Surely, her husband’s face, which had been seriously listening to her story until just a moment ago, had turned cold.

“Um…”

Seo Yeon, who was blinking her large eyes without grasping the situation, said.

“Seong Jun… sir?”

As if the earlier friendly gaze had never existed, Seong Jun’s eyes flashed coldly.

Seo Yeon felt her whole body shrink at her husband’s sharp gaze, and unconsciously took a step back and trembled.

At that moment, the corners of Seong Jun’s mouth loosened slightly.

“Is this the nonsense you begged me to come home early for?”

It was as if he was mocking Seo Yeon’s actions as pathetic. Seong Jun enunciated clearly while staring into Seo Yeon’s eyes.

“Thanks to you, I’ve thoroughly wasted my time.”

After that, Seong Jun left without giving Seo Yeon another glance.

Left alone, Seo Yeon muttered with a confused face.

“Is this really something to get so angry about?”

Seo Yeon had known from the start that her proposal would be disconcerting to Seong Jun.

She was already prepared for the possibility that today’s conversation might not persuade him at all.

If he hadn’t listened to her story seriously, or if he hadn’t shown a more positive reaction than expected, she wouldn’t have been so flustered.

“Should I not have brought up the contract?”

It was around the time when her elder brother was publicly attacking Han Kyung Group and Seo Yeon was backed into a corner. She received a mysterious message.

[Han Seo Yeon. How much do you trust your husband? Your husband was my lover before he married you. He was the only man I ever loved. You’re a shameless person who stole another woman’s man! If you have any conscience, break up with him right now!]

It was truly absurd. A message suddenly claiming to be her husband’s woman. The content was too serious to dismiss as a joke, and Seo Yeon’s situation wasn’t conducive to confronting her husband about whether he really had a mistress.

Seo Yeon’s grandfather-in-law, the chairman of Han Kyung Group, used to say habitually.

‘Anyone who can’t earn their keep is not my child.’

Her husband was almost the only grandson who lived up to such expectations of his grandfather-in-law.

But when Seo Yeon’s elder brother, a prosecutor, publicly targeted and attacked Han Kyung Group, plunging the entire group into crisis, he took all the responsibility, and because of that, his reputation within the group also plummeted to the worst.

To make up for it, Seong Jun increased his workload several times and worked overtime as if it were a meal.

Seo Yeon, who witnessed this process from the closest place, had no face to see her husband. She visited her elder brother almost every day to stop his rampage. But Seo Yeon’s visitation requests were repeatedly rejected.

When she went to her parents for help, the two of them just told Seo Yeon to endure.

Even though she knew it was something she couldn’t resolve, she felt like she would go crazy if she didn’t do even that.

So at that time, Seo Yeon was in no position to question whether the message claiming her husband was committing adultery was true or not. She didn’t even have the mental capacity for that.

All she could do in response to such a one-sided message was to thoroughly ignore it and go about her life. Then, after a while, another message came from the woman claiming to be her husband’s mistress.

[Let’s meet and talk.]

She thought there was no particular reason to refuse.

[Okay. Let’s meet.]

A striking beauty with a bright expression walked towards Seo Yeon.

She looks familiar.

That was the thought Seo Yeon had when she first saw her husband’s mistress.

And Seo Yeon soon realized that she was a rookie actress being introduced through various media as a rising CF star. She had also seen her briefly on TV not long ago.

Her name was Choi Ye Rin, wasn’t it?

Seo Yeon’s gaze shifted to the driver accompanying the woman.

He was one of the people who helped with Han Kyung family’s affairs.

Her husband really did have a woman.

It seemed even her husband’s family knew about it.

It wasn’t a marriage made for love, but seeing the woman’s face in person suddenly felt shocking.

“Han Seo Yeon?”

The woman sat down, confirmed Seo Yeon’s face, and gulped down the water in front of her.

“You’re really shameless.”

And then she suddenly glared at Seo Yeon and started getting angry with her.

“Why don’t you step aside?”

Seo Yeon asked back, as if not understanding the woman’s absurd claim.

“Should I step aside?”

The woman’s eyes flashed with anger at Seo Yeon’s words.

“Of course! I met oppa first and we’re in love, okay? Han Seo Yeon, if you just step aside, it’ll be a perfect happy ending for me, oppa, and everyone else. Do you understand?”

“So, Ye Rin, you’re saying you met Seong Jun before we got married? And now you want me to divorce my husband?”

Ye Rin nodded vigorously at Seo Yeon’s question.

“Looks like you finally understand. Yes! That’s right! Han Seo Yeon, you’re just living with oppa’s shell without love. Now do you see how pitiful and miserable your situation is? Why don’t you get a divorce? Don’t you have any self-respect?”

Seo Yeon was freshly appalled by the woman’s brazen and bold claims. How could she speak so confidently about committing adultery? Would slapping her face make her feel better?

“Please come to your senses and step aside already!”

There were many people around Seo Yeon who boasted about having lovers while maintaining their marriages. And she knew that attractive people of the opposite sex approached her husband even after marriage.

However, it seemed the intensity of shock was different between imagining something and facing reality in front of your eyes.

“Miserable. I guess that’s how I look in your eyes, Ye Rin.”

“That’s right. You’re really miserable.”

“But so what? I’m still Seong Jun’s wife anyway, and you’re just a homewrecker scorned by society.”

“W-What did you say?”

The woman looked truly shocked, her face turning pale. Seo Yeon sneered at her and said.

“If you want a divorce, try talking to Seong Jun. That would be simpler. I have no intention of stepping aside. It’s not like I married Seong Jun for love anyway. So your existence doesn’t change anything.”

With those final words, she stood up from her seat. In front of the woman, she calmly said that her husband’s affair was no problem in maintaining their marriage, but in truth, deep in her heart, she felt greatly betrayed by Seong Jun.

It was really tough at the time, but after going through all sorts of hardships, the current Seo Yeon had changed into an extremely practical personality.

To the point where she could turn a blind eye to her husband’s infidelity if only she could safely meet the child she had miscarried.

In her past life, she learned the lesson that no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t get everything she wanted. If that was the case, she at least wanted to meet the child she desired most.

But seeing her husband’s angry reaction, it seemed she had made a mistake after all. A sigh escaped between Seo Yeon’s lips as she finished reminiscing.

“Maybe it would have been better to pretend not to know until the end, like before.”

Seo Yeon muttered with a serious face. Then suddenly she felt a surge of emotion. Seo Yeon glared at the empty space where Seong Jun had disappeared and said resentfully.

“Who’s the one who really should be angry?”

In this life, all she wanted was to live for herself without being swayed by her husband or family. She even refrained from mentioning that she knew he was already committing infidelity out of consideration for her husband.

“Then why are you the one getting angry?”

It turned out her husband was an even more brazen man than she had thought.

She had vowed not to be hurt by her husband in this life. As time passed, she became increasingly irritated by her husband’s shamelessness.

However, she couldn’t back down so easily. She would persuade her husband somehow.

*

Seong Jun arrived at the company in a bad mood. His expression was so fierce that even the lowest-ranking employees knew his mood was at rock bottom. And Seong Jun’s mood plummeted even further after receiving a message from his wife.

[Did you arrive at work safely? I misspoke yesterday. I’m sorry. To apologize, I’ll prepare dinner tonight. You’ll come home early today, right?]And he had to admit.

He had felt great anticipation and excitement when his wife, who had only been avoiding him like a guilty person, first requested a conversation.

What on earth did she want to talk about?

He couldn’t even begin to guess, but it seems that’s all he thought about while driving.

And when she said she wanted things to be different between them, his heart felt like it would burst.

He had only thought she was uncomfortable with him.

Whenever he tried to say something, she would always turn her gaze away or lower her head.

But it seems that was his misunderstanding.

And in that moment when his wife boldly told Seong Jun she wanted to share the same room, he really observed his wife’s face in detail for the first time in a long while.

Her large eyes.

Her soft cheeks.

Her plump, red lips.

Everything that usually didn’t catch his eye entered Seong Jun’s view as if being imprinted. And all those things couldn’t have looked more beautiful.

His heart suddenly grew hot.

‘In return, I won’t demand or expect anything from you as a wife, Seong Jun. If you have a woman you love, you can meet her as much as you want. I even signed a contract.’

And Seong Jun’s heart, which had been so excited, turned cold at Seo Yeon’s words.