The News Breaks
It was an ordinary evening. Until the face of her fiancé-to-be appeared in a corner of the television screen, amid the endless stream of accidents and scandals.
The photograph had been partially mosaicked. Yet the moment she saw that somewhat petty lower jaw, she knew. It was unmistakably him.
“Seven individuals have been successively apprehended on charges of habitual use and distribution of methamphetamine. Among them, a foreign national celebrity and a third-generation heir of the Muyoung Group……”
The crisp, measured voice soon turned Do-yeon’s certainty into fact.
Third-generation heir of the Muyoung Group.
The instant that familiar epithet spilled from the speakers, every gaze in the room locked onto Do-yeon.
“Manager Choi!”
Seung-pil, who had been blinking blankly, bellowed for his aide. His face crumpled in an instant.
Almost simultaneously a sharp clatter rang out against the marble floor. Ju-ran, who had been attending to her husband, had dropped her fork in shock.
“What on earth is this about?”
“We’re confirming it now.”
Seung-pil stomped off toward the study, Manager Choi trailing close behind.
From today on, come out to the living room for dinner. We ought to build some family affection before you leave.
Family affection, of all things.
It was hardly something a man who, not content with years of affairs, had installed his mistress and her son in the house the moment his ex-wife died should ever say.
Still, Do-yeon had complied with that crude demand for one reason only: to show sincerity to her father, her future investor.
“The police stated that they launched an internal investigation based on an anonymous tip……”
Now even that gesture had become useless. If this marriage collapsed, the investment money would vanish with it.
Letting the talk of accomplices and distribution routes wash over her, Do-yeon crossed her arms.
“What are we going to do? If we’re unlucky and get dragged into this too……!”
Ju-ran, still gasping as though the shock had knocked the wind from her, clutched her son’s hand tightly. Jin-woo, expertly soothing his mother, nonetheless kept casting anxious glances at his sister.
In the middle of the midnight uproar only Do-yeon remained utterly still. Though she was the one who should have been most devastated, the bride-to-be watched the news segment through to the end before rising from her seat.
She had taken two or three steps.
“You!”
Ju-ran’s piercing cry stopped Do-yeon’s feet as she was leaving the living room. A moment later a carefully blank, well-bleached face turned to meet Ju-ran’s.
With the wedding a month away and the marriage about to collapse, the bride-to-be’s expression remained perfectly serene. Ju-ran’s eyes, raking her stepdaughter from head to toe, sharpened to points.
“What are you going to do now? We’ve already printed the invitations!”
“Indeed.”
Even under Ju-ran’s berating, Do-yeon did not so much as blink. She looked for all the world as if she had decided to turn the woman’s insides out.
“What? Are you talking about someone else right now?”
Of course Ju-ran’s temper flared.
If the girl were normal she would at least look shocked. Not sit there alone, all lofty and detached like this.
After a brief silence Do-yeon slowly closed her eyes and opened them again. Ju-ran’s chin, which had been glaring at her stepdaughter with open displeasure, twitched for an instant.
“It is my business, but you shouldn’t be asking me about it. It’s not as though I took the drugs.”
Do-yeon’s answer was short, her voice elegant and composed.
Yet Ju-ran keenly caught the thorn at the end of those words. Having watched the girl since she was still in her mother’s womb, she could hardly miss it.
“Still, if it’s your own affair you ought to……!”
“This isn’t a marriage I wanted or that benefits me, is it?”
Feeling her nerves scraped raw, Ju-ran’s brow furrowed of its own accord and her voice rose.
Only for a moment. The second Do-yeon cut her off, Ju-ran’s breath caught in her throat.
Shouldn’t we call Do-yeon back soon? It’s a bit much to keep a marriageable young woman living outside the house forever.
It had been Ju-ran herself who summoned Do-yeon home after the girl had been living perfectly well on her own following her studies abroad. She had egged her husband on to use the stepdaughter for a marriage deal.
Ju-ran’s purpose had been clear: to raise Hanbit Construction one more rung through marriage connections.
Hanbit had grown rapidly by virtually monopolizing the construction projects of Muyoung Leisure.
For Hanbit’s next leap, a new client was desperately needed—preferably one with deeper pockets than Muyoung Leisure and the ability to award far more projects.
How old is your daughter again?
She’ll be twenty-seven after the new year. Why?
The madam of Muyoung Distribution asked if there was a nice young lady.
So Ju-ran could not let the opportunity that had rolled in last autumn slip away. The counterpart was none other than that Muyoung Distribution, which owned department stores and supermarket chains.
She felt no apology toward Do-yeon. The girl would have to marry someday anyway, and as the eldest daughter of the Baek family who had received lifelong support, repaying that grace was only proper.
Father said he would invest in me only if I go through with the marriage he wants.
Yes.
Then you should have said from the beginning that it was a transaction, not an investment.
Persuading her husband to bring the girl home no matter what conditions she set had all been for Hanbit and the family. Even when Do-yeon, upon returning, pointed out that the terms had changed and argued the matter point by point with her father, it had not mattered.
No—Baek Do-yeon ought to be grateful to her.
A husband far beyond her station, and even a promise to invest in some ridiculous floral brand.
If only this marriage had gone through cleanly, the futures of Hanbit and Jin-woo would have been smooth sailing. Until a moment ago that had been certain.
“If you’re not going to do as I wish, then handle the cleanup yourself.”
Because the former prospective son-in-law had gone and done something stupid, the perfect plan had all come undone.
The real problem was that Do-yeon could not possibly be unaware of Ju-ran’s calculations. That girl looked pure and delicate as a flower, yet she was clever to the point of cunning, and her sums were always exact.
Which was why, even with the marriage collapsing, she held her head so high.
Knowing Do-yeon’s haughty nature did nothing to stop the rage boiling up inside. The lost opportunity was so galling she could die, yet her husband’s daughter was talking back as if she alone were superior—of course Ju-ran’s insides were crumbling.
“Baek Do-yeon!”
When Ju-ran, unable to restrain herself any longer, raised her voice again, Do-yeon answered at once.
“I can hear you perfectly well if you speak quietly, so don’t yell at me.”
The look in Do-yeon’s eyes as she gazed down was familiar. Indifferent and cold, as though even contempt would be too generous.
Over those eyes her husband’s ex-wife seemed to superimpose herself. Ju-ran’s face went pale; she clutched Jin-woo as if seizing a lifeline.
“Take good care of your mother.”
Tossing the short remark to her younger brother, Do-yeon walked straight out of the living room.
The strategic marriage and the investment had both fallen through. So the family play the investor had wanted ended here as well.
In the afternoon alley not even a single stray cat passed by. Do-yeon sat with her chin propped in her hand, gazing out the window.
Unnie, don’t you need a hardworking study-abroad employee?
Since last month Do-yeon had been commuting to her senior’s flower shop. Uncertain when she would next be able to handle flowers after marriage, she had taken a short-term part-time job.
Compared with her career the pay was small and almost cute, yet the work was easy. She had planned to coast along for a few months, grow accustomed to the status of a married woman, and then launch her own brand.
I’ll look for another position soon, so don’t be too disappointed.
She did not know what had happened overnight. But it was certain that the marriage talks with Director Kang Sang-jun had collapsed.
So Do-yeon had to decide: whether to accept another marriage according to her father’s will and secure the investment, or return to where she had originally been.
The question was which path would profit her more.
No—could she even return to France? They were already pushing another match at her.
“Ah, what a headache.”
Her cold fingertips pressed hard against her temples. When Do-yeon closed her eyes against the sharp twinge of pain, the bell on the entrance door jingled.
“Welcome……”
The greeting that left her mouth automatically rattled at the end.
A smooth yet cold impression.
A man in a dark coat stepped into the small flower shop, bringing a draft of chill air with him. Tall and radiating an oppressive presence, he was no ordinary customer.
“……”
“……”
The man, large as a vending machine, stood by the door and simply stared at Do-yeon.
The moment she confirmed those double-eyelid-less, refreshingly open eyes, Do-yeon swallowed a sharp breath. The customer who was supposed to come in the afternoon……
He approached with unhurried ease.
“I reserved a bouquet.”
From between lips of moderate fullness a low, steady voice emerged.
“Just a moment.”
Her nape stiffened with the effort of keeping a nonchalant face. Under the counter her hands clenched and unclenched in frantic rhythm.
Is this one the younger brother?
Crossing the few steps to the refrigerator, Do-yeon hurriedly ransacked her memory.
A month ago, was it? Ju-ran’s friends had arrived unannounced and chattered so loudly the whole house rang.
The grandsons of this house all have the same eyes. But the looks—the youngest is overwhelmingly better.
Right. He could be an actor.
If that gossip was true, then the customer standing here now was the third grandson of Muyoung, the one said to be in charge of the hotels. He possessed eyes exactly like Director Kang Sang-jun’s, yet was so handsome it was hard to believe they shared the same blood.
Why such a man would come here remained a mystery. A flower shop on the outskirts of Seoul, tucked deep in an alley and difficult even to find.
“Take your time.”
Cold air poured through the open refrigerator door. As she reached inside for the bouquet, that smooth voice brushed lightly against Do-yeon’s back.
It was far too coincidental and awkward to be chance. There was no reason for a third-generation chaebol who could obtain anything he wanted with a single word to trouble himself coming all the way out here.
Then the purpose had to be her.
“Here.”
Having steadied her breathing in the meantime, Do-yeon held out the blue bouquet. Yet in the eyes that met the gaze fixed upon her, a faint wariness rippled.
Is he really set on breaking off the engagement? Has he come representing the family to pick a fight?
Of course even if he had, nothing would change. Their side was one hundred percent at fault, and it was not as though she had made a scene and walked out on the wedding day—so what of it?
Fortunately every reservation was prepaid. Without even needing to settle a bill, if the man in front simply took his bouquet and left, this uncomfortable standoff would end.
“……”
The problem was that the customer showed no intention of disappearing. He merely looked down at Do-yeon in silence.
Left with no choice, Do-yeon set the bouquet on the counter.
“Is it not to your liking? I can adjust it a little.”
Unable to endure any longer, Do-yeon spoke first. Dragging the moment out would only make both of them more uncomfortable.
“If I say so, will you do exactly as I ask?”
The customer countered her words with a question, as though he had been waiting for the opening.