuk and file for divorce immediately.”]

Madam Jeong’s sharp words echoed again in her mind, stabbing her heart over and over.

[“Jae Hyuk will be seeing a woman from a family incomparably better than yours. Tsk—Master Cheon clearly said not to accept you.”]

It was exactly as her mother-in-law had said.

Ah Rin resolved to put an end to this absurd marriage that had dragged on for three years.

‘Even if I ask for a breakup, Oppa won’t care at all. Don’t be sad—it’s something you already know.’

Ah Rin assumed Madam Jeong must have threatened Jae Hyuk, just as she’d threatened her. Otherwise, he’d never have chosen her over the woman he loved.

Staying beside a man who didn’t love her was unbearably painful—so miserable she sometimes thought death would be kinder.

Now, exhausted from never being loved and tired of her family causing him trouble, she decided to leave—just as they’d always told her to.

‘Today is the day I’ll say it.’

Remembering everything that had happened, Ah Rin’s eyes grew damp.

“Pretend it’s nothing. Act like you’re fine. Choi Ah Rin, you’ve practiced this…”

The sound of water from the bathroom had stopped completely. That meant he’d finished his shower and would soon open the door.

She had to rehearse the words again before he arrived—and say them as if nothing were wrong.

From her small, bloodied lips came a cracked, trembling whisper.

“Let’s get divorced. Us…”

A tear spilled from her wide eyes.

Just then—

“What are you doing?”

The door clicked open, and his voice reached her.