Chapter 11
“Is a child only a child when he’s dead?”
The moment they stepped inside the house, Lee Jung-hee finally unleashed all the frustration she’d been forcing herself to swallow at Chairman Ryu’s residence and in the chauffeur-driven car.
“Isn’t Father being too much? Why does he keep favoring only Tae-ha? Fine, I can understand it when they were young. He was sick. But he’s not anymore! Isn’t it about time he started giving our Jin-ha some consideration, too? The reason Jin-ha ignores Tae-ha and doesn’t even treat him like his older brother is because Father keeps acting like this.”
“Enough. Stop.”
Perhaps he really was too kind for his own good.
Her husband apparently couldn’t bear to hear anyone speak badly of his father, no matter what.
Jung-hee glared at him as he cut her off.
“I’m saying this because Father has gone too far. The playing field is ridiculously tilted! How is our Jin-ha supposed to properly demonstrate his abilities under those circumstances? And is this something that’s only happened once or twice? If it were, I wouldn’t even say anything.”
She drew a deep breath, determined to finally say what she’d been holding back.
“You’re the eldest son, and Jin-ha is the eldest grandson, so why does Father—”
Her husband had already walked away toward the study, taking long strides without another word.
Jung-hee glared resentfully at his retreating back.
“Right. I’m the only bad person here.”
Isn’t that exactly why our Jin-ha still isn’t being treated like the eldest grandson? Because you’re so damn unambitious.
“And now that Joo-ah is gone, what is our Jin-ha supposed to do?”
Her husband obviously wouldn’t care about something like that.
“But isn’t Joo-ah being too much, too?”
As she thought about it, the anger she’d directed at her husband suddenly turned toward someone else.
Han Joo-ah was infuriating, too.
“How can that girl be so heartless? A man can make one mistake.”
And she had to humiliate my son like this over it?
After everything he’s done for her? Has she forgotten all the favors she’s received?
Imagine if she’d actually married him. How much would she have nagged and tormented our Jin-ha?
Picturing a future in which her son was constantly suffering under Joo-ah’s scrutiny, Jung-hee continued her little exercise in self-justification.
There was no realistic way to change Joo-ah’s mind anyway, and someone as clever as Ryu Tae-ha certainly wouldn’t let such a golden opportunity slip through his fingers.
“Maybe it’s for the best.”
She’d never liked Joo-ah in the first place.
So stiff.
No charm whatsoever.
Maybe that’s why Jin-ha started looking elsewhere.
Yes.
This was all Han Joo-ah’s fault.
Ungrateful and spiteful.
My son has done nothing wrong.
Having convinced herself completely, Jung-hee took out her phone and searched through her contacts.
Unlike her unambitious husband, Jung-hee had been preparing for situations like this all along.
She couldn’t afford to put all her faith in Han Joo-ah.
“If I don’t step in, nothing ever gets done.”
As she searched for the number, Jung-hee remembered her mistakes of the past.
The day she first heard that Ryu Tae-ha had been born less than seven months into his mother’s pregnancy, she’d secretly wished the child would die.
When the boy turned eight and left for the United States to undergo surgery, she’d secretly prayed that he would never set foot on Korean soil alive.
But the child had stubbornly survived.
And he’d returned to Korea with a healthy body, as though deliberately proving her wrong.
That was when she realized.
I’d been naive.
I’d been a fool.
Why had she spent all those years merely wishing for it in her heart?
Why had she done nothing but pray in secret?
Why hadn’t she done anything for her son?
She hadn’t had time for useless prayers.
She should have done something.
Anything.
Something to make sure that child could never exist in this world.
It had been a late realization, but there was still an opportunity.
For her son, she could do anything.
She had felt that way then.
And she felt the same way now.
Tae-song must not be inherited by Tae-ha.
That can never happen.
It must not happen.
Taesong belonged to her son, Jin-ha.
From the moment her son was born, that had already been his predetermined destiny.
A destiny no one had the right to change.
Having found the contact she was looking for, Jung-hee pressed the call button.
Fluent English flowed from her long, curved red lips.
Is this really the right thing to do?
Standing inside the elevator heading up to Tae-ha’s home, Joo-ah finally fell into thought.
From this morning until now, she’d been running around frantically trying to break off her engagement.
And somehow, she’d ended up right back here.
Ryu Tae-ha’s house.
The door that had been firmly locked like a fortress that morning now opened with a cheerful chime.
How did I end up here?
It almost felt as though she’d been bewitched.
It was true that she’d intended to marry Ryu Tae-ha.
But living together hadn’t been part of the plan.
She certainly hadn’t expected to suddenly start living with him like this, without any preparation.
No.
She’d never even considered living together in the first place.
We’ll live together once we’re married anyway.
Marriage and living together aren’t really that different……
“What are you doing?”
Tae-ha’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Joo-ah looked up.
He had already stepped inside and was looking back at her, as though wondering why she was just standing there instead of coming in.
That’s right.
We’re already in this together.
Having made up her mind, Joo-ah stepped inside.
They passed through the hallway and entered the living room.
Tae-ha stopped in front of the sofa where they’d sat that morning to sign their contract and pointed toward a door.
“The master bedroom is over there—”
“You use it. You’re the owner of the house. I’ll use another room.”
The important part wasn’t the master bedroom.
It was another room.
They would use separate bedrooms.
It wasn’t as though he would suggest anything else.
But just in case he tried to make them share a room, she wanted to make that clear in advance.
“I was planning to use it.”
His indifferent answer rendered her preemptive defense completely pointless.
Tae-ha walked down the opposite hallway and opened a door.
“This one has a dressing room, too. It’ll be more convenient for you.”
The room had a bed and a bedside table and led into a separate dressing room.
“You’ll need clothes.”
Tae-ha looked around the empty space and took out his phone.
He was about to make a call when he turned back toward Joo-ah.
“Your size is—”
His gaze traveled down her body.
Joo-ah immediately frowned.
“Where are you looking?”
“Hah.”
Tae-ha gave a disbelieving laugh and tilted his head.
“I don’t think that’s something you can say after staring so intently at my body this morning.”
Joo-ah felt a pang of guilt, but she lifted her chin proudly.
“You were dressed so carelessly. That’s why I looked. If you don’t like it, dress properly from now on.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.”
“What are you talking about?”
She was about to tell him to leave already when he suddenly stepped closer.
He closed the distance between them in one long stride.
“But you.”
Tae-ha bent down.
He was so close that his face nearly brushed hers. Before she could even move away, his breath spread warmly against her ear.
Her tense body was just beginning to stiffen when—
“How come you never got any taller? Did you not eat enough?”
Why does he have to whisper something like that?
Joo-ah exhaled heavily and pushed away the arm draped heavily over her shoulders like they were old friends.
“You’re the one who grew ridiculously tall.”
Ryu Tae-ha merely shrugged as though he’d suffered no damage whatsoever.
For some reason, that made him even more irritating.
Even though they were alone in a bedroom, he acted completely unfazed.
It made her feel strangely wronged.
Then she realized there was something else she felt wronged about.
“Did I ever tease you for being short when we were kids?”
“No.”
“Then why do you tease me?”
“What a terrible person.”
Tae-ha answered as though it had nothing to do with him at all.
Joo-ah was left speechless.
Then his phone rang.
“I’ll have some clothes ready for you before I leave for work tomorrow. For tonight, wear the robe over there or one of my clothes. Sleep well.”
Tae-ha had been standing there saying strange things without any apparent intention of leaving the room.
But the moment he saw who was calling, he hurried toward the door.
Joo-ah sensed something strange and grabbed him.
What could he possibly need to discuss at this hour, in such a hurry, and without letting me hear?
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the contract?”
He frowned as though he couldn’t understand what she was talking about.
“What are you saying?”
“No women.”
Tae-ha looked from his phone to Joo-ah.
Then, as though he’d finally understood, he smiled and answered the call.
He immediately turned on the speakerphone.
“Hyung! Can you talk right now?”
A man’s voice came through, with a distinct English accent.
A look of discomfort spread across Joo-ah’s face.
Watching her, the corner of Tae-ha’s mouth slowly curled upward.
“Men aren’t exactly forbidden either, you know?”
