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Chapter 24
“Of course.”
“I love Taewook too.”
Was this what it felt like to be shot?
Was this what it felt like to be struck by lightning?
Whenever Winter stood in front of his father, she would tremble like a quaking aspen. Watching her made Taewook’s chest feel tight.
Did living like a doll mean enduring hurtful words without protest?
Winter knew those sharp words were deliberately meant to wound.
And every time he saw her unable to say anything back to his father, frustration eventually built into irritation.
What cutting thing would his father say this time to tear Han Winter’s heart to pieces?
And why now, when it hadn’t even been a year since she lost her younger sibling?
His father’s habit of preying on people at their weakest was filthy and cowardly.
That was why Mother too…
At the sudden thought of his mother’s face, Taewook’s grip on the steering wheel tightened sharply.
Grinding his teeth, he slammed the car to a stop the moment the family mansion came into view.
“P-President!”
“Where’s Han Winter?”
“She’s speaking with the chairman…”
Before Sangwoo could even finish answering, Taewook tossed him the car keys and shoved open the gates.
There wasn’t time to demand why they had done this.
The thought of Winter’s clear, innocent face being shredded apart by his father’s cruel words made it hard to breathe.
Their marriage had started as a contract.
But even so, he had never once believed that gave anyone the right to wound her heart.
He crossed the unnecessarily enormous yard and threw open the front door.
Though he entered noisily, the people inside apparently hadn’t heard him.
In the quiet house, only Winter’s clear voice echoed.
Following the sound, he hurried forward and soon saw Winter seated at the table, looking straight at his father.
“Ah, I remember now. You asked how much Taewook paid me, right? Hmm… I think it was about two billion won.”
“Taewook gave me two billion won to marry him.”
For such a confident tone, it was an outrageously shameless lie.
Leaving aside why she was revealing something they had agreed not to mention, when had one billion become two?
He was dumbfounded by the lie spoken with such a cheerful smile.
“And what part of you is worth two billion won?”
“Isn’t that way overpriced? You were just some nobody no one had heard of.”
A familiar female voice sneered from inside.
Glancing over, Taewook saw exactly who he expected—the only daughter of Jangwon Group, the woman his father had once handpicked for him.
The woman’s mocking tone and blatant contempt toward Winter made his head throb.
His father’s intentions in deliberately seating that woman there were painfully obvious, and it twisted his stomach.
Just as he was about to stride in and drag Winter away, her soft, lilting voice stopped him once again.
“By the way, I’ve been wondering this whole time… who are you exactly?”
“Don’t tell me I had another mother-in-law I didn’t know about?”
With a single sentence, Winter mocked both the woman and his father.
Taewook nearly burst out laughing.
Suppressing the smile threatening to escape, he looked back toward the room. Winter still wore the same calm, relaxed smile.
“Four billion? That kind of money is nothing.”
“My son will accomplish far greater things than living with some cheap woman like you.”
“What’s four billion won to me?”
Four billion won.
Even after returning the two billion written in the contract, there would still be two billion left over.
At the sight of his father pushing the divorce papers toward her with that promise, Winter’s eyes sparkled with apparent interest.
“So if I just sign this, the money goes into my account, and in exchange I break up with Taewook?”
“Sounds good to me. No mistakes there.”
“Four billion… wow. I like it. I really like money, you know.”
At Winter’s smooth reply, Taewook’s hands clenched instinctively.
Sweat dampened his tightly balled fists.
Why am I sweating?
Am I… nervous right now?
Nervous because of Han Winter’s answer? Me?
Why?
That unexplainable tension spread from his hands through his entire body.
He swallowed against his dry throat.
“It’s only been about a month and a half since I married Taewook, right?”
“But when I was about to sign the divorce papers Father prepared, I suddenly started wondering something.”
“If you’re willing to pay four billion because you dislike me as Taewook’s partner after only a month and a half…”
“Then how much would I be worth after one year?”
“And after ten years?”
The shrill screams of the other woman no longer reached him.
Taewook stared, captivated, as Winter tore the divorce papers apart with a bright smile on her face.
“You actually believe that bastard when he says he loves you?”
Winter, who had risen to greet him, quietly looked toward his father at the question.
Then she lifted her head slightly, as if choosing her words—and her gaze met Taewook’s.
His breath caught instantly, as though his heart had been pierced through.
“Of course.”
“I love Taewook too.”
Her playful smile as she looked at him shattered the breath trapped in his chest, and before he knew it, he was smiling too.
Ah.
I lost.
I think I really lost to you, Winter.
“Flowers… wow. He’s doing things he normally never would. Weird.”
Something he’d never do.
That was my honest impression when I saw the bouquet resting on the vanity.
Joo Taewook doing something out of character.
Last night, Taewook had rushed over to the family home after hearing what happened.
I had just been finishing my conversation with his father, and the moment our eyes met, a mischievous impulse suddenly struck me.
‘I love Han Winter.’
The reason I told him I loved him was because I suddenly remembered that confession from before.
He, I, and his father had all been there together back then too.
The situation had been almost identical, and I only intended to return those hollow words back to him.
‘Of course.’
‘I love Taewook too.’
At my response, he seemed to understand what I meant and let out a faint laugh.
Right. Up until then, I thought everything was perfectly normal…
‘How many times have I told you not to do this?’
‘Joo Taewook.’
‘I told you this before, but since you clearly didn’t believe me, I’ll say it again.’
‘You stop that right—!’
‘I love this woman.’
It was no different from that confession before.
So why had it felt in that moment as though I’d been bewitched by him?
Why couldn’t I take my eyes off him when he said he loved me?
Why had my heart started pounding in a way I couldn’t understand?
Thinking back on those emotions again, I quietly placed a hand over my chest.
Beneath my palm, my heart was once again beating noisily at the memory alone.
“…I think I really do have arrhythmia.”
As if trying to shake off the absurd thought, I shivered all over and shook my head.
The unfamiliar feeling gave me goosebumps, so I climbed out of bed.
I grabbed the phone from the bedside table and was about to leave the room when I noticed the bouquet Taewook had given me again.
‘It’s a gift.’
‘A gift?’
‘Yeah.’
“What was yesterday, anyway?”
I frowned as I thought about him—a man whose thoughts were impossible to understand.
Not wanting my head to grow any more complicated, I headed to the kitchen and brewed coffee with practiced hands.
As the fragrant aroma filled the house, the tangled mess in my mind seemed to loosen a little.
Carrying the coffee into the living room, I turned on the news channel.
The endless commercials played like background noise while I switched my phone back on.
The moment it powered up, messages and missed calls that hadn’t come through during the night flooded the screen with endless notification sounds.
No, wait. Hardly anyone even has this number. Why are there so many?
The screen was filled with Taewook’s number, showing countless calls from last night until just moments ago.
Unable to understand what was going on in his head, I considered calling him first but decided to check the messages instead.
Kim Arin
Wow, you seriously just left because someone called you? What was I supposed to do then? Is this what you call handling things properly?
Ugh, this is so annoying. Come to JT tomorrow. And you’re getting me a visitor’s pass too. Otherwise, deal’s off. I’m serious.
Ah, right.
Only then did I remember leaving Arin behind at the agency yesterday because of Sangwoo’s request.
I considered replying, but figured it’d be easier to just go there myself.
While deleting spam texts and messages from what looked like reporters, I noticed one from Sangwoo.
Lee Sangwoo
I’m sorry about yesterday.
I scratched my head at his brief apology.
Well, he had been the one to bring me to that house, but honestly, it was something I would’ve had to face eventually.
And it wasn’t like the middleman had done anything wrong.
I was about to reply that he shouldn’t worry about it when the TV suddenly flashed with police lights and a reporter’s urgent voice.
Without realizing it, my eyes locked onto the screen.
“…Could the death of Prosecutor Han Yeoreum, a case long trapped in mystery, finally be making progress? Or is this a provocation aimed at the prosecution? The investigation into Prosecutor Han Yeoreum’s death, previously believed to involve a stolen vehicle, may finally have found a breakthrough after months of stagnation. Last night, someone believed to be the culprit abandoned the stolen vehicle used in the crime at the scene before disappearing. Behind me now, you can see—”
The reporter’s voice barely registered in my ears.
I couldn’t understand what I was looking at.
The coffee cup in my hand suddenly felt as heavy as a stone.
Then my phone chimed again.
Happy birthday, Winter. Did you like the gift?
Crash—
Startled by the message, I dropped the coffee cup.
It shattered violently against the marble floor.
“Han Winter!”
The front door burst open urgently, and Taewook rushed into the house.
Without realizing it, my grip tightened around the phone.
Thump. Thump.
My heart started pounding wildly once more.
