🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 5: The Outsider
“Then the hotel room you booked yesterday was also…!”
A-ryeon asked in astonishment. For the first time, Do-hyeon’s smile faded, and he answered firmly.
“Ah, that’s a misunderstanding. I really did book it because I had an important meeting over lunch today.”
Do-hyeon’s lips curled into a smile again as he continued.
“I didn’t expect you to be that interested in me yesterday, either, Ms. Lee.”
A-ryeon clenched both hands into fists, determined not to let him manipulate her. But at his final remark, her face flushed red. It was as though he were reminding her that she had been the one who willingly walked into his bedroom.
Perhaps people really should stick to the way they had always lived. She had never imagined that the price of her first act of rebellion would be this high.
“Have a seat. The room service here is pretty good. Chief Secretary Jeong, tell them to come in now.”
After inviting A-ryeon to sit once more, Do-hyeon picked up his phone and made a brief call to Chief Secretary Jeong. Before long, hotel staff entered the suite, pushing a service cart.
They quickly arranged the meal on the table. Then they placed an ice bucket containing champagne and champagne glasses in front of A-ryeon and Do-hyeon before leaving.
Throughout the entire time the staff were setting the table, A-ryeon remained standing. She neither sat down nor stormed out.
“I didn’t even get to have a drink yesterday.”
Why did everything Do-hyeon said sound so deliberately suggestive? To A-ryeon, it sounded as though he were saying, You asked me to spend the night with you without even having a drink.
Do-hyeon opened the champagne in the ice bucket and filled his glass. Then he took a slow sip, savoring its taste.
“Wouldn’t it be better to discuss this while it’s just the two of us? I won’t be waiting long for Assemblyman Han.”
Do-hyeon delivered what sounded more like a warning than a suggestion to A-ryeon, who was looking at him with undisguised contempt.
His eyes were smiling, but his gaze was sharp.
“What do you want? I think you’ve investigated me incorrectly. If you’re trying to use me to get something out of my family, you’re mistaken. There’s nothing my family can do for you through me…!”
“Nothing, right? Not a single thing.”
A-ryeon believed Do-hyeon had made a serious miscalculation.
Even if he tried to blackmail her grandfather and father using her weaknesses, he would gain nothing. If anything, her family might simply take the information he had uncovered and use it to tighten the leash around her neck even further.
Yet Do-hyeon seemed to understand that perfectly well. He cut her off before she could finish.
“What did you say?”
“You’re not Assemblyman Han Woo-jin’s legitimate granddaughter, nor are you treated as a daughter or granddaughter in that household. You’re simply a fairly clever outsider in the family, someone they use to manage their dirty private affairs.”
Do-hyeon’s rude description of her made A-ryeon’s restrained voice rise in anger.
“Excuse me! Don’t you think that’s going too far?”
“Going too far…?”
At her protest, Do-hyeon smiled and tapped his fingers against the table. Then he rose from his seat and slowly approached her.
Before she knew it, his face was right in front of hers.
“Are you sure you’re not the one living in a situation that’s gone too far? Still, if there’s anything I said just now that needs correcting, go ahead and tell me. I’ll correct it.”
Standing before A-ryeon, Do-hyeon looked down at her.
Even in heels, A-ryeon was fairly tall, but she still had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.
No matter how straight she held her back in an attempt to keep him from intimidating her, his imposing physique and overwhelming presence made her feel as though she were shrinking.
Correct him?
No matter how much she wanted to tell him to take back his words, there was nothing she could ask him to correct.
Words that could not be denied always cut the deepest.
And that was precisely why they hurt so much.
Everyone who needed to know was already aware of her circumstances.
But no one had ever laid them bare so openly to her face.
Humiliation and shame washed over her as she experienced something like this for the first time. Too many emotions were tearing through her in such a short span of time.
Do-hyeon picked up the glass of water in front of her and held it up before her eyes.
“If you find this situation unpleasant, you can throw this water in my face. You can say whatever you want, too. Hell, I’ll even let you slap me once or twice.”
Do-hyeon shrugged as though none of it mattered. A-ryeon frowned at his casual attitude.
“Of course, you’ll have to accept the consequences of whatever you choose to do. So, would you please make your decision as quickly as possible? My time is money, too.”
A-ryeon had plenty to think about, but she did not take long to make up her mind. She needed to hear what he wanted, if only because she had no idea what he might do to her family otherwise.
The reason she had remained standing until now was that she feared she would feel utterly pathetic if she gave up even that small act of defiance.
A-ryeon turned and sat in the chair beside her.
Apparently pleased with her decision, Do-hyeon’s lips curved upward as he returned to his own seat.
The distance between them was not particularly great. If Do-hyeon stood up and simply reached out his hand, he could touch her.
Perhaps that was why A-ryeon could not let her guard down, even while seated.
Do-hyeon poured champagne into the glass in front of her.
“Try it. It’s not bad.”
A-ryeon let out a small sigh, picked up the champagne glass, and brought it to her lips.
“It’s good.”
She answered indifferently.
Only then did their meal begin.
Whatever Do-hyeon found so amusing, the playful smile never left his face throughout the meal.
A-ryeon cut a piece of steak and put it in her mouth, chewing without even registering its taste. The food was undoubtedly delicious, but given the circumstances, she could hardly enjoy a proper meal.
“Is the food not to your liking?”
Do-hyeon asked as he watched her pick at her food with little enthusiasm.
“No. I just don’t have much of an appetite.”
“You barely ate dinner yesterday, either. Even if you don’t have an appetite, you should eat a little more. From what I saw yesterday, you don’t have much meat on you.”
“Cough…!”
Do-hyeon’s sudden reference to the previous night caught A-ryeon completely off guard. She choked, coughed, and hurriedly gulped down the water in front of her.
Do-hyeon offered her a napkin, but without even looking at him, A-ryeon grabbed the one beside her and wiped her mouth.
Watching her reaction, he simply laughed as though thoroughly entertained and set his own napkin back down.
Once her coughing subsided, A-ryeon placed the napkin she had used on the table. Then she stared at Do-hyeon with a rigid expression.
“Enough of this. Tell me what you want from me.”
At A-ryeon’s unwavering gaze, Do-hyeon smiled as though he found her amusing and crossed one leg over the other.
He dabbed at his lips with his napkin, pressing it against them almost deliberately, before looking at her with a steady gaze.
The corners of his mouth were raised in a smile, but his eyes had turned decidedly serious.
No, they looked downright menacing.
It was the kind of gaze that made her feel he would pounce on her the instant she revealed even the slightest weakness.
“What I want is you, Ms. Lee A-ryeon.”
Do-hyeon’s inexplicable answer made A-ryeon’s eyebrows twitch.
“To be more precise, I want you to tell me anything that could be used against Assemblyman Han Woo-jin or the members of his household. And I don’t want mere words. I want concrete evidence to back them up.”
“What… are you talking about? You mean… you want me to reveal my family’s dirty secrets to you?”
“You’re a lawyer, after all. You know how to choose your words precisely.”
A-ryeon was so dumbfounded by his outrageous proposal that she could not speak.
Judging by Do-hyeon’s behavior, she had expected him to make a demand she would struggle to handle, but this went far beyond anything she had anticipated.
“What’s your objective?”
“Let’s just say it’s something I’ve been waiting a long time to accomplish.”
At his cryptic answer, A-ryeon’s gaze hardened.
“CEO Cha, I don’t think you’ve investigated me thoroughly enough. I may be an outsider in my own family, but I have no intention of abandoning them. As an illegitimate child, they’re still the only family I have.”
“Is that what family means to you, Ms. Lee A-ryeon? People who refuse to treat you like a human being, using you whenever they need you and throwing you away when they’re done?”
Do-hyeon’s question left A-ryeon speechless.
She should have denied it.
But she could not bring herself to refute him.
“I built my company with my own hands, starting from the very bottom and working my way up to where I am today. Do you know which of my abilities has proven the most valuable along the way?”
Do-hyeon lifted his champagne glass to his lips.
“The ability to use people.”
He set the glass down and continued.
“Of course, knowing how to choose the right people is important, too. You need someone who desperately wants to achieve their goal and is clever enough to help you accomplish it. Once you’ve found that person, you give them the treatment and compensation they deserve.”
Do-hyeon slowly swirled the champagne in his glass, his gaze settling on A-ryeon once more.
“If you accept my proposal, I’ll give you the treatment and compensation you deserve. As compensation, I’ll provide every kind of support you need, both personal and financial, so you can free yourself from your family’s control. And as for how I’ll treat you…”
Do-hyeon placed his champagne glass on the table, stood up, and walked behind A-ryeon’s chair. Then he rested his hand on her shoulder.
“I’ll make sure you’re treated as someone precious to me. As long as you remain valuable to me, that is. Not like you’re someone who doesn’t exist even when you’re standing right there, or someone who’s alive but never treated like a human being. I intend to put you, with all your abilities, in a position where those abilities will be put to good use.”
A-ryeon’s nose began to sting with misery and sorrow, and heat gathered behind her eyelids.
Even if they’re family in name only, they’re still my family.
She had kept comforting herself with the thought that someday they would finally understand her true feelings.
Now, it felt as though all those efforts had been for nothing.
The fact that her emotions could be thrown into such turmoil by a single promise from a man she had met only a handful of times—that he would treat her as someone precious—made her realize just how desperately she had wanted to hear those words.
