Chapter 3 …
Juyeong felt as if she’d been struck on the head with a blunt object.
Give what—to whom?
No matter how much of a failure her father was, Choi Gwon-yong knew better than anyone how much the Oido summer house meant to Juyeong.
There was no way he would hand that place over to this woman unless he’d completely lost his mind.
She’s lying to me.
But if it wasn’t a lie—if it was the truth… then—
“And once I get it, the first thing I’ll do is tear that old, rundown villa apart and renovate it.”
Juyeong’s brows twitched with an indescribable discomfort. Catching it instantly, Hyena deliberately rubbed salt into the wound.
“So there won’t be a single trace left of your memories with your dead mom. I’ll wipe everything clean.”
What are you going to do now?
You’re in real trouble.
“…Do you really think I’ll just sit back and watch the Oido villa fall into your hands?”
“Yeah. I think you will.”
Hyena covered her mouth with her hand, sneering at Juyeong.
“If you don’t want to just watch, then you’ll have to offer Chairman something just as important as that villa. Whatever it is, watching him force you to your knees will be entertaining.”
She patted Juyeong lightly on the shoulder and left the restroom first.
Left alone, Juyeong clenched her fist tightly.
She gripped it so hard her nails dug into her palm, leaving behind marks and a sharp sting.
A short while later, dinner began.
Unlike the way she had been maliciously provoking Juyeong earlier, Go Hyena behaved like an innocent young girl in front of Chairman Choi Gwon-yong.
“Aww~ Chairmaaan.”
Just watching Hyena fawn over him made bile rise in Juyeong’s throat.
She felt like she might vomit everything she’d eaten at any moment.
“Aaah~”
Hyena cut the lamb—the main dish—into bite-sized pieces and fed it to Gwon-yong.
Despite his daughter sitting right there, Gwon-yong didn’t seem embarrassed in the least as he stroked Hyena’s thigh and accepted the food.
‘This is disgusting. I can’t even look at it.’
Her appetite vanished completely. Juyeong set down her fork.
As she wiped her mouth with the napkin on her lap, Gwon-yong narrowed his eyes at her.
“Why aren’t you eating at all? Not hungry?”
Even if I eat it, I won’t taste anything. I’ll just end up sick anyway—those words barely stopped at the tip of her tongue.
Normally she would have said them without hesitation, but today she held back.
Because of what Hyena had said earlier.
If Gwon-yong merely had the intention of giving the Oido summer house to Hyena and hadn’t made a final decision yet, then getting through this dinner without incident was crucial.
Juyeong forced her lips into a smile.
“…I think something I ate for lunch upset my stomach.”
A faint chuckle scraped against her ear.
Go Hyena, staring straight at Juyeong with a smug curl to her lips, looked as though she were saying, See? Look at you now.
Under the table, Juyeong grabbed her trembling hand, barely restraining herself from grabbing Hyena by the collar.
“Tsk. So weak.”
“Juyeong has had a lot on her mind lately. Don’t be so hard on her. Here, have some more of this. Aaah~”
Hyena lifted another piece of meat with her fork, and Gwon-yong accepted it naturally.
Dirty. Revolting.
That this man was her father—that he was the only blood family she had left—filled Juyeong with shame.
“I’ll pay more attention to my health.”
“You’d better! If you’re going to be the successor of CS Group, everything about you has to be perfect.”
At the words successor of CS Group, Hyena’s brow furrowed for just a moment.
It had already been ten years since Go Hyena started living as Gwon-yong’s mistress.
When Juyeong was ten, Gwon-yong had first brought a woman into the house. After that first one, there were three more.
Four mistresses passed through his life over ten years, and Hyena—his fifth—was the woman he had been with the longest.
Aside from Juyeong’s late mother.
Yet, Hyena still hadn’t had a child with him. That was her greatest weakness.
Gwon-yong had just struck Hyena’s Achilles’ heel himself—something Juyeong could only be grateful for.
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Juyeong lifted the corners of her lips, returning exactly what Hyena had given her.
But it lasted only for a moment.
“Oh, right. You know we gathered today because Hyena’s fortieth birthday is coming up soon, don’t you?”
At the ominous mention of Hyena’s birthday, Juyeong’s raised smile slowly faded.
“I’m thinking of giving her that as a birthday present.”
“……”
“The Oido summer house.”
The smile that had been curving her lips flattened into a straight line.
She wanted to believe her father couldn’t possibly be this terrible—but Juyeong knew exactly what kind of man Choi Gwon-yong was.
That was why she’d been anxious.
That was why she’d tried, at least today, to stay on his good side.
That place was filled with memories of her mother.
It was her refuge whenever things became unbearable—her one and only place of rest.
And she didn’t want to lose the Oido summer house to the woman who had destroyed her mother.
If she lost that too, it would mean Go Hyena had taken everything from her.
How could a person…?
“What did you just say? Who are you giving what, and as what?”
“I said I’d give the Oido summer house to Hyena as her birthday present. Why—don’t you like it?”
“Oh my! Oh my goodness! Chairman, are you serious? I absolutely love it!”
As if she’d completely forgotten about the successor talk, Hyena beamed and threw herself into Gwon-yong’s arms.
He lightly stroked her hair.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Then he turned his gaze to Juyeong and continued.
“What do you think, Juyeong? Would it be okay to give the Oido summer house as her birthday gift?”
Juyeong couldn’t answer. She only bit the inside of her cheek.
Seeing that, the man with lips glossy from lamb grease spoke as though he were granting her great mercy.
“Depending on how you behave, I might change my mind and give the Oido summer house to you instead.”
“Chairman! That’s so sudden—”
“What do you want from me?”
“Marriage.”
The low voice, declaring there were no other options, struck the back of Juyeong’s head like a blow.
Marriage had never existed in Choi Juyeong’s world.
But the weak had no choice but to obey the strong—and here, the weak one was Juyeong.
So she had no choice but to follow the orders of the strong, Choi Gwon-yong.
“…Fine. Don’t go back on your word later.”
Scrape—bang!
Juyeong shoved her chair back and hurried out of the dining room.
She couldn’t stand it. The disgust was unbearable.
Breathing the same air as them felt worse than suffocating to death.
How.
How, how, how!
How could that be her father?
“Hah… haah…”
She couldn’t breathe properly.
Thinking that the same blood as Choi Gwon-yong’s flowed through her veins made her skin itch, and Juyeong scratched the back of her hand with her nails.
Her skin quickly turned red.
Even so, only one thought filled her mind.
I want to wash. No—if I could, I want to peel my skin off. I want to carve away everything Choi Gwon-yong gave me…
Shhhhh—!!!
At that moment, as Juyeong reached the first floor of the hotel, sheets of rain came into view through the window.
It was pouring. The rain was so thick and fierce that she could barely see ahead.
“Miss! It’s raining outside right now—!”
A hotel employee shouted suddenly, as Juyeong ran straight into the downpour.
“Hah…”
Countless raindrops slammed into her body, stinging her skin.
But Juyeong wanted to cool her head.
She wanted to wash away the filthy sensations clinging to her body.
And if possible, she wished the rain would wash her away from this world entirely.
“……”
Suddenly, a pitch-black umbrella spread over the hazy, rain-filled sky above her.
The rain that had been beating down on her stopped, replaced by a deep, woody scent wrapping around her.
Who…?
As Juyeong slowly turned her head, her eyes met those of the man holding the umbrella.
One arm’s length.
He kept exactly that distance, his dense, low voice brushing against her ear.
“Choi Juyeong.”
At the sound of his single sentence, tension filled the space beneath the umbrella.
The fine hairs on her body stood on end, and Juyeong swallowed hard.
“You’re soaked.”
The man holding the umbrella was Bae Seonghun.
The man she’d gone on a blind date with a week ago.
