Chapter 2

“Ah.”

Yoon Sung-hoon turned back and frowned. After calming his trembling hands, he tightened his robe. Looking annoyed, he stood up.

“I’ll go.”

He stuck his head through the door, saying something to the people outside.

‘Calm down.’

The moment Yoon Sung-hoon’s body touched hers, Kang Da-som wanted to die.

“So this is what the worst truly feels like.”

‘I have to get out of here no matter what.’

She had no intention of giving him her first experience. Even thinking about how foolish she must have looked before she returned made her body shake.

There was a light pink leather handbag on the shelf beside the bed. She stood up naturally and opened it.

Inside, just as she had hoped, was a small spare packet of sleeping pills.

The sight of it brought back memories, as vivid as if they had happened yesterday.

When she first met Yoon Sung-hoon, Kang Da-som had just been accepted as the first Asian member of the Charmant Ballet in France.

“The ballet company?”

“Yes, if you’ll allow me, I’ll quietly leave home as soon as I graduate. Please.”

“Hey, do you think I fed and raised you for that? I only sent you away because I thought dancing like a fool was better than pretending to be smart and studying. Stop dreaming nonsense. Graduate, get married, and earn your keep.”

“Mother, what do you mean, marriage?”

“Shut up! Who’s your mother? You’re just the daughter of a mistress! I was the one who put you in the family registry, and you don’t even know how ungrateful you are!”

Her mother, Lee So-young, was a famous actress who had died mysteriously not long after giving birth to her.

Chairman Kang had quickly added Da-som to the family registry, not wanting the world to know she had been born to a single mother.

Seo Mi-young, who suddenly had to take in an unwanted child, hated everything about Kang Da-som.

And as Da-som grew, she began to resemble her late mother more than her father, Vice Chairman Kang Hyun-goo.

At the peak of her stress, Da-som had visited a hospital and been prescribed sleeping pills for her insomnia. Since then, she always carried a spare packet inside her handbag.

She slipped the pills out, hid them between the sofa cushions, and walked toward the front door.

“What’s going on?”

“They brought me two bottles of whiskey I didn’t even order. Damn it, so annoying.”

“I ordered two bottles.”

“You did?”

Yoon Sung-hoon widened his eyes, about to scold the staff for messing up. Da-som smiled faintly as she brushed back her damp hair.

“I thought it would be better to have more than not enough later. I should have told you first. Sorry.”

“One bottle’s enough, but… Ah, whatever. Just leave it. It’s not that expensive.”

The waiter entered, placed two bottles of whiskey, glasses, and a cheese plate on the dining table, then left. Da-som had asked him to set them there instead of the sofa.

Just then, Yoon Sung-hoon’s phone lit up on the sofa.

[Younger Brother]

Da-som’s eyes widened when she saw the caller ID. It was his younger brother—Yoon Jin-woo.

At that moment, memories of Jin-woo’s tragic life before her return came back to her.

A man born as the youngest son of a wealthy family, who had dreamed of becoming an actor. But in the end, he was just a third-rate celebrity with no real hits, appearing only on family variety shows.

And yet, even while knowing his wife was secretly sleeping with his older brother… he said nothing.

“What were you thinking, Yoon Jin-woo… when you saw yourself kindly raising the child born from your brother and your wife?”

Very little was known about Jin-woo, since he rarely showed up at family events. But one thing was certain—he too had been born with a cursed fate.

Da-som picked up the phone and handed it to Yoon Sung-hoon.

“You got a call.”

Clicking his tongue, he looked at the caller. His thumb hovered near the reject button—until Da-som lightly held his wrist.

“Still, it’s family. You should answer.”

“Family, huh? I’d rather spend time with you.”

“You had plenty of time today, didn’t you?”

Da-som linked her arm with his and smiled sweetly as she pressed the answer button with her fingertip.

Caught off guard by her charm, Yoon Sung-hoon coughed and then answered the call, stepping into the inner room.

“Oh, it’s me. Hey! I told you not to call me. What is it?”

As soon as he disappeared inside, Da-som quickly retrieved the hidden pills, crushed them between her fingers, and mixed them into his drink.

When he returned, she acted as if nothing had happened.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing much. That brat barely calls anyway.”

Irritated, he shut off his phone right in front of her and tossed it away.

“He asked if I pressured him to cancel some cosmetics ad. I’ve never even heard of it. Why bother me about something Dad did?”

“If it’s Dad, you mean the Vice Chairman? He pressured his youngest son to cancel an ad?”

She asked innocently, trying to buy time for the drugs to dissolve.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you? Our youngest ran away from home to be an actor. Barely managed to film some drama recently. Anyway, Mom really hates him.”

The one pulling the Vice Chairman’s strings was Sung-hoon’s mother, Jang Joo-bin—known in the industry as Madam Jang.

Unlike other conglomerates, the Cheonmyeong Group had three sons and no scandals about illegitimate children. Why? Because Madam Jang had cleaned up all the messes.

Ironically, Sung-hoon looked exactly like his father, Vice Chairman Yoon Jun-seok, in his younger days.

“Enough talk. Let’s drink.”

He downed the whiskey in one gulp. Da-som clinked her glass with his, telling him to take it slow.

That night, Sung-hoon collapsed on the bed. Da-som, long past her own limit, clenched her teeth and endured.

At first, she thought he wouldn’t fall. But then his body toppled forward.

“Ugh… urgh…”

Snoring loudly, he showed no sign of waking. Da-som fixed her clothes and stared down at him in silence. But the tension in her chest only rose higher.

She ran to the bathroom, vomiting everything inside her. She cried quietly for a long time, terrified he might wake and drag her back into hell again.

At last, staggering back into the room, she looked at him lying sprawled across the bed.

Her hands trembled as they reached toward his neck.

“If I press here… I can kill him.”

For a fleeting moment, the impulse consumed her.

“Because of you… my life is ruined.”

Back then, she had been so fragile. Sung-hoon had treated her kindly, and she had once thought maybe life with him wouldn’t be so bad. But it had all been a lie.

What he wanted wasn’t her—it was the enormous funds of UL Wire that would secure his place as chairman of Cheonmyeong Group.

Sung-hoon was trash. And she had been too young, too naïve to see it.

‘No.’

Killing him would not be enough.

“I’ll repay you—double, triple. Until living hurts more than dying.”

That night, Da-som simply stood over him in silence, watching until morning.

The next day, they had breakfast in the room before getting into the car. Sung-hoon didn’t bring up the previous night.

He was too proud to admit he remembered nothing after drinking. Looking at Da-som asleep beside him, he thought it fortunate she had still “done it properly.”

Even though she had rejected him when he tried again, he didn’t care. The bite marks on her pale neck were proof enough that she now belonged to him.

As he drove, he kept glancing at her. Everyone knew she was the illegitimate daughter of UL Wire’s chairman.

She was the daughter of a prestigious family, yet she hardly spent any money. Pretty face, yes—but too shabby to be shown off.

“Da-som, do you want me to buy you some clothes?”

He softened his voice, offering as gently as he could. Unexpectedly, she agreed right away.

He turned the car toward the department store and dressed her in his own style.

She wore no makeup, yet with the clothes he chose, she looked presentable.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes.”

“From now on, dress like that.”

“….”

“Why so quiet?”

“It’s embarrassing, but… I don’t get enough allowance to dress like this every day. As you know, I—”

“We’re family, don’t worry. I can’t stand seeing my woman lose face. Don’t hesitate. Just use this.”

He pressed his card into her hand.

Da-som had spent the night thinking. She knew it would be nearly impossible to break off a marriage between two chaebol families.

‘He’s an easy man.’

So, she decided to use him.

For a perfect, strategic divorce. One that no one would ever suspect.