“Chae Seo Rin is becoming an anchor?”
As if having an affair was not enough, was he planning to parade her around town as his mistress? Broadcasting stations clearly had procedures and regulations, yet Ji Han seemed intent on forcing through this absurd personnel appointment, solely because she was his woman.
“Is that even reasonable?”
I was utterly dumbfounded by Ji Han’s outrageous behavior, which went far beyond acceptable bounds. I entered a serene, upscale traditional Korean restaurant, each guest accommodated in a detached hanok pavilion.
“Are you Ms. Yoon Yeo Jin?”
“Yes.”
“Please follow me. They are waiting for you.”
Passing through the main building, silence enveloped us. Only the sound of our footsteps remained. Following the staff member ahead, I walked along a long, solid wooden floor corridor. At the very end of the hallway, the staff member stepped aside and quietly retreated.
With a brief knock, I carefully slid open the tightly shut shoji door. Beyond the window lay a garden densely filled with bamboo. And right before it, a man sipping tea lifted his head toward me.
“Welcome. I chose this quiet place so we could meet alone. I hope it is alright.”
Jae Ha slowly set down his teacup. Amusement flickered in his eyes, intrigued that I had summoned him first.
“Yes. It is perfectly discreet, with no chance of anything leaking out.”
“I am glad you like it. Please, sit down.”
A faint smile crossed his lips at my words, and he turned the menu he had been holding toward me, sliding it over. Facing him under the soft lighting once again stirred fresh emotions within me.
“Will you be returning to America?”
I closed the menu. This was not a casual meal visit. I asked the question directly to Jae Ha, who continued to stare at me intently. Although I had asked nonchalantly, anxiety gnawed at me. What if he suddenly changed his mind and left? It would be disastrous if Jae Ha returned to America again. I was determined to find any excuse to keep him here.
“You look like you would chase me all the way to America if I said I was leaving.”
“Maybe I would.”
“But I am not your husband, Seo Ji Han. Surely you would not go that far.”
He shook his head and watched me with relaxed, playful amusement, so different from before. Suddenly, his expression shifted. The gaze that had held no answer just moments ago now changed.
“Well then, let us end these pointless jokes right here.”
The teasing smile vanished from his face. His eyes locked straight onto mine as his lips parted slowly.
“I am curious. What is your real reason for calling me here?”
It was as if he were telling me to show him my cards already. Nervous tension surged through me as I downed the cup in front of me in one gulp.
“Seo Ji Han is not my husband. I ran out in the middle of our wedding ceremony.”
After my blunt statement, Jae Ha fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
“Are you only husband and wife once the ceremony is complete?”
He kept his eyes fixed firmly on me as he continued.
“You two were engaged for quite a while, so there must have been some personal feelings between you.”
When he mentioned feelings, a bitter smirk tugged at my lips. Had there ever truly been anything personal between Seo Ji Han and me? That man was the one who killed me.
In my past life, Ji Han and I were only legally married, nothing more. For five years of marriage, we lived under the same roof yet never once shared intimacy. We were merely a showpiece couple, nothing more, nothing less. Whenever I mentioned wanting a child to become a real family with him, he always responded coldly, claiming we did not have the means yet. We were like oil and water, never able to mix.
“Seo Rin is pregnant with my child.”
“You know how precious an heir is to the Ho Jin family. She cannot raise a child without a father.”
That was the husband who had told me he wanted a divorce, claiming he had gotten the child I had always longed for with Seo Rin. The memory overwhelmed me, and my trembling hand forced me to set the cup back down.
“I cannot forgive him.”
Jae Ha raised an eyebrow, clearly puzzled by the situation.
“He cheated on me with my junior colleague. It was such a desperate love that he later considered divorcing me.”
“As you probably already know, I have now become the sole heiress of W Group.”
His surprise faded quickly, replaced by a darkening expression as I continued.
“And now, he is after my maternal family’s conglomerate.”
Jae Ha’s eyes, which had been calmly observing me, suddenly sharpened. The proposed merger and acquisition of W Group was being handled in absolute secrecy even within the conglomerate. He must have been intensely curious about why I was revealing all this to him.
“What is your reason for telling me all this? It does not seem like knowing this benefits me in any way.”
“Seo Ji Han is, for now, my younger brother.”
“For now.”
I understood the profound meaning hidden within those words. Though Jae Ha spoke with feigned nonchalance, his eyes narrowed slightly, scanning me intently, as if trying to decipher my true intentions.
I recalled the phone call I had received the night before my divorce from Ji Han. Jae Ha had asked to meet for dinner after the divorce hearing was finalized. We had not exchanged personal calls before, so his request had seemed odd. But I knew this man would not reach out to me without a solid reason.
“There must have been a reason he needed to see me specifically on the day of the divorce.”
Just as I needed him, I was certain I would be necessary for his future as well. It felt like a gamble, but it was worth taking the risk.
“Let us get married, Mr. Seo Jae Ha.”
For the first time, genuine bewilderment flickered in his eyes. My sudden proposal visibly stiffened his expression. I offered him a bitter smile.
“But the Seo Jae Ha I know would obviously refuse marriage, right?”
I could still vividly recall how he had flatly rejected our long-standing engagement. I did not know whether it was me he disliked or marriage itself that felt like shackles to him.
“I need you.”
Vice Chairman Kim Young Min had already moved, meaning an emergency shareholders’ meeting would be held soon. Jae Ha was the perfect candidate to both check Ji Han and lead W Group.
“And I need it done urgently.”
A subtle shift crossed his face at my words.
“I need a professional CEO to take over W Group, and I want to appoint you as its president.”
Jae Ha blinked slowly, lost in thought. After a long, deliberate sip, he set his empty cup down again.
“So, will you help me?”
Our eyes met across the empty space, both of us masking our emotions. Silence stretched between us for several seconds. Knowing Seo Jae Ha as I did, this proposal should have been irresistibly tempting. Yet as I watched him remain utterly unreadable, sweat began to dampen my palms.
“Ha, hah.”
At last, a dry chuckle escaped his lips.
“You really think I would accept that offer?”
His laughter faded. His jaw lifted sharply, directing a piercing look straight at me.
“I am the eldest son of the Ho Jin family.”
His tone implied how could someone like me possibly be fit to lead W Group. Yet, unlike his sharp words, his eyes sparkled with unmistakable interest. He was intrigued.
“Yes. You will accept it.”
“On what grounds?”
“You are currently serving concurrently as the CEO of KBC Holdings, right?”
His pupils dilated instantly, disbelief flooding his expression. Publicly, his dispatch to America had been framed as exile after being stripped of his heir status.
“How do you know that?”
“Because Ho Jin Group is KBC’s largest shareholder. Chairman Seo Moo Jin would not have completely disinherited his eldest son without leaving him any foothold.”
In truth, he would later spin off that holdings company into H Media Holdings, eventually making a triumphant return through aggressive investments and an IPO. It was a secret known only to Chairman Seo and a handful of trusted executives, not even headquarters was aware. Jae Ha was so startled he could not hide his shock.
“I will give you wings bigger than Ho Jin’s. You need investment capital for your corporate restructuring, do you not?”
These were not words an ordinary announcer would utter. Jae Ha finally seemed to grasp the situation and burst into a relaxed, unrestrained laugh.
“And above all else, do you not want to bring down Ho Jin?”
I understood better than anyone the twisted hatred Jae Ha harbored toward Ho Jin. That was precisely why I had already secured his shares in Ho Jin Group in advance, to eventually swallow the entire corporation once it began buckling under financial strain.
“I could accelerate your plan. I could make it happen faster than you ever imagined.”
“So, what do you say? Will you take my hand?”
I slowly curved the corners of my mouth, watching his stunned expression.
As the man entered the hotel suite, motion sensors illuminated the room. After finishing dinner with Yeo Jin, Jae Ha returned to the hotel and loosened his suffocating tie. He tossed the jacket in his hand onto the sofa by the window.
Gazing out the wide-open window at cars speeding along Gangbyeonbuk-ro, he let out a faint chuckle, her voice echoing unexpectedly in his mind.
“Let us get married, Mr. Seo Jae Ha.”
The moment the word marriage left her lips, he had nearly groaned aloud. He never imagined such words would slip from those perfectly composed lips, not even as empty rhetoric.
“Ha.”
He had tried so hard to maintain his composure. Especially when she mentioned Ho Jin, his usually calm heart had pounded fiercely. Yeo Jin was the cherished granddaughter of W Group, pampered like a delicate flower. He had thought her gentle and sheltered, but apparently, he had been wrong.
Jae Ha sank deeply into the straight sofa placed before the floor-to-ceiling window.
“Yoon Yeo Jin.”
He picked up the document envelope rustling between his fingertips. Photos spilled out from the tilted envelope, a man and woman tangled together inside a car, holding hands affectionately, and more. The envelope was packed with unfiltered, intimate glimpses into his half-brother’s secret life.
“So she already knew about the affair?”
Jae Ha was genuinely surprised to learn Yeo Jin had known all along. Just how much did she actually know? And who exactly was this Yoon Yeo Jin he thought he understood? His mind churned chaotically, unable to sort through the confusion.
Rubbing his forehead, he picked up his ringing phone.
President, did you reach an agreement with the young mistress?
There was no agreement to speak of. His planned negotiation over Seo Ji Han’s affair had been completely scrapped. He had not anticipated this scenario at all, and a hollow laugh escaped his lips.
“She already knew about the affair.”
What? That cannot be. Are you sure the mistress really knew?
“Even Secretary Han is shocked, right? So am I. It is driving me insane.”
Especially when she spoke of revenge, he had been left speechless, utterly flabbergasted. He never expected that quiet woman possessed the skill to silence a businessman like him.
“Check if there is any sign our secret about me heading KBC Holdings has leaked externally.”
I must have dozed off after staring wide-eyed through the night. My eyes opened on their own. Morning sunlight already streamed through the room. I pushed aside the rustling sheets and got up.
“Should I go to the hospital?”
Since my regression, I had not slept deeply once. One day, the image of Ji Han and Seo Rin clinging to each other haunted me. The next, memories of meeting Jae Ha replayed in my mind.
“Ji Hyun said I need treatment for insomnia too.”
I remembered what Ji Hyun, a family medicine physician at Dae Jin Hospital, had told me. Turning on my phone beside the bed, my eyes locked onto the photo on the screen. Photos showed Seo Rin and Ji Han still meeting consistently, even after the funeral.
“You have no idea what I know.”
Time was running out. Once the shareholders’ meeting passed, their blissful double life would turn into hell. Opening the window, a cool breeze brushed against my cheek. Even until our parting last night, I had not received a clear answer from Jae Ha.
“When is the shareholders’ meeting?”
“Next week.”
Jae Ha had listened silently to everything I said and only asked about the meeting date. His intentions remained completely unreadable.
“Was I too hasty?”
Was it premature to mention Ho Jin? Regret welled up, and I shook my head.
“No. I am certain.”
Because I had seen his usually calm eyes flicker with emotion the moment I mentioned Ho Jin. Just as I sank into thought, my phone on the windowsill buzzed briefly and lit up.
“A message?”
The contact I had been waiting for had finally replied.
[Plenty of time. How are things now?]
The carefully baited fish had finally taken the hook.