Chapter 2
It’s a mess.
Yuseong pressed his throbbing temples with his fingers and stared straight at the three people in front of him.
He had come here because they said they would introduce him to the man he was supposed to marry…
“Can you believe it? Kwon Seong! Thanks to your aunt, you’re going to be the daughter-in-law of the Kwon Seong Group. Huh?”
The woman, laughing incessantly in that typical stepmother style, seemed oblivious to his disgusted expression.
She wasn’t even a stepmother—it was his aunt, Shin Kyung-hee.
“Yuseong, marrying a high school classmate is so romantic. Congratulations, my dear brother?”
Like mother, like daughter.
His cousin, Oh Yuna, who had looked on while he was beaten daily by that ‘high school classmate,’ now said things like this as if mocking him openly.
Even in this humiliating situation, Yuseong couldn’t move a muscle.
Sitting right beside him was the man his aunt had brought as his prospective husband.
“Hey, why don’t you kneel and say thanks? Huh?”
The man, tapping his cheek and laughing grotesquely, was a familiar face.
‘Kwon Hyuk-jun.’
He was the only son of the chairman of Kwon Seong Group, ranked third in South Korea’s conglomerates.
“Guys, from today on, anyone who associates with this orphan—consider it permission to get beaten too. Got it?”
Back in high school, he had been one of the school bullies who relentlessly tormented Yuseong for being adopted.
It started with small prods, like now.
Over time, the severity of the violence escalated, and verbal abuse became routine.
Young Yuseong never told his father about the bullying.
His father, Shin Byung-oh, chairman of Shinyang Corporation…
…was also the head of the ‘Shinyang faction,’ controlling South Korea’s underground networks.
If Yuseong had told him, his father would have hanged Kwon Hyuk-jun upside down and thrown him into the waters off Incheon.
The next day, the news would scream: “Kwon Seong Group Heir Murdered!”
Well… that part didn’t really matter.
There was another reason he stayed silent.
When he entered a private high school attended only by children of conglomerates, he couldn’t forget the proud smile on his father’s face.
So he pretended to adapt well and enjoy school life.
And so, he endured—over and over.
“Hey. Do you want to cooperate while things are easy, or do you want me to finish this today?”
Eventually, Kwon Hyuk-jun crossed the line.
It was he who attempted sexual assault and even pushed Yuseong down the stairs at graduation.
The day she ended up in the hospital with a broken arm…
“Why did you have to upset the Kwon Seong Group heir?! You could have just gone along with it! Was that so hard?”
“What, aunt?”
“If an article comes out, it’ll be a huge disgrace. Don’t tell your dad. Don’t cause trouble, just quietly go to school like a mouse. Got it?”
“….”
“Yuseong, don’t get the wrong idea. Maybe you just tripped.”
Instead of concern, Yuseong heard these words from the mother-daughter duo who came to visit him in the hospital.
‘Always treated like a rolling stone.’
As a child, Yuseong had been adopted after catching the attention of Shin Byung-oh, who volunteered weekly at the orphanage.
Thus, he gained a father stronger than a mountain, but the mother’s role was empty.
“Chairman, no, brother! How can you be unmarried with a kid?! What are you thinking?!”
That was because Shin Byung-oh was single.
The rolling stone never truly settled and was always oppressed by his aunt, uncle, and cousin.
“Yuseong, no matter what anyone says, you are Shin Byung-oh’s bloodline.”
What allowed him to endure was his father.
Also, his own temper, so similar to Shin Byung-oh’s, helped.
“Yes, father. I’m at the hospital now. Ah, you know Kwon Hyuk-jun? He tried to assault me and pushed me down the stairs. They said four weeks of recovery.”
“What are you doing—!!”
“Shin Yuseong!! Are you crazy?!”
“The aunt and Yuna are here. They said not to tell you. They’re saying I might have just tripped… that I should have just gone along with it. What should I do?”
Being extremely hot-tempered, yet patient until his limit exploded—everyone could see Yuseong was truly Shin Byung-oh’s daughter.
That night, Yuseong saw the scene in the hospital room:
“Hey! You bastards, not even family—!!”
“Oh my—! Brother! Calm down, okay?!”
“Ahh!! Uncle!! Stop!”
“Ch-chairman! Please put that down and speak calmly!”
“Calm down?! Let’s see how calm you’ll be today, bastards!!”
Her father swung a metal baseball bat wildly at her aunt, uncle, and cousin.
Yuseong calmly ate seasonal strawberries that her father had bought.
“Father, once you’re done, please deal with Kwon Hyuk-jun moderately. Don’t throw him into the sea.”
The strawberries were so sweet they naturally made her smile.
“Maybe hang him upside down for a bit. Should be fine.”
The next morning, the key members of the former ‘Shinyang faction’ and Shin Byung-oh visited the Kwon household.
“Break down the main gate.”
It wasn’t a scheduled visit.
When her father explained everything to Kwon Seong-jae, a friend from long ago,
“…Alright. Don’t touch his face.”
“Father—!!”
He obediently handed over his son.
From that moment, Kwon Hyuk-jun became not a cherished only son, but a liability in his father’s eyes.
After her father dealt with him, Yuseong’s life flowed smoothly.
Or so she thought…
Recently, her father collapsed suddenly.
It had been two months since she was told to prepare herself.
The mountain-like father still hadn’t regained consciousness.
But now… she had to deal with that bastard?
“Aunt, explain this. Marriage to Kwon Hyuk-jun?”
As if on cue, a yellow envelope landed on the table.
“Take it out first.”
Yuseong shakily took out the paper from the envelope.
“Marriage contract?”
In bold letters at the top.
It was a typical business marriage contract in the corporate world.
[Chairman Kwon Seong-jae, Kwon Seong Group / Chairman Shin Byung-oh, Shinyang Corporation]
Until she confirmed the signatures of Kwon Hyuk-jun’s father and her own,
“Found it while cleaning the study? You know how deep their friendship was. You know, right? A friendship so strong that they even promised their children’s marriage. That’s rare.”
Yuseong couldn’t believe it and stared at her father’s seal again and again.
It was undeniably authentic.
She knew, as her aunt said, that Kwon Seong-jae and her father had been close friends.
But…
‘There was no mention of a contract regarding children…!’
Kwon Seong-jae and Shin Byung-oh coincidentally had one son and one daughter each.
The problem was that they were Kwon Hyuk-jun and her.
Why hadn’t her father told her about this contract?
Her hands trembled holding the papers.
Marriage to Kwon Hyuk-jun.
That dreadful sentence painted a cruel future for her.
“Because of this ridiculous contract… I’m supposed to marry this trash?”
In her blunt, unfiltered tone, her aunt Shin Kyung-hee exclaimed in shock, “Oh my, oh my!”
“Can’t you speak nicely in front of Director Kwon?! Were you like this in high school too?”
Followed by a tone of disappointment.
“No wonder he hit you….”
As expected, trouble was brewing.
Kyung-hee’s mumbling made cousin Yuna burst into laughter.
“Boys are like that. They tease girls they like.”
Yuna chided her gently.
“Director Kwon liked you that much. He was just trying to get your attention… I’m just jealous.”
Ah. So if he liked me, he’d hit and torment me.
So that’s why I suffered mercilessly for three years.
Just to get my attention?
Compared to the pain I felt, that was such a trivial reason.
“Yuseong, stop playing the victim. You should have just accepted it from the start.”
Yuna poured fuel onto her anger.
Soon, Yuseong’s rationality snapped.
“Ah… these… bastards.”
