Chapter 4
[What should I do for you?]
[…….]
[I’ll do whatever you want. I can lay bare the truth, piece by piece, and make them pay the price.]
[Just leave them be.]
[Why?]
Shin Yooju and Kwon Soojeong—the ones who fabricated the rumors and twisted them into “truth.” And the public, the fans who swallowed those absurd lies without question.
To Iseol, they were all the same. She didn’t want to dive back into that quagmire of mudslinging. She was already exhausted beyond measure. She wanted to rest. She wanted to hide. She wanted to escape from people’s eyes.
Unable to voice those feelings, Iseol spoke with cold eyes.
[If I marry you, do I have to explain every single opinion I have?]
[No, you don’t have to. Even if you marry me, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I won’t ask anything of you outside of the marriage itself.]
True to his word, Sunho had never asked anything of her after they married.
When he had to leave for the American branch, Iseol made it clear she didn’t want to go to America, and Sunho left for the States alone.
Bzzzt.
Her phone vibrated inside her clutch. It was her husband, Sunho. He had said he would be late because of work he needed to finish—looked like he had arrived at the party venue.
After finishing the call, Iseol looked in the mirror and composed her expression.
It was time to play the part of Cha Sunho’s perfect wife.
—
As she stepped out of the restroom and headed toward the banquet hall, a man in an impeccably tailored luxury suit entered her field of vision. A man who seized attention effortlessly, even from a distance.
It was her husband, Sunho, waiting for her at the entrance to the banquet hall.
Sunho exuded the confidence and ease that came naturally from his abilities, along with a dignified, quietly commanding presence.
She had met him only once before their marriage—he had been an advertiser. Unlike the other advertisers who used lines like “Let’s have a meal together” or “Let’s grab a drink,” he hadn’t asked for anything.
As Iseol approached her husband’s side, Sunho spotted her and looked at her with a gentle expression. His face carried a cold air when expressionless, but when he smiled, he gave off a surprisingly soft impression. Since she had an eye for such things, Iseol followed his lead and softened her own expression.
“Shall we go in?”
Sunho studied Iseol’s pallid face as if examining it, then caught her arm as she tried to enter the banquet hall.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
At his words, Iseol’s forehead creased slightly before smoothing back out. Her husband didn’t know she had an anxiety disorder. She had never told him.
Not wanting to reveal her condition, Iseol answered stubbornly, enunciating each word.
“No. I’m fine.”
Iseol took her husband’s arm and stepped into the banquet hall.
As the doors opened and Sunho and Iseol entered, all eyes poured onto the two of them.
The room full of people and their gazes made her feel like she couldn’t breathe, but Iseol mustered all her strength to place a gentle smile on her face.
I’ll never let them know I’m in pain. I’d rather die than let them find out.
Admiration and jealousy are two sides of the same coin. The object of admiration is also the target of envy.
Right now, they were looking at her with envious eyes, but inside, they were tearing her down and whispering viciously. That Yoon Iseol had become Cha Sunho’s wife with nothing but a pretty face. That Yoon Iseol lived comfortably without lifting a finger, all because of the face she was born with.
If people found out that Iseol suffered from an anxiety disorder, they would gossip with even greater delight, masking their mockery with feigned concern. They would pity her, find her pathetic, and use her to console themselves and feel superior.
That’s why she didn’t want anyone to know.
Not anyone. Not even her husband.
“Sunho, you’re late.”
While Iseol was gritting her teeth and holding on, Jaewoo—her husband’s longtime friend—approached them. After exchanging glances with Iseol, Jaewoo asked the two of them.
“Want a glass of champagne?”
Since she was on medication and shouldn’t drink, Iseol was about to refuse when her husband spoke faster.
“Iseol isn’t feeling well today, so she can’t, and I have to drive, so I can’t drink either.”
“But you have a driver.”
“We have something important to do together today.”
Something important? Us?
Wondering what that could be, Iseol looked up at Sunho.
Sunho looked down at her with a gentle smile, as if gazing at a beloved wife, and Iseol responded with a shy eye-smile. Of course, it was all an act. But from the outside, the two of them looked like an impossibly loving couple.
Whenever they exchanged such natural performances, Iseol would think to herself. Maybe chaebol families give their children acting lessons from a young age. If not, then this man should have been an actor rather than a businessman.
“Ahh. Seeing you two makes me want to get married too. If I got married, I’m confident I could be just as devoted a husband as Cha Sunho.”
Devoted? When there’s no love between us?
It seemed her husband was putting on a flawless performance even outside their home. So flawless that even his closest friend was completely fooled.
“If you’re jealous, you should get married too.”
Sunho replied lightly, as if joking, and wrapped his arm around Iseol’s waist. Iseol flinched at his sudden movement. She was afraid the fine trembling of her body from her anxiety symptoms had transmitted to him.
Her husband’s gaze, which had been on Jaewoo, immediately shifted to her.
“Are you feeling very unwell? Should we head back?”
As expected, he seemed to have felt her trembling. Sunho lowered his head and whispered softly near her ear.
“We just got here; we can’t leave right away. Let’s stay a little longer.”
She didn’t know how much longer she could endure, but she couldn’t leave this quickly. Cha Sunho, who had been publicly designated as the successor of Haeseong Group, couldn’t be absent from the Haeseong Group Founding Anniversary party. To fulfill her duty, Iseol had to endure.
“Then let’s at least have some warm tea.”
As Sunho asked a passing waitress for warm, caffeine-free tea, his cousin Cha Junghyuk approached.
“Sunho, long time no see. I heard you wrapped up your assignment at the American branch quickly.”
A harmless, easygoing voice.
Junghyuk, wearing a gentle expression with a faint smile, greeted Iseol.
“It’s been a while for you too, sister-in-law.”
Iseol didn’t trust people’s smiles. A smile was the easiest mask to hide negative emotions.
Cha Junghyuk was Sunho’s cousin, four years his senior. Unlike Sunho, who had been recognized for his managerial abilities as the successor, Junghyuk had not been acknowledged.
If Sunho was smoothly following the predetermined successor course, Junghyuk had failed at the very first task and been eliminated early.
Junghyuk had never shown hostility toward either Sunho or Iseol. But Iseol felt an unsettling, ominous energy from him. Because he didn’t reveal the hostility he should rightfully have shown after losing the succession battle.
“Yes. It’s been a while.”
Iseol too wore an appropriate smile to hide her emotions as she replied to Junghyuk.
“You don’t seem to be in good health, sister-in-law.”
Junghyuk seemed to have overheard the conversation with Jaewoo earlier. It was a casual remark, but to Iseol, his words felt like he was probing for something.
Yoon Iseol, you’re being too sensitive right now.
The effects of the medication combined with having to deal with so many people—right now, Iseol felt her nerves were too frayed.
“I’m just not feeling my best today. It’s nothing to worry about.”
Sunho answered on Iseol’s behalf. The difficult Junghyuk left to greet other people, and the waitress brought the herbal tea. Until Iseol slowly took a few sips, Sunho stayed by her side.
—
Sunho was busy greeting people, and Iseol was occupied exchanging pleasantries with acquaintances she recognized, so the distance between the two gradually widened.
Why is this happening all of a sudden?
Iseol’s body felt strange. For a moment, her head went ping and spun, and she felt dizzy.
Barely able to keep herself upright, Iseol steadied herself with one hand on a table.
Is it a side effect of the medication? I’ve never had this before.
She remembered taking more pills in the restroom. It could be a symptom from taking medication without observing the proper time interval.
Feeling her consciousness grow hazy, Iseol hurriedly left the banquet hall. She threw on the thick coat she had been given and rushed toward the parking lot where the car was. Her heart grew more frantic at the thought of someone seeing her in this state.
Hah… hah… Just a little more.
Since the indoor parking lot was full of party attendees, the car was in the outdoor parking lot across the street.
Iseol clutched her chest with one hand and took a few heavy steps toward the crosswalk when her head spun violently and her body swayed. Unable to steady herself, through her blurred vision, she saw a large truck barreling toward her.
She needed to get out of the way…
Her mind was screaming at her to move, but her body wouldn’t obey.
“Iseol!”
Her husband’s voice, distant and dreamlike, was the last thing she heard before her vision slowly faded to black.
