Chapter 2

She was left speechless, a hollow laugh slipping from her lips.

She had just lost the job she fought tooth and nail for, and yet he dared to greet her with a “Welcome.”

“How long has it been? Do you know how much I missed you?”

Kyobin stood up with a bright smile, striding toward Heejae.

But when he saw her stiffened face, he froze in his tracks.

“Why that look? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

He tilted his head, lowering himself slightly to meet her gaze, speaking with gentle warmth.

His eyes curved like crescent moons, and his lips formed a flawless smile.

Shin Kyobin was in an excellent mood.

And there was only one reason for that.

Whenever Choi Heejae was trapped in misery.

That was what he enjoyed most. He was nothing less than cruel.

“Are you upset because you got too attached to your old colleagues? You should’ve worked with me from the start instead of crawling over there and wasting your precious feelings.”

Kyobin clicked his tongue and shook his head, as if disappointed in her.

It was so absurd that she didn’t even want to answer.

“Why so angry, my Heejae, hmm?”

Though he was already close, Kyobin stepped forward again, closing the distance between them.

He reached out his hand toward her head.

Just as his large hand was about to brush through her hair—smack!—her hand struck his away.

“Don’t touch me.”

For the first time, Heejae reacted. She knocked away his hand, then took a few steps back as if the closeness suffocated her.

“Don’t come any closer than you need to.”

Her eyes trembled with a storm of emotions.

Resentment—why did you make me this miserable?
Weariness—why won’t you leave me alone?
Fear—how long will this torment continue?
Anger—from all the cruel ways he always used.

Every negative feeling burned in her gaze as she stared straight at him.

“You’re still sharp-tongued. That’s part of why I liked you.”

But Shin Kyobin was not the kind of man to retreat because of emotions.

For years, Heejae tried everything to lessen his interest in her.

Yet even after twenty years of knowing him, she had never found a way.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

Her eyes trembled with anger and fear, tears welling up as her eyes turned red.

“You created that fake incident, pressured me, and even dragged the chief prosecutor into it.”

Kyobin had always hated the fact that she became a prosecutor for Shinin Group instead of a company lawyer.

So for the past year, he’d schemed endlessly to bring her back to his side.

Heejae had ignored him before. But once he involved her superiors, she had no choice but to surrender.

“They invented that whole scenario just to drag me down.”

It was strange.

Strange that Shinin Group always created incidents, and stranger still that she was always assigned to handle them.

As if it had all been scripted from the start.

“That’s right.”

Kyobin didn’t even deny it.

If anything, he seemed to enjoy carving his existence deeper into her life.

He shrugged at her horrified gaze.

“What’s the big deal? Haven’t you known all along that I’d do anything to keep you by my side?”

His attitude was shameless.

And he wasn’t wrong.

From the very beginning, Shin Kyobin had been obsessed with her.

If she tried to escape, he lured her back with sweetness.
If she came closer on her own, he trapped her deeper in despair.

“From the start, the only place you belonged was here.”

He pointed to the floor beneath them.

Heejae’s lashes trembled, and her gaze fell to the ground.

“For over ten years you accepted our support, then broke your promise and ran off on your own.”

And as much as she hated it, he was right.

Back when she was dirt poor, Chairman Shin Hyung-gil of Shinin Group sponsored her education.

Thanks to him, she entered a prestigious school she could’ve never dreamed of, had her college tuition covered, and even studied abroad.

Her sponsor naturally expected her to become a company lawyer for Shinin Group.

That was why he invested in her in the first place.

But Heejae betrayed that expectation by secretly preparing to be a prosecutor instead.

“You remember when my father was furious after you chose the prosecutor’s office? I was the one who calmed him down. I said, ‘Our Heejae has worked so hard. She deserves some time to find herself.’”

Ironically, Kyobin was the one who allowed her to work as a prosecutor.

And now, he was also the one who forced her to step down.

“I even told him you’d come back soon, so he shouldn’t worry.”

He hadn’t moved against her immediately.

Instead, he gave her time—time to taste freedom, to think she’d escaped.

Because in his mind, that freedom was only temporary. Eventually, she would kneel before him again.

“Anyway, welcome back. Welcome to the place you’ve always belonged.”

He spread his arms as if to embrace her.

His handsome features softened into sweetness.

Heejae had once been deceived by that face for years, not knowing the devil hiding behind it.

“From now on, you’ll be my representative and the company’s lawyer. You’ll give me legitimacy and defend me.”

He was repeating what she already knew, deliberately provoking her.

“No matter what I do, you’ll twist it in my favor. You’ll find every escape route. That’s your duty.”

She didn’t want to be bound to Shinin Group.

She didn’t want to be Shin Kyobin’s puppet.

She knew exactly how cunningly he toyed with people.

There was a time she let herself believe his sweet words, even hoped he might truly love her.

“And.”

While Heejae squeezed her eyes shut at the painful memories, Kyobin stepped closer.

When she opened them again, his shadow already loomed over her.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

Startled by how close he was, she tried to back away.

But he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her in place.

Lowering his head, his lips brushed her ear.

His breath was hot against her skin.

“You said not to touch you, not to come closer.”

He tucked a strand of her hair gently behind her ear.

His touch made her whole body stiffen.

“Don’t give me orders.”

Gone was the playful smile. His voice, low and heavy, pressed down on her.

“Since when did we ever have such boundaries?”

His hand slid from her ear down to her neck, his fingers curling around her throat.

He could feel her pulse, irregular and quick beneath his touch.

She froze, unable to move.

Because this wasn’t unfamiliar. It was terrifyingly familiar.

She knew too well where his hands would go, what he liked, what he wanted.

Pressing his forehead to hers, Kyobin whispered.

“Don’t forget—it’s me who holds your life in my hands.”

Then he pulled back just enough to study her face.

“Don’t make that angry expression.”

He chuckled softly, as if amused by her fury.

“You’ve always been good at this.”

He leaned in closer, his words dripping like poison.

“I make the mess. You clean it up.”

Heejae squeezed her eyes shut. Memories of their hellish past came rushing back, playing in her mind like an unending film.