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Chapter 02
As usual, Yeo Jaekyung was being held captive in conversation by her father-in-law, Vice Chairman Seo Moonsoo.
Vice Chairman Seo Moonsoo’s nose was flushed from just the right amount of alcohol.
“Our Executive Director Yeo Jaekyung is truly Taekwang’s treasure, a treasure! Tell me, Seo Moonsoo—what flaw could your daughter-in-law possibly have?”
“Does she even have one? I hear every project Executive Director Yeo pushes through is so perfect not even a chopstick could squeeze into a gap.”
At the voices praising his daughter-in-law, Vice Chairman Seo Moonsoo burst into laughter and waved his hand.
“A flaw? Our Jaekyung has no such thing! I cherish Jaekyung more than my own two daughters. She’s family.”
“Haha! Look at this man, Seo Moonsoo?”
“He’s become completely obsessed with his daughter-in-law!”
Watching the scene, Seo Taejoo let out a hollow laugh.
The man who had transformed Taekwang—once merely a subsidiary branch spun off from the major corporation CK—into one of South Korea’s leading conglomerates.
The only son-in-law of CK’s honorary chairman Lee Geumyeok, and the true power behind Taekwang Group.
Vice Chairman Seo Moonsoo’s affection for his daughter-in-law was already famous.
“That tiger-like Seo Moonsoo has become a complete kitten in front of his daughter-in-law! Hahaha!”
“Try getting yourself a daughter-in-law this exceptional! You’d turn into a kitten too!”
Seo Moonsoo laughed heartily, gazing warmly at Yeo Jaekyung.
“Executive Director Yeo comes from an impressive family too, doesn’t she? The only daughter of Hanlim?”
“That’s right! One of the most prestigious traditional families in Korea! Jaekyung’s great-grandfather even received an industrial medal and a presidential commendation. Do you know how many national merit award recipients her family has produced over generations?”
“Father, I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
His bragging was beginning to go too far.
Yeo Jaekyung quickly stepped in and exchanged the wine glass in his hand for juice.
At his daughter-in-law’s tactful handling, Seo Moonsoo’s eyes softened affectionately.
“Our Jaekyung is so thoughtful.”
“You’re my father too, after all.”
The relationship between father-in-law and daughter-in-law was remarkably close.
Well, look at that.
Watching them, Seo Taejoo raised one corner of his mouth.
Five years ago, Taekwang had been plagued with scandals and accidents, carrying the image of nothing more than a wealthy but unethical corporation.
Then came the honorable, noble daughter-in-law who married into this money-soaked family.
On top of that, she was competent at work and personable.
Simply put, there was no reason not to adore her.
Even I didn’t believe it at first.
Seo Taejoo thought as he looked at them.
Vice Chairman Seo Moonsoo—the stubborn authoritarian.
Even as a child, Seo Taejoo had never once received praise from him. Not only toward his son, but toward his two older daughters as well, Seo Moonsoo had always been strict.
Who would have guessed?
That fiery father-in-law would end up cherishing Yeo Jaekyung this much.
“I can’t live without my daughter-in-law anymore! I’ll leave Taekwang—and even my personal fortune—to Jaekyung!”
Drunk, Seo Moonsoo declared stubbornly.
“Father, you’re joking.”
“I’m not joking, dear.”
Honey practically dripped from Vice Chairman Seo Moonsoo’s eyes as he answered firmly.
Watching that, Seo Taejoo’s expression darkened.
Certainly, in his family, the position of the youngest daughter-in-law, Yeo Jaekyung, was extraordinary.
From the beginning, Seo Taejoo had been written off by Seo Moonsoo as a troublemaker.
Even his two older sisters sometimes relied on Yeo Jaekyung’s help to communicate with their father.
A beloved daughter-in-law.
A perfect wife.
Yeo Jaekyung—or rather, Executive Director Yeo, head of Taekwang Group’s Financial Planning Support Team and Hanlim Steel—was a woman who truly lacked nothing.
Then why divorce?
Seo Taejoo’s head began to ache.
He couldn’t understand where things had gone wrong.
You drop a bomb on your husband saying the marriage is over, and now you’re smiling like that in front of your father-in-law?
His insides churned.
Though theirs had been an arranged marriage, he believed they had done everything ordinary couples did.
Sometimes he had complained she was “impossible to read,” but he had never once considered divorce.
Never.
This is the point where the relationship needs restructuring.
Seo Taejoo reached a concise conclusion.
Whatever happened, divorce from Yeo Jaekyung was impossible.
Calm down, Seo Taejoo. If a complaint comes into the system, you resolve it by meeting the requirements, right?
The “marriage” system he had maintained with Yeo Jaekyung.
Seo Taejoo believed that if his business partner was someone of her caliber, he could meet whatever conditions would satisfy her.
If necessary, he could lower his head.
If he’d done something wrong, well… he could apologize too.
When it came to his wife, Seo Taejoo could be surprisingly accommodating.
Thinking that, he tried to relax.
Yet somewhere in his mind lingered the aftershock of her earlier bombshell.
“Ha…”
His hand moved habitually toward his tie.
He froze.
He couldn’t bring himself to mess up the tie her hand had touched earlier.
Instead, he roughly raked a hand through his hair again.
Damn it.
For some reason, anxiety kept creeping in.
Why suddenly declare the marriage over now?
He couldn’t understand his wife.
Her behavior over the years had been too sincere for this to be dismissed as a whim.
Fatigue?
Disillusionment?
A slump in the relationship?
The other party was Executive Director Yeo Jaekyung—perfect in every way.
She wasn’t the kind of woman who would destroy their stable alliance over something so trivial.
There had to be another reason behind her demand for divorce.
So what the hell is that reason?
At that moment, something entered Seo Taejoo’s field of vision.
A man was approaching his wife—the wife he’d been watching without taking his eyes off her all evening.
No way…
His jaw clenched hard.
Impossible as it seemed, another possibility he had been deliberately ignoring began to rise.
For example—
another man.
* * *
It wasn’t easy.
Stepping away to a quiet spot for a moment, Yeo Jaekyung sighed inwardly.
She was recalling the conversation she’d had with her husband earlier.
She had expected he wouldn’t agree immediately, but his resistance had been stronger than anticipated.
Seo Taejoo with that vacant expression…
Yeo Jaekyung let out a bitter laugh.
But she couldn’t back down.
Their divorce was a necessary step in her grand plan.
Of course, the child wasn’t part of the plan.
Her eyes lowered toward her flat stomach.
Pregnant.
It still didn’t feel real.
Yeo Jaekyung frowned.
This peanut-sized variable had appeared, but her plan remained unchanged.
Things would proceed as scheduled.
Because even before meeting him—
that hope alone had been what she lived for.
* * *
Five years earlier.
A meal with her mother.
“I’m going to marry you off.”
The only sound at the dining table was the clinking of utensils.
The spoon in Yeo Jaekyung’s hand paused.
“…Pardon?”
“Your marriage partner has been decided.”
Her mother, Chairwoman Yeo Baekhwa, cut her food and brought it to her mouth with casual elegance.
Every movement refined and noble.
Only days earlier she had donated one billion won to a support foundation for single mothers, further spreading her influence.
The head of Hanlim.
A role model admired by women nationwide.
Yet the words coming from her mouth were crude beyond belief.
“The other party is Taekwang’s youngest son. You know—that ‘delinquent’ one.”
“What… do you mean by that?”
Yeo Jaekyung quietly objected.
Naturally, it seemed not to reach Chairwoman Yeo Baekhwa’s ears.
“His reputation is terrible, which I don’t particularly like. But considering the enormous fortune that comes with Taekwang, there’s no better match.”
Cutting her steak with a knife, Yeo Baekhwa added:
“It’s a bit early, but for your first marriage partner, it’s quite a good match.”
Her calm voice echoed across the empty table occupied only by mother and daughter.
“…First?”
The spoon in Yeo Jaekyung’s hand trembled slightly.
First marriage.
Meaning there might be a second.
Or a third.
Because Yeo Jaekyung’s life was nothing more than a puppet show directed by her mother.
She bit the inside of her cheek.
It tasted like blood.
“What? You don’t like it?”
Chairwoman Yeo Baekhwa narrowed her eyes sharply.
At that gaze, Yeo Jaekyung quickly lowered hers.
“Ha… I’ve told you countless times, Jaekyung.”
Dabbing her mouth with a napkin, Yeo Baekhwa placed both hands on the table.
Under the dim lighting, her bright red lipstick framed a kind, gentle smile.
“Jaekyung, surely you’re not harboring fantasies about a happy marriage with your husband, a harmonious family with children, things like that? You’d do well to abandon those ideas early. They’re like bluebirds or rainbows.”
A sigh escaped Yeo Baekhwa.
“Jaekyung, your innocence worries me so much.”
Scrape.
Yeo Baekhwa rose and slowly approached her daughter.
Pulling out a chair beside her, she sat down and took one of Yeo Jaekyung’s hands into both of hers.
Yeo Jaekyung flinched.
Her gaze shook with tension.
“Jaekyung, how many times has Mother been married?”
“…Three times.”
Her throat burned.
As though a thorn were lodged inside it.
“And after all those marriages, what did Mother gain?”
“…Me, and Hanlim’s continuation.”
“That’s right. My daughter.”
Yeo Baekhwa slowly stroked her daughter’s hand.
“Listen carefully, Jaekyung. What a woman gains from marriage is wounds born of betrayal, scars, and desperate struggles to hide them. That’s all.”
Her eyes curved like crescent moons.
“Marriage is merely a tool. A card you use to elevate yourself and your family. Nothing more, nothing less. Trusting a man for happiness, marrying him, building a family together? I’ve never heard anything more foolish.”
“….”
When Yeo Jaekyung remained silent, Yeo Baekhwa suddenly raised a hand.
Yeo Jaekyung flinched instinctively.
“…I think the fact that, through those three marriages, I managed to gain a daughter like you is a miracle.”
Yeo Baekhwa’s hand rose and brushed Yeo Jaekyung’s cheek.
“One who listens so well…”
The spot where her skin touched felt rough, as though scraped with sandpaper.
“…Having a child you can reason with is practically a blessing.”
Her gaze, fixed on the daughter who looked exactly like herself, gleamed like a snake’s.
Yeo Jaekyung stared back at Yeo Baekhwa silently.
