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Chapter 3
For a moment, Juyoung felt as if he had been hit on the head with a blunt object.
What… who is she giving it to?
No matter how disappointing his father was compared to others, Choi Kwon-yong knew better than anyone just how important the summer villa on Oido was to Juyoung.
There was no way, unless he was insane, that Choi Kwon-yong would hand it over to this woman.
This woman is lying to me.
But… if it’s not a lie and it’s actually true…
“And if I get it, the first thing I’ll do is tear down that old, decrepit villa and fix it up completely.”
Juyoung’s eyebrows twitched in discomfort at the words he could hardly put into words, and Hyena didn’t miss the chance to prod at his irritation.
“I’ll erase all the memories you had with your dead mother. All of them.”
What do I do now?
You’re in big trouble.
“…You think I’ll just stand by and watch you take over the Oido villa?”
“Yeah. I think you’ll just watch.”
Hyena covered her mouth with her hand, sneering at Juyoung.
“If you don’t want to watch, then you’ll have to offer the Chairman something as valuable as the Oido villa. Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing him make you kneel.”
With that, Hyena tapped Juyoung on the shoulder and left the bathroom first.
Left alone, Juyoung clenched his fists tightly.
He squeezed so hard that his nails dug into his palms, leaving marks and pain.
A short while later, the meal began.
Unlike the teasing, irritating Hyena from before, in front of Chairman Choi Kwon-yong, Go Hyena acted like a delicate little girl.
“Ay~ Chairman-nim~”
Watching Hyena fawn over him made Juyoung feel bile rising in his throat. He felt as if he could vomit up everything he had just eaten.
“Ahhh~”
Hyena cut the main lamb dish into bite-sized pieces and fed them into Kwon-yong’s mouth. Even in front of his daughter, he showed no embarrassment, stroking Hyena’s thigh as he took the meat.
Disgusting. I can’t even watch.
Losing all appetite, Juyoung put down his fork. As he wiped his mouth with a napkin on his thigh, Kwon-yong’s eyes narrowed.
“Why aren’t you eating a single bite? Not hungry?”
The piece of meat would taste like nothing anyway. Eating it would only make him sick… Juyoung barely held back the words on the tip of his tongue.
Normally, he wouldn’t have restrained himself, but today he did. Hyena’s words earlier came to mind.
If Choi Kwon-yong only intended to hand over the Oido villa to Hyena but hadn’t decided yet, finishing the meal without incident was the priority.
He forced a small smile.
“…I think I ate something bad at lunch. My stomach isn’t feeling well.”
A tiny laugh slipped into Juyoung’s ears.
Hyena, staring directly at him with a smirk, seemed to be silently saying, Serves you right.
Under the table, Juyoung’s hands trembled. He barely restrained himself from grabbing her by the collar.
“Tch. So weak.”
“Juyoung’s just got a lot on his mind these days. Don’t be too harsh, eat a bit more. Ahhh~”
Hyena fed him another piece of meat with her fork, and Kwon-yong took it as if it were completely normal.
Disgusting. Revolting.
Having someone like this as my father… my only remaining blood relative… Juyoung felt deeply ashamed.
“I’ll be more careful with my health.”
“Of course! As the heir to CS Group, everything about you must be perfect.”
The word heir to CS Group made Hyena’s frown briefly deepen.
Hyena had been Choi Kwon-yong’s mistress for ten years. When Juyoung was ten, Kwon-yong first brought a woman home, and three more followed over time.
Four women in ten years, and Hyena was the fifth, the one who had stayed with him the longest—excluding Juyoung’s mother.
But there were no children between Hyena and Kwon-yong yet. That was her greatest weakness.
Juyoung silently thanked her for hitting her Achilles’ heel directly.
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Juyoung forced a smile, returning Hyena’s earlier behavior in kind. But it was fleeting.
“By the way… you know we’re gathered because Hyena’s fortieth birthday is coming up, right?”
Mentioning Hyena’s birthday ominously, Kwon-yong’s words caused Juyoung’s smile to stiffen.
“I was thinking of giving her something as a birthday present.”
“……”
“The Oido summer villa.”
Juyoung’s smile vanished completely.
He had hoped his father wouldn’t be this bad, but he knew exactly what kind of man Kwon-yong was. That’s why he was uneasy and why he had tried to behave well today.
That villa held memories with his mother.
It was his refuge in hard times, his only place of peace.
And he wouldn’t let the woman who killed his mother take it.
If he lost that too, he would have lost everything to Hyena.
How… could a person…
“What did you just say? Who are you giving it to?”
“I said I’ll give the Oido villa to Hyena as a birthday present. Why, don’t you like it?”
“Oh my! Oh my, oh my! Chairman, are you serious? I love it!”
Forgetting all about the heir talk, Hyena hugged Kwon-yong, her smile radiant.
He lightly patted her head.
“I’m glad you’re happy, Hyena.”
Then he turned his gaze to Juyoung.
“Juyoung, what do you think? Would it be alright to give her the Oido villa as a birthday present?”
Juyoung could only bite his lip in silence.
Kwon-yong spoke as if offering generosity, his words dripping with condescension.
“But depending on your behavior, I might change my mind and give it to you instead, Juyoung. The Oido villa.”
“Chairman! That’s—”
“What do you want?”
“Marriage.”
The low, authoritative voice hit Juyoung like a hammer.
Marriage was not in Juyoung’s dictionary.
But the weak must obey the strong, and here, Juyoung was the weak one.
So he had no choice but to follow Kwon-yong’s command.
“Alright. I won’t argue later.”
With a clatter, Juyoung abruptly left the meal.
He couldn’t bear it anymore. Breathing the same air as them felt unbearable, as if he’d rather suffocate than stay there.
How…
How, how, how!
How could that be a father?
“Haa… haa…”
He could hardly breathe. Thinking that the same blood as Kwon-yong flowed through him made his skin itch. Juyoung scratched his hand with his nails.
His skin had turned red, and yet he had only one thought:
I want to wash it off. No, if I could, I’d scrape my skin off. I want to erase everything Kwon-yong passed down…
Whoosh—!!!
At that moment, Juyoung’s view from the hotel’s first floor caught the pouring rain outside.
It was raining so heavily that he couldn’t see even a foot ahead.
“Sir! It’s raining outside right now…!”
A hotel staff member shouted suddenly, startled as Juyoung ran into the downpour.
“Haa…”
The rain lashed against his body, stinging his skin. But Juyoung wanted to clear his mind. He wanted to wash away the filth clinging to his body. He even wished the rain could wash him away from this world entirely.
“….”
Suddenly, a jet-black umbrella appeared in the gray, rainy sky. The rain stopped hitting his body, replaced by a strong scent of wood that enveloped him.
Who is this? Juyoung slowly turned his head and locked eyes with a man holding the umbrella.
Just a span apart.
The man kept that distance, his dense voice brushing Juyoung’s ear.
“Choi Juyoung.”
The single word under the umbrella created tension.
Goosebumps rose instantly, and Juyoung swallowed hard.
“You’re wet.”
The man with the umbrella was Bae Sung-hoon.
The man who had gone on a matchmaking meeting with Juyoung just a week ago.
